March 15th, 2002

I think we've all assumed that Gotham Racing would get a sequel after it was such a success, but I'm sure most of you are not aware of some of the plans Bizarre Creations has for the next game. Some of these ideas were recently revealed to me the other day by a very reliable source that shall remain nameless. Feast your eyes upon these possible upgrades to an already wonderful game.

Upgradeable Cars:
That's right, Gotham Racing 2 may (and probably will) have upgrades to purchase for your cars in true Gran Turismo style.

Tunable Cars:
You may be wondering what's the difference between upgradeable and tunable. Well they go hand in hand, really... By "tunable" they mean the playing can change settings and swap parts that have already been upgraded. Think of it as changing gearing ratios in Gran Turismo or swapping out a high performance part for a lower performance one to get your car into a race with a horsepower cap.

Fifty or More Cars:
This is a major deal, but Bizarre Creations is apparently rather set on this number of cars for the next game, The more cars they add, the less Gran Turismo has to brag about.

Over Two Hundred and Fifty Tracks:
The original had just over two hundred tracks to race on... the sequel is looking to tack on fifty more.

Real Race Tracks:
While the street racing theme will obviously be kept, the next Project Gotham will likely include real tracks from all over the world much like Gran Turismo. Here's hoping that Leguna Seca makes the cut.

F1 Cars:
This one is a huge maybe, but they are toying with the idea of adding F1 cars to the next game.

Rally Racing:
This one is an even bigger maybe than the F1 cars, but it is possible that Bizarre Creations may add a Rally mode to Gotham 2. It would make sense since Rally Racing is all about the power slides...

Online Capabilities:
It should be obvious, but the next Gotham game will include online abilities. That explains itself I do believe.

Club Gotham:
Last, but perhaps most exciting, is this little idea they're playing with. They are considering offering a "Club Gotham" to players willing to pay a small monthly fee. This club would offer monthly downloads of new content including new tracks, new cities, and even new cars that no one else would have access to.

I think it goes without saying that if Bizarre Creations can follow through with all this, or even most of it, Gotham 2 could be viewed as an honest threat to the Gran Turismo series. This is especially true if Club Gotham gets off the ground. The promise of a steady flow of new content would draw many, many people to Gotham 2, and maybe even to the Xbox itself. I know I'd be first in line to sign up.

Oh yes, and by the way. To the best of my knowledge, Prawth.net has scooped the other gaming sites with this bit of news. Yay us!

-K'Tok