Test Drive Unlimited 2 Message Board older than one year ago

Okay, Test Drive Unlimited 2. We get it, alright? Your game is set in a remarkably beautiful, peninsular world that our real-life salaries will never allow us to inhabit. You don't have to keep rubbing our nose in that fact with your every trailer, including the gorgeous video posted below.

Drifting through Ibiza with friends in tow.

Chasing the sun this February.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 developer Eden Games is betting you'll be all done with Gran Turismo 5 and ready for a new driving game by early next year, announcing plans to drop TDU2's opening flag on February 8. It appears the studio is using its extra half year of development time -- the game was pushed back from September to "Q1 2011" this past August -- to create an unbelievably complex pre-order incentive plan at several different retailers, broken down after the break.

We'll parse it for you real quick right here, should you not have the time: GameStop pre-orders get the Casino DLC while every other retailer just gives you a car. Sure, Walmart's offer of an in-game Bugati Veyron Supersport 2010 is tempting, but it's not a whole freakin' game mode.

When Test Drive Unlimited 2 launches early next year, players will be able to indulge in one of life's sweetest vices: Gambling. The launch day Casino DLC pack will give players another channel of income and unlockable cars -- provided they're as constantly lucky as the players in the trailer below.

Chasing the sun with Atari and Eden's ambitious open world racer.

Atari today launched a new initiative called "Atari GO" (short for "Atari Games Online"), which is designed to leverage the company's current and future catalog across a number of platforms, including consoles, mobile, social and online gaming.

Joystiq spoke with Atari Executive VP of Online and Mobile Gaming Thom Kozik, who said that the new program aims to use Atari's catalog and partnered indie developers to "not only move Atari more aggressively into providing casual online and social games, but leverage that well of experience and creativity that all of these independent developers have."

Kozik reiterated that Atari has slowly built and acquired a large infrastructure for online and social gaming, and the company is now opening up that infrastructure to both developers interested in creating new Atari titles and online affiliates that can embed and host Atari's games. Through Atari GO, Kozik said he hopes to turn sites that are currently hosting unofficial versions of Atari's oldies into new sources of income. "Take that unofficial version down, replace it with our official version," he suggested, "and you'll be able to share in the revenue."

Kozik revealed that some of the Atari GO games will be tied into the company's core games. For example, a Facebook tie-in game might unlock extra content in the upcoming console racer Test Drive Unlimited 2. "So we're able to wire together, for a particular player, their virtual goods, their experiences and what they'll be able to share, back and forth," he explained. Additionally, Atari plans to "reinvent" some of its historic games within a social gaming context. Both Asteroids Online and Deer Hunter Online are due out by the end of the year and serve as "new reimaginings of those IPs in a socialized context," according to Kozik, "with microtransactions and a broader narrative."

A new racer draws nigh.

Atari and Eden Games today delayed Test Drive Unlimited 2 until an early 2011 release to allow further multiplayer development. The Beta too is delayed. More »

Atari and Eden Games' Test Drive Unlimited 2 has pulled into the slow lane for now, with the open-world racer missing its September debut in favor of an "early 2011" launch. Consequently, the planned beta period has also been pushed back, although players who already signed up will apparently be rewarded with "exclusive in-game content" when the final game arrives (and they'll still participate in the multiplayer test drive).

According to a message posted on the official website for Test Drive Unlimited 2, the delay will allow Eden Games to apply "a few extra months of polish" and ensure "that we deliver a robust and reliable online service from the day we go live." The new beta dates are expected to be announced "shortly."

Atari pushes open world racer back to 2011.

#clips Don't have $1.7 million to drop one of the only 77 Aston Martin One-77's being produced? The sexy automobile can be virtually yours for a mere $60, when Atari and Eden Games release Test Drive Unlimited 2 this September. More »

In real life, the Aston Martin One-77 is a gorgeous little state-of-the-art luxury coupé with a lightweight carbon fiber chassis, a production run of only 77 units, a top speed of 220 miles per hour and a price upwards of a million dollars. In Test Drive Unlimited 2, though, you'll actually be able to own and drive one.

Sure, the experience of driving this masterpiece in real life might not quite compare to pushing pixels around in a video game, but trust us, the insurance premiums are way less. Drool over these shots (and the video after the break) until the game comes out September 21.

Atari is taking the cover off of the coveted, sexy and sleek Aston Martin One-77!

If you turn to video games as a source for blissful escapism, it looks like you won't be able to do much better than Test Drive Unlimited 2. That is, of course, if you prefer to escape to lush, tropical environments and vast sums of financial assets, and not monster-laden Hellworlds.

Legendary disc-spinner leads musical assault on open-road sequel.

#e3 A glamorous, raven-haired beauty clad in a slinky dress wanders through a showcase of the world's most expensive vehicles, her high heels clicking on the tile floor. I'm that raven-haired beauty, and one of these cars will soon be mine. More »

Behind the wheel at last.

After hearing all about the game a few months ago, we finally got to see Test Drive Unlimited 2 in action at Atari's booth on the floor of E3, and it was just as impressive as expected. Eden Games has really expounded exponentially on their premise of creating an MMO racing game, and the result seems to be a title that all kinds of players will find enticing.

Customization is one of the backbones of the MMO genre -- in a persistent world full of thousands of people, you've got to do everything you can to try and stand out. So Eden has made almost everything in the game customizable: the vehicles you drive, your own character, your home and your location. The first title in the series toyed with customization, but the second title almost puts it front and center.

Test drive these unlimited screens. Actually, there are 10.

Spaces are limited, apply now.

