We are sad to report that Colin McRae, the renown Rally racer was killed on Saturday in a helicopter crash along with his 5 yr old son. Colin was 39 years old at the time and leaves a wife, Alison and daughter, Hollie behind. Colin McRae was an avid video gamer and had his own gaming line. Codemasters, who developed his games, released this statement today:
Everyone at Codemasters, especially those who worked directly with Colin McRae, is deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic events of Saturday 15th September 2007.
The loss of Colin McRae is deeply distressing. That it involved his son and another so young makes it even more tragic. Our thoughts are with his family and those closest to him and we share in their pain.
For over ten years, Colin was part of the Codemasters family and it was a privilege to have a man recognised as a true legend on the team. He always took a keen interest in the game experience, wanting to make sure it was without equal in its portrayal of the sport.
His contribution was inspirational and brought his technical expertise and passion for rally driving to each and every McRae game. Through the popularity of those games, he brought a whole new audience to the sport itself.
Codemasters’ relationship with Colin began through Jim, David and Richard Darling and their condolences, along with ours, are passed to Colin’s family. We are heavy of heart at his passing but we are also brimming with pride at knowing him and to have played a small role in his life.
He will never be forgotten by all at Codemasters.
The prayers of the entire Loot Ninja Family go out to the family and friends of Colin McRae.
DiRT, the next game in the Colin McRae series, is the first real rally racing game to come to the Xbox 360. It was hyped well for a while before release, but just how well did it hold up? Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of DiRT for the Xbox 360:
Presentation and Graphics: The graphics in DiRT are very good. I’d say probably the best I’ve seen in a racing game on the Xbox 360 (that includes Forza 2). The car models are very realistic and the tracks are well laid out with great detail. DiRT sports a dynamic damage model system which adds a nice depth of realism to the game. Hit your passenger side too much and the door will swing open the rest of the race, which not only looks cool but also affects your car’s performance. The mud and dirt effects on the track look beautiful as well. The only environment effects I’ve ever seen look better are in Motorstorm. The graphics do take a large hit, however, because of framerate and tearing issues. Many times during a race you’ll encounter framerate slowdowns or vertical screen tearing, which really takes away from the experience. 3 of 5
I finally got DiRT for the Xbox 360 from Gamefly… only took them a few weeks. I put in a few hours tonight with the game and am still on the fence.
The graphics are gorgeous. They’re a step above when you see in Forza 2 and Project Gotham, but not quite to the level of Gran Turismo HD and GT5 Prologue. The gameplay is what’s getting me. I’ve never been big into the Colin McRae series for just this point. Rallisport Challenge and games of that nature always felt better to me for the rally racing genre. So it’s taking a bit to get used to how the cars handle in DiRT.
The game sounds very cool in surround sound, especially when you hear cars behind you back-firing. My fiance thought there was some POS car outside back-firing at one point, which was enjoyable.
I’m having a good time with the game so far, now that I’m getting used to the controls. I wouldn’t say it’s the best rally racing game I’ve ever played, but it’s pretty good and the graphics are top notch. I’ll have a full review coming early next week.
Ok I got a chance to play around with the DIRT Demo for the Xbox 360 and one word jumped out of my mouth… Impressive! I like the damage engine for the car, but more impressive is the environment damage. When you drive your car offroad you can tear up the dirt and get it all over your car and when you drive into a rail it gets damaged as well as your car.
I also liked the fact you can actually view where you have taken damage, i.e. your exhaust, body, engine, etc. in the menus as percentages. You can also see all the dings and damage on your car, I wrecked my Audi and took the bumper off, cracked the windshield, good old bumper car fun.
DIRT definitely takes some getting used to from a handling perspective and is very different from Forza, so expect to play a couple of games where you spin out a bit. The demo did make me want to grab the game though, worth checking out.
In case Forza 2 isn’t your cup of tea, there’s some new rally racing up today in the form of a demo. Colin McRae: DiRT is now available to download for you try your rally racing skills.
The demo weighs in at 768.79 MB for the 360, and gives you Crossover, Hill Climb and C.O.R.R. (Championship Off-Road Racing) events. The PC demo is about the same size, but gives you online multiplayer with up to 100 people instead of Hill Climb and C.O.R.R.
From the press release:
On both Xbox 360 and PC demos, the first event is a Crossover race with players competing against Colin McRae himself. Set in Germany, the Avelsbachring’s smooth but twisty tarmac is the perfect battleground for a pair of Subaru Impreza WRX STI spec Cs; McRae’s car complete with his 2006 Summer X-Games No Fear livery. Then, with nine other racers aggressively competing for position, it’s a fierce C.O.R.R. competition in V8 650hp buggies at the Bark River Off Road Raceway, Michigan.
The new rally racing game in the Colin McRae series has some amazing car damage effects. This is all real time and normal mapped, so it takes on a pretty realistic effect of how damage would occur.
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We are sad to report that Colin McRae, the renown Rally racer was killed on Saturday in a helicopter crash along with his 5 yr old son. Colin was 39 years old at the time and leaves a wife, Alison and daughter, Hollie behind. Colin McRae was an avid video gamer and had his own gaming line. Codemasters, who developed his games, released this statement today:
Ok I got a chance to play around with the DIRT Demo for the Xbox 360 and one word jumped out of my mouth… Impressive! I like the damage engine for the car, but more impressive is the environment damage. When you drive your car offroad you can tear up the dirt and get it all over your car and when you drive into a rail it gets damaged as well as your car. 
