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Burnout Paradise demo live

On XBL and PS3 today.

Good news, Burnout Paradise demo fans! There's a Burnout Paradise demo on Xbox Live!

The PlayStation Network demo is also due today, although our office PS3 is at the menders (Tom got jam in it) so we can't check if it's gone live yet. Has it, Eurogamers? Has it?

Either way, the demo allows you to explore the Motor City, Big Surf Beach and Ocean View neighbourhoods of Paradise City, tackling three events (including a Stunt Run), and generally gearing yourself up for the game's release on 25th January.

Paradise - as you will know if you have read our extensive Games Convention first impressions and today's updated impressions - is an open-world evolution of the Burnout concept, which looks spangly on both PS3 and 360.

No really, it does. We saw the PS3 version at GC in August and actually wrongly remembered it being the 360 version because it looked so slick, and we're TEH BIAESED.

There are certainly changes for the series' fans to come to terms with, but as senior producer Nick Channon explains in today's write-up, the "three rules" laid down by Criterion mega-man Alex Ward were "'Seamless World', 'Online gaming' and 'Still Burnout'".

Let us know you reckon Criterion's done in the comments below.