Good news, bad news: Codemasters to make 2009 F1 video game
Formula 1 will finally get a new video game title in 2009, three years since the last official F1 game made by Sony. Formula One Management were reported to be demanding up to $200m for the rights.
First, the good news: the game won’t be exclusive to a single machine, and is expected to be available for ‘major home consoles’ (presumably PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii), PC and other formats. This is very important and I’m sure Codemasters’ expertise in producing cross-format titles helped them win the contract over the likes of Sony.
But the news isn’t all good I’m afraid.
The game will apparently be based on Codemasters’ EGO Engine software which powers Colin McRae: DIRT and the Race Driver series including the forthcoming title “Race Driver: GRID”.
I’ve not been very impressed with the recent versions of either of these games. The last Race Driver game had am impressive breadth of racing disciplines and circuits, but didn’t give a realistic impression of any of them.
The last Colin McRae game went for much the same approach: loads of different series and tracks but very short events, unconvincing physics and no depth.
I don’t want to pre-judge the new game before it comes out and Codemasters have made some excellent racing games in the past. Earlier instalments of both these series such as Colin McRae Rally 2 and TOCA 2 were excellent because they were chiefly based on a single discipline (world Rally Cars and British Touring Cars respectively).
Hopefully Codemasters will produce a 2009 F1 game closer to these classic titles and not just some disposable, short attention span trash that doesn’t deserve to have the F1 logo on it.
What do you want from a new F1 game?
I listed “make a decent F1 game” in the “Ten jobs for Bernie Ecclestone to do” article last year. Click here to read the other nine points on his “to-do” list.
“I’ve not been very impressed with the recent versions of either of these games. The last Race Driver game had am impressive breadth of racing disciplines and circuits, but didn’t give a realistic impression of any of them.”
How can you say this Race Driver : GRID has not even been released yet and I am pretty certain the last Race Drvier game did not use the EGO engine as the EGO engine was introduced in Colin McRae : DIRT.
i think the ego engine will be massively improved for f1 2009 as they improved it a great amount for race driver grid when they re used it from dirt. so in conclusion it would also only be using one discipline aswell as the name is in the title F1 and i cannot wait for it to come out. get in!! lol
If F12009 game drags me away from PGR4 I’m in.
what do i want from an F1 game?
simple = realistic physics!
in my view, the geoff crammond series “grand prix x” r the best f1 games even tho they are years old!
the most recent ones have gone for insane graphics but an arcade like feel.
also, updatable performance/cars would b nice and to add new tracks! should b on PC so i’ll get it for sure, but thats what i want it to be like!
Me, am just happy to have another F1 game come out for PC. I do not compulsorily have to go out and buy a console to play the game. I just can’t complain.
What i would like though is perhaps for the cars to feel realistic. Also, i’d like for them to perhaps make a game as per 2004 spec of the cars. Just for fun. Greedee i know…
@Jim – there’s a demo version of GRiD available for the Xbox360 and it’s complete cobblers. The cars handle like Scalextric models.
The challenge for any dev making an F1 game is to make it accessible to a wide enough audience that it’s commercially worth the cost of developing, but that it’s not hopelessly over simplified. The success of games like Forza 2 on the 360 and Gran Turismo on the PlayStation shows that it is possible to get this balance more or less right.
TBH, I’d settle for Geoff Crammond’s GP2 with decent graphics and internet multiplayer.
From Codemasters:
More details here
what i want is an f1 game that will let me change my strategy mid race eg if bad weather happens etc.In the last game also if you knocked your front wing off in the first corner and had to pit for a new one the team instead of just putting on a new wing they take it as your first scheduled stop and fill you to the brim with fuel and change your tires after 1 lap.
Full press release:
Codemasters®, developer and publisher of award-winning racing video games, has secured the exclusive video game rights to FORMULA 1 it was announced today. In a worldwide licensing agreement with Formula One Administration Limited, Codemasters will develop a new generation of the multi-million selling FORMULA 1 game franchise across multiple platforms.
Codemasters Studios, creators of genre-leading racing titles Colin McRae: DiRTâ„¢ and Race Driver: GRIDâ„¢, will lead the design and development of official FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP games for home console, handheld and PC gaming formats.
