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Blur crossing finish line in 2010

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 21st 2009 at 9:35AM }

Blur won't be making its scheduled November release, as Activision has officially pulled the arcade racer from the track, pushing it toward a 2010 launch. According to Activision CEO Mike Griffith, the move is being made to "fully optimize the vision [Bizarre] set out to create for Blur including a distinctive and groundbreaking multiplayer mode that will appeal to a broad audience." The vision for Blur!

Activision still has plenty on its plate this holiday season with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and DJ Hero. Then again, with the early part of 2010 as packed as it is with pushed releases, who knows what delays are still lurking.

Gallery: Blur

Hands-on: Blur (split-screen multiplayer)

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 5th 2009 at 3:00PM }

I'm a pretty tough customer when it comes to the adoption of racing franchises. To me, the driving genre seems much like a foreign language -- because I haven't been a strict stuent of virtual vehicles since my early youth, attempting to add it to my expansive areas of expertise would be a near-impossible task.

Bizarre Creations' upcoming arcadey racing title Blur eschews the genre's unsavory, ultra-realistic bits, replacing them with weapons, power-ups and fast-paced neck-and-neck action. It's not the first time racing games have swapped out real for enjoyable -- but after playing a handful of four-player split-screen matches at Activision's PAX event, I couldn't remember the last time a racer made said switch so sublimely.

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Blur trailer is powered up

by Justin McElroy { Sep 4th 2009 at 1:19PM }

After watching this brand new trailer for Bizarre Creations' Blur, we were left with a few key observations:

Blur looks like an awesome combination of the slick street racing of Fast and Furious with the unpredictability of Mario Kart-style power ups -- all bathed in gratuitous neon light.
While really exciting, it's still only our second-favorite Blur-related video of the day.
The sound of British people talking makes cars look faster. We have no explanation for this.

PAX 2009: Blur gets Twitter support

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 4th 2009 at 1:00PM }

Bizarre Creation's arcade-style racer, Blur, has received a nitrous-level boost of social networking. Initially, the social component of the game was limited to mock text messages and emails sent from AI racers in the game, who you build love/hate relationships with over the course of your races against each other. Additionally, Blur features faux social networking sites like "Inner Tube" (a Bizarre version of YouTube). Today, real Twitter support has been confirmed for the game, although current details can be summed up in less than 140 characters.

Here we go: Twitter apparently working in both 360 and PS3 versions of Blur. Update example: "I just won 1st place at Hackney!" etc.

So, will we be tweeting from our existing accounts? Is the Xbox 360 version's integration independent of the Xbox Live partnership? Can we see tweeted replies in-game? Can we post Twitpics of our victories? Will the Fail Whale be drivable? We want answers -- and we shall get them!

Activision talks 2010: Bond is back, joined by Tony Hawk, Spider-Man, and 'innovative' action game

by Christopher Grant { Aug 5th 2009 at 7:01PM }

On this afternoon's earnings call, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith dropped some details on what we can expect out of Activision in 2010. Of course, there's "a strong lineup behind the Guitar Hero franchise" and some Call of Duty "new releases" as well as "online monetization" of the franchise (not this again!) and strong Modern Warfare 2 sales, but that's not all it has in store for 2010.

"We'll launch also new games based on James Bond, Tony Hawk, and Spider-Man, along with games supporting the theatrical releases for Dreamworks' Shrek 4 and How to Train Your Dragon," Griffith said. "In addition, as previously announced, we're planning to release an innovative property in the $4b action genre." Here's Activision CEO Bobby Kotick discussing the aforementioned $4b opportunity; could this be what former Dead Space producer Glen Schofield dumped EA and went to Activision for?

Regardless, it's been nearly half a year since we got an update on Activision's first stab at the Bond franchise, after acquiring the rights from EA over three years ago. So it looks we'll be seeing more of Bond in '10 ... two-thousand and ten.

Blur pre-order bonuses make decision about where to buy less clear

by JC Fletcher { Aug 5th 2009 at 10:30AM }

Activision has announced the pre-order bonuses for Blur, which include different extras for three different retailers. Don't worry too much about being forced to choose -- it's just digital stuff, and not, like, a hat or anything.

Pre-ordering Bizarre Creations' latest racer from GameStop (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) will net you an "Exclusive Multiplayer Advantage Booster Kit" which unlocks a Ford Bronco and an exclusive "Last Man Standing" multiplayer survival mode, as well as a "Double Fans" bonus for the first ten multiplayer races, which increases your ability to earn money.

Those who pre-order from Game Crazy will receive double cash for the first three single-player races. And purchasing the game on the release date from Best Buy gets a code to unlock a Dodge Hennessey Viper.

Activision still has yet to officially reveal when that release date will be, though all three retailers agree on November 3.

Gallery: Blur box art

Newest Blur video provides insight into game's vision

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 30th 2009 at 3:30PM }

It's unfortunate that at the end of the half trailer/half developer diary you see above for Blur, the game's publisher, Activision, makes no mention of a release date. We enjoyed the time we spent with the game at E3 earlier this year, no doubt about it. However, the lofty claims various companies associated with the game have been making have us anxious to find out when we'll get to put it through its paces a bit more thoroughly.

More importantly, we'll finally find out what the "Shunt" power-up does. Also, how is that not a swear?

Gallery: Blur

Bizarre stands to make $40m if Blur is a hit

by David Hinkle { Jul 20th 2009 at 10:45AM }

If you doubt the potential for success with Blur, the first racing game under the protective wing of new mother bird Activision, then you don't know how popular Bizarre's Project Gotham Racing franchise has been. We didn't either, to tell the truth, until Bizarre's Chris Pickford revealed to Develop that the franchise has sold over seven million.

