TDU: DLC Revealed

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I just swaped my 5200 for a 6600 GT, I had an X700 but it died on me. the 128mb of ram makes the visulas a little less compared to a 256 card for doom3. The 6600 GT has zero advantages for TV users like me,only good for high res above 800x600. I may take it back for a 6600 256 or another X700. It was cheaper than the x700.

back to topic. I like the idea of 1000 miles of road to drive. But after falling asleep during some of the races in World racing that were 10 miles plus it doesnt seem as tempting. Also the rumored pri of $60 is also a turn off..
 
The roads re just a network, you don't have to do long races, you can do traffic ligh sprints if you want, it's up to you where you start and where you finish.
 
LaBounti
I just swaped my 5200 for a 6600 GT, I had an X700 but it died on me. the 128mb of ram makes the visulas a little less compared to a 256 card for doom3. The 6600 GT has zero advantages for TV users like me,only good for high res above 800x600. I may take it back for a 6600 256 or another X700. It was cheaper than the x700.

back to topic. I like the idea of 1000 miles of road to drive. But after falling asleep during some of the races in World racing that were 10 miles plus it doesnt seem as tempting. Also the rumored pri of $60 is also a turn off..
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Its pretty much said most of the PS3 games and Xbox 360 games are going to be $60 for the big titles.

Microsoft hasn't confirmed anything on pricing, so according to MS, the prices you see right now are Store prices, but they've also said don't be surprised if they're $60. Since so much is now available, its said so much more money will be spent to now to make a game, so they need higher prices to recoop cash spent.
 
They make money on game sales not the price of them. If the game is crap it wont sell much. a $40 game can make more profit than a $50 game if it is better and sells more. You can cheat the public by offering Platnum editions of games that come with $5 of usless crap and chage people $59.99 now for current gen games.

But big name games will sell for the max because they know people will buy it.
 
live4speed
Like they don't make enough as it is.
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Exactly. Over here in the States, ESPN 2K5 Basketball lowered the priced to $20(which was $15 on sale, when I bought it, right when it came out). It's rival, EA's "Live" Series had to lower the price to $40, then eventually $30 within couple of months to compete. 20 bucks!
 
Each game costs about $5 including manufacture, packagine and distribution, the average game has a couple of hundered thousand spent on it. The average BIG game with a big development house and a bigger than usual team ect will cost upto and maybe a little over 2 million to make. You can make that back in around 60000 sales. But and this is a big but, the cevelopers don't take all the profit, the developers don't take any profit from the money we hand over the counter, the developers hand the game over to the publishers, the publisers manufacture and distribute the game to all the shops for money which is then split between the publishers and the developer. Thats where the dev's make their money wheather the public buys it or not, if the shops stock up on it, the dev's have made money. once the games have been bought b the shops, they'll decide the price and they generally make the most profit per unit between the three parties mantioned, the publishers can influence the retail price of the game though.

But say the dev's only make £7.5 per game, thats means they'd have to sell just over a quarter of a million for a profit and thats WITH a budget of 2 million spent on the game. Remember thats how many they sell to the shops, not how many they sell to you and me, not many games don't make a profit.
 
looks great so far..

I just hope the cars in the game are to scale ...not like in the trailer..
they look like those Bit-char-g's in the trailer..
 
Driftster
looks great so far..

I just hope the cars in the game are to scale ...not like in the trailer..
they look like those Bit-char-g's in the trailer..
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Yeah, the trailer was a buit wierd, but the shots are awesome.

BTW, 2 new Dealer shots added... :drool:
6 new pics now!
 
McLaren F1GTR
Ok, so PGR3 isn't exactly beautiful, but Test Drive Unlimited looks astonishing!!!
The last one was ok, but this one could change everything. With the Murcielago Roadster making its 1st appearence and the presence of a Hawaii track, this looks great!

