Superstars V8 Racing

Ivo Simons · May 14, 2009

Looks like fun.

Black Bean Games has told Eurogamer that Superstars V8 Racing will be out on 26th June, costing GBP 30 for PS3/360 and GBP 20 for PC. There's also a demo planned for June.

The first official screenshots were released last week, accompanying the scraps of information offered so far. This is often a worrying sign so close to launch.

"You are absolutely right, this does have the hallmarks of something worrying," a spokesperson for Black Bean games retorted. "It is, however, simply a case of this being the first game in a franchise from a smaller publisher known for bike racing, and we wanted to ensure we released quality assets we could honestly say were from the title."

Fabio Paglianti, senior producer for developer Milestone, added: "The game has very high quality, but the licence is not so famous. So we start with a mid-price so we can show to the audience we can do a very good game, a very beautiful game, to play, to see, to watch, with a good price. Because a mid-price game with that graphics, that content is a very good game for the audience."

Paglianti said Superstars V8 has around 80 per cent of the content of a full-price title like SBK, the motorbike racing series Milestone is noted for - although the studio's racing heritage goes right back to 1995 and Screamer on PC.

Superstars V8 will be a friendly simulation racer, according to senior producer Fabio Paglianti, that will be "easy to start" and feature racing aids that can be turned on and off. One of the special features is an Orbit mode, where races can be paused and a camera flown freely around to assess positioning.

The game is based on the real-life Superstars V8 championship, where well-known racers show what road cars are capable of around a track, a bit like Top Gear but less hairy, fat and obnoxious. "The hook for the audience is to see their own car [in action]," explained Paglianti.

Superstars V8 Racing has quick-race online multiplayer for up-to 12 players, who can be substituted for bots if needs be. This is Paglianti's favourite part of the game. "It's really, really fun," he said, "it's easy to play, it's aggressive."

The AI will be no push-over, either. "The AI have the same behaviour as the human," explained Paglianti, pointing out that different drivers have different skills as well as different cars.

"It's a very good game, but we have absolute faith that in the future we can improve Superstar a lot," said Paglianti, who would like a bigger championship mode and a racing school mode in the future.

He also said the real-life Superstars V8 event "can become a very interesting championship for the audience", and he hopes the game - via annual releases - can grow with it.

That's the benefit of a licence like this, he argued, although he isn't allowed to smash cars up more than mildly, front and back, and has no customisation. So is a licence more important than creative freedom?

"I don't think the limits a licence can have are so high," said Paglianti. "In our view the licence is, every time, a very good opportunity to give to the players a branded game that he or she already knows. "

Gameplay

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8wyoh_superstars-v8-racing_videogames

James Yates · May 14, 2009

Nice bit of hotlink fail there

Ivo Simons · May 14, 2009

I see them.

Dave Stephenson · May 14, 2009

screens attached

Ryan Callan · May 14, 2009

Looks lovely but we shall see

Simon Trendell · May 14, 2009

Like the look of the series.. just wether the game itself is any good.

Trebor901 · May 14, 2009

the game should be pretty descent, dont expect it to be a sim though because then you wont be dissapointed. Its made by Milestone who currently make the SBK series. This game is being published by Codemasters in an agreement between them and Blackbean studio's so that could put people off buying it, but Milestone have said Codemasters have had no input into the production of the game.

Ben Tusting · May 14, 2009

Rob you shouldn't of said that

The sales of this game have dramatically dropped now

.

Trebor901 · May 14, 2009

Im definately gonna buy it, big touring cars with V8 engines sounds good to me lol

Im just hoping they've added interior view aswell because that will be awesome.

Keith Barrick · May 14, 2009

Gameplay video reminds me of the recent NFS garbage.....IE: Blurring effects....and horribly arcadish physics.

Look close at :28 in the replay... look at how horrible the spin looks. Then look at :47 same thing.

Ill have to try it tho I guess.

Trebor901 · May 31, 2009

i still dont get why there's still so little info about this game seeing as its being released in June.

Trebor901 · Jun 6, 2009

3 New Superstars V8 Racing Screenshots and demo tonight

DrivingItalia has released 3 screenshots of Blackbean Games and Codemasters upcoming racing title V8 Superstars Racing.

A demo for Superstars V8 Racing will be available on the Xbox Live Marketplace later tonight for Gold subscribers. The demo will be available for silver subscribers on June 12th.

Licensed by the Italian Championship racing league, Superstars V8 Racing gets you out on the track to test your skills with V8 engines! Powered by some of the most important car manufacturers in the whole world, such as BMW, Audi and Jaguar, and sporting top class production cars, Superstars V8 Racing offers the utmost realistic impression of the Championship. From car design to technical engine features, from the setting of the races to the turns of the tracks, everything has been designed in great detail. Every single car behaves in a complete different way accordingly to its real technical features and the settings tuned by each team competing for the title in order to get the best performance out of the powerful engine.

Superstars V8 Racing is due later this month on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Visit the Blackbean website here: http://www.blackbeangames.com/

Ivo Simons · Jun 6, 2009

Nice a demo.

Superstars V8 Racing Demo on Xbox Live tonight
Friday, 5th June 2009, 3:58 pm
A demo for Superstars V8 Racing will be available on the Xbox Live Marketplace later tonight for Gold subscribers. The demo will be available for silver subscribers on June 12th.

Licensed by the Italian Championship racing league, Superstars V8 Racing gets you out on the track to test your skills with V8 engines! Powered by some of the most important car manufacturers in the whole world, such as BMW, Audi and Jaguar, and sporting top class production cars, Superstars V8 Racing offers the utmost realistic impression of the Championship. From car design to technical engine features, from the setting of the races to the turns of the tracks, everything has been designed in great detail. Every single car behaves in a complete different way accordingly to its real technical features and the settings tuned by each team competing for the title in order to get the best performance out of the powerful engine.

Superstars V8 Racing is due later this month on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Trebor901 · Jun 6, 2009

I take it thats American time?

Trebor901 · Jun 6, 2009

Superstars V8 Demo update

Obviously i dont know where the statement about the demo came from but it was on several gaming websites. Now there's still no sign of the demo and i shouldnt think there will be one over the course of this weekend as Xbox dont add demo's or content over the weekends.