Following the death of Colin McRae, Codemasters has just confirmed that they've pulled out their ad campaign for the PlayStation 3 version of Colin McRae: DiRT. This decision was made as a sign of respect for the late racing hero. Following their previous statement on McRae's death, Codemasters (via a spokesperson) has told GamesIndustry:

With consideration to and in agreement with McRae's family, there was a stop put on the TV ads that were planned to run on Sky channels at the weekend and through this week. All media owners contacted were understanding and cooperative.

The ad campaign to promote the racing game was supposedly a major one, especially since the series was getting the Cell Processor treatment. Codemasters' decision to pull out the ads must have been a hard decision to make, but it nonetheless echoes a lot on how they revere the racing legend that is McRae himself.

It looks like Europe's in for more goodies, even after the release of Warhawk in their PlayStation Network. We have just picked up a press wire announcing that the region's PlayStation Store now has a free demo of Codemasters' Colin McRae: DiRT (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) ready for download.

This news comes in a few days after North America received its own DiRT demo. The DiRT demo will contain three events available for play: The Championship Off-Road Racing (CORR) stage, The Crossover stage, and the Cuconi B rally stage.

The CORR stage will have tearing through the Bark River Off Road Raceway in Michigan, by way of 650-horsepower Ickler Jimco buggies. The Crossover race will have drivers racing along Germany's Avelsbachring track, against Colin McRae himself. Your vehicle of choice in this bout is the Subaru Impreza WRX STI Spec-C.

The third event is a race through Italy's Cunconi B track, a Point to Point Rally Race that involves you, Sardinia's scenic vineyards, and the Citroën C4 Concept Car. Cunconi B  is exclusive to the PlayStation 3 demo. Colin McRae: DiRT for the PlayStation 3 is scheduled for a September 14 (Friday) release in Europe.

In case you decided to make a quick escape from your consoles this weekend, we'll be letting you in on the stuff that's recently popped up over at PlayStation Network. First up are two new demos that are sure get your down and dirty with the PS3: Colin McRae: DIRT (Codemasters; PC, Xbox 360, PS3), and NCAA Football 08 (EA Tiburon; Xbox 360, PS3).

Gaming aside, guys who've been keeping track of Heavenly Sword's anime series will be happy to know that episode two is available, as is the second segment of the game's "Making of" series. Also not to be missed are several new game and movie trailers, and other media freebies:

•  Demos:
• Dirt Demo
• NCAA Football 08 Demo
• Videos:
• Heavenly Sword Anime No. 2
• Heavenly Sword "Making of" No. 2
• Game Trailer:
• Folklore "A Tale of Two Strangers"
• Timeshift Trailer
• Theater Trailer:
• The Brothers Solomon Red Band Trailer
• WALL-E Trailer
• Blu-Ray Movie:
• The Lives of Others Trailer
• Wallpapers:
• Heavenly Sword Anime No. 2 Wallpaper
• Blast Factor Advanced Research Wallpaper 1
• Blast Factor Advanced Research Wallpaper 2
  

As always, make sure to have ample space in your PS3's hard drive before downloading. Kudos goes to Someone_PR for letting us know about these new additions to PSN.

Codemasters has revealed their game lineup for this year's Games Convention at Leipzig. The company will showcase new titles for the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 home video game consoles as well as new downloadable content for some of their existing titles. Here's the lineup:

• Clive Barker's Jericho (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
• Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - The focus will be on the Xbox 360 version of this title.
• Colin McRae: Dirt (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) - Gamers will be able to test drive the PS3 version of this Xbox 360 and PC best-seller. The PS3 version is slated to launch this September.
• Overlord (PC, Xbox 360) - Gamers will be able to go head to head via an all-new split screen multiplayer mode available soon as a free content update over the Xbox Live Marketplace.
• The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar - Attendees will get the chance to check out a playable first look at Book 10: The City of the Kings, the second free update for LotRO.