Test Drive Unlimited
Video: Pierre-Anaud Lambert Video Interview
TRAILER:http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/747/747892/vids_1.html

Publisher: Atari
Developer: Eden Studios
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: Racing
Origin: US
Release: 2006


Cars:
~Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster
~Ford GT
~Aston Martin AMV8
~Mercedes-Benz CLK55 AMG
~Lotus
~Mercedes-Benz SLR
~Dodge Viper SRT-10
~Ducatti
~Jaguar
~Saleen S7
~Shelby
~Mercedes-Benz 300SL
~Mercedes-Benz SLK35 AMG
~Koenigsegg CCR
~Nissan 350Z
~Pagani Zonda C12-S 7.3
~Ferrari 360 Modena
~Lamborghini Gallardo
~Aston Martin Vanquish
~Pagani Zonda C12-S 7.3 Roadster
~Lamborghini Murcielago

Location:
~Hawaii Track

A new Article Reveals some new info.
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"In 1987, Test Drive was as much a romance as a driving game, an unabashed fantasy role-play of those twin American dreams: The open road and the gull winged supercar. Since then, the road racing genre’s priorities have drifted from leisurely affairs to epileptically intense speed dating, and the Test Drive name has languished in ill-fitting brand pile-ups such as Eve of Destruction.

So while it may seem odd that the keys to a quintessentially American experience have been handed to a French developer, V-Rally creator Eden has produced a concept that looks back to Test Drives beginnings and ahead for the genre as a whole. This manifesto is apparent from the first glimpse of the game’s Hawaiian location, putting miles of clear pacific water between Unlimited’s tropical highways and the bleached urbanity of its competitors. Its an affluent driving paradise that stretches further than the lavishly modelled car interiors: Play opens not in a garage, but the carefully arranged lounge of your hilltop estate, where your custom avatar reclines overlooking blue sky and swaying fronds.

Here, choosing your designer-label outfit is at least as important as choosing your ride, as your personal style will be on display both behind the wheel and in the multiplayer lobbies. Instead of impersonal text lists, Unlimited’s lobbies take the form of common drive in areas or player created VIP clubs dotted across the island, an approach to community that sees studio head Stephane Baudet reference World of Warcraft as often as he does Gran Turismo or Forza. “Most online driving games are an offline game with an online component,” he says, “and we’re doing the opposite.”

As soon as a player pulls out of their driveway into the dauntingly large gameworld (recreating the entire island of Oahu with an eye for ‘enhanced gameplay experience’ rather than fastidious accuracy), They’re an online presence. Unlimited isn’t a true MMO, considering the gridlock that would ensue from the global population, but an ideal multiplayer world for each player, with server-side calculations displaying the 16 closest players with matching profiles. Flashing your headlights at one initiates an immediate duel, or you can tail them to a lobby area for a larger event: either way, it’s in setting the rules for these face-offs that Unlimited lives up to its name

Races can be tracked anywhere across the islands roads, from a ten-second drag to the four-hour marathon of the coastal loop, chosen from among straight races, time attacks, speed runs, or capture the flag sessions, with or without traffic or police
(In original test-drive style, police aren’t crazed dodgems but rather pace cars, immediately ending your race with a fine if they overtake you). “Each day we are finding new modes,” says Baudet, “like ‘No using brakes’.”

Between competitive sessions there are solo challenges to be discovered, and random point-to-point driving missions such as ferrying female shoppers between malls, or delivering hitchhikers to the airport. There’s also the sheer joy of driving, with the combination of an expansive draw distance, Open environment and the ability to drop the electric windows and pump-up the radio with a flick of the D-pad proving sinfully luxurious. But exploration can be costly – not due to the originally intended feature of having to refuel, since pulled due to ‘being boring’, but in discovering the car dealers and mod shops supplying Oahu’s virtual economy.

Cars and car parts are ranked in rarity, including limited editions that fleetingly appear on the market before being taken out of production. It’s a similar set-up to collectible card games, something Eden has obviously considered, as the current UI displays parts as exactly that – trading cards, which are dragged into spare slots on a car to apply the modification. Trading with other players is performed over an ebay-styled auction system, including the requirement that you supply virtual photographs of your goods to accompany that crucial all-caps headline. “Forza introduced the trading concept, but I found it a little impractical. This is the next-generation version,” Baudet explains. Its mentioned that ebay itself has been approached to lend its appearance to Unlimited’s virtual version; the issue of bidding real-world money on virtual sports cars, though, remains undecided.