“FORMULA 1 is ambitious in expanding its reach with more circuits planned beyond recent additions in the Middle East and China. It is also ambitious in expanding its reach via technology. The digital communities that computer and video gaming creates will play a key role in further growing the FORMULA 1 audience and connecting them globally,†said Rod Cousens, chief executive officer, Codemasters.
“As a world-leading creator of driving games, this alliance with FORMULA 1 is the jewel in Codemasters’ racing crown and creates an undisputed segment champion. FORMULA 1 has gone with the best, the segment leader. It has gone to the home of the EGO Engine for quality; it has gone to the company that can host FORMULA 1 Online, to the company that is streaking away from the pack.â€
“Codemasters’ success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge,†said Chris Deering, chairman, Codemasters. “The combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’ contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen.â€
The worldwide deal provides Codemasters with rights to feature all Grand Prix circuits, FORMULA 1 teams, cars, and driver likenesses.
The FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP games will be developed using the evolution of the award-winning EGO™ Game Technology Engine, Codemasters’ highly versatile cross-platform middleware technology. Its advanced graphics and physics technology brings an unmatched cinematic quality and realism to interactive entertainment.
The EGO Engine is currently being deployed in the creation of Race Driver: GRID™, the latest in Codemasters Studio’s international circuit-based racing series. Set to be a landmark release when it launches on May 30th, Race Driver: GRID was recently hailed as “The driving game of the summer†by BBC Top Gear magazine.
Codemasters expects the first game based on the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP to launch in 2009.
For me, as long as the game is moddable, I’ll be happy. There are enough F1 Fanatics (heh) who’ll make the game worthwhile as long as they’re given a chance. Atleast this time, we’ll get an official F1 game for the PC.
Race Driver has been fun only because of the amount of variety in the driving disciplines. The physics/simulation are nothing to write home about. Hopefully, the engine will be tweaked to correctly make the cars feel like real F1 cars (pretty much on the edge of control when going flat out).
I must say that for the first couple of weeks when i first started to play the F1 game, i was pretty useless at it. However, in a months time i could tell you i learned to appreciate true brilliance of the game that was F1-2002. Since then i’ve tried many various mods and i loved all of them. The only racing game which i liked apart from F1 was CMR series. Need for Speed is ok, at best, a variety if i might say so. Now, i can just start any racing game and be a god(no kidding). Playing the game improved my sense for car control(virtual only
) so much that i can’t impress that upon you. When i first tried to ride a bike in real world, i was bloody looking for gaps in the traffic(i live in India, there’s a lot to deal with in most of our cities). May be am just mad, or may be, i like racing just a tad too much and it flows in my veins(cliched, i know….).
Yes yes yes. DIRT was poor and the demo (yes it IS a demo so who knows if itll change) of GRID (yes, based on the DIRT engine) is very very poor. The handling is shonky, wooly and just plain disappointing.
That said, Im comparing it to Forza2 and the TOCA series has imo traditionally been more arcadey than the ‘racing sims’ like GT and Forza so maybe its an unfair criticism.
Codemasters getting the license is better than Sony, but I’d be way happier if the task was given to ISI or Simbin. ISI made the previous titles that came after Crammonds Grand Prix series and they’re current game rFactor has loads of openwheel mods of very high quality.
Codemasters racing games hasn’t been very realistic and the feeling of driving the cars in CMR: Dirt isn’t very inspiring, so I wont get my hope up for this game, but I’ll sure test a demo or something.
I learned to love F1 through “F1 2000″ for the Sony Playstation. Having no knowledge of the tracks, drivers, or teams, this game was able to get me up to speed much quicker than watching the races, and listening to the bland commentary.
If this game is able to get people interested in the sport then I’m all for it. I’m going to wait for Rfactor2 unless this is a masterpiece.
I doubt the game with have mods for the consoles, but anything is possible on the PC. But again at that point you might as well invest in Rfactor.
Listen, forget any of this new nonsense. Buy a copy of Crammonds’ GP4 in the bargain bin (It even works a treat in Vista!). Not only are the graphics reasonable, but you get the best thing ever in a race game, variable weather! It’s a hoot, watch that racing line dry out! Let’s not forget you get to race on the proper Hockenheim track, and also Spa with the bus stop…….
