This open-world racing sim features vehicles like the Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R, Saleen S302 Extreme, Saleen S7, Dodge Challenger SRT8, 2010 Chevy Camaro and more. So yeah, the wait sucks, but think of the gas you'll save not driving to Best Buy. [Kotaku]

How Cars Are Used In GTA4

• Transportation: Since Liberty City — the setting of GTA4 and modeled after New York City — is an open-world environment, meaning you can go anywhere at any given time, cars are pretty damn important. For a reference, the open world is so large that it could take 10 minutes or more to travel from one end to another.
  
• Missions: Driving is a crucial part of almost every mission. Whether you're tasked with escorting a hooker, stealing a specific car, or just running a simple car chase, cars are an essential aspect of the storyline.
  
• As A Weapon: Whether running people over in missions or just screwing around plowing down the sidewalk, a properly piloted car becomes a potent weapon. If you prefer more traditional armaments, you can also break out the windshield and fire either a handgun or SMG, or drop grenades while cruising around Liberty City.
  
• Racing: Early in the game you meet up with Brucie, a steroid-enhanced meathead who sets you up with street races all around Liberty City.
  
• Entertainment: Most vehicles in the game have a radio that can be tuned to a wide variety of always-entertaining radio stations. Oh, and you can pick up hookers in your ride and choose from one of three different "services."

Banshee
You'll soon learn that the Banshee is one of the better vehicles in the game. This Panoz Esperante knockoff features just a hint of Dodge Viper. With a top speed of 208 mph, a 0-60 time of 4.4 seconds, and near perfect brakes, the Banshee is one of the more common vehicles in GTA4 that can get you around in a hurry.

Blista Compact
A lot of the vehicles that populate Liberty City take their cues from the 80s and 90s. One of the better of these vehicles is the Blista Compact. This vehicle obviously gives its hat tip to the Honda CRX and VW Corrado, and sports a top speed of 186 mph along with other decent, if not "blista-ring" statistics.

Cavalcade & Cavalcade FXT
You can't have a game that focuses on crime and the underworld of society without the classic Cadillac Escalade...even one with a little Hi-Lux thrown in for laughs. As in real life, there's a regular version of the luxury SUV and the FXT truck version. Both of these vehicles are great for GTA4 because they are 4WD and particularly durable, allowing them to stand up to bullets, collisions, and other common occurrences in Liberty City.

Comet
No, not that Comet. This Comet is a quick little bugger that takes its nod from the 996-series Porsche 911 while paying homage to the venerable 959. It's 4WD and tops out at 208 mph. The Comet is a really rare gem, but there's a mission from Brucie where you're given the vehicle. At this point, if you're ever given a very nice car in a mission, it's your best bet to just store it.

Coquette
The Coquette is another speedy two-door coupe. It's RWD and tops out at 208 mph. Unlike the Comet, it's a little less rare, so there's better luck of finding it around town. If you couldn't already tell, that appears to be an NSX staring at you through the body of a Testarossa. And the Corvette reference, both in name and appearance, is unmistakable.

Dilettante
The folks at Rockstar Games are obviously concerned about ridiculous gas prices. That's why they've provided the Dilettante, a thinly-veiled Toyota Prius. Without the need to fill up with gas in the game, there's no way to truly tell if the Dilettante is a hybrid, but one interesting caveat is the fact that this vehicle is noticeably more quiet than any other vehicle in Liberty City. It may be the silent killer in real life, but it's not too shabby at smashing pedestrians on the screen either.

Infernus
In terms of performance, this is the best of the best in GTA4, rightfully so considering it's essentially a Diablo/Murcielago blend. The Infernus is one of the most rare in the game, but luckily a gay man rewards you with this vehicle — which he took from his high-profile lover — for doing some missions for the guy (seriously). Just make sure you store the Infernus rather than taking it for a joyride where you end up wrecking it. In-game, the Infernus has a top speed of 208 mph, a $100,000 value, a 4.4-second 0-60 time, excellent brakes and more.

Moonbeam
You think we would let this list escape without the Moonbeam, which gives a nod to the best van ever made? Performance-wise, the Moonbeam kind of sucks, but it's good for the missions requiring you to haul around a lot of people.