Its testament to Unlimited’s intoxicating vision that it can take until the final paragraph of a preview to mention how it actually drives, and in its current state – largely still the E3 build – this aspect requires, and is receiving, attention. Handling seems both cold and slightly samey among the available cars, and is unfinished on the bikes: incomplete physics further complicate matters. Now rescheduled to be fashionably late to the 360 launch, though, there’s time for Eden to make good on that Test Drive dream, and springboard it back to relevance for a generation which might need a little open-top dreaming more than ever."

~IGN
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NEW Pictures!!!

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AWESOME!!! :drool:


Ok, so it seems that you'll be able to either rent, tune and buy a car. Many new elements are going to be in this, and according to the makers, they are going back to the original concept.

I"ll be sure to update this info as much as possible. I am so siked!



The dealer and interior pic are amazing!
And now info!
200120bm5mz.jpg

* Experience more than 125 licensed vehicles from exclusive

* Manufacturers including Lamborghini, Ducati, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Saleen, Shelby, and Jaguar

* Enjoy the most realistic cars and bikes: amazing render quality and unrivalled interior details including full car functions such as radio, electric windows, horn, wipers and more

* Create your own challenges or races on 1000 miles of open Hawaiian

* Roads from more than 50 game rules and settings. Upload your created challenges online to become part of the player community

* Create or join a club to talk, chat, trade, race or organize club-based competitions and tournaments

* Participate in extracurricular activities such as expanding your garage, getting clothes and fashion accessories for your avatar, helping hitchhikers catch planes, chasing car thieves, and escaping from a psychopath
This is an open free roam game according to many magazines meaning the islands of Hawaii are open to you, no boundaries! :drool:
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Well I couldnt care less for the next gen machines but now that ive seen this its changed everything. Oh and the xbox 360 is going on sale in the UK for £209.00.
I know why its so cheap because now everyone will think mmmm dats not alot of money so I might aswell get one so soon every1 will have one and then by the time sonys machine comes out people wouldnt really want it as they have loads of games on their xbox.
 
Small Update:

Our little game that appears a X360 title only will be in fact, multi-platform.
Atari has a PS3 counterpart coming.
 
Nearly every Test Drive has been crap anyway, I'd be suprised if this was any different even if the graphics do look nice.
 
T5-R
Nearly every Test Drive has been crap anyway, I'd be suprised if this was any different even if the graphics do look nice.
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C'mon. Free roaming, buying and renting and testing cars.
Tuning, buying homes. Sounds good to me, even though I enjoyed the PS2 Test Drive (Charger cover).

But people have different tastes.
 
T5-R
Nearly every Test Drive has been crap anyway, I'd be suprised if this was any different even if the graphics do look nice.
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True, but I'm a sucker for racing games. :cheers:
 
For me, the big thing is the whole "drive around Oahu at your liesure" aspect of it. I really couldn't care less about the rest of it. :) Try and scope out some Jurassic Park and Lost locations (both of which were shot on Oahu). :)

That, and seeing how fast I can get a Murcielago going on the highway. :D
 
Most of the previews say the same thing, but a few have some nice views and info. :) Recommended read for all fans. CAR CLUBS BABY!!!
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When the Xbox 360 launches, gamers will have a nice handful of racing games to choose from (pending release schedules, of course). There's EA's Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Namco's Ridge Racer, and Microsoft's Project Gotham Racing 3. From what we've seen so far, these games look fabulous, but we're a little wary as to whether they'll do anything new for the racing genre. I mean, are we just getting current gen racers with a new coat of paint? Test Drive: Unlimited is another one of the 360 racers that's scheduled for launch time, and while it too features fantastic graphics, it also looks to add some very new and interesting elements to the genre.

