The shame of it all is that you can't use this during actual gameplay, just for 3D sightseeing. What we really were hoping for was a zoom-in option so we can check out the pilot of the claw ship and/or enter first person mode. We expect a lot for our 800 Microsoft Points.

STOP THE PRESSES [Giant Bomb]

Gotham’s owned by Microsoft. They will be doing with Gotham whatever they want...We still own the Kudos element. We have a joint patent with Microsoft, so that’s something we could use in the future if we wanted to.

So smile, PGR fans! Bizarre can still make PGR, they just can't call it PGR anymore. Savvy!

Bizarre Creations boss: “Do we do Gotham 5?” [VG247]

Now Bizarre Creations is taking the achievements game a step further in The Club. In an achievement aptly (and pointedly) named "No, Seriously," gamers are challenged to rack up 10,001 kills during online ranked matches. Low blow, Bizarre. And we love it. Let the impossible achievement arms race continue!

The Club one-ups GoW's Seriously achievement [Xbox360Fanboy via DigitalBattle]

Celebrate Valentine's Day with new DLC from one of the top 3 racing games on Xbox 360. One's free, one will cost you. Here are the full details:

Free Challenge Pack (Free) "Download the new Free PGR 4 Challenge Pack from Bizarre, and you'll drive the hydrogen-powered 2007 Peugeot Flux, winner of the 2007 Peugeot International Design Competition. Plus, you'll get two new game modes-one of them the player-requested Tourist Mode, which lets you tool around any city in the game checking out sights with your friends. Or play Free Roam Cat and Mouse, where a slow mouse vehicle must avoid enemy cats. And you add another 7 achievements. Get more racing fun for the best price-free!"

Premium Challenge Pack (400 points)
"The Premium PGR 4 Challenge Pack from Bizarre, available for 400 Microsoft(r) Points, gives you seven new cars-the 2008 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible Concept, 2007 Volkswagen Golf GTI W12-650, 2007 Peugeot Flux, 1987 BMW M3 E30 DTM, 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia, 2008 Honda S2000 CR, and 2008 Callaway C16 Speedster. You get three new bikes-the 2007 Yamaha YZF-R1, 1995 Aprilia RS 250, and 1998 Aprilia RSV 1000 Tuono R."

"Plus, new World Challenge Arcade Mode gives you 20 arcade events in 3 themed chapters, including 5 events that can only be done on platinum. In Tourist Mode, get a free ride with friends around any game city. In Free Roam Cat and Mouse, a slow mouse vehicle runs from enemy cats. Ten new achievements fill out the pack."

SEGA to Release Exclusive "Renwick" version of Demo for Intense Action-Packed Shooter, The Club, on Xbox LIVE Marketplace

LONDON (January 7th, 2008) - SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced that from 9 a.m. GMT on Tuesday 8th January, an exclusive demo for the exciting new shooter, The Club™ will be available via download across Europe and Australia on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Developed by industry revered development studio, Bizarre Creations, The Club™ mixes cutting edge high definition visuals with hyper-addictive score based challenges to deliver the most intriguing and innovative shooter of early 2008.

The demo features:

* The Prison environment; a disused crumbling, tomb-like Federal Penitentiary, lying in a remote region of one of the less glamorous Rustbelt states.
* One playable character exclusive to the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace version of the demo (Renwick, a tough, no nonsense, NYPD Detective whose investigations brought him too close to The Club™).
* Single player modes 'Sprint' and 'Time Attack'.
* Multiplayer split-screen.

As one of eight misfit gladiators players must fight in a shadowy underground blood-sport run by a secret group of sick millionaires. Each character has their own reasons for being in The Club™ - some are there against their will, others to experience the ultimate high. Whatever their reasons what unites them is the need to kill quickly and skilfully - a challenge those who download this demo will experience first hand.

UK Official Xbox 360 Magazine - "The rules of The Club are simple: you cannot break your stride. You cannot stop. You must be the perfect killing machine. This is Space Invaders for the Quentin Tarantino generation. Welcome to heaven."

