Test Drive Unlimited 2 was one of those titles that put both myself and VVV on the YouTube map years ago. At the time I was chasing early code and having access to a PS3 Test unit, it enabled me to have free reign over all offline components. However on setting out, I wasn’t quite […]
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Hello Viewers! Welcome to this journey on the road to WRC 9, and a look back at some of those key titles in the WRC series as we work our way through the years to modern day. Taking in the improvements and considering the ever-expanding scale of a production like this as the technology has […]
FeaturesIt has been a similar picture since the move into the hybrid era, Mercedes topping the time sheets while rivals struggle to make the difference. F1 has never been and will never be a level playing field but there always seemed to be a leveller somewhere. Any domination of the sport was quickly swallowed up […]
FeaturesRecently I was tasked with presenting a selection of podcasts on behalf Logitech G, these discuss a range of topical issues in the gaming industry. As a gamer I play and enjoy a wide range of video games and having worked in the UK games industry for over 25 years I’ve been involved in many […]
FeaturesLast weekend saw the world finals of the 2019 Esports WRC Championship take place in Wales, right next to the paddock of this year’s Wales Rally GB. Team VVV were invited along to see proceedings and get an insight into how an event such as this is run as well as take in the general […]
FeaturesLast week I took a trip to Yorkshire to check out Farming Simulator 19 and experience various farm related activities. On the lead-up to this excursion I was dreading the weather, imagining it would be a dreary, wet and freezing November day. But fortunately, the sun was shining, and this strange period of unusually warm […]
FeaturesEarlier this year I visited the first ever F1 Esports Pro Draft, in all my years of being involved in Esports I had never seen anything quite like this. The scale of investment from Formula One and Liberty Media combined with the actual F1 Teams gave the event a level of mass market credibility that […]
FeaturesThe Isle of Man TT Mountain Course is renowned for being the longest and most dangerous road circuit in the world and one of the most daunting challenges a competitive rider will ever face. Since the annual Tourist Trophy championship began in 1907, the course has tragically claimed the lives of over 200 riders. Containing […]
FeaturesThis week sees the launch of Microsoft’s new Xbox One X console at retail, the most powerful console by some margin and despite initial naysayers, it really does make the leap to HDR native 4K gaming. No doubt a massive marketing campaign will be in support and as part of that build-up Team VVV was […]
Features2017 will be remembered as a seminal year for the racing game genre, with blockbuster titles including Forza Motorsport 7, Gran Turismo Sport, Project CARS 2, and Need for Speed: Payback all jostling for position – and they’re all colliding at this week’s E3 show. We’ll be at the show to bring you a plethora […]
FeaturesRacing games are the perfect platform for virtual reality games. Donning a VR headset not only increases the immersion allowing you to look around virtual car cockpits, being able to look into corners, follow the apex and monitor your track position offers competitive advantages too. It’s a shame, then, that the current crop of racing […]
FeaturesYes it's that time of year again where the US Black Friday discount frenzy invades the UK. While many of today's deal might not be as good value as they would have you believe, there are some genuine bargains if you shop around. Racing games aren't immune to Black Friday either. Here's a round-up of […]
FeaturesUnless you own a Nintendo Wii or Wii U, kart racing games are in seriously short supply on current consoles. And yet it’s easy to forget that at one point the market was so saturated with kart racing games, it was rare to find a franchise that didn’t have a gratuitous karting spin-off. Bears Can’t […]
FeaturesWe knew it was coming. After being teased last week, Polyphony Digital took to the stage to reveal all about Gran Turismo Sport at a prestigeous event held today at the Olympic Stadium in London. Polyphony are promising a “level of innovation that hasn’t been seen since first Gran Turismo” with a “spirit of maximum quality.” […]
FeaturesLast week, I was one of the lucky few to get my HTC Vive VR headset and finally embrace the new world of VR gaming. Having originally tested the Vive at the EGX show last September I can admit to being utterly blown away by the ‘theBlu’ blue whale demo. It felt powerful and somewhat […]
FeaturesIt’s amazing how quickly time passes, the excitement leading up to a new console announcement, the reveal and moments of wonder as we look on at a new generation taking gaming beyond expectations. That’s how it was in years gone by, with console manufacturers pushing to maximise bang for buck, taking gaming forward, expanding the […]
