Project Gotham Racing

Last updated
Project Gotham Racing
Project Gotham Racing logo.webp
Logo for Project Gotham Racing 4
Genre(s) Racing
Developer(s) Bizarre Creations
Glu Mobile
Pixelbite
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Sega
Glu Mobile
Platform(s) Xbox, Xbox 360, Dreamcast, mobile phone, Zune HD
First release Metropolis Street Racer
November 3, 2000
Latest releaseProject Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition
November 11, 2009

Project Gotham Racing (PGR) is a series of racing video games developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Studios (Xbox and Xbox 360) and Sega (Dreamcast). The series appeared on the Dreamcast, Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, and consists of Metropolis Street Racer (Dreamcast), Project Gotham Racing (Xbox), Project Gotham Racing 2 (Xbox), Project Gotham Racing 3 (Xbox 360), and Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360).

Contents

Gameplay

The PGR series have a system called Kudos points. These are given for performing stunts with the vehicle (such as power sliding, overtaking another driver, two wheels, etc.). The longer the stunt is maintained, the more points the player receives. Colliding with the guard rails and other surroundings will cause the Kudos points from that stunt to be lost.

MSR did not support direct network play via SegaNet/Dreamarena, however it did provide some online features. Players could download ghost data and download Hot Lap and Time Trial challenges set by the developers. It also featured rudimentary downloadable content in the form of challenges which featured new racetrack configurations. PGR2, PGR3 and PGR4 supported direct network gameplay via Xbox Live, while the first installment in the series did not.

The cover of each game in the Project Gotham Racing franchise has featured a Ferrari car on it, going from the F50 (PGR) to the Enzo (PGR2), the F430 (PGR3), and the 599 GTB Fiorano (PGR4). The car manufacturer was even the main focus of a free mobile entry in the series, PGR: Ferrari Edition for the Zune HD, similar to that of Porsche in Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed .

The PGR series is the successor to Bizarre Creation's Dreamcast game Metropolis Street Racer , as evidenced by the similarities and the recycled content between the first Project Gotham Racing and Metropolis Street Racer.

Discontinuation

In September 2007, after being bought by Activision, Bizarre Creations announced that PGR4 would be the last game produced for Microsoft. Bizarre developed PGR4's spiritual successor, Blur , which was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows. [1] As no new PGR games were released in the 2010s, and Bizarre Creations was shuttered by Activision in 2011, the franchise is presumed to be discontinued.

In 2013, Microsoft renewed its trademark for Project Gotham Racing. [2]

Titles

TitleReleasePlatform
Metropolis Street Racer November 3, 2000 Dreamcast
Project Gotham Racing November 15, 2001 Xbox
Project Gotham Racing 2 November 17, 2003Xbox
Project Gotham Racing 3 November 22, 2005 Xbox 360
Project Gotham Racing 4 October 2, 2007Xbox 360
Project Gotham Racing MobileDecember 2006 J2ME mobile phone [3] [4]
Project Gotham Racing2007 Symbian, Windows Mobile [5]
Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari EditionNovember 11, 2009 Zune HD [6]

Reception

All five games in the series received positive reviews from critics.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<i>Project Gotham Racing</i> (video game) 2001 racing video game for the original Xbox

Project Gotham Racing is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox as a launch title in November 2001.

<i>Project Gotham Racing 2</i> 2003 video game

Project Gotham Racing 2 is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox in November 2003.

Rage Games was a British video game developer. Formed in Liverpool in 1992, its video games were marked by an emphasis on graphical effects with arcade gameplay.

<i>Metropolis Street Racer</i> 2000 video game

Metropolis Street Racer (MSR) is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Sega exclusively for Dreamcast. The game was intended to be a Dreamcast launch title, however, due to numerous delays it was not released in Europe until November 2000, with a North American version following in January 2001. A Japanese version was in development and briefly offered for online reservation in January 2001 with an expected release date of 22 February 2001, but ultimately canceled after Sega discontinued support for Dreamcast. The game is the first entry in Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bizarre Creations</span> Defunct British video game development studio

Bizarre Creations Limited was a British video game development studio based in Liverpool, best known for their racing titles Metropolis Street Racer (Dreamcast) and the follow-up Project Gotham Racing series. The company has also developed games in other genres, including the Geometry Wars arcade series, plus the third-person shooters Fur Fighters and The Club. Bizarre Creations was acquired by publisher Activision in 2007, and subsequently completed its racer Blur in May 2010.

<i>Project Gotham Racing 3</i> 2005 video game

Project Gotham Racing 3 is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 as a launch title in November 2005. The game was rated by Official Xbox Magazine as Xbox 360 "Game of the Year" (2005), as well as "Best 1st Person of the Year", because of its realistic inside-car view. A sequel, Project Gotham Racing 4, was released in October 2007.