I love the concept of a thinking shooter, a game that rewards for both thoughtful murderous mayhem and artful kills. I hope The Club lives up to my expectations.

Of course, it's Bond, so gadgetry and missile launching Aston Martins sound like a strong possibility. Bizarre sure knows shooting, too. With the twenty-second Bond picture scheduled for a 2008 release, we might hear more about this rumored project very soon.

Quatermann: Bizarre Working on James Bond [1UP]

So how was it? Hit the jump for our Frankenreview and find out: 5 muffin tops ready for ingestion.

IGN
You'll notice some slowdown issues when things get hectic, and the techno audio and sound effects often fight, having audio levels not always equalized as we'd like them...[but] the colors are still bright, however, and these remain to be some of the best particle effects we've seen on Nintendo's handheld, so while DS is the smallest piece of technology Geometry Wars has ever existed on, it still hold on to the spirit of the game very well.

GameDaily
You move your ship with the D-pad while touching parts of the screen to direct your line of fire. You can also use the face buttons for directional fire, if you prefer a more "old-school" method of play, ala Robotron 2084. The shoulder buttons activate whatever bombs you may need — and you'll definitely need them. Messing around with both the D-pad and the touch-screen takes getting used to, but it's a surprisingly functional control scheme.

Gamespy
Called "geoms," Galaxies' widgets are the game's most interesting gameplay shift...Anytime you kill an enemy with your gun, or your drone kills an enemy, the enemy drops a small yellow geom. Geom gathering forces rethinks of classical circle-strafe Geometry Wars tactics. Various stages filled with walls, mazes and other strangeness will also force you to rethink your routes, but the geoms demand that you actually go, and go quickly, right where you've cleared some enemies

GamesRadar
Fans will notice a significant drop in the amount of cursing and angry restarts that follow deaths. After you die, extra Geoms to unlock new levels or Drones are waiting for you in the menu, and leveling up your collection of Drones or testing your skills in some of the more challenging levels breaks through the monotony of its predecessors one-level grind.

Gamer 2.0
Geometry Wars: Galaxies is the definition of portable fun. Are the graphics great? No. Is the sound revolutionary? Probably not. Does the game make use of online play? No to that as well. But the bottom line here is that it gets the job done and it does what handheld games are essentially supposed to do.

Anyone pick it up yet? What do you think?

Even after reading a bit more about Bizarre Creations' The Club, I couldn't quite wrap my mind around the concept. Maybe it's the purposefully vague-therefore-hip name that's thrown my lame-therefore-specific head into a pile of misunderstanding. This clip, featuring the "rules" of The Club, does a lot to smooth out my melon. And I'm really interested in this kill combo system that looks absolutely as addictive as hell. We really need combo meters in our life HUD—but not for killing. Really.

Fortunately, the Wu-Tang Clan to my Anthrax, N'Gai Croal, doesn't specialize in wholly inappropriate and meaningless analogy as I do, he focuses on the impact of these three "killer B's" leaving the fold in various capacities. More importantly, he wonders what these departures will have on the Xbox 360 library over the following years.

Probably most important for Microsoft following a strong holiday 2007 line up—where do they go from here? With talent shifting allegiances and IP ownership unknown, to which franchise dock will Shane Kim and crew tie the good ship 360? Read on for N'Gai's thoughts on the matter.

Flight of the Killer B's: As Bizarre, Bungie and BioWare Flee the Redmond Hive, What Does This Mean For Microsoft Game Studios? [Level Up]

It just makes sense really. Everyone who's anyone has a dedicated racing game studio these days—Polyphony Digital, Turn 10, SEGA Racing Studio, Evolution, Criterion—so Activision was just filling in holes. Don't be too surprised to see more and more currently independent studios brought into the corporate fold; not the other way around.

