Review

You can hardly have missed the news that Sony Pictures was producing a feature film based on the Gran Turismo franchise: we’ve been covering it here on GTPlanet from when it was first floated back in 2013.

It’s an odd time to be a Forza fan. After eight successive years with a full title in the franchise — Motorsport in odd years, Horizon in evens — it’s been three years since the last game in the series, and that was 2018’s Forza Horizon 4.

On our long list of “things we weren’t expecting to read” this year was renowned Italian motorbike simulator developer Milestone being the studio behind a toy car game.

Although the 2021 F1 season hasn’t been quite as chaotic as 2020’s, it’s still been a bit all over the place. Quite literally in fact, as some grands prix are cancelled, postponed, reinstated, and even cancelled again.

It’s always exciting when a new racing game comes out, more so when it’s an entry in a long-running, fan-favorite series.

Earlier this month, peripheral manufacturer Logitech brought out a new racing wheel and pedal set. Going by the official name of “G923 TRUEFORCE Sim Racing Wheel“, it’s the brand’s first new wheel in five years — following on from the G29 and G920 in 2015.

This year’s real world motorsports calendar has, so far, been rubbish. Right now we should be half way through the 2020 season but, following the last-minute cancellation of the Australian event in March and almost every event since either going in the bin or into a perpetual holding pattern, we’re only one race down.

When Assetto Corsa Competizione first launched on PC, there was one question ringing out from console gamers: when do we get it? Kunos Simulazioni had previously ported its first title, the renowned PC simulation Assetto Corsa, across to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One back in 2016.

A quarter of a century. That’s how long Need for Speed has been part of the gaming landscape. In fact the original game — The Need for Speed — predates the PlayStation itself by three months, and initially launched on the 3DO console. If you remember that, you’re showing your age.

A lot of ink, both traditional and digital, has been spilled on the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. This will not be one of those reviews.

Fair warning to our international readers here: things are about to get locally Canadian for a minute.

It’s hard to believe, but the GRID franchise is 22 years old. If it were a person, it could legally buy you a beer.

“Know your enemy, know his sword.”

If 2017 was the year of circuit-based sim racing, and 2018 was all about arcade racers, rally is undoubtedly in the spotlight this year.

I think after this weekend we can all agree on one thing: this F1 season is boring.

Here at the beginning of summer, Assetto Corsa Competizione sits in a rather unique position. It has the spotlight all to itself, at least until F1 2019 touches down later this month. While we first got to know it with our hands-on preview last year, we’re now back to put our spin on the retail release.

If you read my last review with the Thrustmaster T150, you know I’m new to playing sim racing games without a controller. I’m so new in fact that I had to mount my wheel to a TV tray in order to use it with my PS4. This isn’t exactly ideal.

When it comes to sim games, to say I enjoy more lowkey titles is a bit of an understatement. Titles like American and Euro Truck Simulators, Mudrunner, and even Pure Farming often catch my eye. So when Stillalive Studios offered me the chance to check out Bus Simulator 18, I couldn’t resist.

Last autumn I started the journey of fatherhood. If you have kids yourself, you know what this means. If you don’t though, the best way I describe it is your entire world gets turned upside-down in the best way possible.

The Grand Tour trio is nothing if not persistent.