Nascarbuc

Has anyone here played with Google Earth a bit? Using the ruler tool I followed a mix of asphalt and dirt roads around Ibiza, sticking as close to the coast as possible. My round trip came up at 127 Miles. I originally set out to measure all the roads (naively) so I didn't drive twice on the same road so its length wouldnt be counted twice, which left out a lot of sightseeing. First observation: the character and diversity are mind blowing. It has the potential to be something epic. It all depends on the graphics engine though and I'm a bit worried because the few shots already released remind me of yet another tropical paradise rather than a mediterranean setting. Second observation: if Eden stuck as close to reality as possible, explorers and rallye racing fans should be the biggest winners. Biggest losers: guys who like to cruise at 200mph in A class cars. I don't really see the potential for that. Lastly, the idea of a 1:1, "Google Earth perfect" Ibiza boggles the mind but I'd say the idea that there are roughly 2000 miles of roads on Ibiza, dirt roads included, doesn't seem so far fetch. Next step will be to keep my excitement in check to avoid mindcrushing disappointments.

Oh... my... GOD. Huge Miami Vice fan here, I can't thank you enough for what you're doing here. I already made the proper Florida ZAQ 178 License plate long ago, I only need to recover the files from whatever HDD I dumped them in. Oh and learn how to mod clothes in-game. My favorite MV tunes are already in-game so I'm clear on that side. As Al Pacino would say: Just when I thought I was out (of TDU)... they pull me back in!

Hey Tyronne, it's lopsided not lob sided. And try to be consistent in your lies: on your bogus sites you say you're in Dubai, not in the USA. For those who don't remember Tyronne, he was Katrina Lansbury, George Benson and a few other screen names on the ATARI forums.

Guys, even though I hate to be the party pooper, I've had to do that a lot lately. There are far too many bad signals coming from ATARI. Recently there was this article: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23813 Here's a highlight: Atari said in its earnings release that in order to improve its cash position, it has reorganized "to focus on more cost effective mass-market games and online." The company has cancelled projects "which do not meet higher return on investment criteria and require significant working capital investments" It's no secret that TDU had a pretty lackluster performance in a far less threatening environment than today's overcrowded market. It's development time and the resources it needed also make it a very costly venture. Another paragraph hints at a "driving franchise" in development: Infogrames added that it is "focusing on profitable online games and owned franchises including original driving franchises, MMOs and our Atari Classic games covering the entire history of the video game industry." But with Atari's focus on social, casual, low-cost games, it could mean anything: TDU is just one episode in the 3 decade old Test Drive Franchise. It could be an Iphone Test Drive game for all we know. Read the next interviews I linked to below and you'll see it is a strong possibility. In this article was also a line about Cryptic becoming the official game dev of Atari: Cryptic is currently working on the MMO Champions Online, and will also be working on new games based on "Atari’s existing and historically successful IPs." Confirmation in this Interview with Jim Wilson: http://www.industrygamers.com/news/atari-ceo-plans-for-ip-investment-explains-phil-harrisons-new-role/ Basically, Iphone games, social games, online games, retro gaming, and only one name: Cryptic. It's like Eden doesn't even exist anymore. In this interview, Wilson points out that games like The Witcher are being cut out. It seems to me, but I could be wrong, that the Witcher sold a lot more copies than TDU and, because it was developed in Poland, cost a lot less to make than TDU. Anyone can chime in on this? There was another, more recent interview with ATARI CEO Gardner in which he basically confirmed that Cryptic was where games would be made while Eden Studios was being turned into the in-house R&D lab, suggesting that Eden would focus on developping the game engines and creative tools to be used by Cryptic and external dev partners, essentially being shut off from the business of making games. And finally, this last interview with Gardner: http://www.industrygamers.com/news/atari-ceo-i-dont-want-to-be-known-as-the-nostalgia-company/ A couple highlights: Still, Atari has to work within its limits. It can't produce massive, big budget console games. That's a lesson that Atari, Majesco and others have been learning over the last (and the current) console generation. “We have to rebuild our product development capabilities and also build the right kinds of products – networked products, social products, and not trying to build a classic $50 million console game. We are building a studio internally at London that's working on casual games. But I don't think we have to own all of our development; we'll be working with lots of outside developers because I think that there's no lock on creativity. Ideas are going to come from different people who love the brand, and we'll be going out to companies basically commissioning the redevelopment of some of our classic brands. Now... It's going to sound a bit far fetched but it makes sense: Atari is owned by Infogrames, a deeply troubled game maker kept on live support with money from the french government for many years. Because government handout means government control it was difficult for a foreign company to take Infogrames over. The french goverrment "bribes" companies so that they don't ditch local jobs. After BlueBay Asset Management lended 150Mil to Infogrames Gardner and Harrison started to discreetly move operations to more friendly territory like the UK. Now, with Infogrames still plagued with losses and still mired in debt, the rest of the business was officially transfered to the US, in a tactically brilliant move. BlueBay, however, can't really get rid of all of its french-based operations and I believe these are the 2 reasons why Eden still exists: first, too much money has been sunk into Infogrames by the national and local governments. If Atari's main operation in Lyon was to be shut down there would be an outcry because of the 80+ jobs. It would lead the local media to look deeper into BlueBay's smart little corporate raid and they would have a field day creating a national outrage against the "evil American capitalists" and no one wants to put up with that french crap, especially in a country where management is casually held hostage everytime some worker feels like acting french. Second, the french government offers very attractive grants to support game development and Eden is the most prominent outfit in the country so they're poised to take the lion's share of that money. It makes sense that Eden, after the botched release of TDU and the PR disaster that AITD was, owes its survival to its ability to grab free money while Cryptic becomes the place where games are made because they've risen to the occasion when given the chance. Bottom line is, just because something was being developed in full speed yesterday morning doesn't mean it still was this morning. Infogrames/Atari has changed its course more often than the octomom changes diapers. You can discard any information older than may 29th (date of the first interview in which Gardner outlined the new strategy). And sorry, but all these screens and so-called new info aren't convincing at all. Hopefully they can create a buzz so whether real or not, the more people get to think and talk about TDU2 the better. At the very least David Nadal or someone at Eden should clarify where they stand. Is there anything we could do, I don't know, maybe a joint effort between the various communities in the UK, Germany, france, and wherever there are TDU communities, to send emails to Eden. Maybe if they get a thousand emails from TDU fans asking respectfully for a statement or something, they'll send someone to throw us a bone?