Activision: 'Bizarre buy is just the beginning' [Develop]

Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations, said, "Our goal at Bizarre Creations has always been to do all we can to nurture our creative and passionate teams, who excel at and enjoy what they do. Activision's independent studio model will continue giving us creative freedom to build exciting new brands."

Activision Acquires U.K. Game Developer Bizarre Creations

Activision Enters $1.4 Billion Racing Genre Market, Representing More than 10% of Worldwide Video Game Market

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sep 26, 2007: Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATVI) today announced that it has acquired U.K.-based video game developer Bizarre Creations, one of the world's premier video game developers and a leader in the racing category, a $1.4 billion market that is the fourth most popular video game genre and represents more than 10% of the total video game market worldwide.

This acquisition represents the latest step in Activision's ongoing strategy to enter new genres. Last year, Activision entered the music rhythm genre through its acquisition of RedOctane's Guitar Hero franchise, which is one of the fastest growing franchises in the video game industry.

With more than 10 years' experience in the racing genre, Bizarre Creations is the developer of the innovative multi-million unit franchise Project Gotham Racing, a critically-acclaimed series for the Xbox® and Xbox 360®. The Project Gotham Racing franchise currently has an average game rating of 89%, according to GameRankings.com and has sold more than 4.5 million units in North America and Europe, according to The NPD Group, Charttrack and Gfk.

Bizarre Creations is currently finishing development on the highly-anticipated third-person action game, The Club, for SEGA, which is due to be released early 2008. They are also the creators of the top-selling arcade game series Geometry Wars on Xbox Live Arcade®.

Bizarre Creations and its games have won numerous industry awards including: Best Racing Game for Project Gotham Racing 2 from the prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA); the Industry Grand Prix Award from Develop; MCV's UK Development Team 2006 award; Best Racing/Driving Game from IGN; Game of the Year from OXM and Gamespy for Project Gotham Racing 3; and IGN's Best XBLA Game for Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.

"Activision continues to grow and drive greater value for our shareholders by broadening our portfolio and entering new gaming categories with strong global appeal," said Robert Kotick, Chairman and CEO of Activision, Inc. "Bizarre Creations is the leading independent developer with a proven track record in developing highly successful and influential original properties, especially in the racing field. They are one of the most innovative and creative studios in the industry, and we are very excited to welcome this talented creative team to Activision."

Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc., added, "Bizarre Creations will play an important role in our growth strategy as we develop an original new intellectual property for this important racing segment, expand our portfolio in other genres and utilize their proprietary technology for cross platform development."

Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations, said, "Our goal at Bizarre Creations has always been to do all we can to nurture our creative and passionate teams, who excel at and enjoy what they do. Activision's independent studio model will continue giving us creative freedom to build exciting new brands. Their financial support and marketing prowess will also enable us to build upon the commercial success that we currently enjoy, and take the company - and our games - to an even higher level."

Under the terms of the acquisition, Bizarre Creations will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision and the company's management team and employees continue with the company as their teams start to develop two new AAA titles alongside their current projects. The 160-person development studio is located in Liverpool, England. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Activision expects that its first game from Bizarre Creations will be released after fiscal year 2009.

We were impressed with the innovative and the extreme car designs submitted; We hope that Mihai Panaitescu will be excited when he sees The Flux faithfully created on the Xbox 360.

Hmmm, this seems an interesting lesson in spin control.

On July 27, a Bizarre Creations staffer posted on their forums that the upcoming Project Gotham Racing 4 won't have day and night versions of their tracks in the game because "Whilst this wasn't a problem for our dev team, it was a problem fitting all this data onto a single DVD. So we've worked around the problem by providing different lighting models per city."

Seems pretty straight forward, right? But when people sorta went quasi-ape-shit pointing out, rightfully so, that perhaps the medium (DVD) is holding back the game, Bizarre Creations cranked up their spin machine and issued a response under the befuddling headline "Wrong end of stick been grasped?"

In it they seem to blame "fanboys" for the spin on their story, instead of the person in their company who actually said the DVD didn't have enough space.