<i>Hydro Thunder</i> 1999 video game

Hydro Thunder is an inshore powerboat racing video game, originally an arcade game in February 1999 and later released for the Sega Dreamcast as a launch title later that year. It was also released for PlayStation and Nintendo 64 in early 2000. This game is part of Midway's Thunder series of racing games, which includes Offroad Thunder, 4 Wheel Thunder, and Arctic Thunder. Hydro Thunder Hurricane, a sequel to Hydro Thunder, was later released for the Xbox 360 on July 27, 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade.

<i>Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved</i> 2003 video game

Geometry Wars is a video game made by Bizarre Creations. Initially a minigame in Project Gotham Racing 2, an updated version, titled Retro Evolved, was eventually released for the Xbox 360. That version, at one point, held the record for the most downloaded Xbox Live Arcade Game.

<i>Sega GT</i> 2000 video game

Sega GT, released in Japan as Sega GT: Homologation Special, is a sim racing video game co-developed by Wow Entertainment and TOSE, and published by Sega for their Dreamcast home console. The game was released in 2000. A Microsoft Windows version was published the following year—in Japan and North America by Sega, and in Europe by Empire Interactive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genki (company)</span> Japanese video game developer

Genki Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer. It was founded in October 1990 by Hiroshi Hamagaki and Tomo Kimura, who left Sega to form the company. The company is best known for its racing game titles.

<i>Project Gotham Racing 4</i> 2007 video game

Project Gotham Racing 4 is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 in October 2007.

The 2000s was the fourth decade of the video game industry. It was a decade that was primarily dominated by Sony, Nintendo, newcomer Microsoft, and their respective systems. Sega, being Nintendo's main rival in the 1980s and 1990s, left the console market in 2002 in favor of returning to third-party development, as they once were. Overall the decade saw the last of the low resolution three-dimensional polygons of the 1990s with the emergence of high definition games, and often focused on developing immersive and interactive environments, implementing realistic physics, and improving artificial intelligence. The sixth and seventh generation of video game consoles went on sale, including the PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox, PlayStation 3, Game Boy Advance and Xbox 360. Notable games released in the 2000s included Half-Life 2, Wii Sports, Grand Theft Auto III, The Sims, Ikaruga, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Super Mario Galaxy, the Halo trilogy, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel</span>

The Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel was developed by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 and was introduced at E3 2006. Released in November 2006, the force feedback steering wheel controller includes the standard gamepad buttons along with floor-mounted accelerator and brake pedals. Although the wheel is capable of running truly wirelessly from a standard Xbox 360 battery pack, use of the force feedback and active resistance features requires an external AC adapter.

<i>Blur</i> (video game) 2010 racing video game

Blur is a 2010 vehicular combat arcade-style racing video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Activision in North America and Europe. The game features a racing style that incorporates real world cars and locales with arcade style handling and vehicular combat. Blur was the penultimate game developed by Bizarre Creations before they were shut down by Activision on February 18, 2011.

<i>Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed</i> 2012 video game

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a kart racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in November 2012, for PlayStation Vita in December 2012, for Windows in January 2013, for Nintendo 3DS in February 2013, and for Android and iOS devices in January 2014. The PS3 and Wii U versions of the game were released in Japan on May 15, 2014.

<i>Forza Horizon 2</i> 2014 video game

Forza Horizon 2 is a 2014 racing video game developed for Microsoft's Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles. It is the sequel to 2012's Forza Horizon and the seventh instalment in the Forza series. The Xbox One version of the game was developed by Playground Games, the team behind the original Forza Horizon, while Sumo Digital developed the version for Xbox 360, with Forza series developer Turn 10 Studios supporting both builds. The Xbox 360 version is also the final Forza game released for the platform. The game received positive reviews from critics and a sequel, Forza Horizon 3, was released on 27 September 2016.

Geometry Wars is a series of top-down multi-directional shooter video games developed by Bizarre Creations, and, later, Lucid Games. Originally published by Microsoft Games Studios, the first title was included as a minigame in Project Gotham Racing 2 for Xbox. An updated version was released in 2005 as a launch title for Xbox 360 and later ported to Microsoft Windows.

References

  1. ↑ "Activision buys Bizarre Creations". DevelopMag.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
  2. ↑ Hillier, Brenna (25 February 2013). "Project Gotham Racing trademark renewed". VG247 . Gamer Network . Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Project Gotham Racing (3D)". www.pocketgamer.com. 2006-12-22. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  4. ↑ Buchanan, Levi (1 May 2006). "Pre-E3 2006: Project Gotham Racing Mobile". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Dredge, Stuart (2007-02-15). "3GSM 2007: Project Gotham Racing Mobile gets a smartphone revamp". www.pocketgamer.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  6. ↑ "Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.