RACE Pro drops back a week

By Robert Purchese Published 26 January, 2009

SimBin effort still due in February.

Atari has pushed the RACE Pro release date back a week.

The SimBin-developed Xbox 360 driving game will now sit in shops from 20th February.

Swedish outfit SimBin created the well-received GTR series for PC, you may remember, so we're quite excited to see what comes out of the garage this time around.

Early impressions are favourable; Oli picked up good vibrations during his RACE Pro hands-on session last December. And, with the next instalment of Forza still under wraps, there's plenty of room for a simulation racer to take up a strong position in 2009.

Head over to our RACE Pro gamepage for pictures and videos.

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 (21) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • Uncle_Fishboy #1 3 years ago

    When is a new forza due then?

  • T4RG4 #2 3 years ago

    In agreement win Donbhoy - it does seem a bit... bland? I havent seen enough of the cockpit cam/driving to form an opinion on the handling (which is what I'm primarily interested in). It uses real footage at the start of the vids (annoying) and then too many fast cuts (which you tend to do for early builds to hide the poor aspects) to get any great sense of where it sits amongst other racing games.

    Interested in the review (please tell us what the handling is like Eurogamer, give it to someone that likes heavyweight racers) but it is definitely a wait and see for me.

    Forza3 however, I'd buy that without any review even though the single-player is perhaps one of the most boring components of any game I've played on the system :)

  • Altrezia #3 3 years ago

    Arse.

    Looking forward to this muchly.

  • paulbadassbriant #4 3 years ago

    RacePro
    Publisher: Atari
    Number of P/Reviews: 25 Xbox 360 61.7%


    all ready reviewed,

  • AaronTurner #5 3 years ago

    Please be good please be good please be good

  • AaronTurner #6 3 years ago

    No that I've played it but just doing a bit of reading on the net makes me think this isn't going to get a good reception. I think people are going to pay too much attention to visuals and presentation. I just hope the gameplay is up to scratch, tough and realistic! If they manage to make this workable on a pad then I will love them even more. Can't wait to race online.

  • BBIAJ #7 3 years ago

    @ Donbhoy:

    There is a RACE Pro demo due before launch.

  • UncleLou #8 3 years ago

    And you keep complaining when people call you a fanboy idiot why?

  • FooAtari #9 3 years ago

    The thing people forget is that this game will likely have fields of 20+ cars, not 6 or 8. Those 14 extra cars don't come for free. Also it will hopefully come with more complex physics than Forza, and that doesn't come for free either.

    I still play a game called Grand Prix Legends, it's over ten years old and it looks pretty crap by todays standards. But there is no other sim like it, thats why it still has a very active community. Thats the things with simulations, it's not really about the graphics. As long as it's good enough the focus should be on the physics, damage, AI and multiplayer.

    But too many 'tards just don't get that.

  • FooAtari #10 3 years ago

    farticusmaximus.

    GT has many flaws. However framerate isn't one of them. 4 and 5p have been pretty solid 60fps games. Take of those fanboy blinkers next time you post. Unfortuantly neither Forza or GT get things 100% right.

  • SomaticSense #11 3 years ago

    Yes, while a lot of the criticism directed at GT is understandable, one thing is for sure: it has been at an ultra smooth 60fps oh, for at least since GT3. Only the Burnout series to my mind has as consistent and smooth a 60fps framerate.

    Back on topic though, I'm really looking forward to this. Hopefully it harks right back to the heyday of the TOCA games or at least the Race Driver series. Getting a bit sick of the collect 'em and tune 'em structuring of Forza and GT. I'm looking forward to full race series' with all the licensed cars and circuits of each championship (Macau!!). As long as they bring over the same level of quality as the GTR series then it'll be aces, iffy graphics or not (but then GTR2 or RACE didn't look complete shit, so why should this be much worse?).

  • dirk_aircool #12 3 years ago

    I bet it slips some more .

  • AtomicBanana #13 3 years ago

    'one thing is for sure: it has been at an ultra smooth 60fps oh, for at least since GT3. '

    No it hasn't, there's always been a bit of tearing and the occasional hiccup. They do a pretty good job, but let's not get carried away ;)

  • secombe #14 3 years ago

    I'm still playing GTR2 and the graphics have never bothered, they are perfectly 'reasonable', and if the physics shown in the earlier instalments are anything to go by, the graphics will be of little concern after a few minutes.