But the DVD has plenty of space, they say now: "DVD size is absolutely not a factor that we consider when designing our games... and PGR4 is no exception. DVD9 gives us more than we need to create a fabulous experience for you guys."

Notice the word "designing", does that mean that it is a factor when they actually get down to creating them? Because it certainly seems so. BC goes on to write that the issue of no night and day was one caused by developer time and resources, which directly contradicts what was posted in their forums. They had to pick and choose what they wanted to spend development time on and they went with dynamic weather rather than time of day.

The question now is who do we believe: Bizarre Creations or Bizarre Creations?

Disc-oh? Wrong end of stick grasped?

The game is currently undated for North America, but Eurogamer reports that it'll ship on September 4th. Something tells me that the Bizarre team will make sure the game is ready to go before PGR4 goes gold. Or green. Or whatever.

Given that the game's weather effects are wowing gamers with their fidelity and realism, plus the fact that they've managed to squeeze motorcycle races into Project Gotham Racing 4, it seems likely they've got another hit on their hands.

"We're not letting go 'til it's done" - PGR4 developer [Eurogamer]

In fact, my first play through of the game on normal difficulty, I scored a meager 218,000 points in a below ten minute period. That's just shy of the 220,000 point target score. The Sega employee sitting on his ass instead of helping attendees demo the game, however, really knew his stuff. He finished the round with a score of 4 million, clearly illustrating his focus on playing during E3, not his skill at PR.

The Bizarre Creations developed shooter draws on the best of the Project Gotham Racing series, Gears of War, Smash TV and Manhunt. The thrill kill shooter won't put up much of a fight in the way of AI or powerful enemies, but based on my impressions, it will challenge your speed, level familiarity and aim.

In addition to taking out scores of enemies in the fastest time possible, there are a number of bonuses one can nab throughout each level. Extra credit is given for things like headshots, weapon pickups and shooting elective targets called Skull Shots. Stringing together multiple kills and avoiding "combo bleed" is key to score improvement.

So how's it look? Hard to say, as I didn't have a second to blink, let alone survey the texturing, modeling and lighting work. The Club, from what I can remember between kills, looks serviceable, even good, possibly gorgeous—but graphics aren't really the focus. The official screenshots look pretty solid, but they're not indicative of what you'll see when actually playing. I do remember that the frame rate was solid, something that should be expected given Bizarre's racing game prowess and the frenetic nature of the game.

The combo-based gameplay is a welcome mechanic in the overcrowded shooter genre, but we'll need more time with The Club to get a better impression of how it plays as a whole.

Remember when Xbox 360 game PGR3 was used to promote PS3 title Gran Turismo? Boy, that was embarrassing! Hate to have something like that happen again. And somebody to get in trouble, too? Horrible. Thank car manufacturer Kia, because it has happened again. The automobile company's Spanish website is running a promotion the compares driving a Kia to driving a Ferrari Enzo on the PS3. (Ha!) Thing is, the license plate clearly says PGR on it — That's an exclusive Xbox 360 game, published by Microsoft even. When will they ever learn? Not before somebody can pull a hat trick, I hope! Brian Ashcraft

Ooops! [Kia via Acey Bongo's Thanks, Mark!]

The Club is Bizarre Creations' take on shooters, so, as you would expect from the creators of games like Geometry Wars and Project Gotham Racing, it's all about speed. It is, as Andy Davis put it, an anti-stealth game.

The arcade -like gritty shooter features three modes, multiplayer, tournament and gunplay, but we only saw run throughs of two levels in tournament mode.

You start the game by selecting a character on a screen that looks an awful lot like something you would typically see in a fighter. When you scroll through the characters you see each person's speed, strength and stamina.

The game has eight locations, like a steel mill, an ocean liner and prison cells. The first run through was through the prison cells. The game plays in third-person and there's a lot of running involved because, like in PGR, its all about achieving a high score by chaining kills together in a set time.

