DIRT will push next-gen

By Robert Purchese Published 29 January, 2007

"Right from the off" - Raeburn

Colin McRae: DIRT will push next-gen systems in ways we've not yet seen, executive producer Gavin Raeburn has told Eurogamer, and it's all thanks to the newly designed "Neon" engine.

"CMR 3, 4 and 5 were little more than extensions of the PS1 code base," he told us. "DIRT has all new and visually stunning engine that is pushing next-gen hardware to the max right from the off."

"The damage, particle effects, post-production, car physics, car audio and AI are all far in advance of anything we have yet seen on next gen."

Lofty aspirations, especially held against titles like MotorStorm, which is the best of the launch titles, at least as far as Raeburn is concerned.

Colin McRae: DIRT launches for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC in June. The three versions will be almost identical, but Raeburn admits that Microsoft leads the way with its online service:

"Xbox Live set the benchmark with regards to online console gaming, so it is a compliment to Microsoft that we are endeavouring to replicate much of this on the PS3 and PC platforms."

There are no plans for a Wii version in June: it would simply take too much time, as it would have to be developed from the ground up to make use of the console's unique controls. Still, "we never say never, of course."

Raeburn also says he's keen to show off new trailers for the game soon. Well, we're keen to see them. Maybe we could get together on that. Or something.

Meanwhile, you can head over to the gallery to look at the latest screenshots for the game.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (39) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • UncleLou #1 5 years ago

    Could have sworn they said similar things about CMR3-5 before each release...

  • superdelphinus #2 5 years ago

    important point re the wii i reckon

  • peterfll #3 5 years ago

    "CMR 3, 4 and 5 were little more than extensions of the PS1 code base"

    Hmmm. Like I'm sure he said that at the time, and didn't claim these titles were also pushing the envelope. Don't get me wrong, it looks good from the screenshots. But what day is this today? A "another exec makes another bloody obvious marketing biased statement" day?

  • ishigo #4 5 years ago

    What we need is an "Ignore Poster" button but for PR vomiteers like Raeburn.

    THIS JUST IN: IN AMAZING NEWS, MY GAME IS SUPER AWESOME AND BEST!!!1 lol

  • Xerx3s #5 5 years ago

    If the ps3 and 360 are next gen, then the pc should be listed as next next gen. -_-

  • ruttyboy #6 5 years ago

    Erm, why would I care about AI in a rally game?

    "See how the spectator runs away from the flipping car!"

  • Eldritch #7 5 years ago

    EG, when are you going to post the content of your spam folder?

  • toy_brain #8 5 years ago

    Whenever this game gets mentioned, I keep thinking of Dirt: Origin of the Species - that often-delayed (and probably rubbish) 3rd person shooter starring a goth chick.

    Still, whatever. Continue.

  • stuarty_2003 #9 5 years ago

    The PC will always be the "Next Next Gen" Xerx3s. But it does take about a year to catch up, and it's usually not as affordable.

    Although the PS3 price point may put question to latter of my points, at least until a price cut comes our way.



    Edited by 1 at 29/01/07 @ 15:42

  • Eldritch #10 5 years ago

    @toy_brain: That's been released since Nov 8 2006. Looks pants though.

  • dbeamish #11 5 years ago

    Pcs shouldbe be next gen. I have a PC and whilst it might run DIRT at 1fps.. its certainly not next gen.

  • malteaserhead #12 5 years ago

    Isn't Raeburn something you got from loving Colin Mac a tad too vigorously?

  • sport #13 5 years ago

    "CMR 3, 4 and 5 were little more than extensions of the PS1 code base"

    So thats what I've been shelling out £30 for each time - grrrrr

  • stuarty_2003 #14 5 years ago

    I meant the top-spec PC's. You know the ones that have:-

    26 Nvidia cards running in SLi,
    2 Qaud-Core processors,
    4 gig of RAM;
    400gig hard drive
    13.1 capable Surround Sound card
    Liquid Nitrogen cooling system,
    and the bit that powers the whole thing......

    MS-DOS or as it's now known "Command Prompt"


    Now, before anyone gets their knickers in a twist, this post was meant as a JOKE!

  • Wite_Noiz #15 5 years ago

    So? It's a driving game...
    I've always quite liked driving games, but I think they peaked many years ago. I certainly couldn't care enough about the graphics to put £40+ on a new one.

    I still play Mario Kart on the GC, though. Does that count?

  • SBfistfun #16 5 years ago

    "blah blah woof woof it's the best game ever"

  • jellyhead #17 5 years ago

    Nah, PCs should just be dubbed "Best Gen" and have done with it. :)

    A game with a Goth girl in it, with Dirt in the title and me with my reputation! 0_0
    / orders

  • ruckus #18 5 years ago

    Whoa! 400gig hard drive? Are you insane!!!
    methinks someone forgot to overspec somewhere ;)

  • Xerx3s #19 5 years ago

    400 gig isn't that much. Most basic set-ups these days come with 320 gig Hdd's these days. A good system easily beats that.