FeaturesAll things considered, 2015 was a stellar year for racing games. The pivotal success of Project CARS brought hardcore sim racing to a new audience on consoles, while Forza Motorsport 6 proved to be another hit for Microsoft that improved on launch title Forza Motorsport 5’s shortcomings. Bike games also had a major revival, with […]
FeaturesWhen Milestone announced they were retiring from the WRC game series following the release of WRC 4 in 2013, many feared they were abandoning rally games altogether. Turns out they’ve been working on something much bigger. This year Milestone is making their rally game with Sébastien Loeb Rally EVO, a new IP from the former […]
FeaturesDespite not being a direct adaptation of the critically acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road, the recently-released Mad Max game still has plenty of fan-pleasing nods that suggest it takes place in the same post-apocalyptic world carefully crafted by director George Miller, despite developer Avalanche Studios insisting it’s not canon to the series. The game tells […]
FeaturesMore often than not, it's easy to dismiss the marketing speak from press releases highlighting a co-operation between two big brands. Though the content of the press statement may, at its core, be factually correct, we all know it's been created purely for publicity purposes. As a result, a majority are instantly forgettable. However, Bugatti's […]
FeaturesThere's no doubting that Sony had a strong showing at this year’s eventful E3. A departure from the clinical corporate presentations of the past with a firm focus on showcasing what matters most to gamers, i.e. new games, it had everything from surprise new IP reveals with Guerrilla’s Horizon: Zero Dawn and Media Molecule’s typically […]
FeaturesSix weeks. That’s how long it’s been since the triumphant release of Project CARS, yet as I sat applying the finishing touches to the final Project CARS TeamVVV review currently in progress, the announcement of Project CARS 2 raced to the top of my inbox. Slightly Mad Studios may have just jump started their own […]
FeaturesIs it really that time of year already? Yikes, yes it is: all aboard the E3 hype train! Yes, E3 has crept around once again, an event we games journalists love and loathe as we’re inundated with stacks of new game trailers, earth shattering surprises and juicy updrates on our most-anticipated releases as Microsoft, Sony and […]
FeaturesHardcore racing simulation games are traditionally reserved for PC, with iRacing, Assetto Corsa, RaceRoom Racing Experience and rFactor leading the pack. On consoles however, things are very different: a racing simulation that isn’t called Forza or Gran Turismo is typically destined to fail, and even those fabled franchises lack the depth found in PC racing […]
FeaturesHello Viewers, Today we are announcing the Team VVV Patreon and Community Project. Team VVV has always been self-funded but it has finally reached a point where we need to turn to our audience in order to keep the editorial integrity we’ve worked so hard to create, and use this opportunity to give more back […]
FeaturesComparing Project CARS to DriveClub seems like a futile exercise. Yes, both fall into the racing genre, but to most gamers the comparisons end there. Project CARS is a thoroughbred simulator, whereas DriveClub, well, isn’t, to put it politely. Project CARS features one of the largest real world track rosters to ever grace a racing […]
FeaturesDriver: San Francisco was, in this writer's opinion, one of the most criminally underrated last-gen driving games. Its Shift mechanic was genuinely innovative for the genre, the heavily Hollywoodised, tail-happy car handling was a joy to drive and the licensed car list was the perfect love letter to movie car chases of yesteryear. It effectively […]
FeaturesAs 2014 draws to a close and tomorrow we can begin to get excited for the start of the 2015 Formula One World Championship, Formula One went through a year of transition in 2014 and perhaps has left us with an uncertain future. Here are our highlights and thoughts… Driver of the Year 3rd Place […]
FeaturesAs technology has improved and adjusted to meet the modern lifestyle, so has our perception and use of video games, moving on from the solitary home gaming experience of the 1980’s, to the epic online ‘always connected’ multi-player offerings we see today. Likewise, the manner in which we play the games has altered – none […]
FeaturesDriveClub’s launch has been a colossal car crash, to put it politely. Nearly three weeks on, and after all the hype and a year-long delay that meant it missed the PS4’s launch party, we’re still left picking up the pieces from the wreckage as the online component still isn’t working as intended. It also makes […]
FeaturesThe years certainly fly by and no better reminder that when those annul events come up that remind you how quickly it is all going. No sooner am I completing the 2013 coverage that 2014 GT Acdemy is upon us and it all starts again. If you haven’t heard of the GT Academy the concept […]
FeaturesThe Nissan GT Academy has kicked off again in the UK. The online time trials in Gran Turismo 6 are now a distant memory and the real work has started, as Sony begins its search for a virtual racer with the skills to make it on real circuits. The 2014 GT Academy UK National Final […]