For one thing, when was the last time you created a character in a racing game? We don't mean just entering a name, we mean designing a racer from the ground up, including body type, hair color and even clothing style. See, unlike most other racing games, Test Drive: Unlimited will allow you to go to your house, walk around your living room, check out your rides in the garage, and so forth. In a way, it's a lot more RPG-like than any racing game we've ever seen, and it's things like this that'll help to set it apart from the pack.

Another way it'll do this is by having a persistent world to race around. The developers at Eden Studios have created a digital representation of the entire island of Oahu in Hawaii just for Test Drive: Unlimited. One thousand miles of roadway are yours to cruise at your disposal, ranging from narrow, cliff-side paths to the wide boulevards of Waikiki. For those that have never been to Hawaii, it'll be a great chance for you see what everyone's raving about. And you won't be alone! Thanks to the 360's networking capabilities with Xbox Live, you'll be able to race the island with thousands of other would-be roadsters, resulting in a completely interactive matchmaking service. Let's say you're cruisin' on the highway, and some jackass cuts you off. Normally, all you could do (that doesn't involve jail time) is curse under your breath and honk angrily. In Test Drive, you can challenge that person to a road race, so you can see just who deserves to own the road.

Atari looks to offer around 150 licensed cars and motorcycles for this Test Drive, modeled so closely to their real-life counterparts that even the interiors look identical. We don't know if damage modeling will be included in this (car companies are notoriously picky about seeing their designs get demolished), but we can hope for at least a little bit of damage to discourage players from ramming anyone that comes their way.

Test Drive: Unlimited looks like it'll make for a very interesting racing game when it releases. The character creation and open-ended island filled with online racers is enough to make us salivate over its potential. Granted, the franchise has been a little rocky over the last few years, but if anything has the power to bring it back to former glories, Unlimited can.


UGO Preview 9-7-05!
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Racing games have seen some evolution since their early beginnings, but nothing that really takes them to the next level. Games like Burnout, and Need for Speed Underground introduced different aspects of the racing scene, but it's still mainly racing. Atari's upcoming Test Drive Unlimited for the Xbox 360 is looking to take the racing genre in a new direction as one of the first massively multiplayer online racing games.


First and foremost, the game encompasses a lot more than just racing. You create a custom avatar that other players will see driving your vehicles. At home you can change your character's clothes and other attributes to better match your personality. You can even take a spin down to the local clothing store and pick up some new gear. If you've grown tired of your surroundings, you can buy a new house as well.

Feel like you need a change in your ride? No problem. Take a spin down to the car dealership and pick up a new car to add to your garage. You can fully customize all of your vehicles and then make a living by selling them online via the in-game auction system. It will be very similar to eBay in that other players will be able to see what you're selling and bid on it. If you set your price too high, you won't get many bids, but set the price just right and you'll bring home the bacon. Everything uses in-game credits, so don't think you'll be spending any real cash.

New aftermarket parts, cars, bikes, clothing and apparel will become available via downloadable content every month. And with over 125 licensed vehicles from Lamborghini, Ducati, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Saleen, Shelby, Jaguar and more, endless replay value would be an understatement.

While all of the extras will add more depth to Unlimited, the real fun will come in the free-drive mode. Here, players will be able to hop in the car of their choice and drive around Hawaii. The game will feature over 1000 miles of Hawaiian road to traverse, meaning that you'll always have someplace to go. You'll see random traffic, but more importantly, you'll see other human players. A map will indicate which cars are controlled by humans, and with a simple flash of your lights, you can engage in a quick race with them. You can create challenges and races with over 50 different rule settings and even upload your custom challenges for other players to use.

Being an Xbox 360 title, the game is graphically looking very good, even at this early stage. The car models are all extremely detailed and will only look better when the development cycle moves to the final dev kits. Atari has gone the extra mile by fully rendering the interiors of each vehicle as well. Players will be able to control the radio, honk the horn, play with the automatic windows, turn on your wipers when it rains, and more. The environments are also large, and fairly detailed. From the looks of things, Test Drive Unlimited could end up being the best looking racing game on the 360.