As Davis played, he would run through the map and then slow down when he met someone and zoom in to a Gears of War like shoulders-and-up view by pulling the left trigger and shoot the guy. The game also lets your roll and interact with chunks of the map by doing things like leaping over low walls.

While each character has 20 different weapons he can use, during Davis' play I only saw his character holding three at a time. Though he also had grenades.

Davis said they wanted to get rid of a player's instinct to duck-and-cover, so there's a big emphasis placed on racking up kill combos but shooting people in short periods of time or with "style."

The levels Davis played through had the occasional skull placard located in it that he could shoot, this, he said, let him extend the length of time he could wait to shoot another person and still earn points in the same combo kill.

The game looks like it's going to be a fun take on shooters, something you spend a lot of time playing fast, short matches in. I can't wait for it to hit. Brian Crecente

Bizarre Creations is selling off a car to raise money for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

But before you get all excited, fantasizing about what sort of cool vehicle the people behind Project Gotham Racing might be giving up, take a look at that picture up there. That's the car.

It's a 1988 Granada 2.9i Ghia Auto. But not just any Gha, gha gha Ghia. This is bad boy was tricked out with some pretty slick Bizarre Creations decals including bullet hole effect stickers and the company logo... oh and some sweet flames.

The car was used by the team to compete in the Scumball 3000 rally across Europe, an event in which BC took a respectable tenth place out of 44. If you live in the UK and want to own the Granzilla hop on over the charity auction on eBay.

The price is only at 225 GBp last I checked. Brian Crecente

eBay Auction

Kotaku Fun Fact: Fireworks are sparkly.

They also touch on some of the hidden details that went into creating the city, the backdrop for the game. Apparently the lifting of Microsoft's 50MB restriction meant the city designer could go crazy with the graphical touches.

I'm think I am in the early stages of a behind-the-scenes game development addication. I really enjoy reading about what goes into creating the games I love to play. It gives me a deeper appreciation or at least a deeper understanding of the end product. Michael Fahey

Studio Update 25 - A closer look at Boom Boom Rocket. [Bizarre Creations]

Those charitable donations went to the Marie Curie Cancer Care organization which provides free nursing care for terminally ill patients. So, don't let that horrid pounds-to-dollars exchange rate get you down, people are doing good things out there! Kudos to the participants. Michael McWhertor

Bizarre folk raise 4,000 for Marie Curie [Bizarre Online]

Bizarre namechecks Street Fighter, Project Gotham Racing and Geometry Wars when describing the gameplay, if you can believe that, so they seem to have quite a bit of faith in their console game.

Taking the kudos combo system from their own Project Gotham Racing series, The Club will be a fast-paced kill or be killed game with point multipliers and frantic watch-the-clock battles. God, I'm getting a little palm sweat just reading about it.

Check out the screens over at Bizarre and tell us what you think. Michael McWhertor

Studio Update 24 - Gamers, meet The Club. The Club, gamers. [Bizarre Creations]

I played one song of the demo this morning and immediately purchased the full game, as I am a complete and utter rhythm game whore. You could almost play the game with the Guitar Hero controller, though at certain points you need to hit LB+RB, and I'm not sure how that would work. I'll tinker a bit more with it tonight.

The game costs 800 points (worth it!), and is available in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The jump carries a quick PR blurb, followed by your caring, sensitive comments. Michael Fahey

PREPARE TO LAUNCH - EA'S BOOM BOOM ROCKET EXPLODES ONTO XBOX LIVE ARCADE
Highly-Anticipated Music Rhythm Game Arrives on Xbox LIVE Arcade

Chertsey, UK - April 11, 2007 - Find your rhythm and get ready to set off the biggest round of fireworks, as Boom Boom Rocket , the first Xbox LIVE Arcade game from Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), explodes onto Xbox LIVE Arcade today. The game is a hypnotic rhythm music game conceived by EA's Pogo.com casual games design team and developed by Bizarre Creations, the developer who brought fan-favorite Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved to Xbox LIVE Arcade. Boom Boom Rocket will be available for 800 Microsoft Points, first launching in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and is rated 3+ by PEGI. The game also will be available in the near future in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