FeaturesThe enormity of expectation of the E3 Conferences never fails in producing a fever-pitched audience. The hype, the buzz of excitement that fills the air waiting for new multi-million dollar franchises to be revealed. That wave of excitement is renewed every year as we see new hardware or new developments pushing older hardware to previously […]
FeaturesIt’s been just over two years since my previous foray into the world of iRacing and getting back to it has been a challenging process. If you haven’t tried it before, iRacing is about as close as many of us will ever get to the experience of being an actual racing driver; the thrill of […]
FeaturesIn 2006, Eden Games’ revolutionary Test Drive: Unlimited pioneered the Massively Multiplayer Online Racing scene. Set in the idyllic Hawaiian island of Oʻahu, we still have fond memories of basking in its glorious open world paradise of multiplayer motoring exploits, fueled by the passionate petrol-head community. Pity, then, that TDU’s online roads were closed as of September […]
FeaturesThe vision of mainstream virtual reality gaming came one step closer to a reality recently, with the unveiling of Sony’s long-rumoured, Oculus Rift-rivalling headset codenamed Project Morpheus. Meanwhile, its closest competitor, the Oculus Rift, fought back with the announcement of a new Development Kit available to pre-order. And then there was the earth-shattering surprise announcement […]
FeaturesThe size, scale and variety of The Crew’s open world USA is undeniably mesmerising. But what truly took me by surprise during my hands-on was the incredibly in-depth car customisation at your disposal. In Creative Director Julian Gerighty’s words, The Crew is the Pokémon of car games. It’s an apt analogy. For starters, there are […]
FeaturesLooking back, 2013 was a seminal year for racing games. We had the return of several much-loved series such as Codemasters’ GRiD 2 and Milestone’s MotoGP ‘13, before the year culminated with an epic head-to-head duel between the two racing game titans: i.e. Gran Turismo 6 vs. Forza Motorsport 5. But now it’s time to map […]
FeaturesIn the first part of our DriveClub interview with Evolution Studios, we looked at the sophisticated suite of community features that drive the game across its multitude of game modes. In part two, we delve deep under the bonnet with Evolution to gain a technical insight into the exhaustive development process, from modelling the cars […]
FeaturesIt’s that time of year again. Milestone’s latest rally simulation WRC 4 has landed, and here at TeamVVV we’re blowing it wide open with our comprehensive coverage, looking at every rally location in meticulous detail before our final review. While many of the stages from WRC 3 have been carried over, WRC 4’s graphical overhaul […]
FeaturesAs the current console generation enters its final lap, developers have frequently relied on social networking to invigorate the racing genre in the hope to make online multiplayer racing more compelling, rewarding and enduring. EA’s Autolog is a shining example of social networking done right in a racing game. Suddenly, racing online meant more than […]
FeaturesIt probably comes as no surprise to learn that Mario’s marriage with Nintendo is still going strong, as Mario Kart 8 prepares to launch off the line on Wii U. It’s a marriage that’s stood the test of time since the series first started some nineteen years ago now, but one that has become stale, […]
FeaturesIf you think of top-down racers, Codemasters’ classic Micro Machines immediately springs to mind. Fun, accessible and absurdly addictive, it represents everything that made top-down racers so appealing before the advent of cutting edge 3D racers flooded the genre in the 32-bit era. Despite a recent resurgence in an attempt to capitalise on nostalgia, there’s […]
FeaturesE3: a time of year game journalists love to hate. A time where gamers gather to consume every nugget of new information for the year’s most hotly anticipated games and revel in its standout surprises. This year’s event is set to be particularly momentous, too. It signals the start of the next generation, with both […]
FeaturesNext week will almost certainly mark the long-awaited announcement of Gran Turismo 6, which, contrary to popular expectations, will be released on the ageing PS3 if sources are to be believed. The fact that the event is being hosted in Silverstone just before E3 only heightens the probability. If the rumours turn out to be […]
FeaturesTeam VVV recently visited The Gaming Den in central London, a weekly community event hosted by The Average Gamer where like-minded gamers of all ages can indulge in their favourite hobby, try out the latest games on gigantic screens whilst reminiscing on retro titles and nab some freebies in competitions. Grid 2 had a […]
FeaturesConsole racing games have been dominated by Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport for generations, but all that history could be about to change. London’s Slightly Mad Studios has come up with a brand new approach to developing motorsport titles. After creating Need for Speed: Shift and Shift 2: Unleashed, the studio decided to break away from the traditional […]