This really sucks. Colin and TOCA sure were good games, but that’s the problem, we don’t want a F1 game. We want a more simulator feel. Racing arcades should have stopped at OutRun
We’ll have to wait and see… I hope they add multi monitor support.
To Nathan:
How on earth does one get or installs or whatever that CSM thing that’s needed to run the mods of Grand Prix X?
Never heard of it, and the forum is not the most informative thing in the world…
regarding reaching a new audience for F1 via the route of easily accessible console games is the way to go, it happened in the 90’s with Bizzare Creation’s F1 games for the ps1.
it would be nice to chat F1 with other friends.
Although two problems; said people think that Hamilton has “+5″ speed.
and accessible to people like us means “sub par”
Looks like the trend of s#@% continues in Formula One gaming. I would go into this more but I would be repeating a similar rant I had a month ago in an article for another website: LINK: http://www.f1-pitlane.com/content/f1-video-games-state-union-address.
What drives me nuts the exclusivity of the deal. What is Codemasters’ motivation for making a quality game? By my previous experience with their games, they seem to make a game that is just good enough to sell without putting any quality in it. (I’m sorry, I trust Top Gear magazine in rating cars but definitely not in rating video games.)
Not only that, what the heck is Formula One doing demanding $200 million for the rights? That is absolutely insane. Unlike the America’s National Football league that gets $500 million from EA for their license, F1 is an unknown quantity in the gaming world and what is know has been failure. This has absolutely ruined my day.
Excuse me as I throw my little rubber red ball against the wall in office for the next hour.
I would like to have a F1 version of the Gran Turismo series with real tracks, pilots and cars (current and past). Maybe one day in Playstation 10…
A realistic pitlane environment would make my day. The pitting in almost every racer I’ve ever played is atrocious!
The Crammond series had a great set of options which allowed you to have tons of driving aids for an arcade feel, or turn them all off for an incredibly hard-to-drive, yet realistic simulation, giving beginners and hardcore specialists equal measure in one game. That idea works for me.
- Safety car
- Better flags
- Aero that ‘develops’
- Better pitstops
- Better replication of different drivers’ driving styles
- All the drivers
- All tracks, including those that don’t make it to the calendar in 2009 (hey, I miss Belgium in F1CE)
- Easter eggs including a video of Max eating pie
The new F1 2009 game should have all the circuits of the 2008 season and also the the 2009 season and you can select your custom circuits when you want to play a full championship season.
The TV GRAPHICS should spot on like the 2008 season or 2009 season and also an editor for editing them and also
updatable CARS CIRCUITS and OTHER EDITORS which you can get from the internet. MOST IMPORTANTLY A PIT assistence
key and when pressed the car gets controlled by the AI,
the car SLOWS down before entering the PITS, makes the stop and exits the PIT.
ALSO the PIT CREW ANNIMATIONS should be REALISTIC like
(changing tyres, refueling, changing damaged parts like the GP4 series which is a spendid and best F1 game till date)
ALSO ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON REALISTIC SOUND like the awesome FLICKERING ( not cracking ) SOUND which happens
just after every GEAR UPSHIFTS ( love to hear it ).
Oh, I’ve been playing rFactor (thanks for the heads up, everyone that mentioned it) and downloaded and installed the F1 1979 add-on and: I’ve never been so humiliated in my life, I’m 8 seconds off the pace! That’s ridiculous!
Even in Grand Prix Legends I managed to get on with it much faster, and never were (except in Nurburgring perhaps) that slow.
But to drive that T4 with number 12 on it is such a joy! Volume at maximum of course.
Needs to be as close to GP Legends and Grand Prix series as possible. Variable weather is nice but cars should be realistic, utilize the actual circuits with a platform that will allow for mods. If its good it will draw a cult like Legends.
have the same graphics as f1 championship edition ,and have the drivers switched around like they do .also the punching of the fist as they speed past the finish line that be real cool
a everyone i still think f1 championship edition is the best racing game ive ever played even online .me against the world no match. me from new zealand bring it
this is disgusting! what are sony playing at? codemasters will ruin the f1 series. this has always been the best racer out under sony. now we’ll get a game where the physics are so bad u can go round monoco at 200mph- in the rain
it wud be gud if you could to a warm up lap walm up your tires before the race starts and it would be cool if you could make ur drivers wave to the crowd wen they have crossed the finnish line it wud also be cool if wen you crash a crane wud get ur car off the track thanx for reading toodles
me again
it betta have a safety car in better graphics of the track danage on car nd also the driver
Make an F1 game the best damn that u can.