    How else would you store 300 gig of porn (on a hidden partition with a 128 bit encryption key and then claim to your gf that she shouldn't dl so much because you only have a 20 gig Hdd ;p)?

  • GamerAddict #20 5 years ago

    "CMR 3, 4 and 5 were little more than extensions of the PS1 code base," he told us. "DIRT has all new and visually stunning engine that is pushing next-gen hardware to the max right from the off."


    That might be the case but its still Car vs Clock FFS! When will they learn that rally games just aren't that exciting?!?!

    Oh yeah, this is Codies, they HAVE to milk this for all they can, what else have they got after all ;)

  • Steroyd #21 5 years ago

    Damn ruttyboy got to the Ai punchline.

    Crikey look at the Ai in that crowd they're a beaute want to know how they react when I drive into em

    VROOOM!!

  • YoJimbo #22 5 years ago

    ....i'm actually speechless lol, this guy comes out with some of the best utter bollocks i've ever heard!!!

    IMO...I think this will be RUUUBBBIISSSHHH!! It'll be Colin 5, but just a little shinier and with a stronger lense flair!

  • Xerx3s #23 5 years ago

    Meh, lens flare was last gen. Oh do keep up. ;p

  • Darren #24 5 years ago

    I hope that this "new and stunning engine that is pushing next-gen hardware" doesn't mean yet another game with v-sync issues (tearing)... it seems every other Xbox 360 game suffers from it to varying degrees, even sequels to games on the Xbox that didn't have any before, e.g. Ghost Recon, MotoGP '06, Rainbow Six, NBA Live, etc. etc. That's perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the next-gen for me personally...

  • The-Bodybuilder #25 5 years ago

    I must say, based on those pics (which are obviously in game), it looks to be the best racing sim I've ever seen (that includes forza 2 and GTHD).

  • stoopidgreg #26 5 years ago

    AI in a rally game?

  • freedumb #27 5 years ago

    There is more than one car on a track in some of the screenshots.

  • Tim #28 5 years ago

    So...is this the same game where they fired some poor guy who said that the promo bullshots they produced a while back were actually just Max renders?

    Any reason we should believe anything they say about this game?
    Edited by 1 at 29/01/07 @ 17:45

  • toy_brain #29 5 years ago

    "@toy_brain: That's been released since Nov 8 2006. Looks pants though."

    Just on PC though, right? (thought it was only released in America, must be mistaken)
    I haven't seen any console versions kicking around on store shelves.

  • polymorph #30 5 years ago

    PROVE IT!

  • captainrentboy #31 5 years ago

    Wow there's some negative remarks going on here,I thought everyone would be leaping on the whole ''All the versions are the same....But the 360 is slightly better due to it's live service'' thing :)
    Well I'll definitely be getting it come June.
    Will there ever be another Rallisport Challenge game?Now the 2nd version of that was absolutely amazing.

  • PapaSmurf630 #32 5 years ago

    I gotta say this is THE racing game I'm looking forward to, even more so than Forza 2 in some respects. I've always been a big fan of their rally series. Really looking forward to the videos of the damage engine...

  • TurboBailey #33 5 years ago

    Well i hope is as good as they say it is

    I think Colin Mcrae 5 was a bit crap... the only thing they added was motion blur when crashing your car.

    Ah well, i'll probibly buy it though.

  • Brassnads #34 5 years ago

    SO.. reading between the lines, this is the first game from the ground up they've made since the first cmr on ps1. .. blimey.. was that a decade ago? All the countless others were patches so shouldve been called cmr 1.1 etc. How refreshingly honest.

    And yea.. we have heard it all before.. every time with codies these days - same unimaginative spiel.. all it is is unique selling point this and that. Thinking back to the leap between his toca rd and rd2 I think Im gonna skip this and read the review for dirt 2 (or should that be dirt 1.1) year after next.
    Edited by 1 at 29/01/07 @ 20:37

  • JackofALLtrades #35 5 years ago

    Yes AI!! because if anyone has seen the screens you can race cross country with a bunch of other nutters, this looks mint, bring it on. Colin mcrae 4 was good and so were the previous, 5 sucked.

    The handling went a bit sega rally.

  • PapaSmurf630 #36 5 years ago

    "See how the spectator runs away from the flipping car!"

    Despite the sarcasm, that would be pretty cool :D

    They need to up the certificate so we can do stuff like this. A Rally game/sim isn't complete without the odd spectator death/injury/mutilation

  • Carrybagma #37 5 years ago

    "pushing next-gen hardware to the max"

    :-D

  • RFT #38 5 years ago

    There's AI because the game features lots of other things than rallying, off-road buggies, rallycross, that sort of thing.
    Edited by 1 at 30/01/07 @ 12:12

  • davisorle #39 5 years ago

    I don't know.. If it looks the way it does in the pics and it is the way he says it will be... Then i might get to play CMR again. ( it's been 4-5 years since I last found it intresting to play CMR)