FeaturesIf you’re reading this, chances are you love motorsport and over the many years of its existence the sport has adapted to the technology and perceptions of the time. From increasing performance to improved safety, refining aerodynamics, improving durability of tyres to the very compound of each aspect of structure. With the environment of vital […]
FeaturesOver the past month we’ve had 11 new cars and 22 drivers all claiming that this will be “their year” and thousands of kilometres in testing completed. This weekend the 2013 season starts in Melbourne, Australia, and we get to see whether any great strides have been made during the off season. I’m only going to […]
FeaturesIf you’ve been checking up on our YouTube channel in the last few days or so, you will have undoubtedly noticed that our five-part preview series on Grid 2 has been rendered and uploaded. Overall, I’m fairly impressed with what we’ve seen and experienced so far, if perhaps a bit miffed about the AI at this early […]
FeaturesIf you’re a PC gamer pining for racing games, then 2012 wasn’t really your year. Sure, there were cross-platform releases such as WRC3 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted to keep you entertained, but in terms of cutting edge PC-exclusives with glittering graphical prowess that brought your machine to a stuttering standstill, there wasn’t much […]
FeaturesThe 2012 season draws to a close and Sebastian Vettel wins his third consecutive World Drivers' Championship in a car that has taken its third consecutive World Constructors Championship, Red Bull-Renault. Kimi Raikkonen said earlier this year in what was one of his best quotes of the year: “The winner is the one who scores […]
FeaturesOur resident Top Gear fanatic Martin Bigg recently attended this year’s annual Top Gear Live event at the NEC in Birmingham. But did it turn out to be his idea of motoring heaven? Find out in his honest account of the day in our in-depth Top Gear Live 2012 show review. It’s no secret that […]
FeaturesWith the release of Forza Horizon, the Xbox team laid on the challenge of a lifetime for a motley crue of gaming petrolheads. VVV Reporter, Cat Dow, joined them to diarise the final leg… Last week saw me hit yet another milestone in both age and driving career: I was offered the best 30th birthday present a […]
FeaturesThere’s no doubting that Spike Engine gave WRC 3 the graphical makeover the series sorely needed. And yet Milestone still needed to improve the overall presentation in order to give WRC3 a unique sense of character that would make it stand out from the crowd. “We tried to simplify the navigation menus and make them […]
FeaturesThe one driver in Formula One people across the world either love or love to hate is Lewis Hamilton. No one can deny he is one of the most talented drivers in the world and, in the current breed of F1 drivers, sits alongside Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. Yet his life away from F1 […]
FeaturesAs we know, the rallying genre has seen better days. Much like the real life sport it replicates, the ’90s was undoubtedly its heyday, as Colin McRae Rally set the standard for rally titles to follow. Ten years later, it’s now a very different story. Milestone’s WRC series faced a torrent of critical backlash for […]
FeaturesAfter the mediocre reaction to the first two WRC titles and the rise of Codemasters’ domineering DiRT series, Milestone were all too aware that, if they were to do the license the justice it deserves, significant changes were in order for this year’s sequel, WRC3. As Head Designer Irvin admitted in the last part of […]
FeaturesJust when you thought we were done and dusted with WRC3 after our exhaustive video blowout, Team VVV were invited all the way to Milan to visit Milestone, where we were given an exclusive behind the scenes look at the development of WRC3. We even got to sample the closely-guarded Vita version, which you will […]
FeaturesJoe Barron and James Horn attended the spectacular Ferrari Racing Days event at Silverstone recently. Here is their account of the ultimate Ferrari experience. Words by Joe Barron. Pictures by James Horn. Ferrari Racing Days is a series which travels the world’s most famous circuits every year. It includes the Prancing Horse’s most extreme machines, […]
FeaturesSo just how long should an F1 race be? Twice half its length. Witty, i know. Anyway, it’s a Tuesday afternoon, and I am sitting just outside Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain at 3:32pm according to my iPad. Just had a great, albeit interesting roast duck cannelloni and about to have a third glass of […]
FeaturesIt is quite rare that I read something and for it to elicit such an emotional response, but when coming across a blog recently accusing the sheer stature of Formula 1 not being considered a sport it was not something I could simply ignore. The Oxford English Dictionary defines sport as: An activity involving physical […]