If you're one of those cautious, try-before-you-buy types, you may want to check out the recently posted beta application for Atari's online racer, Test Drive Unlimited 2. It's pretty much your basic application: Name, gender, address, computer specs, which consoles you own, how long you spend playing games each week, and detailed report on your sexual history over the past eighteen months.

You'll need to register for an Atari account to fill in these parameters, thought if you've already got a Champions Online or Star Trek Online account, you should already have access to the application. Also, we were kidding about the whole "sexual history" thing. They only want to know about the past six months. Whew!

[Thanks, B1gg_Randall]

Those awaiting the arrival of Test Drive Unlimited 2 shouldn't make any travel plans for the second week of September, because Atari's already booked you for a trip to Ibiza. The scenic racing game is due to be released on September 21, 2010 in North America, and pre-order campaigns will roll out beginning this week (May 28). As has become the norm, various retailers will feature unique bonuses in exchange for your solemn vow to purchase the game from them. Here's a quick rundown of what's being offered to pre-purchasers:

• Amazon pre-order bonus: Aston Martin V12 Vantage Carbon Black special edition, in-game avatar apparel and Amazon video games store credit (amount TBA)
• Atari.com: custom Nissan 370Z
• Best Buy: Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black special edition
• GameStop: TDU2: Casino Online bonus game (including poker, roulette and slots; playable with friends online) and two exclusive unlockable cars
• Walmart: Inuit finish Audi Q7 V12 TDI Quattro, in-game avatar apparel and Walmart.com gift card (amount TBA).

We recently saw Test Drive Unlimited 2 in action and will have hands-on impressions of the game from E3.

Those awaiting the arrival of Test Drive Unlimited 2 shouldn't make any travel plans for the second week of September, because Atari's already booked you for a trip to Ibiza. The scenic racing game is due to be released on September 10, 2010 in North America, and pre-order campaigns will roll out beginning this week (May 28). As has become the norm, various retailers will feature unique bonuses in exchange for your solemn vow to purchase the game from them. Here's a quick rundown of what's being offered to pre-purchasers:

• Amazon pre-order bonus: Aston Martin V12 Vantage Carbon Black special edition, in-game avatar apparel and Amazon video games store credit (amount TBA)
• Atari.com: custom Nissan 370Z
• Best Buy: Aston Martin DBS Carbon Black special edition
• GameStop: TDU2: Casino Online bonus game (including poker, roulette and slots; playable with friends online) and two exclusive unlockable cars
• Walmart: Inuit finish Audi Q7 V12 TDI Quattro, in-game avatar apparel and Walmart.com gift card (amount TBA).

We recently saw Test Drive Unlimited 2 in action and will have hands-on impressions of the game from E3.

There's a lot of news on Eden Studios' sequel, Test Drive Unlimited 2, coming out of Spain today. VG247 attended the event and spoke to the game's director, Alain Jarniou -- he had a lot of new information to impart. As you may have guessed by the title of this post, three very juicy tidbits were dropped.

First, players will not longer find themselves bound by their automobile. In the sequel, it will be possible to run around on foot and interact with the game world "in specific places." An example given by Jarniou is the pre-race: in the first game, there was simply a lobby for players to interact in before they got down to business. In the sequel, it's an in-game place where avatars stand around and interact.

But Jarniou didn't stop there. He also revealed that plans are underway to offer an open Test Drive Unlimited 2 beta. "Right now, the plan is to have an open beta of TDU2. The difficulty of having a demo for a game like this is the fact it's a huge island, and a huge amount of data. It's not the best way to show the game. So yeah, for now the plan's an open beta."

Finally, Jarniou promises bikes will be available in the game -- just "not for the day one version." He says that the developer rebuilt the way cars handle from scratch, as Eden Studios wasn't totally pleased with how that worked in the first game. "So we decided to start from the beginning," he said, "and we now have a new handling for the cars, and we want to, of course, [do the same] for the bikes."

If you clicked on the video above before reading this, you're probably a little confused. Yes, it looks like you've somehow pulled up footage from PlayStation Home. If you stick with it for a bit, though, you'll see that it isn't. It really is footage from Test Drive Unlimited 2. Like we said in our preview last month, the game is essentially an MMO, incorporating player avatars and various places for folks to hang out when not racing. That's what you're seeing. Crazy, right?

The video provides you with a pretty good look at this aspect of the game; thankfully, it also contains a decent amount of actual racing, specifically highlighting TDU2's day/night cycle, weather effects and off-road driving. You know -- the other stuff you'll be experiencing when not shopping for clothes, getting cosmetic surgery or chilling in a jacuzzi on-board your yacht. (Actually, the MMO stuff is pretty cool ... )

#screens A couple of interior shots made their way into the latest set of screens for Eden Games' Test Drive Unlimited II, showing of interiors every bit as sexy as the colorful candy shells they inhabit. More »

#clips The Test Drive series may not have as rabid a fan base as does Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, but do either of those games have bikinis? No, I didn't think so! Fortunately, Test Drive Unlimited 2 does. More »

It's been four years -- a.k.a. a long time -- since Eden Studios introduced "massively open online racing" with the original Test Drive Unlimited. The series returns this fall in the sequel, which is still MOOR but not just MOAR of the same.

Eden and publisher Atari gave me a peek at the work-in-progress racer yesterday, which was running on PC for demo purposes but at the same resolution and level of detail planned for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. It's already looking gorgeous -- the video above doesn't do it nearly enough justice -- but that's not what impressed me the most. So much as been expanded, tweaked and added to this sequel that I would have believed it if the developer had told me it'd been working on the game since 2006. It also seemed so finished that I couldn't believe we won't be playing it until near the end of this year.

Head to the Mediterranean Sea in style.