Codemasters Online will also be hosting the first European look at Auran Games' upcoming PvP-centric MMORPG Fury at the OnlineWelten stand, located in Hall 4 B01. The company's showcase booth will be at Hall 4, F01.

Want more gritty and gravel crunching racing action in Colin McRae: DiRT? Well, the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the said title from Codemasters have already seen the shelves, though the PlayStation 3 version is yet to been seen in September.

In the unfortunate case that you've been living under an oversized rock, Colin McRae: DiRT is the sixth title in the popular off-road racing franchise. If you've seen the trailers, screenshots, or the released versions of the video game, we're sure you'd agree that this game looks like it'll leave you with a taste of dust in your mouth (maybe you'll even have to remove dust from your clothes as well).

Anyway, check out the screenshots for the PS3 version of Colin McRae: DiRT. Enjoy!

More screenshots after the jump!

Codemasters has circulated a press release announcing that Colin McRae: DIRT (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) will be hitting the Sony PlayStation 3 video game console this September. There's also a video focusing on the game's damage elements which you can check out below.

Colin McRae: DIRT's damage system is powered by Codemasters' proprietary engine, Neon. It gives some pretty detailed vehicle and environment damage effects, and the soft body damage system replicates perfect deformation on any vehicle from any impact.

Each individual car in the game is also modelled to a fine degree of accuracy. Each car has specific weak points and strengths, ensuring that they will break, bend, warp and disintegrate realistically and in fantastic detail. Anyway, check out the vid. It also comes with commentary from DIRT producer Alex Grimbley.

Video game news website IGN reports that a sequel to Codemasters' Colin McRae: DiRT (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) is already well into production. The sequel will reportedly address quite a few concerns put forth by gamers about the first game.

"All the stuff people didn't like about the first DiRT will be changed for DiRT 2," explained Matthew Horsman, DiRT's chief game designer. Horsman also mentioned that "DiRT 2's online mode will offer a much more embellished experience so everyone will be happy."

The DiRT 2 team is also reportedly working together with COG, Codamesters' online arm, to beef up the game's multiplayer aspect. The original game featured online leaderboards, but the possibility of a full-fledged multi-car race mode seems a likely - and welcome - addition.

After its first week out on the market, Colin McRae: DiRT by Codemasters has hit the half-million mark in global sales. The game's demo has been downloaded more than 500,000 times and the actual sales figures are just a shade behind.

Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens comments "This success with DiRT is a text-book case of our product development, marketing and distribution efforts all working together to ignite consumer interest and drive sales."

Cousens also revealed that almost half of the game's first-week sales were from the United States, and said that the distribution is a sign that the DiRT franchise is catching on internationally.

DiRT is available now for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the PC. A Sony PlayStation 3 version will be released later this year and is also expected to sell well in the platform.

Colin McRae: DIRT is already out for the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and the PC but the ad campaign is still going like a well-oiled machine and it carries the same off-road attitude that the actual game has. Take a look:

"Who needs roads when there's DiRT," eh? Nice touch. Simple, straight to the point, and relevant. The gaming industry needs more tag lines like that. It's a spark of genius, really.

If you're not familiar with DiRT, it's a rally-style racer which does all its running without roads on gorgeous terrains with beastly machines and no rules. It's just tons and tons of angry iron pushing, climbing and colliding over mud and gravel to see who reigns supreme amidst the fender-bending mayhem.

Still not sure if you want to get some rally racing with DiRT? Get that indecisiveness off track, as this latest entry to the Colin McRae franchise leaves no space for error - unless you intend to see some spectacular crashes.

If you really need an incentive before picking up one of the best racing titles to date, check out this video review from Gametrailers. Featured are DiRT's different aspects, from the awesome looking cars to the extensive rally experience that the game offers. Definitely a step up for Colin Mcrae, this is not something you want to miss.

Find out why on the embed below.