Previews

As has become the way with Nintendo’s little white box, when you think of racing games on the Wii, you think Mario Kart, MySims Racing or ExciteTruck. Or, any other bobble-headed, cutesy racer. The one thing you don’t think is motorsport simulation – Need for Speed: Undercover is about as close as you can get and the less we say about that, the better.

Good though it was, F1 Championship Edition on PS3 was a bit sterile off the track. Codemasters' aim with F1 2010 is for you to be the driver and live the life.

Sure, DiRT 2 had the trailer and GRID had a decent enough agent who talked you through things, but the idea here is that it's way more interactive and as seamless as possible.

But the changes aren't just cosmetic. Everything here promises to be better than any other F1

If you've ever played Race Driver GRID (and you should have done), you'll know how the perfect balance between arcade gaming and hardcore simulation can be achieved. Like its Codemasters stablemate, F1 2010 deftly plucks the cherries from both gameplay styles to deliver an experience that's immediately accessible, but features plenty of depth for hardcore race fans. The result is an F1 game that's not only a great simulation, but an absolute blast to play.

In recent years, most Formula 1 games have been Sony-published affairs, and while many were worthwhile racers, it was difficult to find exciting off-the-track features, or significant year-over-year improvements. Following last year's release of F1 2009 on Wii and PSP, Codemasters is set to redefine the Formula 1 experience with F1 2010 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, offering a racing package that comprises everything a famous F1 driver encounters in his career.

While the megaton simulation racing games tend to take massive breaks between their releases (Gran Turismo and Forza), the F1 series has been carving out a sizeable niche for itself. The annual series has been providing racing fans with smaller annual improvements as opposed to the huge 4-year upgrades from the more well-known games. Granted, it’s all about F1 racing, which the NASCAR-dominated US is less familiar with, but true gearheads might find a lot to...

Formula One in real life is finally exciting again. Sure, Vettel is winning everything in sight, but the new rules and overtaking systems have, if nothing else, at least made the races exciting to watch. That's worked out very nicely for Codemasters, who rode the crest of the wave last year with F1 2010 and are now sitting pretty to deliver a super-sequel. They were showing off the game on Xbox 360, 3DS and PlayStation Vita in London, and we played them all so there's a page about each right here. Engines on? OK, let's go. 

F1 2011 is a serious game for serious racing gamers and serious F1 fans. We’re not going to try and convince you otherwise, because this serious image is exactly what Codemasters Birmingham is going for. But as austere as the game seems, there’s something irresistibly fun about the prospect of piloting these bleeding edge 1000 Horsepower Titans.

Disappointed by the 3DS version like we were? Well fear not! A great handheld recreation of F1 could be mere months away if our latest go on the Vita version is anything to go by...