Ahead of the first race of the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP in Melbourne this weekend, Codemasters today announced that F1 2012 will launch worldwide in September for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and PC. F1 2012 is the next game in the award-winning, multi-million selling series from Codemasters as part of an exclusive multi-year deal with Formula One World Championship Limited.

To mark the announcement and introduce one of F1 2012's new headline features, Codemasters has released a video following F1 2012 Creative Director, Stephen Hood, as he meets the next generation of drivers at the Young Driver Test. Filmed at the Yas Marina Circuit, home of the FORMULA 1 Abu Dhabi GRAND PRIX, Stephen asks if their experience with Codemasters' FORMULA ONE games has been of benefit as they prepare for a career in the world's most exciting motorsport in real life.

Harnessing the world's most powerful graphics processor, AMD today introduced the ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition graphics card. Equipped with 2GB of GDDR5 memory, the ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 is the first graphics card capable of rendering in excess of 1 billion pixels per second in today's titles, unleashing PC game environments of unprecedented size and resolution. Enthusiast gamers now have access to a seamless, stunning perspective across six displays, enabling up to 12 times more resolution than 1080p HD.

"The ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition graphics card opens the door to a new era in personal computing," said Matt Skynner, vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics Division. "With the ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition, PC users get the ultimate panoramic computing experience in one powerful card. By bridging the innovation in ATI Eyefinity technology with broad ecosystem support, AMD is revolutionizing the PC visual experience."

AMD today announced the flagship installment in the award-winning line of graphics cards, the ATI Radeon HD 5970, the fastest card ever created. The new ultra high-end model joins a growing list of the world's first and only graphics cards to fully support Microsoft DirectX 11 technology and ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology.

Designed to support the most demanding PC games at ultra-high resolutions and image quality settings, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 has unlocked overclocking potential, granting access to every bit of power the card has to offer through ATI Overdrive technology. Now shipping from retailers and available in the channel, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 also launches today in new Alienware Area-51, Area-51 ALX and Aurora desktop PCs.

We all regard PC games, as an entertainment medium, but spend hundreds to even thousands of Dollars regularly, to keep our PCs up to date, to be able to play the latest PC games. Imagine a medium that rids us of that, and we are able to consume PC gaming like any other content, like the TV or radio. Well, that the potential a new on-demand gaming platform holds - to make you never have to buy/upgrade a gaming PC again.

Called OnLive, the on-demand platform consists of a web service, an internet connection, and a thin-client, called "micro-console" that connects your input (game controllers), and output (monitor/TV/HDTV). You control the game - whichever you're subscribed to and playing - the client relays your input to the OnLive servers, that do the processing, including graphics rendering, and send back output to your client. The client then displays the output. Sounds familiar? Cloud computing? Exactly, but for PC gaming. The platform is conceptualized to be advanced-enough to handle any of today's games, Crysis included. The work-model of this platform is what makes it tick with any game, and is far more future-proof than the present mode of PC gaming (where people own expensive hardware that are in requirement of upgrades, the costs of buying games, buying gaming services separate).

For standard definition television quality, a broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second is required. For HDTV resolution, a connection of at least 5 mbps is needed. The service uses patented algorithms that work to counter lag caused by network constraints. The technology is already gaining attention from major publishers, including EA, THQ, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Atari, Warner Bros., Take-Two, and Epic. People can buy or rent a game to play it, the usage fees are expected not to be much more than the subscription fees for Xbox Live.

Game publisher Codemasters yesterday announced plans to acquire Sega's UK Racing Studio. Previous owner Sega recently announced its intent to close the studio, citing a mandate to ensure each branch remained profitable. "In seizing this opportunity, we have created additional resources to escalate our plans in the racing segment," stated Codemasters chief executive Rod Cousens. "We hope to welcome more than 40 people to the company ... We have enjoyed the full co-operation of our friends at Sega in making this happen," he continued. "It is good business for Codemasters, an exciting prospect and there will be more to come as we are not content to stand still." Most likely both publishers will concentrate their development skills in releasing a new versions of the well known Codemasters' Colin McRae and Race Driver racing games.

Codemasters has unveiled the latest iteration of its proprietary in-game graphics engine, an evolution of the eye-catching technology that powered the Colin McRae: DiRT title. The EGO Game Technology Engine will be used in forthcoming games Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising and Race Driver: GRID, neither of which have confirmed release dates as yet. The engine, which is multi-platform capable, has been in development for three years at the Codemasters Central Technology Unit, and this investment - part of the GBP 40.5 million spent on design and development in the past year - is something that Gavin Cheshire, vice president of Codemasters Studios, is confident will stand the company in good stead. "Developing the engine, even through its initial phases, has been lengthy and a major investment for Codemasters," he said. CEO Rod Cousens added: "We made significant investments in our own cross-platform, multi-genre development solution in anticipation of the next generation console transition."

Codemasters and Epic Games are the latest publishers to join the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers, the ESA announced today. These two new additions bring the association's membership to 29, and highlight the expanding role of the association in the ever-growing computer and video game industry.

Codemasters today announced that Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising is the full title of its military action simulation game sequel. Developed in-house, Dragon Rising takes place on an oil-rich island located off the eastern coast of Russia, with Russia and China fighting over ownership of the island. The game will be released in 2008 for PC and console systems.

Cinematic Teaser Trailer

Codemasters has issued the first patch for Colin McRae: DIRT, updating the latest installment of the series to version 1.1. This patch should be applied to a clean install of the game. Please click on the "Read full story" marker for the changelog.

Colin McRae: DIRT v1.1 Patch (51.53MB)

Codemasters released today the Colin McRae: DIRT playable demos for the Xbox 360 video game and the PC, and confirmed a U.S. release date of June 19, 2007. The DIRT demos take gamers on three mud-splattered race events. The Xbox 360 demo events include Crossover, Hill Climb and C.O.R.R. (Championship Off-Road Racing). The PC demo swaps mountains for multiplayer and enables up to 100 players to go head-to-head in a race for the best time over a point-to-point rally stage. Both demos are available for download now - The Xbox 360 version from Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and the PC version of the demo, complete with a multiplayer event, available from www.codemasters.com/dirt.