Patriot
The Patriot is a vehicle worth reckoning with in GTA4, obviously taking its form from the Hummer H2 and it's smaller sibling. Unlike the real-life Hummer and all of its accompanying stereotypes, this is a very useful vehicle in-game — mostly because gas is non-existent, the Patriots are everywhere and they are built like tanks, which can be good for car chases and more. In-game, the Patriot is a 4WD vehicle with a top speed of 145 mph and a value of $50,000. Oh, and the American flag paint job is a nice touch.

Presidente
At first the Presidente seems like a pretty cut and dry four-door luxury sedan that most of the mob bosses drive throughout the game. Though the headlights scream Charger , a little closer examination of the rear taillights would suggest the Presidente is all about the Cadillac CTS...and the 175 mph top speed would hint CTS-V.

PMP600
Like the Presidente, the PMP600 serves as a great boss-car in-game. The fenders and front of the PMP600 definitely have a 300C feel. Other than the nice stereotypical mobster-boss usage, it's a pretty average vehicle. It can stand up to a barrage of bullets, though, which is always helpful.

Ruiner
The Ruiner is another one of the older-looking, but still good vehicles in the game. The t-tops and headlights would suggest that the Ruiner most closely resembles an 80's Camaro, but no one would argue that there's an aura of 280Z in the mix. It's a nice and speedy RWD vehicle with a 186 mph top speed and 6.3-second 0-60.

Sabre GT
Don't think GTA4 is all about fancy sedans and rusted beaters. The Sabre GT is a homage to the classic muscle car, with Monte Carlo and Torino influences most obvious. Like most vehicles in Liberty City, the Sabre GT is available in a variety of colors and offers the classic racing stripe. In-game, the Sabre GT tops out at a nice 175 mph, but a low level of collision durability ensures that the vehicle won't last as long as some other options.

Stallion
Like the Sabre GT, the Stallion is another nice classically styled muscle car featured in Liberty City. Trying to pinpoint a real life counterpart isn't as easy as some of the other cars featured on the list, but we certainly detect some LeMans and maybe Javelin in there. You be the judge. In-game the car is pretty mediocre. It's RWD and tops out at 165 mph. If anything, it has nice brakes.

Sultan RS
This one goes out to the tuner crowd that is definitely playing this game. Seriously, we can't even enjoy a video game without carbon fiber madness? The headlights and spoiler say Lexus IS/first-gen Integra. In terms of performance, the Sultan RS is pretty speedy at 186 mph and the handling is nice with the AWD and decent brakes.

Super GT
The Super GT is another very speedy, yet rare, coupe featured in GTA4. It tops out at 196 mph and the oval shaped front grill clues this vehicle to be an Aston Martin Vanquish knockoff.

Turismo
If you're going to find a supercar while roaming the streets, you're most likely to stumble upon a Turismo. This is a 208-mph beast with a mid-engine. This car obviously takes cues from the Ferrari 360 with some Venturi influences. Note that this vehicle lacks durability, so be careful out there.

Uranus
This is only funny because the car's name is Uranus and it looks like a Ford Escort GT. We're not sure if one of the designers just had a bad experience in high school with the car (which isn't that uncommon) but come on, the Escort GT is worthy of a name better than Uranus — just ask the MAKE LeMons team (sans the GT part).

Voodoo
The Voodoo deserves a mention because it has been a nostalgic part of the Grand Theft Auto series. Not only does it blend styling from the 1959 Impala and possibly an equivalent vintage Imperial, but in previous GTA titles this car was outfitted with functional hydraulics. Pardon the stereotyping, but It's also generally driven by gangster-type persons in Liberty City who will try to fight you upon carjacking.

(Huge shout-out to GTA4.net for providing raw details and pictures of the vehicles.)

[r3vlimited] Hat Tip to TheGuinnessTooth!

There's no complicated installation or hacking-and-slashing required. Just replace your current sun visor and give it a little 12V DC juice and you're ready to go. It even includes an FM transmitter so the whole family can enjoy your horrible taste in movies. If there's anything to worry about, it's the price. This is available from a no-name Asian manufacturer for $100, which seems a bit low for everything it promises. Oh, and you may want to worry about dying in a fiery crash while playing a Street Fighter knock-off on your sun visor.