Players find their groove in Boom Boom Rocket, by triggering rockets to the beat of the music while traveling through a 3D cityscape. The fireworks are choreographed to 10 original tracks created by Ian Livingstone. Players can play in single player mode or go head-to-head against a friend on the same console, making it a perfect social game. Easy mode allows players to get comfortable with the controls while Endurance mode challenges the savviest of Boom Boom Rocket players with its intense speed and complexity of fireworks triggers. Loosen things up with the fun-for-all Freestyle Mode, or watch your favorite tunes light up the sky with the built-in Visualizer.

"The joint effort between the Pogo.com creative team and the talented team at Bizarre Creations evolved the idea into what the game plays like today. Seeing people's response to the game itself has been such a great experience - it's what making games is all about," said Spencer Brooks, EA's Boom Boom Rocket Producer. "We're so excited to give Xbox LIVE Arcade fans this new game and have had so much fun playing it ourselves - you can't help but have fun playing this game."

The game features three modes of gameplay: Normal, Speed and multiplayer head-to-head. Each song is choreographed into three skill levels to ensure that everyone can join in the fun. Successfully chain fireworks to fill the bonus meter and activate the psychedelic bonus mode for extra points. Players can unlock new firework designs by mastering each music track. Players can utilise the connected online element and see how their scores compare with other players on the Boom Boom Rocket leaderboard.

###

With the potential for delays on the Xbox Live Marketplace, don't come complaining to us if the classical music rhythm action game slips. Blame quality! Michael McWhertor

Bizarre gives Boom Boom Rocket release [CVG]

New images of The Club [Xboxygen]

While no screens or in-game video has leaked yet, Bizarre did give members of the press a look at the tech behind the game, as well as a quick hands-off playthrough. So what's so great about The Club that'll put your surround sound system to the test? EXPLOSIONS! Duh. But how about some attention to detail?

The final demo is with Mathias Grundwalt (Lead Sound Designer), who squeezed the group into his specially designed audio studio. He then proceeds to demonstrate all the different types of surfaces we have in the game, and how these affect the soundscape. For example, shooting a fabric sofa will sound much different to shooting a hollow metal container. But what if the bullet first passes through the sofa, and then hits the container at a slower rate? This demonstration really needs to be heard to be believed.

Neat. There's a promise of media and impressions to come, so hit up Bizarre's forums for further details. Michael McWhertor

Studio Update 22 [Bizarre Creations]

Bizarre Creations' third-person shooter The Club is getting an 8-page spread in the upcoming issue of UK mag 360 (Hey, I write for them!). Bizarre says the spread will explain the game's overall concept, the scoring system, the characters and some other little bits and pieces including new screens, concept art, wireframes and peoplespeak, aka interviews.

Also, there's a section on upcoming Live Arcade title Boom Boom Rocket.

I'll have to talk to my guys about getting yous guys some scans from the mag when it hits. Brian Crecente

Club UK First Look [Bizarre Online]

Bizarre Creations is all giddy about their second foray into the world of Xbox Live Arcade games. And why shouldn't they be, their first one was mega-hit Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, a three-man effort.

Their next title is the already announced Boom Boom Rocket, a game created by an entire team of people including seven core team members, a composer and "a few EA Pogo chaps." Personally, I'm not one to buy into the whole more is better philosophy, but all that really matters is the end result.

On to what matters:

The game itself is a simple concept, but taken to extremes. The aim is easy: press the corresponding button for each firework as it hits a line at the top of the screen, and it'll explode. The more accurate you are with your button presses, the higher your score. The person with the highest score wins. Easy stuff... you're probably already familiar with the concept from games like DDR.

