UK-based daily tabloid The Sun is now reporting that Electronic Arts has just stroke a deal with Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton amounting to a whopping five million GBP or roughly around US$ 10.40 million. The publication added that the driver will be featured on "Xbox and PlayStations around the world next year."

The last we looked, the Formula One video game franchise is owned by Sony with the PlayStation 3 title F1 Championship Edition being the latest iteration. However, there have been some buzz before hinting that EA Sports has got its eyes once more on the franchise.

To refresh your memories, EA Sports was supposed to do Formula One 2006. However, Sony entered the picture in the middle of production and development was ultimately continued by SCE Studio Liverpool. If The Sun's report is accurate, this only means that Sony has finally lost its F1 exclusivity.

Both EA and Sony has yet to make comments regarding the matter. Until they do, we're tabbing this one under rumor.

 

There's a rumor floating around the European cyberspace which could spell happy days for game fans waiting to get a new Sony PlayStation 3. Website PlayFrance reports that there will be a new starter pack for the region and it'll be starring two killer titles.

The report says that hot video games Heavenly Sword from Ninja Theory and Formula One Championship Edition from SCE Studios Liverpool will be included in the bundle in place of launch hits Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm. The move does seem too good, but it also makes a lot of sense since the Heavenly Sword demo wowed crowds across the planet and F1 has always been big in the continent.

Both titles are exclusive to the Sony PS3 and have showcased the machine's long-trumpeted hardware chops in the previews shown to the public. Heavenly Sword is a good-looking action title of epic proportions while Formula One: Championship Edition is the only racing sim licensed by the world's most popular motorsport. We'll update you on this juicy rumor as soon as new word is forthcoming.

We've been enjoying our copy of the Formula One Championship Edition video game for a little over a month now and we were impressed with the realism. So what's new with this fast and realistic racer? We found a video over at GameTrailers featuring the developers at Sony Computer Entertainment Studios Liverpool.

They talked about the development of Formula One Championship Edition and "upgrading" it from the PS2 to the PS3. The graphics were a large factor in the immersive gameplay, like the reflections and driving at insane speeds in the rain. They also discussed the difficulty settings (love those training lines) to make the PS3 game appeal to basically everyone.

Check out the video and hear what the Formula One Championship Edition devs have to say about this awesome PlayStation 3 title.

Rev up your engines and get ready for some adrenaline rush! Sony Computer Entertainment's Studio Liverpool announced today the official launch of Formula One Championship Edition. This is really something because, if you're not aware, the game is actually the first F1 title released in America in more than five years.

SCEA Director for Online and Product Marketing Susan Nourai is quite pleased with the Sony Liverpool's efforts. She commented,

The development team at Studio Liverpool has crafted an experience that delivers on the uniquely technical aspects of Formula One driving such that it is accessible for the pick-up-and-play novice but also allows for a high level of customization that will even impress professional drivers.

We've already shown you a lot of videos before and discussed several details of the game. But probably a few of the remarkable ones include the SIXAXIS support, that allows players to steer their vehicles around the tightest turns through motion control. The online feature allows 11-person competition with the other 11 cars controlled by A.I.

You know, for the longest time since last year's TGS we've been asking about in-game PS3-PSP connectivity in Formula One Championship Edition (also ran under Formula One 2006 once or twice). Didn't see it in the demo, didn't see it in the videos, didn't see it in the screenshots. Well, Something Awful forum member seiferguy, while compiling media stuff on F1CE, found the interview with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal we saw before, and highlighted the point where he talks about the PSP as a rear-view mirror.

Then seiferguy also found this image he claims was "leaked".

 

Talk away, but please, as with all sorts of leaks, remain skeptical or call a plumber. seiferguy cites another Something Awful member who doubts that this is true, but then Sony Liverpool did mention this in an interview. To be on the safe side, we'll keep it under Rumor until confirmation.

Strange, though, that we haven't heard much about this detail from Japanese F1CE drivers, who already have the game (except for online multiplay) in the Land of the Rising Sun. Hey, anyone there, can you tell us if Japanese versions of the game have PSP connectivity?

SCE Studios Liverpool's F1 Championship Edition will be launched in London on March 1 this year. You can expect Super Aguri F1 driver Anthony Davidson to attend the launch. Davidson, who happens to be a gamer, will also be giving the game a spin. The event will be hosted by ITV's Martin Brundle and BBC Five Live’s pit lane presenter Holly Samos. It seems in addition to gamers, there will be serious coverage by the automotive and racing media people.