[Chinavision via Technabob]

Codemasters has said that the F1 game will be multi-platform—meaning if you own any next-generation console, portable gaming system or even a PC capable of gaming, there's a really good chance you'll be able to pick up the new F1 game from Codemasters. The deal locks up the rights to all Grand Prix circuits, F1 teams, cars and drive likenesses. The cherry on top of it all is that the deal is multi-year, so we can expect solid F1 games for years to come.

It's not too surprising that Codemasters would fork over the dough for the license. This is the same developer responsible for the Colin McRae and Race Driver games.

The game, currently going by the name FIA Formula One World Championship is looking at a 2009 release date. (Thanks to everyone who sent in tips on this)[Kotaku]

It's Sony Computer Entertainment that is looking to win the bid, and if they don't reach an agreement with Formula 1, other game manufacturers may jump in and be willing to pay whatever Ecclestone wants for licensing. We don't think F1 gaming is done for, but those waiting for a hot and exciting next-generation racing title may have to wait a little while. [Kotaku]

You've got one button to accelerate, one button to operate the clutch, and you use the D-pad (or arrow keys on your computer) to maneuver the shift lever. If that interface isn't enough to entice you, there's also a nice selection of hot JDM machines like the Nissan Skyline GT-R, Mazda RX-7, Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Evo, and even a "Fanny Car." If you're fluent in reading Japanese, the game also has a RPG-ish story mode, but it probably won't make much sense if you're monolingual. If you've got a Nintendo DS there's apparently a new version of the game, but we're sure it doesn't have all the 16-bit goodness of the original.
[via Auto-Otaku]

Rockstar Games Announces Release Date for Midnight Club: Los Angeles on the Xbox 360® Video Game and Entertainment System from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 Computer Entertainment System and Midnight Club: LA Remix for the PSP®

Open-world street racing series debuts on next generation consoles September 9th and 12th for North America and Europe respectively

NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Rockstar Games is proud to announce the fourth installment of its critically-acclaimed and genre-defining Midnight Club franchise, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, is set for release on September 9th in North America and September 12th in Europe. Developed by series creator Rockstar San Diego, Midnight Club: Los Angeles will give gamers the unprecedented freedom to race through a hyper-realistic LA.

"From the beginning, Midnight Club has been about street racing in a open-world," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "With our team at Rockstar San Diego we have developed a game that we feel once again pushes the boundaries and expectations of what a racing game can be."

Whether driving by the beach or beating the competition by cutting through a parking garage at 200 mph, Midnight Club: Los Angeles provides a seamless, breathtaking environment for everyone who loves to compete. With no load times, no tracks, and no rules, the game allows players to race who they want, when they want, and where they want in an unbelievable recreation of Los Angeles.

"People are going to be blown away when they see how true-to-life Los Angeles looks in this game," said Jay Panek, Midnight Club Producer Rockstar San Diego. "We've added some great twists and turns that let players experience the authentic vibe and feel of the city at blistering speeds that you simply couldn't get away with in real life."

A racing game is nothing without the great cars and Midnight Club: Los Angeles allows extensive customization of vehicles for both performance and appearance. Players can now fully personalize their officially licensed imports, tuners, classic muscle cars and motorcycles both inside and out with a dizzying array of licensed rims, spoilers, interior gauges, tires and more.

Also scheduled for release on September 9th, Midnight Club: LA Remix for the PSP® system will provide another incredible portable racing experience. Developed by Rockstar London, the game will take full advantage of the hardware to deliver the unrivaled sense of speed and style that the best-selling Midnight Club series is known for.

For more information about Midnight Club, please visit our website at http://www.rockstargames.com/midnightclubla.

Rockstar Games is a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

The question was spawned from Brandon, who emailed us yesterday lauding the realism of Ferrari 355 Challenge, which he contends is the one game he could play for the rest of his life. As mentioned, we're sort of partial to Tokyo Cop for non-realistic simulators and any version of Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off Road, which is also quite unrealistic. You've got endless quarters, what do you pick?

