Ferrari has announced their own simulator: The Ferrari Virtual Academy 2010

This downloadable title will simulate the Ferrari F10 Formula One race Car and will include their current competitor, the F10 which is already configured to the set up created by race engineers and used by the Scuderia drivers. Three tracks are included, Nurburgring, Fiorano and Mugello.

The simulation racing game will be available on September 9th for 15 Euros ($19 USD) and will include weekly competitions where drivers will win merchandise and a chance to attend and participate in the official driving academy at Ferrari’s head quarters in Maranello, Italy. Drivers will also be competing against actual Ferrari drivers: Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Giancarol Fisichella. Ferrari has also mentioned that “exclusive Scuderia gadgets and further surprises” will be available.

Below are some videos of the simulation, starting with the official trailer. Each track has been laser scanned and digitally recreated:

Official Trailer:

Official Director: Juca Baldisserri

Technical Chief and Head of Training: Giancarlo Fisichella

Opponents: Massa and Alonso

I’ve probably mentioned a few times what a great job Andreas Nie did for us at Gamescom and how much footage he gathered of Gran Turismo 5 in particular.. Well, here’s more ! I asked Jordan at GT Planet what he would like to see next and it was the footage of the Lamborghini Miura at Monza.

This was filmed at Gamescom 2010, by Andreas with the help of Famine and Venari. There’s no sound except from what you hear on the Gamescome show floor.

Hope you enjoy..

I’ve posted my 4th in game video of the pre release version of WRC 2010 by Milestone and Blackbean Games. Remember, this is not the final build of the game.

This is of the recently announced Group B car, the Lanci Delta S4 at a stage in Finland.

I chose an easy stage becasue the car has so much horsepower that it’s really tough to get around the more difficult stages. I made some adjustments to the car to make the gearing as tall as possible as well as add as much downforce as allowable.

1/2 of video is from in car / cockpit camera, last half from external “TV cam.

As you can tell, I am tip-toeing on the throttle to maintain control of the car. These Group B cars are BEASTS ! To, me the models don’t look as menacing as I thought they would, but to drive, they sure are.

Im using a Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 RS wheel with Clubsport pedals. 270 degrees of rotation, all aids off.

Also, Im using the 270, because thats what this version seems to like the best. Maybe due to it being a port from the 360 ?

Make sure to try and watch the video at 1920 x 1080 to avoid pixelization. Live game play does NOT show the pixelization you see in these videos.

My next video will be the stage and car that was picked in my last blog.. \

Martin Pokop or Xevi Pons Fiesta S 2000 at a Rally in Mexico

Hope you enjoy this one !

Per our mention on the last episode of Inside Sim Racing, we would air the full versions of the post breakout and post Kazunori Yamauchi interview discussions. These are hosted by Andreas Nie as he discusses events from Gamescom 2010 with Famine & Venari of GT Planet.

If you’re looking for new in game footage of GT5, there isn’t any in this video. There is however some great discussion about meeting Kazunori and more on how the Gamescom 2010 breakout session went. We will be posting more videos o Gran Turismo 5 from Gamescom soon.

If you’re not a fan of Gran Turismo, and don’t frequent GT Planet, you may not be interested in these videos. As a fan of Gran Turismo and someone who visits GT Planet, I was very interested to hear what Famine and Venari had to say. They know a lot about the series and it’s good to hear insight from guys that are so passionate about a racing sim.

Thanks to Andreas Nie for hosting this session and to Jordan Greer of GT Planet for helping coordinate things with Famine and Venari.

A new simpod has emerged into the sim racing world, the Playseat F1.

Playseat F1, by Playseat will be compatible with PlayStation 2 and 3, Xbox/360, Nintendo Wii and all PC steering wheel and pedal sets.  The seat is made of vinyl but looks like leather, has red double stitching, is fully adjustable and is finished off with black coated steel.

It will be available starting in January 2011 and will retail for $1012 U.S. dollars, a pretty penny for a racing seat however, the Playseat F1 reproduces the driving position of an F1 racing car, so the driver will get the true experience of driving an F1 car.

You guys think the rig is worth over $1k ?

Upcoming title, World Rally Championship (WRC) published by Black Bean and developed by Milestone is set to be released on October 8th 2010. The title has already announced some downloadable content (DLC) to add to the already impressive list of cars.

The DLC consists of rally cars from the Group B era. In the early 1980’s manufactures felt the need to showcase their engineering capabilities, thus Group B supercars were born. Some of the quickest and most powerful rally cars were built with over 500+ horsepower, four-wheel drive and Kevlar bodywork. The Group B cars were banned after four years because of their involvement with accidents due to their crazy amount of horsepower and speed but has forever remained a favorite among rally fans.