So if you live somewhere near London, and you're interested in the game and you want to rub elbows with all these racing and gaming bigwigs, then you'd probably want to know that Three Speech will be giving out five special invites to the event. But before you get all excited for that March 1 launch event, watch this teaser of the game first. Promise, it's good.

Download: [F1 Championship Edition Teaser]

The critically-acclaimed Formula One racing sim, Formula One Championship Edition for the PS3, exhibited a glaring example of the huge power the Playstation 3 houses inside. The racing sim dares to push the envelope past virtual visuals and sits right next to realism.

N'Gai Croal of Newsweek had a few questions for SCE Studio Liverpool's Game Director Graeme Ankers about the game and just how sexy it looks on the PS3.

From the interview, Ankers pointed out that the game was specifically built to put the title into a worthy next-generation level. So everything from damage modeling, high-definition rendering and life-like AI to the captivating simulation gameplay and every bit of detail was under scrutiny. If anything just didn't look real enough, they put it back to the drawing board until it comes out exceeding expectations or just right.

"One of the key challenges you face when developing a game for Playstation 3 is making sure everything in the game consistently hits the high benchmarks you've set yourself," Ankers explained.

The game allows the player to race against 21 other cars in a single track. A single car on the track uses as much memory as 22 cars would use for the PS2 version. Everything they had estimated came close enough that difficulties in realizing the next-generation level of detail for the game were minimal. And the weather effects... whew! Are they a sight to look at or what?

Ankers explained that the game models realistic rain. And it's not done on a looped way like other games have done before. The rain is simulated per droplet, meaning each drop can have a different impact effect, splash direction and splash area on the car, your helmet view and on moving parts like tires.

Cars veering off course or navigating turns will actually show how water sprays off the wheels from the wet track or from the rain. The game models each droplet by using the PS3's unique CELL architecture.

Even though the game doesn't delegate SPUs to specific tasks, each SPU is called on to do jobs in a priority basis. And because each SPU can process vertex shading tasks hand-in-hand with the RSX graphics engine, the game can render more than the usual vertex shading programs to deliver that superb "WOW!" effect.

Arguably one of the world's biggest motorsport is back with a vengeance. After a long absence, Formula One Championship Edition jumps ahead of the pack into American living rooms aboard its high-octane PlayStation 3 engine.

Just a couple of weeks before F1CE leaves the garage, we were able to get our hands on a video preview (courtesy of GameTrailers). Judging by the way it's shaping up, it's definitely not gonna lag behind the better racing sim games currently out for the next-gen market.

Following the grease trails of its predecessors, the preview showed what we've come to expect from the series: breakneck frame rates, an extensive roster of teams and licensed cars, a multiplayer online mode and full surround audio which should make your speakers shudder with the incessant engine noises.

Buckle up and we'll keep you posted on this hot prospect. This SCE Studios Liverpool-developed title, already available in Japan, will be coming to Europe and North America this March.

This writer still remembers the first words he told his editor after submitting his demo review of Formula One: Championship Edition: "Next time, give me something less realistically simmy to review while I catch my breath" (well, he got his wish later on...).

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE)'s F1-study sim (with its amazing detail, it might as well be) is turning over well in Japan, and is still waiting for the green flag to drop in North America and Europe.

So, while still waiting for that green flag, GameTrailers decided to show off three new gameplay vids of open cockpit racers zipping around the track: one in rain, one in the streets, and one that might be taking place in the Bahrain International Circuit, which explains all that sand (is there another F1 circuit in the desert we've missed?).

And apparently driven by a chicken. He turned away from the car-to-car collision, the coward.



Other videos after Turn 8. Click on the "Full Article" link below to see them.

Formula One cars are considered to be among the highest class of auto racing. Its design and specs were made specifically to achieve one thing: to race at dangerously high break-neck speed. This is probably one of the reasons why the video game series of the same name has been very successful and the latest installment, F1 Championship, is no exception.

Anyway, we have for you today a video clip that will make you go gaga over the game. Actually, we had a similar clip the last time around but these two are very much different from one another. We mentioned that the one controlling the first clip has skills that are nothing short of being remarkable. Likewise, the one driving this car is remarkable as well - remarkably bad.

More than the skills, we'd like for you to look at the graphics and physics engine employed in the game. The crashes look astonishing and... Well, just take a look at the video yourself as we don't want to spoil your fun. F1 Championship has been released in Japan and is coming to Europe and North America this March.