Buggies and procedurally generated tracks feature in Codemasters' latest.
Dirt 4 is finally official, and it's coming out this June for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Codemasters' off-road game is the first proper Dirt sequel since 2011's Dirt 3, though of course since then we've had the brilliant Dirt Rally and the not quite so brilliant Dirt Showdown.
Dirt 4 seems to be building on the success of 2015's Dirt Rally, with a focus on realism as well as a little extra accessibility thrown in to boot. It'll carry the official FIA World Rallycross Championship license, including settings such as Lohéac Bretagne, Hell, Holjes & Lydden Hill, while it'll also introduce dirt track racing in buggies, trucks and crosskarts.
Investigating some of the odder roles in games development.
We all know the drill. New game gets announced, studio bigwig witters on about the big vision, there's a bunch of stats for the trainspotters and then months later - bang! - a finished game. But what happens in the meantime is still vague, mysterious and messy. Rarely does anyone think of the men and women on the game development frontline who quietly toil away to produce the magic that eventually emerges on a diet of little more than Pepsi and pizza.
UPDATE: AMD has issued a statement confirming activation keys have been compromised, and added that there might be a delay in redeeming valid vouchers while it looks into the situation.
Dance yourself slim game Zumba Fitness has won an eighth consecutive week at number one.
Its sales rose this week, up by 16 per cent, and it outsold the rest of the top five games combined.
It's now been top 11 weeks in total, which makes it the joint third (with FIFA: Road to the World Cup '98 and FIFA Soccer '96) best streak of all time.
Strap yourselves in folks, there are bargains galore this week. We've two nicely discounted consoles available, a stellar pre-order offer, a couple of fairly recent releases getting their first proper discount, and a bite-sized game for just a quid. If Cheap This Week every Wednesday isn't enough for you, you can always find more cheap games over at SavyGamer.co.uk.
British publisher Codemasters has admitted being violated by hackers. In an open letter to customers, Codemasters outlined the areas hacked - the Codemasters website, Dirt 3 VIP code redemption page, Codemasters EStore and Codemasters CodeM database - and what had been stolen.
The first post-PSN hack Store update has arrived. More will follow, as Sony tries to catch up on a month of missed content.
Today's highlights are an inFamous 2 demo and the belated arrival of tasty download game Outland. There are a horde of special offers, including Noby Noby Boy for £2 and the God of War HD Collection for £15.
Owners of Dirt 3 on PS3 can now play the celebrated rally game online. Dirt 3 requires a VIP code to be played online. Said VIP code had to be redeemed or bought from the Store.
How much does an official Dirt 3 Edition rally car seat with adjustable steering wheel and pedal mounts cost? £489 (£439 online), and you can order one for your front room this summer.
Who cares what's out now? E3 is almost upon us! Time to lose ourselves in a frenzy of silly speculation and lust for distant prospects. A real game you can hold in your hands and play seems disappointingly tawdry and prosaic by comparison.
Upcoming Codemasters racer DiRT 3 will soon be wallowing in not one, but four dollops of downloadable content, according to leaked PS3 Trophy details.
The add-ons were outed by PS3Trophies. Descriptions reveal extra events and cars, although there's no mention of pricing.
The Power and Glory Car Pack and The Mud and Guts Car Pack both feature new vehicles. The X Games Asia Track Pack and Monte Carlo Track Pack each dole out an extra location, with associated new events.
Codemasters' forthcoming off-road racer DiRT 3 uses an online pass that enables play via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network as well as unlocking five new vehicles.
Codemasters has always brought the kitchen sink along with it for its racing endeavours. This is, after all, an outfit that in 2006's TOCA Race Driver 3 had players racing in a lawnmower one moment and an F1 car the next, all the while keeping the straightest of faces.
DiRT 3 continues the open-armed approach, embracing every element of off-road racing you'd care to think of. There are Land Rush events, pitting four-wheeled monsters against the Kenyan plains, nestling alongside rallycross races that cascade their way across Monaco's harbour, and wintry duels between a car and a bobsleigh in Norway's X-Games.
But DiRT 3's real achievement and its real charm don't come from its litany of ways to churn mud, gravel and tarmac. It's the inclusion of two separate elements that set it apart, and that help elevate it above its predecessors. There's a proud sense of heritage, both for Codemasters' rich past with the Colin McRae series and for the sport itself, that sits seamlessly alongside a spirit of innovation that the studio has quietly made its own in recent years.
It's been three years since Codemasters launched DiRT 2. Back then, rallying was a different beast. Influence from the X-Games and the popularity of Ken Block YouTube videos put the development team on a path to radical commentary and gnarly menu screens.
Stereoscopic 3D has been touted as the next big thing for racing games – indeed Sony claims 3D gives gamers a "competitive edge". But for one upcoming racing game the tech does more harm than good – and can even make you feel sick.
Codemasters has been listening. It knows some people were less than impressed by DiRT 2's effort to appeal to a wider crowd. It's aware of objections to the game's unashamed bombastic stance, the leaning towards fun at the expense of realism. It recognises the argument that the game reduced the core rally content to such a degree that it was at odds with the essence of the Colin McRae titles.
The next Operation Flashpoint game, Red River, will be released at some point between 1st April and the end of June 2011, Eurogamer can exclusively reveal.
The recently-revealed Codemasters racer DiRT 3, due out on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next year, will have "snow and ice, dynamic weather, YouTube uploads, fierce rides and epic tracks, splitscreen support, party modes, an open-world playground and more real-life sponsors and stars than ever," according to the latest issue of Edge magazine.
In the mag, which landed on Eurogamer's desk this morning, chief game designer Matt Horsman says DiRT 3 "is the biggest rally game ever made".
A new career mode emphasises working and racing as a team, and starts you off as a "privateer" racing cars from the 90s.
New Operation Flashpoint, DiRT and Race Driver: GRID games are in production, Codemasters has confirmed.
The UK-based developer also teased a "massive" new game based on the latest evolution of its EGO engine technology.
"In Southam it's full steam ahead with the next iteration in our Flashpoint series, as well as the next DiRT and GRID. It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out," senior vice president of production Jamie MacDonald told Develop.
Codemasters bigwig Gavin Cheshire has confirmed Colin McRae: DiRT 3's existence.
"There's some great stuff coming from Birmingham that's going into DiRT 3," blurted the exec to EDGE magazine, issue 213.
He added: "DiRT was a complete reboot - we threw away what was going on and redid it completely - and then we rebooted GRID because it wasn't top gun, and then we rebooted DiRT 2. I'm not saying we're throwing all the codebase away, but we're throwing the thoughts away and coming out with something fresh and new. Because if you don't innovate, you're dead."