Beyond Forza 2 graphics,
and lots of new Rockn’Roll music.
Lots of custom color paints for cars.
Force feedback heavy of course.
and be sure there is a 3rd person view
and driver seat view.
And dont make the damn thing tiny,
i hate that. Make it extra large proramming.
80 percent of the screen is the car in
driver view mode.
And if u cannot do it right,
send it to ea,
they did an awesome job with
f1 2001.
Dont do a half ass job like indycar 2005.
i hated that.
laters,
R.
Remember the paint has to glisten,
the sounds realistic,
the competition mildly agressive,
the wheels have to look real,
and the scenery has to be super amazing.
the levels have to be selectable.
and it should save with ease.
custom paintjobs too.
and customize the car too.
upgrade motors, upgrade tiresize, etc.
and replay videos in hidef.
infact the whole damn game must be in ultra hidef.
if u cant do it,
send it ea, because they can.
and make sure u put it on xbox 360 and ps3.
please.
and dont forget,
call it Indycar 2009.
do better than that
next year and call it Indycar 2010.
Indycar makes more sense than saying
f1. F1 sounds like you are ordering food.
I’ll take the f1. u want fries with that….
serious, call it indycar.
it makes more sense that way.
Forza 2 has an f1 indycar, but its sooooo unmodifiable,
and i hated that, but it plays well.
jus incase u didnt know its towards the far right
on the f series of cars.
if u already
have the game, u can try the indycar for free.
problem is its not customizable.
graphics are great though.
I know ea’s f1 01 works on x360
i havent tried f1 02 nor f1 career challenge.
those might work too, i jus dont know about that.
but the f1 01 has the driver seat view
and it runs smoothly very fast on x360.
and f1 01 has preset colors of cars u can choose from
orange, green, blue, black, yellow.
so that gives u options on the color of your f1 car.
which is cool.
the game should include more and realsitic accidents and mistakes done by the “computer-drien” cars and in particular saftycar-phases sould be included,too.
physics, physics, physics, graphics are to a point we;re you can hardly tell if is a real video footage or a game(sim.) if you get it right you can make up to a billion in revenue, have coding for 2012 upgrade and charge but have new updates for graphics etc etc. similar to iracing.com it is expensive but good dammed it the sure did a great job.
create online competition with prizes have f1 sponsor it.
have f1 simulators stores around the world. etcetc.. peace
A new F1 game should be all about realism and simulation in my opinion. The formula one franchise has been progressing well over the years under the direction of Sony, and the fact that Codemasters has won the right to create a new Formula One franchise scares me immensely – especially after having played their most recent driving game “Race Driver:GRID”. From a simulation racers’ perspective this is one of the worst racing experiences since Electronic Arts tried their hand at creating a Formula One game back in 2003 – simply awful. I know that Codemasters is capable of creating brilliant racing titles, ie/ TOCA Race Driver & Colin McRae Rally – however their last attempts have left a lot to be desired. The simulation game that is streets ahead of any competition (including GT5p) at the moment is System 3’s Ferrari Challenge. I cannot stress enough the fact that someone at Codemasters NEEDS to study the physics engine in this game if they are to produce a successful racing title because this is the defining simulation game of the current age in terms of realism and simulation. The graphics are not brilliant, but when you have produced a game with physics of this quality the graphics are easy to forgive. I can only hope that I’m am proved wrong in regards to Codemasters taking the reins on this one.
Never played Ferrari Challenge myself, but from the videos: isn’t that an arcade? I really don’t see a simulation anywhere.