    Can certainly see this getting average reviews, shame as the actual racing (if it follows the previous games closely) is as good as any, and it's great for those who struggle with inconsistent online gaming, as the AI is superb, a different world from the bumper car antics in the Gran Turismo series.

  • KreyAtiv #15 3 years ago

    I'll definitely wait to try the demo before I consider buying this game.
    I agree that it does look a bit on the bland side but hopefully the demo will help fill in the blanks on whether or not it's worth picking up.

  • aphexstwin #16 3 years ago

    i played one of the gtr's (07 rings a bell) on a mates pc using my force ex wheel and omg was it good. nowt graphically, but then its only your mate watching the scenery when you're racing. jumped in a koeni ccx on pro settings, no tc or abs, span it in the pitlane....

    if this is truly a RACING sim, then its a no-brainer. (i fucking hate it when ppl say driving sim, no game except tdu can have that title, and thats stretching things)

  • T4RG4 #17 3 years ago

    @redstanza

    I agreed with one of your posts. Then read the follow-up and switched sides ;)

    I quite like painting my fave car in Forza. If only to mock friends whom I play against. I think it appeals to the individualist side of people. Dare I say I enjoy modifying the cars too? I dont care for bodywork, but I do like to alter the car to suit my needs for particular tracks. Its more interesting, for me, to do this with upgrades I understand than pissing about with detailed suspension settings.

    Having said that, as a result of Forza's approach its quite easy to unbalance the field at times. Those that primarily race a certain track when competing online, e.g. Nurburg, it can be very close and great fun... racing fun. Against the AI, yes, its completely screwed and no fun at all, very unbalanced. Stock racing against people is fun, too few host such matches though.

    You are totally right with regard to your comments on the need for RACE Pro to make the most of console connectivity though. If they get this wrong (and I've a feeling they might) it'll sink quite quickly IMO. What Forza is missing is the ability to sort leaderboards by all driving aides off because it is annoying seeing the top 300 on most tracks using the same stupid rocket car with TCS and ABS yawn.
    Edited by 1 at 27/01/09 @ 01:12

  • rhubarbandcustard #18 3 years ago

    "GT4 was solid I agree. GT5p has some of the worst tearing I've ever seen this gen, and yes I played it at 720p. Can't imagine how it would be at 1080p. "

    You need a better TV. Your current one obviously sucks.

    GT5p should not have any tearing. Mine doesn't.

  • SomaticSense #19 3 years ago

    I think a few people are getting framerates confused with other graphical annoyances. One guy complained GT had a shitty framerate, which it doesn't in the slightest. Silky smooth 60fps.

    Tearing is something else entirely. Besides, I'll mention I never noticed barely any tearing in GT4 considering v-sync issues are being brought into the list of criticisms of the series as well (not played GT5p though so can't speak for that).

  • FooAtari #20 3 years ago

    @farticus

    GT4 was solid I agree. GT5p has some of the worst tearing I've ever seen this gen

    Didn't play MotoGP 06? or was it 07. The first MotoGP game then gen anyway, tearing was awful


    Anyway, point was I want Race Pro to be a full-on racing sim, concentrating on the important aspects and not sacrificing the realism and gameplay for 'car porn'.

    Fully agreed, thats why I sim on the PC.

  • SomaticSense #21 3 years ago

    Well, obviously tearing isn't something else "entirely" down to the natrue of what causes it, but that wasn't the point I was getting at. It was that he was saying that the framerate was shit and using the tearing as evidence of it. Which means that it sounds like he doesn't understand the difference.

    Take Resi 5 for instance. The game has appalling screen tearing, yet it seems this is precisely because Capcom would rather it run at a smoother framerate and so thus leaving V-sync off (which would prevent the tearing issue, but lower the fps). Preventing screen tearing can lessen the framerate, so no, they aren't the same. And so this guy complaining that it has a shitty framerate because of the screen tearing is nonsensical.