However (and this is a big however), Boom Boom Rocket introduces a few new ideas to the tried and tested formula which we think make the game really fun to play. The first thing is the idea of pure speed. We don't have to worry about complicated peripherals to make this game fun... its game pad only, and it's FAST. Within a couple of rounds you'll be setting off huge numbers of fireworks as if it were second nature... and much of the fun comes from the fact that your fingers will be moving at Mach 3 on the harder difficulties.

Another new idea is the concept of multipliers, and bonus runs. We love points-based games here at Bizarre (PGR, GW, and The Club all have elements of this), and Boom Boom Rocket is no exception! Again, the idea is simple... but the tactics can get pretty in-depth. This is your Combo Bar:

As you successfully detonate fireworks, the bar will fill. The big number is your current score multiplier. It starts at x1, and eventually hits x4 when the bar is full. Needless to say, you'll get double the points when it's on x2, treble the points at x3, etc. However, if you miss any fireworks your bar will drain a little, and potentially your multiplier could drop. The game ends if your bar empties.

So what's a Bonus Run? Well, if your bar is full it'll start to sparkle, like this:

When your bar is all sparkly, you can hit either of the triggers to activate your Bonus Run. For a limited time the graphics will go all crazy, the crowd will go wild, and you'll get a massive x8 multiplier. It's big points time! The catch is that it only lasts for 20 seconds, so you'll want to save up your bonus runs for the busy parts of the song. There's nothing worse than activating your bonus run, only for the fireworks to naturally slow down and valuable points to be lost!

The best players will no doubt save their runs for the busiest part of the songs... usually the chorus. More fireworks = more points. You have to be careful though! If you miss any fireworks whilst on your run it'll end, so measuring risk vs reward is a big part of becoming a Boom Boom professional.

The team says the game will feature classical music instead of your typical rhythm game popsynth. Sounds like it could be another Geometry Wars in a good way or a bad way, only time and the release of the game will tell. Brian Crecente

Studio Update 21 [Bizarre Online]

Voodoo Extreme points out that Bizarre Creations has updated their site to talk briefly about Geometry Wars for the PC, Boom Boom Rocket and Project Gotham Racing 4.

The internal team we have here at Bizarre are pretty familiar with the routine now; everybody knows their place and is really getting on with it at a speedy rate. We've seen a couple of excellent new technologies make their way into the game... of course you'll hear more about these in due time.

Oh, and just to clarify: the X06 trailer wasn't gameplay. It wasn't representative of what we've got planned for the style or locations in the game itself. You won't see outer space racing or anything like that! We have changed our design emphasis slightly from previous titles though... I think we're going to surprise a few people with PGR4!

Dammit, and I had my hopes set on space racing. Brian Crecente

PGR 4 Update [Voodoo Extreme]

Bizarre Creations, the guys behind Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved and Project Gotham Racing, are working on a new Live Arcade title.

Boom Boom Rocket, set to go live this spring, is described as a hypnotic rhythm music game conceived by Electronic Arts' casual game site Pogo.com.

The game has players firing off rockets to the beat of music as they travel through a 3D city. The goal is to choreograph the firework-like explosions to the music. The game features 10 original tracks.

"As one of the worldwide leaders in game publishing, EA has long recognized the power of on-demand, online entertainment," said Chris Early, Product Unit Manager for Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Casual Games. "We're honored that EA has chosen Xbox Live Arcade as the platform for their first-ever downloadable game for console game players and are excited to make Boom Boom Rocket available to the millions of Xbox Live Arcade players around the world."

"Boom Boom Rocket is an addictive and original challenge for all types of gamer, and we're enjoying working with EA to create this unique Xbox Live Arcade experience", said Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations. "Our teams love both working and playing on Xbox Live Arcade, and we're looking forward to releasing another innovative title on this platform with Boom Boom Rocket."

"This is a perfect time to bring such a unique and custom-built arcade game to Xbox Live Arcade gamers," said Chip Lange, EA Vice President. "We've crafted Boom Boom Rocket to offer an intensely fun entertainment experience for the thriving community of hard core and casual gamers alike on Xbox Live Arcade. It's only natural that our launch title comes from the Pogo team, given their remarkable success with casual games."