This is the kind of runaway success Activision is looking for in Blur, as Bizarre could make $40 million should the game meet projected sales by 2012/13. While we don't know what the target sales are, Blur will have close to three years to reach the goal set by Activision when it releases later this year, so we'd say something around the four million mark is definitely not out of the question.

Three games to light up your 4th

by Randy Nelson { Jul 3rd 2009 at 8:00PM }

The founding of a nation is pretty significant and well worth getting excited about. The best way to display said excitement is, of course, with massive, colorful airborne explosions, a.k.a. fireworks. Tomorrow night, towns across the USA will be putting on fireworks displays, big and small -- but why should you have to wait for it to get dark? The games you'll find after the break will let you get all explode-y from the comfort of your living room, without the charred mess and frantic 911 call. So, put on your favorite patriotic tune (it's "The Stars & Stripes Forever" for us) and make with the clicking!

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Bizarre: Racing games not meeting sales expectations

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jun 19th 2009 at 7:00PM }

We're not certain whose expectations Bizarre Creations' communications manager, Ben Ward, was referring to in his recent -- and incredibly vague -- statements about supposedly disappointing sales of (equally unspecified) racing games, but they must belong to someone. "I won't name any names, [but] more recent titles that were really good, critically acclaimed and we all played them, they didn't sell as well as can be expected," Ward posited to VideoGamer.com.

It's difficult to argue against Ward, as he doesn't suggest anything concrete, but racing games have been competitive in the sales charts this generation (if that's recent enough). Console exclusives such as MotorStorm, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (a glorified demo!) and Forza 2 all rank among the top 10 bestselling games to date on their respective platforms, and Burnout Paradise has succeeded both at retail and digitally in its lengthy, multiplatform run. Sure, a niche racer like GRID is never going to gain mass appeal (nor is it intended to) and certain staple franchises, like Need For Speed, have dwindled in popularity and quality (hence the reboots), but the racing genre is right where it should be -- at least, in terms of our expectations.

Perhaps Ward and Bizarre just have greater expectations for their upcoming racer, Blur, which we called "a hyper-realistic Mario Kart." That puts Blur in good company, as Mario Kart Wii -- what Ward calls "the exception rather than the rule" -- has sold in excess of 15.4 million units by last count in May. But, really, there's nothing realistic about expecting those kinda numbers.

Hands-on: Blur

by Xav de Matos { Jun 10th 2009 at 8:30PM }

Blur is a hyper-realistic Mario Kart. There is no sugar coating it.

After being behind the development wheel of realistic racing titles like PGR (well, realistic at least in look), Bizarre Creations has decided to do away with its half-and-half arcade style and create a different kind of racing experience. That experience is Blur, published by (new parent company) Activision.

As we sat down at the (ridiculously loud) Activision booth in the West Hall during E3 2009, we were greeted by an enthusiastic Bizarre employee who explained this was the game the developer always wanted to make. A fun, almost party-game style racer where players jump behind the wheel of powered-up, real-world vehicles. Yes, strangely, Blur features licensed cars -- with unreal abilities.

Gallery: Blur

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Seen@E3: Blur devs playing Need for Speed: Shift

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 5th 2009 at 2:15PM }

While wandering through the EA booth on the last day of E3, we noticed the grinning symbol of Blur developer Bizarre Creations on the back of a man playing ... Need for Speed: Shift. We stuck around for a few minutes to make sure the gentleman in question was for certain a developer on the upcoming Mario Kart-inspired racer, then ran off to giggle with all our friends.

Impressions: Blur

by Kevin Kelly { Jun 3rd 2009 at 3:00PM }

We took a look at Bizarre Creations' racer Blur recently, and while we didn't get to put our hands on it, we were some of the first people to see actual gameplay. The team is attempting to make racing a lot more accessible to people who aren't into the fine-tuning aspects that have invaded racing games over the past few years, and they want to make it fun for anyone to pick up and play with easy to use controls and arcade-style graphics.

Find out what the game looks like, and exactly how they planning on leveling the playing field for racers. Hint: it doesn't involve blue shells and banana peels ... but it's fairly close.

Gallery: Blur

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Why Blur can damage its cars

by Justin McElroy { May 27th 2009 at 11:00PM }

Car manufacturers are notoriously cranky about letting their autos show damage in racing games. So why will you find bumps and bruises on the cars in Blur but not in Bizarre's other racing title Project Gotham? Apparently, it's all about the make.

Because a game like Blur doesn't have to have companies like Porsche and Ferrari, Bizarre is able to focus on the ones that will let Bizarre beat up its cars. Plus, according to Bizarre's Gareth Wilson, car-crunching games like GRID and DiRT helped to pave the way.

Just out of curiosity, how much does damage modeling matter to you?

Blur trailer races into clear view

by Randy Nelson { May 21st 2009 at 8:00AM }

Announced by Activision on Tuesday, Blur -- the latest racer from PGR dev Bizarre Creations -- can be considered officially teased with the release of a brief (but certainly not blurry) first look at it in motion. The teaser appears specifically tailored to elicit the exact reaction we had when viewing it for the first time; that is, "Wow, it looks like PGR," followed by, "Whoa, what was that crazy blast?"

We know, of course, that it's the effect produced by one of the many Mario Kart-style power-ups intended to make Blur stand out from other current-gen auto racers. It looks a little out of place in the context of the trailer, but we'll save our "spiffy / goofy" verdict until we see some actual gameplay. What do you think?