America

America is about to have a big spring in America, when the company's marketing and distribution arm, Pacific Coast Customs, will begin selling its wares. American Truck Simulator--developed by Wargaming.net--is scheduled to arrive in April. As the American Truck Simulator moniker suggests, the game will be far more realistic than those of many other American games. You will drive around in a variety of trucks, and of course there will be a wide variety of trucks that you can customize and use. American Truck Simulator will ship with five trucks: Ford Mustang, SLS-V, Type 62, FFS-7, and Ariel Atom.

You will be able to buy additional trucks with just the single game cartridge, though the developer expects to make up the cost in its final game. In addition, several different gameplay modes will be available, such as marathon and slow walk. The "car-action" mode is focused on the game's simulation aspect, and will let you drive the truck on tracks at speed without having to worry about tackling other drivers. The "cow" mode will have you drive around the countryside and see traffic coming in on your left, while the slow walk lets you zip through the town.

American Truck Simulator will also have a huge variety of settings, including several missions in which you are basically trying to earn money. As with every American Truck Simulator game, you will have options to make the various races easier on you, so you will be able to participate in both the slow walk and slow walk. However, you will still be able to decide to play against the computer, and you will have the option of playing against the computer or against a human opponent. In addition, you will be able to change the time of day and night cycle, and you will be able to tweak the graphics settings on your car so you can keep your ride looks as realistic as possible.

Because the game will be a real-life truck, you won't need to worry about driver fatigue. There will be no handover from the driver in the game. You will just drive your own automobile, and you will control the directions of your cab, whether it is on its side or to the right or left. The left and right analog sticks will control your throttle and brake, respectively. Meanwhile, the right and left triggers will control your gearbox, and the left and right triggers will let you control a variety of different vehicles. You will be able to change the amount of fuel you have for your ride. You can use your radio to cycle through your vehicle's available engines, and it will stop your vehicle when you exit the game.

We were able to see a few different scenes in the game. The menu system uses the Sony Ericsson GPS satellite navigation device. It shows a diagram of the route you have to take to your destination. The bottom right of the screen shows your current drive speed, seat, fuel level, and current gearbox level. You can switch between the real-world traffic on your first run, or you can choose to switch between any of the racing locations on the map. The map is much easier to navigate than it is in real life. You'll also be able to set up markers for important events like races. You can also set a GPS system to let you know if the race is going well, or if you've just been behind, or if there's some extreme accidents. The game supports head-to-head multiplayer action via a combination of the PSP's handheld and the PlayStation 2's dual analog stick. The full version of the game will be released in March of this year.

Visually, Gran Turismo has evolved greatly since the last installment of the series. With a good-looking cel-shaded art style and a refined gameplay engine, the GT series looks outstanding on the PSP. The game's visual effects are so impressive, in fact, that every texture and detail on cars looks just as good as its console counterparts.

On the audio front, GT5 is heading in the right direction. The game features a solid assortment of voice-over work from the Japanese voice cast and excellent audio, as well as a slick visual presentation. The assortment of on-foot and car-to-car action is complemented by a good soundtrack that features familiar Japanese voice tracks.

Gran Turismo for the PSP will offer its faithful but distinct gameplay experience on the go.

While the PSP entry of the series focuses on the career mode, the portable iteration on the venerable series will offer a number of extras in its minigames. The single-player game features an additional nine minigames that range from basic fare such as racing, to more difficult fare such as speed-attack challenges, which are essentially a point-and-click minigame in which you try to outscore your opponents. You'll also find an in-game ad hoc wireless mode that lets you play the game with a friend.