The game supports three game modes, including multiplayer head-to-head. It sounds like it could be amazing, or completely suck. That's the thing about Live games, it's really hard to judge them until you actually get your hands on them. Brian Crecente

Redwood City, Calif., - January 17, 2007 - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced its launch onto Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade with Boom Boom Rocket . The game is a hypnotic rhythm music game conceived by EA's Pogo.com casual games design team and developed by Bizarre Creations, the developer who brought Project Gotham Racing 3 to the Xbox 360 , and fan-favorite Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved to Xbox Live Arcade. The game is scheduled to go live Spring 2007 and is EA's first title on Xbox Live Arcade.

In Boom Boom Rocket, players trigger rockets to the beat of the music while traveling through a 3D cityscape. The better the player times the explosions, the more spectacular the fireworks effects. The fireworks are choreographed to 10 original tracks created by Ian Livingstone. Players can play in single player mode or go head-to-head against a friend on the same console.

"As one of the worldwide leaders in game publishing, EA has long recognized the power of on-demand, online entertainment," said Chris Early, Product Unit Manager for Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Casual Games. "We're honored that EA has chosen Xbox Live Arcade as the platform for their first-ever downloadable game for console game players and are excited to make Boom Boom Rocket available to the millions of Xbox Live Arcade players around the world."

"Boom Boom Rocket is an addictive and original challenge for all types of gamer, and we're enjoying working with EA to create this unique Xbox Live Arcade experience", said Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations. "Our teams love both working and playing on Xbox Live Arcade, and we're looking forward to releasing another innovative title on this platform with Boom Boom Rocket."

"This is a perfect time to bring such a unique and custom-built arcade game to Xbox Live Arcade gamers," said Chip Lange, EA Vice President. "We've crafted Boom Boom Rocket to offer an intensely fun entertainment experience for the thriving community of hard core and casual gamers alike on Xbox Live Arcade. It's only natural that our launch title comes from the Pogo team, given their remarkable success with casual games."

The game features three modes of gameplay: Normal, Speed and multiplayer head-to-head. Each song is choreographed into three skill levels to ensure that everyone can join in the fun. Successfully chain fireworks to fill the bonus meter and activate the psychedelic bonus mode for extra points. Players can unlock new firework designs by mastering each music track. You can also utilize the connected online element and see how their scores compare with other players on the Boom Boom Rocket leaderboard.

Earlier, we reported that French car maker Peugeot let it slip that there was going to be a Project Gotham Racing 4. The surprising bit wasn't that there's gonna be a PGR 4 (duh), but that Peugeot had presumably announced this via a design competition on its website. The winner's design would appear in the yet-unreveiled Project Gotham Racing game.

The auto company's site has been now wiped clean of any mention to PGR 4, instead saying that the contest winner's design will appear in an Xbox 360 game. End point. A tipster also sends word that sponsors for the contest have been sent the following email:

Dear Partner,

Could you please modify the information on your web site. The idea is to delete all information relative to the Project Gotham Racing 4 video game.

Many thanks

Funny, I would've thought the idea was to never mention the game in the first place. And covering it up? Well. Brian Ashcraft

Just an "Xbox 360 Game" [Peugeot] Thanks, Ociotakus!

What. A. Surprise. Bizarre Creations is making Project Gotham Racing 4 according to of all people, car manufacturer Peugeot's website. It is currently running a concept car design competion, stating:

The winning concept car will be included by Microsoft in the Project Gotham Racing 4 game, exclusively on Xbox 360 that will be released towards the end of 2007 or first half of 2008.

The previous title was a hit on the Xbox 360, and this latest incarnation will most likely be as well. Expect obvious follow-ups like PGR 5 and PGR 6. Guess the real news bit here is that viral marketing now includes using an European car company to "leak" game info. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Peugot] via Games Industry