Given the insane advances in technology and communication we saw a lot of changes in the racing/car games of the 1990's. Is your favorite an ideal racing simulator like GT1 or a nostalgic experience like Megarace? Just to rekindle some older memories, we've included the intro to the original Gran Turismo, which blew our tiny minds back in the day.

Our personal favorite, for purely sentimental reasons, was SEGA's Hang On for the Sega Master System. That's right, you can keep your NES, we rocked the Master system, green jacket and all. But there were some serious other games. Spy Hunter? Pole Position? Anyone remember The Duel: Test Drive 2, which pitted the Porsche 959 against the Ferrari F40? That was a knuckle-snapping good time. There are so many great games from that era with various levels of play, story and graphical accomplishment. Determining a best is tough, because this sort of thing is so personal. So let's just say "favorite" game of the era (console/arcade/whatever). (h/t MaxiChamp]

We're not sure what the ultimate goal of the game is, but we're guessing it involves building the baddest dekotora and taking pictures of it around the city. Sounds like heaven to us. (Hat tip to PitchPitch!) [Wiiz.fr, GameTrailers.com]

They won't be placing ads in random video games either, the three targeted games are Need for Speed: Carbon, Project Gotham Racing and Pro Evolution Soccer 2008. The two racing games make perfect sense, but soccer? I guess one stereotype does associate Scots with being drunk soccer hooligans that may or may not have tendencies to drive.

Let's just hope the in-game advertising doesn't come by way of vanity license plates — SBRDRVR. Getting drunk with your friends and playing Burnout is still acceptable, though, just hands off the keys. [Kotaku]

What we know about the GT5 is that it's super realistic looking, it'll have the Nissan GT-R, the track from Top Gear and us scrounging for a few hundred bucks.

The first project is the biggie. The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, who goes by RIKEN for some reason, will be the ones putting the neurodocs to work inventing all kind of neurotechnology. This will be a 20-year project focusing on three specific areas.

The first area of study will be on neuro-driving, or how the brain acts as the driver is driving and reacting to all of the outside variables. Toyota and RIKEN are setting the stakes high with this one. They are aiming to completely eliminate accidents all together. It would seem that studying the mind in this manner would allow designers and engineers to completely change the build to better link the vehicles safety equipment with how the mind handles specific situations.

The project will also focus study on neuro-robotics, with the goal to likely create an entire orchestra of instrument-playing robots, and mind-health research, which will focus on the link because the brain, the nervous system and physical health. [Pink Tentacle]

In the second project, Kawashima will be working with Toyota to develop vehicles for older folks. These vehicles will include advanced systems that can determine whether a driver is being dangerous, erratic or "slow as balls" as I like to put it. The system would be able to recognize irrational acceleration and other commonalities found in all elderly hoons. [Gizmodo]

The tech junkies later went on to say that "Long story short, this is the best thing to happen to Xbox 360 racing games. Ever. If you're a racing fan &mdash or just want to become a racing fan &mdash get this controller. Seriously." So yeah, seriously get this for the Xboxer in your life.

The Lost Arcade Games of the Soviet Union [wired.com]

Related:
In Soviet Russia, Pobeda Customizes You!; Rocket to Russia: Moskvitch 410H [Internal]

Related:
BJ and the Kuma-chan: Japanese Dekotora-Truck Movie Intro [Internal]

Seeing as I'm the only editor here with a game system that doesn't have the words "Famicom" or "TurboGrafx" in the name, I'm the most qualified one of us to give you the first-hand look at the new Transformers video game. Oh, and wait, since it's Transformers, I guess that makes me doubly qualified, doesn't it? Well, we got our hands on the first trailer for the game from the boys n' girls at IGN.com, and it's rife with all sorts of bot-on-bot action, including a Bumblebee vs. Barricade battle royale, the first look at a transformation of the king of the bots of auto, Optimus Prime, and all of it's got a great Peter Cullen voiceover. We've done up some screen caps for this game (which may only be available for the PS3) below for anyone who's unable to see the prettiness of the trailer in the full above. – Ray Wert

Transformers: The Game [IGN.com via TFW2005]

