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Sony has put the brakes on the North American release of MotorStorm Apocalypse, delaying the game indefinitely in the wake of last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The delay doesn't exactly come as a surprise, given that the title's launch had previously been postponed in Japan and the UK.

Set in an earthquake-ravaged costal city, the Evolution Studios developed racer had been scheduled for release on April 12. Sony told Joystiq earlier this week that the date still stood. We've contacted SCEA for comment.

Earlier this week, Sony announced its PS3 exclusive racer MotorStorm Apocalypse would be delayed in the UK due to the crisis in Japan. Today, Sony confirmed on the PlayStation Blog that the title from Evolution Studios would also be delayed in North America...

Upcoming racer MotorStorm Apocalypse features buildings falling down. Which led to a delayed release in earthquake-affected New Zealand. And earthquake-affected Japan. And the UK. Now the game's demo has been delayed in the United States. Talk about bad timing. More »

Despite the fact that MotorStorm: Apocalypse has already begun shipping to brick-and-mortar stores in the UK, Sony says it will "postpone the launch" for the time being, missing the March 18 launch date. SCE issued a statement (via CVG) that specifically cites "the impact of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan" and "the parallels between these events and the underlying theme in MotorStorm" as reasons for the delayed launch. The game's March 17 Japanese launch has also been delayed to a "TBA" date, alongside several other titles.

"Although the game itself is already in distribution, we are ceasing any further shipments and removing as much of the marketing materials as possible," SCE's statement continues. "Our thoughts are with all those affected, including our colleagues within the Sony family, living and working throughout Japan." SCEA confirmed with Joystiq that MotorStorm: Apocalypse will still ship in the US on April 12 -- perhaps signaling when the game will be made available across the Atlantic as well.

Sony has delayed the release of its PS3 exclusive racer MotorStorm Apocalypse in the UK following the crisis in Japan. The game, developed by Liverpool outfit Evolution Studios, centres around a city rocked by various natural disasters and was due out in the UK this coming Friday...

#motorstorm MotorStorm Apocalypse was delayed in New Zealand because of the country's earthquake. Then it was delayed in Japan for the same reason. Now it's being delayed in the UK, too. More »

The original MotorStorm was a celebration of off-road racing and music festivals. It was admittedly a strange mash-up, blending the backdrop of a desert music festival with dirt bikes and Mack trucks barrelling down a canyon and bursting into scrap metal at the slightest collision. However, the first game set the pace for the rest of the series and it established a few key qualities that have endured across the PS3, PS2 and PSP sequels...

This Sony-issued video showcases some of the minds behind MotorStorm: Apocalypse.

A MotorStorm Apocalypse private beta test is underway, according to an invitation forwarded to us by a UK-based tipster. The beta includes four scheduled event nights over the next two weeks, as detailed in the invitation (in full after the break), which are intended to stress test the servers and online matchmaking leading up to the game's April 12 launch.

According to a recent thread on the Official PlayStation Community (EU) forums, the beta appears as "Network Beta Trial Notification - PlayStation 3 beta Trial PSN" to better disguise its identity. Don't take it personally -- it's private, after all. You'll likely get your test run in the (public) demo, which is due on PSN before the full Apocalypse.

[Thanks, Feigned-existence]

Kicking back at the centre of the storm.

See how the apocalypse can turn into your motorsport playground with Art Director Simon O'Brien of Evolution Studios.

Sony's taken gaming -- and a few IGN editors -- to the next dimension.

Our first video diary was all about Festival mode. The most ambitious aspect of MotorStorm Apocalypse, ‘Wreckreation’ mode, needs two more video diaries to fully explain… and today we’re unveiling the first!

Dive deeper into in the suite of diverse multiplayer and solo game modes, and learn more about the flexible, rewarding and entertaining game-play experiences Wreckreation has to offer – and watch out for new footage and reveals of some of the challenges, rewards and customisation features. ;-)

There is still a lot more of MotorStorm Apocalypse to uncover, and we’ll be sharing the second video diary on Wreckreation on the blog soon. In the meantime, we’d love to hear what you thought of this video and what you’re looking forward to from “the party at the end of the world.”

Finally – a demo is coming! Dates are very close to confirmation (it needs to be tested around the world just like the full game), but if you’ve seen any glimpses of a track called Mainline, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect. As soon as we have a date we’ll share it.

MotorStorm Apocalypse will be shaking things up this April 12, and you can pick up some really cool exclusive in-game vehicles just for putting a few bucks down to pre-order.

