Tag Archives: black rock studios

Black Rock’s Jason Ried has said Split/Second is up there with Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2 in the racing game stakes.

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Disney’s confirmed to NowGamer that Black Rock Hollywood racer Split/Second will release on May 21 in the UK.

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Black Rock head Tony Beckwith’s told VG247 that Disney smash racer Split/Second is one of two games in development at the studio, although he refused to give details on the second title.

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Disney’s just release a new Split/Second trailer, confirming the smash-racer for May release.

The footage shows of the game’s Dock level, and it’s looking splendid.

We got to see this recently, so we’ll have notes and an interview for you soon.

Check it out. Great stuff.

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Black Rock’s put out a new Split/Second trailer, showing off environmental “Powerplays” in the bomb-heavy racer. It’s after the break.

There’s plenty of gameplay footage in there, and very good it looks too. We’re off to see this in Brighton next week, and after playing it at the EG Expo in Leeds we’re pretty pumped.

It’s out next May.

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Immediate joy. Hit the link to see video of two laps from Black Rock crash-racer Split/Second, filmed off-screen at today’s EG Expo in Leeds.

Surprise of the show. It’s the most instant fun we’ve had with a car and a games console for a long time.

The game’s out for PC, PS3 and 360 early next year.

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During the latest tech column for Develop, Black Rock Studio’s David Jefferies suggests Microsoft has dropped the requirement that all Xbox 360 games feature 1280×720 resolution.

In the article, Jefferies chats about the “merits of screen resolution and anti-aliasing”, stating that both are “hard to achieve simultaneously without unrealistic GPU demands.”

“We are making a trade-off and saying that the screen resolution is more important to us than the quality of the anti-aliasing,” said Jefferies.

“This isn’t necessarily an entirely voluntary move because, until recently, Microsoft had a TCR insisting that games run at 1280×720 – providing you weren’t one of the lucky ones like Halo, who got it waived and ran at 1152×640, that is.”

Jefferies says the common resolution in most homes is 1920×768, but most televisions deliver a 1366×768 image; therefore, that is why MS recently stopped requiring 1280×720 leaving developers “free to make the trade-off between resolution and image quality as we see fit.”

More through the link.

Black Rock Studios’ Tony Beckwith has told Develop that the racing genre is “dying out” and the firm’s new title Split/Second will save it.

“If you look at the sales figures, the racing genre is, in many respects, dying out,” said Beckwith. “Take Mario Kart out of the equation and the genre is in a dire way.”

“We’re all fans of street racing here, but as a genre it is relatively stale – the evolution is only coming from how customize cars, which can only serve to remove you from the action. I think Split/Second will do the opposite.”

Made by the same folks who developed Pure, Split/Second enables players to strategically take out their opponents by altering the course in real time.

It’s slated for a 2010 release for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

More through the links.

Thanks, DarkZero.

On IGN. This latest batch appears to have been given out with the first round of impressions, but at least they’re in one place here.

Take a look.

Kotaku and EG have both gone live with GDC-timed play impressions of Black Rock’s Split/Second.

EG snip:

The game already makes a lot of sense in snapshot form. The controls are simple (triggers to stop and go, analogue to steer), and the selection process for explosions is automatic. Whenever you can set something off, it’s highlighted for you, and the only overlap should be the two different types of powerplay, each of which has its own button. There are also plenty of nice touches, like the HUD, where your power-bar, lap counter and race position are all stamped to your back bumper rather than spread around the screen.

That said, there’s a long way to go – all the way to early 2010 – so things like multiplayer are still question marks, although online and local options are very likely. I suggest that one person could set off explosions while others try to avoid them, and get a deadpanned “yes, I suppose you could do that”, too, with a smile. It sounds like it might be fun; interesting, but uncomplicated, and that seems to be Split/Second all over, except, as with Pure, it’s a deliberate simplicity that hides depth and consideration. In the same way that Pure was considerably more than an ATV game with trick jumps, Split/Second looks to be more than an arcade racing game with explosions.

GDC!

Disney’s confirmed Black Rock racer Split/Second for a 2010 release for PC, 360 and PS3.

There’s the first few screens after the break.

“Split/Second elevates action racing to a new level by enabling players to strategically take out their opponents by dynamically altering the course in real time,” said Disney Interactive boss, Craig Relyea.

“Split/Second further showcases Black Rock Studio’s ability to innovate and deliver a compelling experience that has wide appeal beyond the traditional racing genre.”

Press release below.

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Black Rock Studios has released the first proper trailer for racing game Split/Second.

More than just street racing, the game takes place before a televised audience. Which watches as you cause destructive events on the track in an effort to stop your competitors.

Extra details on the game are expected to arrive Wednesday, so check back with us. Meanwhile, watch the some of the destructive things you can do here.