driver-san-francisco posts

Driver San Francisco has suffered through a few release date delays since being offically announced a year ago. Now it looks like publisher Ubisoft has finallly settled on a new date for its revival of the driving-action game series from developer Reflections Software.

Our sister site Joystiq reports that Ubisoft will release the game for the PC and Mac, along with other console platforms, on August 30 in the US. That's when we will get to see if this mix of car chasing game with some odd, almost supernatural, elements (your player character is in a coma and all the in-game action is inside his head) will work.

The long delayed Driver: San Francisco now has a slightly more firm release timetable. VG247.com reports that the driving-action game from publisher Ubisoft is now slated to come out sometime in September, according to a new release date schedule issued by the company.

First announced just before E3 2010, the next game in the long running series was demoed live at Ubisoft's E3 press event last June. Howeve the game, originally slated for release in the fall of 2010, got pushed back to the first quarter of 2011 and then to sometime in Ubisoft's 2012 fiscal year which began on April 1, 2011.

On Sunday we began our multi-part feature on Big Download's most anticipated PC games due (at least at the moment) for release in 2011 with the first person shooter genre. Today we continue our series with all of the action games we are excited to get our hands on the next year that don't have the first person perspective as its main viewpoint.

This next 12 months will see quite a few pure action games on the horizon including a reboot of one of the biggest game series of all time, a return appearance by a certain Dark Knight detective and a game where all of the action is happening inside your comatose mind. Really. Here's our action game list for 2011, in order of the games' expected release.

Driver: San Francisco has been dealing with more that one delay in its release date and now word has come down that the development studio behind the upcoming driving-action game, Reflections Software, will have to deal with some layoffs in the near future. Develop reports that as many as 19 team members could be given their walking papers by its owner Ubisoft.

The reports come from an unnamed source who said the issues stem from the many delays from Driver: San Francisco. An Ubisoft spokesperson confirmed that there would be layoffs and that the game would get some help from Ubisoft Montreal.

Driver: San Francisco got a big reveal at publisher Ubisoft's E3 2010 press conference last June as the open world driving game from developer Reflections showed off an unusual premise; the "driver" of the title is in fact in a coma and the world the player drives in can be found in the driver's mind.

The game was supposed to be out this fall and later got pushed back to the first quarter of 2011. Today as part of Ubisoft's financial press release it announced that Driver San Francisco has been delayed once again. Like Ghost Recon Future Warrior the game will now be released in the publisher's 2012 fiscal year which in calendar year times starts on April 1, 2011 and ends on March 31, 2012. Ubisoft has not revealed why the game has been delayed again.

The release of Driver: San Francisco may have been pushed back from this fall to the first quarter of 2011 but the good news is that it looks like we will get a pretty cool Collector's Edition version of the driving-action game. Publisher Ubisoft has revealed its plans for such an edition in an info dump for its Gamescom coverage.

As you can see in the picture above the Collector's Edition will be packaged to show off one of its main features; a replica of a 1970 Dodge Challenger made to look like it's speeding through the streets. The Collector's Edition will also feature two exclusive in-game cars, a map of the game's version of San Francisco and something called the "Mass Chase" challenge. Pricing has yet to be revealed.

DC Comics' Wildstorm division is the undisputed king of the video game comic book adaptation with a number of mini-series under its belt. Today IGN revealed the latest such project from the comics publisher as it will release a one-shot comic based on Ubisoft's Driver driving-action game series.

The one shot comic, which doesn't have a release date yet, will bridge the gap between the crappy Driv3r and the upcoming (and hopefully much better) Driver San Fransisco. The comic will be written by David Lapham with interior artwork by Greg Scott and a cover by Jock. Jock will be signing a preview copy of the Driver comic at the San Diego Comic-Con this week at both the DC Comics and Ubisoft booth.

Publisher Ubisoft's relaunch of the Driver action-driving game franchise has hit a speed bump on its way to the freeway. Driver San Fransisco, officially announced during E3 2010 as coming out this fall, will now be released during the first quarter of 2011.

Ubisoft made the delay announcement as part of its latest financial press release, saying they decided to push back the launch of the Reflections Interactive-developed game "due to the competitive market at Christmas." Ubisoft made a similar decision earlier this year to push back the release of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier from a fall/holiday release to a first quarter 2011 release date.

Driv3r was not a very well-received game. Panned by critics for deviating too much from the formula that made the previous Driver games great, it got hammered. Learning from their mistakes, the developers decided to revisit the setting and fix the gameplay, and that's where Driver: San Francisco comes in. This particular trailer is our first look at the game, and effectively shows off the rivalry between the two main characters: Tanner and Jericho. Unfortunately, there's no gameplay footage, but if the cutscenes are this beautiful, we'll be impressed.

Download HD Driver: San Francisco E3 2010 Trailer (251MB)
Check out all Driver: San Francisco downloads

Want to see all the PC gaming highlights from the E3 2010 press conferences? Big Download has you covered in one convenient video. Here are the PC highlights from yesterday. Be aware that some of the games shown are not meant for younger viewers.

Addendum:

Users can sign up for the EA Gun Club at gunclub.ea.com. Owning Battlefield Bad Company 2 and pre-ordering Medal of Honor will make you eligible for access to the Medal of Honor multiplayer beta this Thursday.

Ubisoft premiered a light gun game (think Laser tag) called Battle Tag. Although it's technically not a video game, a computer is used to keep score and acts as a moderator while players run around blasting each other with real light guns that require virtual reloading and can be programmed for a variety of game modes. Each Battle Tag kit includes two guns and two sensor vests. Games support up to four players at a time. No pricing was announced.

A game codenamed Project Dust also premiered at the Ubisoft press conference. Not much information has been revealed about the project other than it's expected to be the spiritual heir to Populous. Players choose among different factions to control elemental powers and use them to deform and reshape the landscape in real-time.

Lastly, Ubisoft wants you to feel better as you game. Innergy, which premiered at the Ubisoft press conference, comes with a heart rate monitor that slips onto the index finger. By performing exercises based on your individual heart rate, you can ultimately reduce stress for a longer, healthier life. This and other games represent a collection that Ubisoft calls "Games you can feel" - the company's theme for this year's E3.

Check out the highlights from Episode 2
Check out the highlights from Episode 3
Check out the highlights from Episode 4