Today, Sega has announced that a new Sega Rally game, entitled Sega Rally Revo, will hit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC sometime in 2007.

Awhile ago, Sega made big news out of the fact that it had assembled a team of expert developers, as Sega Driving Studio, to craft next-gen racing games. Without a game to look forward to, though, this news fell a little flat. But now we know what they're working on, at least, and that's pretty exciting to fans of arcade-style racing.

The most interesting aspect of this next-gen racer - since Sega hasn't released any movies or screenshots just yet - is the fact that the different road surfaces in the game will shift as you drive over them. Gravel will scatter, snow will pile up and it's up to you to make the most of each and every lap you drive. Fortunately, since Sega promises the graphics will be "photo-realistic" you'll be able to figure out the smoothest route at a glance. You'd better get used to doing that, anyway, as Sega is also promising that the computer drivers will adapt their strategies to the ever-changing road surface as well.

Online multiplayer will also be available. No word on whether you can have a pal shouting the turns at you - rally teams work in pairs - but we'd bet yes, given the game's being developed in Europe, where people eat this stuff up.

We expect to get more details at May's E3 show.

April 28, 2006