Ferrari Challenge definitely isn’t an arcade game – play it and you’ll find out. It’s like Forza 2 and GT4p rolled into one, only much better than both of them – only problem is that you can only drive Ferrari’s.
i think the game should be on ps3 only and when is it coming out the new one
i want f1 2009 have anything that all the others metioed…i want to know and something else…in how many months or years i d be able to play it????
it s me again (before i meant mentioned)i want something else i d like the game be for ps2 and pc not only for ps3 thank you
Ideally they would release it on the ps2,but i can understand them following the trend of leaving old consoles in the past.
ive been eagerly anticapating this news and want to thank this site for notifying me that the long wait is finally over!
id like to suggest the following things on the upcoming codemasters f1 game: Manager mode, Reaslistic sound and graphics, all tracks and drivers, Real life pit stops.
i realise that all sounds simple but i think its important to get the basics right and not get too complicated!
Thanks codemasters!
p.s lewis for the title he deserves
we want simulation. something that can blow our minds away.codemasters grid was an exceptional arcade racing game, but the realism of it was a large lack.. there were things that could have been made better, the drifting in the game is actually the only thing that holds me to it.
As an avid fan of F1 and an avid fan of F1 Racing Games, having played all of the GrandPrix games from Geoff Crammond, having played F1 Championship from 99-02, and rFactor. I also want to include Forza and Gran Turismo to that list, I need to say this.
If the new Codemasters game is anything like GRID, I will be EXTREMELY dissapointed!!! If anyone has played that game it is an abomination of racing altogether!! it’s like they took the DIRT physics and just tried to apply them to a road car!! Sound is terrible, controls are terrible, illusion of speed is terrible.
Please on my Wish List!! Codemaster!! Start fresh, and do not use your previous attempts to create F1! PLEASE!!!!
Well I would love an ol’ thing come back :
The GHOST TRACKS (like the good old ones from Codemasters TOCA 2!)
Not only you could learn how to drive the track in a faster way – it was also a funny way to practise and beat your freinds..
OOOH yeah and I would LOVE to get a “track preview” on/of for learning new tracks faster..
Yeah yeah.. I KNOW it’s kind of arcade game’ish, but if you can turn it of it shouldn’t be a problem to bring it along ??
In short : Ghost tracks and Track preview would do me more happy!
)
(and PS remember the night lights for night driving..
(Maybe more to come..)
OMG!! I really cannot wait for this game to come out!! I was rather dissapointed with F1 06 as i felt that the Carrer on it could of been a bit more realistic and some of the graphics more inspirering. The commentry as well could of been better and more diverse and much more competitive races, however i will be upset that the magny cours circuit will not be there this time round as it is one of my favourite tracks to race on. Good luck Codemasters and please don’t dissapoint
Please make the game available for Nintendo Wii, Codemasters and make it so you can use it on Nintendo Wi Fi.
Plz =]
did yu know if the 2009 F1 runs out for PC computers?
I would llike to know please…
Essential ingredients:
Full race distance mode
Full championship mode (multiple seasons if possible)
Fully adjustable car set up
Proper pit stops
Realistic handling & physics
Variable weather
19 other, realistically controlled, cars to race against
Random failures & race incidents – safety cars, yellow flags etc
Decent graphics
Martin Brundle commentary
dont forget being able to be ur own driver or even having your own team dat would be a plus.
(Continued)
If it’s going to be for updates or mods, please make sure it is easy to install trakcs and stuff!
I got freinds who also drive F1 games, and I always have to install tracks for them
As many here suggest, I also would love a “non-arcade” version.
Now remember the ghost tracks
)
(And could you restart the Toca2 server too, please?
———
Ricardo : I guess I’ve been reading here that it will do for PC version too, but of course don’t expect it will run on a Pentium 486
———
Maybe even more to come..!
Regards
ChokDK
It better be out on PlayStation2 and it better have the great quality of F1 06 otherwise I’m splashing out on something else…
Well ive got loads of things they could put on the new F1 09 game:
Better on board cameras
Have flexible goals in the career mode instead of qualifying X position and finishing X position and beating ur teammate
More commentary
2 types of pit stops: 1 interactive, 1 non-interactive player chooses
More helmet designs!!!
More radio transmission
More action happening on track because the cars only occasionly collide…
More failures in the car instead of just an engine failure :S
Pre race interviews just like on TV lol
Post race ceremony
Rivalries with other drivers or teams??
No black and white flag thats never used!!!!!!
Last idea: yellow flags safety cars red flags as well and better cautions.