FeaturesF1 came back from its five week break with Ferrari and Fernando Alonso looking to defend their 40-point championship lead in the second half of the season. Belgium The weekend at the legendary Spa circuit began with an honest, if slightly negative assessment of Fernando’s chances, straight from the man himself. He reiterated his belief […]
FeaturesAnother thrilling Belgian Grand Prix comes to an end, and despite a fantastic result for Jenson Button the headlines tomorrow will be the almighty – and scary – first corner smash and resultant penalties associated with it. Pastor Maldonado has a 10-place penalty for the next race and Romain Grosjean has been handed a one-race […]
FeaturesAt the last race, Webber’s win closed the championship gap to Ferrari’s main-man, Fernando Alonso. This weekend at Hockenheim in Germany was shaping up to be very similar to that last Grand Prix at Silverstone; wet and miserable, but with a dry race. Throughout all three Practice sessions there was very little running from the […]
FeaturesLast time out at Montreal, this was how I concluded my Ferrari F1 blog post:”Next time out at Valencia, it’s a home race for Fernando. Perhaps, with what the team has learned in Canada, he can win the European Grand Prix in front of his adoring Spanish fans.” For Fernando Alonso, the 2012 European Grand […]
FeaturesThere was once a time when the Lord March’s car-orientated ‘garden party’ was just a small event on a Sunday, but oh how have things changed. 19 years after the first Festival of Speed was held, and it’s now ballooned into a massive four day event that celebrates everything to do with automobiles. We were […]
FeaturesEven before the lights went green and the French countryside echoed to the sounds of wheelspin and reverberating rev limiters, this year’s Le Mans was always going to be seen as a special one. After all, it’s the 80th 24 Heures du Mans to be held, and the arrival of the Audi R18 e-trons and Toyota’s TS030 […]
FeaturesThe iconic ’24 Heures du Mans’ is nearly upon us, and in preparation for the gruelling endurance event, the drivers and their cars have been practicing endlessly during test sessions. The grid is packed with snazzy, innovative and downright rapid race cars, but the three (or, rather, four) cars we’ve listed below are the ones […]
FeaturesDuring the last couple of Formula One seasons and particularly so far this season, I have been very critical of Ferrari’s tendency to lean towards conservative race strategies. It was super exciting to see the team really go for the win in Canada, but on this occasion they actually pushed too hard. The race started […]
FeaturesIt’s that special time of year again where all the big boys gather to deliver an onslaught of high profile game announcements and unwittingly create cringe-worthy giant enemy crab memes for the internet to ridicule. It can of course only be E3, and it can often be pivotal chance for racing game enthusiasts to learn […]
FeaturesThe Monaco Grand Prix: the jewel in the F1 crown. Coming into the weekend, Ferrari was in surprisingly good shape. Despite the speculation about the ability and future of Felipe Massa, the Scuderia have been performing significantly above fans’ expectations after an awful start to the year. Fernando Alonso was joint leader of the Drivers’ […]
FeaturesWith just a month untill release, the marketing wheels are turning at Codmasters and we are finally getting a rummage under the bonnet of their latest racing experience. DiRT Showdown is all about fast and furious automotive fun, crashing and bashing, all making for a wild ride within the DiRT franchise for this alternative spin-off […]
FeaturesWith the recent release of Outrun Online Arcade I felt it would be a good opportunity to look back at the heritage of the series and the aspects of this title that continue made it a classic loved by fans of the genre to this day, besides my own personal and reflective take. Outrun was […]
FeaturesGran Turismo is now the world’s most famous automotive video game brand, a game more than 14 years in the making, but the journey to Gran Turismo 5 has not always been straight forward for its designer Kazunori Yamauchi and his company Polyphony Digital, a developer which first came to notable fame during the release […]
FeaturesAre driving games anything like the real thing? Can a talented player really translate their skill from the virtual world? As a passionate racing fan myself, it would be a life dream to have the opportunity to race a real car in a professional season. Indeed on my first visit to Silverstone in the mid […]
FeaturesEarlier this week VVV were invited along to the historic Silverstone race track where we’d get the opportunity to race Forza 3, then go onto the circuit and see how our skills had improved. As a racing fan this is always a wonderful opportunity to view behind the scenes; in this case a nose around […]
FeaturesWith all of the recent snow I was pleased to see it thaw enough for me to make my way to the NEC in Birmingham, arriving early I expected the trade day to be somewhat quiet, a clam before the storm, but on arriving it was an altogether different experience. Bustling with the movers and […]
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