http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/29/drivecl ... -released/Dave Cook wrote:Today, Sony confirmed that Driveclub will launch on PS4 from October 7 in North America, October 8 in Europe, and October 10 across the UK.
In an update on PS Blog EU, Yoshida explained, “We planned for the game to be ready for early 2014 and are committed to delivering on our ambitious promise of creating a truly innovative, socially connected racing game.
“The problem with being ambitious is you have to be prepared to accept there will be challenges along the way. What Driveclub offers has not been previously achieved in this category and because of this, the team needed more time to give you the game you’re waiting for.”
Yoshida also welcomed the arrival of new game director Paul Rustchynsky in February, who has since steered the game through its additional months in development.
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2014/04/ ... studios-2/Paul Rustchynsky wrote:I know we have been quiet for a while since we made the decision to delay the game, so I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know exactly why the team felt that DRIVECLUB needed more development. We wanted to make sure we got one important feature right.
The dynamic menu is key to how much fun you’re going to get out of the game because it is the glue that connects you to everyone else in the DRIVECLUB community. Whenever you fire up the game; between every race you play, and when you log in to DRIVECLUB on your phone or tablet, the dynamic menu has to be slick to ensure your experience is seamlessly connected. Essentially it’s where you discover what to play, and who to play with.
It’s also absolutely vital to our ambition of growing a vibrant network of millions of connected clubs, who all share the excitement of driving amazing cars together. Whether they play just to have fun, or to complete every challenge and beat their rivals in every race, it’s this connected community who will keep the game fresh and enjoyable well after launch, so it makes sense for the connectivity to be perfect.
No racing title has ever combined the development of a socially charged, multi-platform dynamic menu with all the other connected online elements that DRIVECLUB delivers. We know that what we are creating here is hugely ambitious and we’re proud of the fact that we’re getting close now because we’re a relatively small studio. The progress we’re making is great, so I’m looking forward to showing you more as development continues and prove that all the hard work has been worth it.
While that work goes on, the rest of the team here is relentless when it comes to exploiting the power and confidence of the PS4, so we’re also raising the bar even higher across other aspects of the game including:
■ Visuals – We’re constantly improving how stunning the game looks as we continue to optimise visuals and find new ways of pushing the PS4. You can see for yourself how it looks right now in the latest video we shared yesterday because all the footage was captured on PS4 from the game. It’ll look even better in October.
■ Audio – It’s absolutely state of the art. We’re continuing to refine the authentic sounds that we have for each and every car in the game and we’re going to put together videos that focus on this.
■ Driving – It already feels great to play and we’re continuing to add further layers to the physics to make it both more accessible for everybody and more sophisticated for experienced racers.
■ Clubs – We’re making it easier for you to keep up to speed with what’s going on in your club as part of the rework on the dynamic menus. We’ve also tweaked clubs to support up to 6 players instead of 12 (because the game is more fun with tightly-knit clubs and it paves the way for awesome 6 on 6 club races).
■ Tour – The difficulty curve for the campaign mode is becoming even smoother as we continue to optimise the vehicle handling and also refine the game’s AI for non-player racers.
■ Cars & Tracks – More time means more staggeringly detailed cars and exciting tracks too. If you haven’t already, check out the Ferrari in the video released yesterday. There are loads more exciting cars for us to reveal in the coming months.
I’d also like to confirm that the PS Plus Edition of the game will be available on the same day as the full release. Offering a selection of cars and tracks from the complete version, we think it’s the perfect way for those new to the genre to get an idea of what the full DRIVECLUB experience is all about.
http://www.vg247.com/2014/04/30/drivecl ... pens-next/Dave Cook wrote:One stance that has changed is the game’s display, which now sits in 1080p at 30 frames-per-second. It’s likely a non-issue for some, given the lavish presentation of the game’s screens and videos so far, but even Rustchynsky explains that the dip in frames allows the team to render such high-quality car models, track environments and sky boxes in motion. He then suggests that people look to fellow 30FPS title inFamous: Second Son as an example of what can be achieved visually.
In closing, I ask him to set out a new stall for those still concerned about the Driveclub delay. “It’s the Driveclub experience I think everyone wants to play,” he concludes. “I think that’s the message from me.
“It’s the driving experience for all – it’s not a simulation, it’s not arcade – it’s something that sits perfectly in the middle with these unique social elements, and I think that everyone who was excited for Driveclub, should still be excited about Driveclub now. When they see it, I think it’s going to blow them away in terms of visuals, and when they play it, I think the handling – again – is going to blow them away.
“I don’t think anyone should change their mind about Driveclub since last year, it’s still going to be the same vision, it’s just better than we ever could have imagined.”
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny3JYGXCmFgShame about the frame rate, but otherwise looks excellent especially the detailed environments the tracks are set in.