#rumor MotorStorm: Apocalypse is an upcoming racing game that features buildings falling down all around you. In the wake of a devastating earthquake in the city of Christchurch, that's apparently resulted in the game no longer being released in New Zealand. More »

Take to the piers and get wet behind the ears.

You take the low road and I'll take the rooftops in this high-flying gameplay.

Last week, we invited a bunch of journalists to join us at the Classic Car Club in London’s trendy Shoreditch to celebrate the upcoming release of MotorStorm Apocalypse. There was a presentation and live playthrough of a brand new track, loads of 3D TVs to play the game on and some fairly spectacular burgers.

While it was all being set up, I sat down with the Assistant Game Director Simon Barlow to chat about online multiplayer, the challenges of moving to an urban setting and the sheer scale of the arcade racer coming exclusively to PS3 in March.

Yes, it was pretty cold in there.

Yesterday I paid one of my irregular visits to our research technicians in the building they share with our embedded testers and sound engineers. Once again they blew my mind with their staggering glimpses of tomorrow’s world. Videos of Sony prototypes such as the head-mounted display and the volumetric display cylinder show how exciting the exponential growth of technology for games really is. The Holodeck is closer than any of us could imagine!

About 5 years ago, at the same time MotorStorm was in pre-production, I shared a studio space with these guys, and they were adamant that stereoscopic 3D gaming was going to be far more compelling than 3D movies. To prove it, they built a 3D simulation of our local race track…and stunned us all. Politicians, senior execs and pro race drivers all secretly visited to see what the modest geniuses we hired from British Aerospace Engineering had achieved.

The culmination of that work can be seen in MotorStorm Apocalypse. It is now regularly described as the best example of stereoscopic 3D gaming you can get, so all that research and development looks like it was well worth it. Hopefully most of you will at least get to see the 3D, but even more than that I hope you get to play it. The video above is one we’ve made to showcase the tech on for the PlayStation.Blog, but the 3D version is now available for download from the PlayStation Store.

It’s so cool to see a ‘blue sky’ technology grow into a real game in this way. Maybe in a few years I’ll be back here with a video of something I saw yesterday, but till then, the 3D revolution will suffice! ;)

#coverstory The box art for MotorStorm: Apocalypse, which got its release date earlier today. U.S. is on the left, Europe's on the right. Once again, the Old World got the winner; apparently dune buggies move product in North America. [via Playstation.Blog] More »

The mere mention of a "motorstorm" itself sounds pretty apocalyptic to us. Just imagine: 1000-pound engine blocks falling from the sky! Given that, can you even begin to imagine how severe a MotorStorm Apocalypse could be? Well, you don't have to, it's happening, as Sony has announced the game's April 12 release date on the PlayStation Blog.

With two months to go until the arrival, you've still got some time to save like, so, so many coins for that 3D TV. You'll want to experience the Apocalypse the way it's meant to be played -- in "mind-blowing 3D," of course. Right?

The apocalyptic fourth entry in Evolution Studios' off-road racing series is only three months away, as Sony tags Motorstorm Apocalypse with an April 12 release date for North America. More »

American and European box art also revealed.

Hello, PlayStation.Blog readers. I’m able to deliver some exciting news: MotorStorm Apocalypse will be bringing off-road racing mayhem of apocalyptic proportions to your PS3 on April 12th, 2011. And to introduce the game’s cool cover art, here is Matt Southern, the Game Director at Evolution Studios.

Our cover art has been sent to shops and websites ready for pre-order. Once again we’ve got different boxes depending on where you live! I thought I’d share them here.

Here’s the Packfront for North America. It is much more of a ‘classic’ box and is based on an image we created in early 2010 that I absolutely love.

…and here’s the European box. Our priority here is to show what is new in the game, and it slightly harks back to the box for MotorStorm 1. It is quite unusual for a racing game and we spent a long time working out what we thought would be right. Which means I can’t decide which of the two l like best…

I’d love to know which you all like the best – and what cover art over the years have really stood out for you. My all-time favourite is probably the EU/Japanese version of ICO, painted by Ueda-San and inspired by The Nostalgia of the Infinite by Giorgio de Chirico. I also get a nostalgia buzz from looking at the games I played in the 80’s with airbrush art by Bob Wakelin. Good times.

You’ve read about some of the cool new features the game has to offer, and watched the first in-depth developer diary video. And the game just had a great showing at the Sony booth at CES last week, wowing people with its mind-blowing 3D and intense racing across, and through, gigantic skyscrapers.