Here is what the DLC pack includes:

WRC
Citroën C4 WRC
Ford Focus 09 WRC
Ford Focus 08 WRC
Subaru Impreza WRC 07

S-WRC
Abarth Grande Punto S2000
Ford Fiesta S2000
Skoda Fabia S2000
Peugeot 207 S2000

P-WRC
Subaru Impreza N4
Mitsubishi Lancer X
Mitsubishi Lancer IX

J-WRC
Suzuki Swift S1600
Citroën C2 S1600
Renault Clio R3
Honda Civic R3
Ford Fiesta R2
Citroen C2 R2
Suzuki Swift R2

The DLC will be available on the date of the game’s release, October 8th 2010 for 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360, 4,99€ on the PlayStation Network and will also be available for the PC.
Stay tuned and keep visiting as there will be a video posted shortly of a Group B car in action.

Codemaster’s soon to be released Formula 1 2010 is receiving much recognition, as it should.

Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM) based in the United Kingdom has reviewed the title and awarded it 9 out of 10, summing F1 2010 to “a sense of danger (and exhilaration) that’s greater than we’ve seen in the genre before.”

OPM complimented the game’s weather effects noting it’s realism and concluded the interview with “It’s one of the most terrifying and intense racers ever made.”

F1 2010 is due out on September 24th, just a few short weeks away. It will be available on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the PC.

Here is Part 1 of an uncut interview ith F1 2010 Chief Game Designer Stephen Hood:

In this Episode we are back to Germany for coverage of Gamescom with todays star being Gran Turismo 5 in all of its glory.

Andreas Nie hosts this report from Gamescom and collaborates with Famine & Venari of GT Planet to gather as much on Gran Turismo 5 as they could.

To start things off, they discuss what they learned during the “Breakout Session” that Kazunori Yamauchi hosted.

Then they got to sit down and talk with the man himself, Kazunori for about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, video was not allowed, but they did get pictures and discussed some of what he told them and we have it here for you.

The three guys wrap things up with their take on the demo at Gamescom.

Also included is a lot of great footage of GT5 while the guys drove in the pods setup in the Sony booth.

We also have a new segment of Top Sim Cars of all time where we drive the AE86 at Laguna Seca..

Hope you enjoy the show.

I’ve posted another video today of WRC 2010 , the Pre-Release Build from early August that I’ve been playing. This is not the final version of the game.

I had some requests to show of the service park and how it works in WRC. I chose the “Single player” rally in the S-WRC class.

Car: Skoda Fabia S 2000
Rally : Rallye de France – Wet Tarmac – 3 Stages – Vallée De Munster

Wheel: Fanatec 911 GT3 RS with Clubsport Pedals – 270 degrees of rotation
No In Game Aids

This video also shows damage repair options in the “Service Park” between stages.

I ran this in 1920×1080 with all graphics options checked. I am experiencing good frame rates throughout all stages, all though, this one seemed to hiccup slightly, Im assuming due to the rain. Not enough to effect the driving.

Speaking of the driving, like I had mentioned previously, I would put the physics on par with Forza 3 or GT5. The crash physics and tires models is definitely more forgiving than Richard Burns Rally. I would say that this is a great entry level Rally sim where as Richard Burns is the king of hard core simulations and will remain so for a long time to come it seems.

I am thoroughly enjoying it though. It has a lot of variety and long term playability to keep me coming back for more. I know I sucked bad in this Rally, but it was my first time through and I wanted to show some damage.

Thanks to Milestone and Blackbean for allowing us access to the pre-release copy of the game to show to you. More videos to come as well as a full hands on preview on Inside Sim Racing !

What car and stage combo would you like to see next ? The first person to comment on this blog will get to choose.

I’ve also added the latest images below the video for you guys to check out as well..

Enjoy !

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Arca Sim Racing owners will be receiving a patch via their Leverage client..

This was posted on their Facebook page today..

PATCH has been released to server owners and will be available to users in Arca Leverage Client soon. Tracks include Chicagoland + revamped USA & Iowa!

So I asked Bill “Zippy” Zimmerman, what the patch included and he gave me the low down. ..

ASR 08 UPDATE 1.05 ((August 2010))

TRACK Added:

1. Added Chicagoland. Night racing is not available on this track, 1 pace lap before GREEN flag & allows for 41 race entrants

TRACK CHANGES:

1. Revamped USA Intl Speedway enhancing layout, graphics, and overall racing. Night racing is still available
2. Salem had some adjustments made to correct the number of laps under caution to ensure all
participants can pit properly
3. Iowa was updated graphically

OTHER CHANGES:

1. UI interface was redone to adjust for driving aid removal done in prior update
2. Commonmaps updated to include latest changes for updates
3. README updated

Chicagoland Speedway is located in Joliet, Illinois, USA, southwest of Chicago. It’s a 1.5 mile D Shaped oval that hosts Nascar and Arca racing.

Here’s some images from the new track !

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