Project Gotham Racing Explained

Project Gotham Racing (PGR) is a series of racing video games published by Microsoft Studios, with four main titles all of which were developed by Bizarre Creations. It is the spiritual successor to Bizarre Creations' previous game Metropolis Street Racer, released by Sega for the Dreamcast in 2000. The PGR series was released on the Xbox and Xbox 360, with spin-offs appearing on mobile phones.

Gameplay

The PGR series have a system called Kudos points. These are given for performing stunts with the vehicle (such as power sliding, overtaking another driver, two wheels, etc.). The longer the stunt is maintained, the more points the player receives. Colliding with the guard rails and other surroundings will cause the Kudos points from that stunt to be lost. PGR2, PGR3 and PGR4 supported direct network gameplay via Xbox Live.

The cover of each game in the Project Gotham Racing franchise has featured a Ferrari car on it, going from the F50 (PGR) to the Enzo (PGR2), the F430 (PGR3), and the 599 GTB Fiorano (PGR4). The car manufacturer was even the main focus of a free mobile entry in the series, PGR: Ferrari Edition for the Zune HD, similar to that of Porsche in .

Titles and history

The first Project Gotham Racing was released as a launch title for Xbox on November 15, 2001. It became a success and led to more sequels, becoming Microsoft's flagship racing game franchise on Xbox.

In December 2006, a mobile version was released for J2ME mobile phones.^{[1] [2]} Another mobile version, simply called Project Gotham Racing in 2007, was released for Symbian and Windows Mobile devices.^[3] On November 11, 2009, Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition was released for the Zune HD.^[4]

The final main title, Project Gotham Racing 4, was released around the time Bizarre Creations was acquired by Activision. Following this acquisition, in September 2007, Bizarre Creations announced that PGR4 would be the last game produced for Microsoft,^[5] effectively leading to Forza Motorsport replacing it as Xbox's flagship racing franchise. Bizarre developed PGR4s spiritual successor, Blur, which was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows.^[6] before the studio was shuttered by Activision in 2011. The developers of Forza Horizon originally intended to reboot the franchise;^[7] however, this proposal was reportedly turned down by Microsoft.^[8]

Reception

Every main Project Gotham Racing game was a critical success.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2006-12-22 . Project Gotham Racing (3D) . 2023-05-20 . www.pocketgamer.com . en.
2. Web site: Buchanan . Levi . 1 May 2006 . Pre-E3 2006: Project Gotham Racing Mobile . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061018090940/http://wireless.ign.com/articles/704/704006p1.html . 18 October 2006 . 21 July 2015 . . Ziff Davis.
3. Web site: Dredge . Stuart . 2007-02-15 . 3GSM 2007: Project Gotham Racing Mobile gets a smartphone revamp . 2023-05-20 . www.pocketgamer.com . en.
4. Web site: Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150513201128/http://www.ign.com/games/project-gotham-racing-ferrari-edition/zunehd-32263 . 13 May 2015 . 21 July 2015 . . Ziff Davis.
5. Web site: Activision buys Bizarre Creations . 2024-10-08 . Develop.
6. Web site: Activision buys Bizarre Creations . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120722103511/http://www.develop-online.net/news/28531/Activision-acquires-Bizarre-Creations . 2012-07-22 . 2007-09-26 . DevelopMag.com.
7. Web site: Coulson . Josh . 2022-06-13 . Forza Horizon Devs First Pitched A Project Gotham Racing Reboot . 2024-10-08 . TheGamer.
8. Web site: McPhillips . Andrew . 2022-06-15 . Xbox Reportedly Turned Down a Project Gotham Racing Reboot Pitch . 2024-10-08 . Game Rant.