Related:
Chevrolet Launches "Build Your Own Chevy Autobot" Site; Transformers Movie Update: Optimus Prime, It's You — It's Really You! [internal]

Games 'make drivers go faster' [BBC]

Related:
'You Look Like a Jerk!' 'Pole Position' Goodness [internal]

"Trier, Germany.(DP)-Klaus Mueller age (23) playing with a demo Nintendo Wii at an indoor car show got a bit carried way Friday. A near-by man waiting in line to play the Wii next, warned Mueller about the weak straps that have been reported around the US. Mueller looked back at the man and offered to show him that it was almost impossible to break the cord. Swinging his arm violently around in a display of the straps strength, he snapped the cord sending it into the window of a new Volkswagen Lupo. Embarrassed by what he had done, he apologized but still blamed Nintendo for what he called ("grobe Fahrlaessigkeit" ) gross negligence ."

Wii Strap Breaks At Car Show Smashes Window [Fun Tech Talk]

Related:
Mii Is Real Smart: Nintendo Wii Ad Campaign Features Fortwo [internal]

Because we know when we think of the Nintendo Wii, all we can think about is the Smart Fortwo. We want a blue and white one to drive up in just like the two lovable and huggable stars of the "Mii" ad campaign for the Nintendo Wii save the cheerleader in drive. Because that'd be simply hetero-dorable. One more commercial after the jump. – Ray Wert

Mii commercials [Wii's World]

Related:
From Bucket to Binary: Morrison Corvette Scanned into Gran Turismo; ForbesAutos Touches Its Joystick, Fires Out A Top Ten List Of Car Video Games [internal]

3400 hours of work and three years is a long time. That's about how long it took Art Morrison Enterprises to take what was essentially a basket case 1960 Chevrolet Corvette and turn it into a machine worthy not only of Art and Craig Morrison's high standards of finish and performance, but also of the Next Edition Gran Turismo HD.

With nearly a 1000 of the 3400 hours sunk into the project during the weeks preceding SEMA, the 1960 Corvette was completed just in time to take Best in Show at the 4th Annual Grand Turismo Awards ceremony at the 2006 Las Vegas show. As part of this achievement the Corvette would be forever immortalized in digital form in the upcoming Next Edition Gran Turismo, also known as GTHD. Witnessing the first stages of this process occur at their shop was a source of wonder for father Art and son Craig of the Art Morrison Enterprises operation.

Art Morrison Enterprises got going in 1971 as a full service, turn-key drag race chassis manufacturer. Over its 36-year history, AME has focused on high performance, innovative chassis designs. As quarter mile mayhem started working its way back off the track with the Pro Street movement so did Morrison chassis. With the end of the eighties, custom racecar fabrication was won over by more hot rod and road going custom car pursuits. Today Art Morrison Enterprises chassis can be found under everything from 55-57 Chevys that turn .94G on the skid pad to V-8 powered Citroen street rods.

The Corvette itself moves well beyond 1960 Chevrolet technology, yet visually holds onto its original looks. At the heart of the Corvette is a Bill Mitchell 427 cubic inch mill that belts out 538 hp and 517 foot pounds of torque. A T-56 six-speed out of a Viper and modified by Rockland Standard Gear handles putting the power down. Modifications are subtle enough to maintain original Corvette styling but innovative enough to push the car into modernity. The seats were reskinned to look like the originals yet rebuilt to sit lower and further back in the car for more room in the cockpit. The original gauge cluster was split down the middle and skinned with carbon fiber. The headlamps are actually a Bavarian projector beam units off a 5-Series BMW.

It is the unseen that sets the Vette far apart from the antiquated performance of the original 1960 version. Under the worked over exterior and interior is a top of the line Morrison chassis riding on some meaty R-compound Michelin Pilot Sport Cups. A 265 series handles the front of the car while a 295 keeps the rear in line. With Art Morrison himself in the driver's seat the Vette scales in at 3080 pounds with a 49% front to 51% rear weight ratio. Corner weights are all within 40 lbs of each other. Even with a heap of the 3400 hours of work hidden under the reworked skin, the crew that came to scan the car for Gran Turismo would miss no detail.

