14 DAY TRIAL // You can count on Activision to try and corner every inch of the videogame market with its games. The soon to be biggest game company in the world, courtesy of a merger with Vivendi Games sometime during this summer, has announced that it is developing an off road racing game called Score International Baja 1000.
Development duties for the title are handled by Left Field Productions, which also did Excitebike 64 and Nitrobike. Activision has received plenty of advice regarding its new racer from the people at Score International, the association which oversees desert racing activities. They even let Activision incorporate their name into the game tag line to let gamers know how close to reality the action is.
The game will feature 90 vehicles, from motorcycles to dune buggies, all terrain vehicles and even some trucks. The main attraction of the racing game will be a chance to ride through the fully simulated Baja 1000, one of the most grueling off road events in the world, which is run across the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. The event pushes both man and machine to the brink and it is fully simulated in the game, with the player having to deal with a variety of challenges, from navigating the terrain to mending mechanical breakdowns.
Dave Oxford, from Activision Publishing stated that "In creating Score International Baja 1000, our goal was to create something true to the sport that made you feel the speed and heart-pounding conditions. Players will see potential shortcuts on the tracks, but wonder if their vehicle can handle it. That's a conundrum every driver on the Baja 1000 faces".
Score International Baja 1000 is pitted as a direct competitor to the game Baja from THQ, another off road racer which is set to debut in the coming months. Score International Baja 1000 is in development for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo Wii and is expected to be launched sometime during fall.