So don’t forget to pre-order the game before it hits on April 12 to get one of the cool pre-order packs available. There’s much more in store for MotorStorm Apocalypse in the coming months to look forward to. Until next time!

Shattered tracks, wily bikes, and 3D effects grab lots of eyeballs at CES.

The main single-player campaign is explained in the first developer diary from the creators of Motorstorm: Apocalypse!

#clips Scads of unseen gameplay illustrates this latest MotorStorm: Apocalypse video, which explains how the game's Festival mode will handle the party in an urban environment beset by disaster. There'll be more of a story to unify your races. More »

Sony has delivered a MotorStorm Apocalypse dev diary video -- and it's quite festive. Seriously: it features "The Festival," which is the single-player campaign mode of the game. As you can see in the video below, the Festival mode will offer up a real story to go with your urban wasteland racing, seen through the eyes of three characters: a rookie, a pro and a veteran.

Races in the mode occur in a set sequence, and while some will make use of the new Supercar and Superbike classes others will get crazy with vehicle choices, like pitting one measly motorcycle against a whole field of competitors in big rigs.

This latest sequel to MotorStorm and its Split/Second-esque take on urban racing is looking pretty darn good from a gameplay standpoint, but its visuals are clearly still a ways from being finished. Hopefully they'll be spruced up by the time the demo hits.

We teamed up with the guys in the video production department at Studio Liverpool to produce three video diaries focusing on the two main modes in the upcoming MotorStorm Apocalypse. Both modes have been present in every MotorStorm game, but we’re trying to do a lot more with them this time round. This one is all about Festival mode, which is our version of a ‘Campaign.’

There’s a ton of unseen game footage in this video that I hope you like and also some glimpses into the recording of the original soundtrack. It features Paul ‘Rushy’ Rustchynsky, our Lead Designer and handling design guru, and Simon ‘Barlos’ Barlow, our invaluable Assistant Game Director who looks after big chunks of the gameplay features.

We call our more flexible free-play mode ‘Wreckreation,’ and it needs two video diaries to fully explain. They’ll follow soon. For now, enjoy our first video diary focusing on The Festival!

#ps3 Why is it whenever there's an apocalyptic race there always seem to be conveniently crumbling skyscrapers upon which to race? More »

We’re happy to confirm that MotorStorm Apocalypse will be hitting shelves throughout North America in Spring 2011, so get ready for the most insane and adrenaline-fueled racing experience of your life. As we start gearing up for launch, we wanted to fill you in on the three awesome bonus packs available when you pre-order MotorStorm Apocalypse.

MotorStorm Apocalypse Pre-Order Pack 1: Carbon Edition Supercar

Pack Contents (all exclusive to the Supercar):

• Carbon Edition Supercar
• Unique high-end vinyl design plus 4 exclusive chrome sticker designs (which can be applied to any other vehicle in-game).
• Dynamic XMB Theme
• Carbon Edition PSN Icon

MotorStorm Apocalypse Pre-Order Pack 2: Carbon Edition Rally Car

Pack Contents (all exclusive to the Rally Car):

• Carbon Edition Rally Car
• Unique high-end vinyl design plus 4 exclusive chrome sticker designs (which can be applied to any other vehicle in-game).
• Dynamic XMB Theme
• Carbon Edition PSN Icon

MotorStorm Apocalypse Pre-Order Pack 3: Carbon Edition Superbike

Pack Contents (all exclusive to the Superbike):

• Carbon Edition Superbike
• Unique high-end vinyl design plus 4 exclusive chrome sticker designs (which can be applied to any other vehicle in-game).
• Dynamic XMB Theme
• Carbon Edition PSN Icon

You can find these pre-order programs at retailers like Amazon.com, Best Buy, Gamestop, and/or other participating retailers.

That’s all the updates for now, but keep checking back because we’ll have many more exciting updates for you in the next few months before launch, and here’s a quick word from Game Director, Matt Southern.

This is the first time Evolution has offered any form of pre-order gear, and we really hope you like what you see! There are two of the new vehicle classes and an old favourite, and we’d love to know which one you guys like best. For me it’s the Superbike again, but some of you will know we made some amazing rally games in the past, and a lot of us have been trained to drive them, so there’s a lot of love for the Rally Car at Evo towers.

Vehicles are the main star but we wanted to offer some more, so we’ve also put together some nice carbon-themed content, plus the ability to use the livery elements on any vehicle. Hopefully we’ll see some of these vehicles and liveries featuring in your Photo Mode shots when we launch, for that added layer of cool.

I’ll provide more info on DLC and other aspects of the game as operation blow-load marches into 2011!