The key to the binary reproduction of the Corvette came in a box with a crew of two. In a darkened room a thin red beam of light shot from the box across the up on the rack Corvette, and relayed data through a three-quarter inch data cable snaking from the back of the black box on a tripod. Art and son Craig Morrison were both amazed.

"The first scan they did was the underside of the car. They did a pan of the chassis. As they were scanning it, in real time, there was a 3-D wireframe model being built of the car on the screen. You could actually see the relationship between the body mounts and the floor. You could see the exhaust and the clearance that the exhaust had. You could see the tread pattern on the tires, the horns, and all the fasteners holding those in place, the whole chassis, the headers, the oil pan - everything", said Craig.

After the bottom half of the car was scanned in the rack was dropped and the interior transferred into binary for a complete 3-D model.

"It was bizzare. A red line swept across the interior. It was sort of a spacey type of a deal. The room was somewhat dimly lit, and you would see this red line sweep across - bzzzzzzzzt. As soon as it finished it was producing a 3d wireframe model to scale on the screen", said Art.

When the scan was complete a full 3d model of the car was soon rotating around on the computer screen. With a click or two of the mouse the entire car began unfolding in three dimensions on a screen in front of Art and Craig's eyes. To fill in the wireframe back at GTHD central a four-person crew took video and still imagery of the car.

"They took video of me going through the gears, and the starting sequence of the car. Turning the wheel. Setting the e-brake. Pulling the hood release. Hi-beam Lo-beam. Everything." said Craig.

While the binary crew is likely to come along for some more work when the Vette goes out for track testing in April of 2007, the method in which actual car handling translates into accurate gameplay remains mysterious. Art Morrison asked the digital crew a question from an analog chassis builder perspective. "Obviously an F1 car handles better than a Toyota Corolla, but how do you make it handle better on the screen"?

The answer will remain a secret, but as the Gran Tursimo faithful know the cars on the screen really do handle like their genuine counterparts. To insure the car handles as it should the Project Manager on hand promised an advance digital copy of the Corvette to Art and Craig for an in-game handling test. Astounding is that it will likely take more hours to reproduce the digital version of the Corvette for Gran Turismo than did building the analog nuts and bolts version.

"They have a crew of 40 people that are going to spend the next six months building our car for the game. That's the amount of detail", said Craig.

The Art Morrison Enterprises Corvette will be available to everyone else as part of the "Next Edition" of the Grand Turismo franchise. We suspect that you'll have to earn it by winning a few races. When this right will be available is anyone's guess. Art and Craig are excited to be involved in the production of Gran Turismo, even though the exact release date remains a source of great mystery and speculation. The fact that the car will be immortalized in binary form is a source of pride for the father and son team.

"What's cool is that it's a real American car, and for us it's a real dream" said Art. – Mike Bumbeck [All imagery courtesy of Art Morrision Enterprises]

Art Morrison Enterprises [artmorrison.com]

Related:
Gran Turismo 5 to be 100 Times Better? [Internal]

ForbesAutos.com Top 10 Video Games with Cars

1. Gran Turismo 4

2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

3. OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast

4. Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed

5. Spy Hunter

6. Project Gotham Racing 3

7. Sega GT 2002

8. Test Drive Unlimited

9. Pole Position

10. The Fast and the Furious

Top 10 Video Games with Cars; Slideshow [ForbesAutos.com]

Related:
Forbes' Top Cars For Singles, 2006; Size Matters: Forbes' Best And Worst City Whips For '06; Forbes, It's Not A "Sexy Cars" List Without A Camino!; Forbes Lists Spring Hotttness, We're Underwhelmed; Forbes Runs Down the World's Most Expensive Cars; ForbesAutos On the Sopranos' Coolest Cars [internal]

The tv show for the greatest of the first group of racing games was never good enough to "bust our crank" or "leave skid marks on our soul," as the commercial for the Atari game claims to be — but it's certainly deserved of a mention, even if it's merely for an award in the category of "what not to do in game/saturday morning crossovers." We happen to believe any time you limit sex fan fiction by making the two main characters brother and sister, you limit your overall audience. But that said,

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Related:
'You Look Like a Jerk!' 'Pole Position' Goodness [internal]

The man they call Lew found this amazing piece of Saturday-morning genius from Atari. For those of you too young to remember, and although the game still survives in laundromats to this day. Pole Position was absolutely revolutionary when it came out; a cut above every other racing game of the day. Meanwhile, this commercial is by far about six to eight cuts above the current crop of video games. You'll just have to watch to find out why. The sheer radness is obscene. It'll leave skidmarks on your soul.