Car club enthusiasts will be happy to know that players with similar driving tastes can form online car clubs. Car club members will be able to talk, trade, race and even organize competitions against other clubs. It's the perfect clan system for an online racing game. Division-based rankings will help separate the good players from the casual car enthusiasts, and help to create the most comprehensive online racing experience to date.

From what we've seen so far, Test Drive Unlimited is definitely looking to be one of the best titles in the series and quite possibly one of the best online racing games to date. With the power of the Xbox 360 and the minds at Atari working together, Test Drive is looking very promising. There's no word on when Unlimited will hit the mean streets of Xbox 360, but expect to see the game at or around the launch of the new console, later this year. We'll have more on Test Drive Unlimited in the future.
Atari's upcoming next generation racing title is taking the genre to new heights. Ever heard of an MMO racing game? It could be the 1st.

-GameDaily
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While it's never achieved super popular status, the Test Drive series has been around for a long time, dating back to systems most of us have never ever heard of, let alone owned. So when Atari announced the latest in the franchise, Test Drive: Unlimited, for the Xbox 360, it wasn't too much of a surprise.
For this latest Test Drive, the developers decided to take advantage of the graphical power at their fingertips to create a tropical world -- specifically, Hawaii. The entire landscape that you can drive around is one giant island (Oahu), filled with vast open grassy areas, cliffside roads perfect for one-on-one races, and the occasional downtown area for when you feel like racing between skyscrapers.

One of the key features in Unlimited is how you can customize your character. The idea is that the developers wanted the player to be able to put him- or herself into the game, so you can select your clothes, head model, glasses, etc. to create an avatar that looks like yourself. Then, when you go out driving, you will see this model in the car driving around in impressive detail.

Further continuing the customization aspects, players will be able to set up their own house, sort of along the lines of what you can do in a lot of recent football and basketball games. That's where you get the news, meet up with other inline players, store your car collection, etc, and it looks to add further to the relaxed setting provided by the game.

Naturally, as Unlimited is a 360 game, one of the most important issues is how the graphics look, and the answer is pretty darn good. No one specific frame of the action blew our minds or anything, but the draw distance in the early version we tried was incredible. At one point, we stopped playing, and the developers used dev tools to zoom out on the island from where we had stopped our car, and almost the entire island was just as detailed as the part right around us. The scale of detail is very impressive.

Perhaps this kind of scale will be necessary due to the game's broad range of online modes that let many players be around at any one time. While all the minor details haven't been ironed out, it looks like it will be very easy to find competition and set up different types of race challenges by driving around.

Our hands-on time with the game was mostly spent driving around, getting a feel for the handling, and seeing just how far we could go in the wide open environments. The limit? Basically right until you get to the foot of the mountain in the background. In essence, you can go anywhere.

The handling is decent as well, though definitely a bit less arcadey than many recent driving games, so if you're looking to hold down A and just turn when something gets in your way, you may want to look at some of the other 360 racing options. But for those with a bit of driving knowledge, there are a ton of great spots you can find on the island where you can set up races.

Though the developers are also planning a PC version of the game, they say the 360 version is where they are putting their focus right now, and they expect the game will be out by the end of the year.

~1UP

E3 Video
Watch for short clips of the Ford GT, Aston Martin, and Dodge Viper SRT-10. :)
 
I have'nt actually seen real in game footage. So far it's just been FMV type video. Not to say the game will look that different. However, I'm rather undecided on this game since so many driving games will be out on or after the 360's release.
Trying to think what other games Eden Studios have made. V-Rally, I think. Good or bad sign?
 
I was looking for my copy of V-Rally 2 the other day...

I always remember the graphics looking great on my 300 mhz PC at the time, bet it looks like rubbish these days. I also remember when I upgraded my PC the game was twice as hard due to the massively increased frame rate and twitchy handling :D
 
slackbladder
I have'nt actually seen real in game footage. So far it's just been FMV type video. Not to say the game will look that different. However, I'm rather undecided on this game since so many driving games will be out on or after the 360's release.
Trying to think what other games Eden Studios have made. V-Rally, I think. Good or bad sign?
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Their site reports NFS: Porsche Unleashed which was fantastic!
 

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