Test Drive at Table Tennis prices!

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 21 Jul 2006 12:12 pm

Atari's Test Drive Unlimited Breaks New Pricing Grounds

Company Announces US$39.95 Pricepoint For Next-Generation Triple-A Racing Title

Gaming Experience Extends Via Monthly Car and Music Downloads

NEW YORK, July 20: Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATAR), one of the world's most recognized brands and a leading third-party video game publisher, today announced official pricing for its upcoming, highly- anticipated next-generation racing game, Test Drive Unlimited. Atari will offer Test Drive Unlimited for Xbox 360TM video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for US$39.95. To further extend consumers' gaming experiences, Test Drive Unlimited car packs featuring six or more cars, complete with genre-specific radio stations, will be available for download monthly, beginning six weeks after launch on Xbox Live Marketplace.

"Innovation should be available to everyone, not a privilege for those can afford high price tags," said Bruno Bonnell, Chairman, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Atari. "Our GamersFirst program demonstrated the positive impact of flexibility in pricing. We believe it is our mission to deliver triple-A games that are accessible to the masses. As such, we are offering Test Drive Unlimited - a game that is being positively touted and recognized by the media - for $39.95, and furthermore, will continue users' experiences past launch by featuring new cars and free music for download."

Test Drive Unlimited's monthly car packs will feature a mixture of manufacturers and models of the world's finest vehicles. Each downloaded car pack will also include a free radio station. Radio stations will be set according to genres, such as Rock, Blues, Electronic, R&B, Jazz, Latin, etc., and feature between 10-20 songs.

Test Drive Unlimited has been receiving accolades from industry media as one of the top racing games this decade. GameDaily declared, "This is the kind of racing game I live for," while IGN.com stated, "There's no denying Test Drive Unlimited is looking like one of recent memory's most unique racers." TeamXbox described Test Drive Unlimited as a "revolutionary online driver." At this year's E3, the annual video game trade show, Test Drive Unlimited received a slew of E3 nominations and awards, including both PLAY Magazine and GameTrailers.com "Best Racing Game."

Packed with 90 vehicles, one thousand plus miles of open roads and a host of online options, Test Drive Unlimited is M.O.O.R.: Massively Open Online Racing - the ultimate online automotive gaming experience for Xbox 360 gamers. Both online and offline gamers will experience the world's most exotic and fastest vehicles on Test Drive Unlimited's diverse Hawaiian roads. Gamers win races, challenges, missions and tournaments to earn credits and purchase new cars, bikes, apparel, homes and garages. Boasting huge online content, racers around the world can challenge others to join them in the virtual paradise of the game's persistent online racing world. Players will engage in online challenges, and build communities by creating or joining exclusive members clubs to talk, trade cars, and race with other like-minded and similarly-skilled drivers in Test Drive Unlimited, one of the most comprehensive online racing experiences to date.

I wish more games hit that price point, but it seems they intend to make money back via download packs.

GreyWizzard · Post by **GreyWizzard** » 21 Jul 2006 12:17 pm

90 vehicles to start with is nice. Hopefully that price is reflected here in Australia. Currently the RRP is listed as $109.95

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 21 Jul 2006 12:20 pm

Other atari games for 360 so far have been region free, so if they don't drop the price locally, just import it for cheap.

GreyWizzard · Post by **GreyWizzard** » 21 Jul 2006 12:26 pm

It is still a long way off until the release date anyway. We'll see what Atari AU does.

General Chaos · Post by **General Chaos** » 21 Jul 2006 12:31 pm

I've heard this is polishing up quite nicely compared with the average demo from around E3.

Perhaps they released a shoddy demo in an attempt to get Pat off their back. Which is as we all know important in making or breaking a game these days!

selfish · Post by **selfish** » 21 Jul 2006 12:44 pm

i'll allow these microtransactions

Pat · Post by **Pat** » 21 Jul 2006 12:49 pm

The game demo was alright, but the overuse of motion blur didnt sit well with my eyes to be honest.

General Chaos · Post by **General Chaos** » 21 Jul 2006 01:31 pm

Mission Accomplished!

lestat · Post by **lestat** » 21 Jul 2006 01:34 pm

Well I've gotten word that the newer beta builds are really shaping up well on this game, so it should be a lot better than the e3 version come release time.

Cardsy · Post by **Cardsy** » 21 Jul 2006 02:26 pm

I actually thought the demo was pretty wikid ... I loved the fact that you could burn around anywhere and challenge people you bumped into along the way to race.

I also like seeing how far off the roads I could drive my car ... up hills, into some guy's backyard.

If they improve the graphics a tad, tighten the controls ... I'll purchase it for sure.

pubba · Post by **pubba** » 22 Jul 2006 12:39 pm

Glad to hear the game is better than the e3 demo. I found the controle abysmal.. It was like you were driving a hovercraft ffs..!