Related:
Art and Science Indeed: Cadillac Does Xbox 360 [Internal]

Cadillac announced today it would offer a free, promotional content pack for Project Gotham Racing 3 on Xbox 360. The package includes all the accoutrements needed to race Caddy's three high-performance V-Series models: the 400hp CTS-V, 469hp STS-V and 443hp XLR-V. What's more, gamers who can finish in the top 100 in any of the models on the virtual N rburgring Full F1 Circuit can gain "Cadillac Elite" status, which will probably entitle them to certain privelages (prizes, downloads and some such) at some undetermined point in the future. No word on the existance of any hidden vid-game easter eggs or, say, cheat codes for a 1964 Coupe deVille or 1979 8/6/4-powered Seville. Well?

Related:
Project Gotham Racing 3 Criticisms [internal]

Man, it's been such a slow news day today that we were conspiring with CTE to create some grand Jayson Blair-esque scandal involving Dieter Zetsche, Rick Wagoner, a Dodge Sprinter full of fresh-frozen halibut and a vat of ready-for-disposal/recycling Mobil 1. But then we didn't and instead report that there are some gamers out there grumping about the brand-spankin'-new Project Gotham Racing 3 for the equally-spankin'-newXbox 360. Since the most technologically-advanced video game system we own is an O.G. NES (Slalom, anyone?), we're fully unqualified to comment on the veracity of these claims, but if you're so compelled, click below and find out for yourself.

Gamers are unhappy with PGR3 [Xbox Addict]

Related:
Project Gotham 3: First 3D Screenshot [Internal]

For those of whom Juiced is an addiction with no known cure, THQ is almost ready with a new edition of the game for the PSP, allowing gamin' fools to carry their wheel-to-wheel action wherever they go. According to Juice Games' Director of Handheld Games (did anyone think that would one day be a job title?), Tim Preece, it's not merely a downsized port of its console-based brother. The miniturized version of the game features nine new cars, bringing the total of licensed vehicles to 60, as well as 100 new body-kit options, making Juiced: Eliminator a perfect and less-unwieldy substitute for playing with paper dolls on the Metro.

Juiced: Eliminator Designer Interview [IGN]

Related:
Project Gotham Racing 3: First 3D Screenshot [Internal]

Unlike most males in the 10-34 demo, we're not big video gamers. Ssh! Don't tell our little brother. But one game we really did like was the original Project Gotham Racing for the Xbox. Something about bombing down San Francisco's Embarcadero in a Mini Cooper S with the Murder City Devils blaring just really boils our bagels. Alas, we suppose we'll always be Bay Area folk at heart. Project Gotham Racing 3 is on its way, and while release dates haven't been confirmed, it's posited that the game's debut should coincide roughly with that of the Xbox 360. In the meantime, Bizzare Creations, the game's developer, has posted a swell 3D screenshot of a McLaren F1 from the game.

Bizarre Creations Studio Update 11 [Bizarre Creations via CVG]

Microsoft's Forza Motorsport for Xbox: The Missing Cars [Internal]

According to IGN, who got the news from Gameindustry.biz, who heard it from Croat mag Auto Klub, which pulled news of Gran Turismo Five right outta the mouth of the horse himself, game guru Kaz Yamauchi, the PS3 version of the venerated driving simulator will be "100 times more detailed" than the previous version. Scheduled for release in 2007, there are no other tidbits available besides Yamauchi's cryptic quote. Here's to hoping that there's an option to throw ham sandwiches slathered in mayonnaise and pitchers of warm Carlsberg at opposing drivers.

GT5 on PS3 in 2007? [IGN]

Related:
Gran Turismo 4 Launches [Internal]