Gaming News - August 2006

New York, NY (August 24, 2006) - Atari today announced the upcoming launch of a new Test Drive Unlimited playable demo for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Marketplace.

From Atari:

The new demo will be released on August 21 2006 and will feature four new vehicles, new challenges, and a host of gameplay enhancements to provide gamers with a taste of racing reinvented. Test Drive Unlimited is scheduled for release on September 5, 2006.

The new demo gives players a sample of online and offline play on 40 miles of open roads on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Players will find prime real estate, three cars – the Ferrari F430, Ford Mustang GT Coupe and AC 289 – and one motorbike, the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. The Test Drive Unlimited demo offers various challenges, including four offline challenges and two online challenges, allowing up to eight players to race simultaneously. In addition, gamers can launch instant challenges against anyone they encounter on the road, or just burn gallons of virtual gasoline tearing around the lush tropical roads in free ride. Other demo enhancements include gear changes, customizable speed blur effects, optional in-car camera vibrations, fully operational vsync, and handling refinements.

“The first Test Drive Unlimited demo was an amazing success, placing third for all downloads during E3,” said Rick Mehler, Director of Marketing, Atari, Inc. “As a result of the demo, Atari’s belief that gamers want and deserve more from gaming – in terms of content, graphics, gameplay and online options – was confirmed. With this new Test Drive Unlimited demo, we will deliver M.O.O.R., Massively Open Online Racing and a gaming experience that is reinventing the racing genre.”

The first Test Drive Unlimited playable demo, released during E3 2006, was downloaded close to 200,000 times from Xbox Live Marketplace in one week, making it the second most popular demo and the third most popular piece of content amongst all downloads during the period. In addition to being downloaded 350,000 times since E3, Test Drive Unlimited continues to receive accolades from industry media as one of the top racing games this decade. GameDaily declared “This is the kind of racing game I live for,” while IGN.com stated “there's no denying Test Drive Unlimited is looking like one of recent memory's most unique racers.” TeamXbox described Test Drive Unlimited as a “revolutionary online driver” and The New York Times reported Test Drive Unlimited as “…a sprawling, sumptuous experience that seems poised to become one of the more engaging games of the year.”

“We’re excited to give gamers a taste of the eagerly anticipated Test Drive Unlimited on Xbox 360, which brings a new level of innovation to Xbox Live by allowing thousands of gamers to cruise the island of Oahu or challenge one another,” said Albert Penello, Group Marketing Manager, Microsoft. “Publishers like Atari recognize that with the majority of Xbox 360 owners connected to Xbox Live, releasing a playable demo on Xbox Live Marketplace is the ideal way to get the community excited about this game leading up to the retail release.”