More Details Emerge For Codies' F1 Game News

When Codemasters revealed that it had acquired the F1 game licence from Sony, we were certainly enthused by the prospect: not only had development responsibilities been put in the talented hands of the former Sega Racing Studios team, but driving game experts Codies were set to take the helm.

Our one fear was that Codies might pull a DiRT by spending too much time pandering to the American market. In a Q&A session with the Official F1 site about Codies' upcoming F1 game, the company's CEO Rod Cousens has confirmed our fears:

"Codemasters' history in TOCA Race Driver has been very heavily weighted towards simulation, appealing to the real hardcore fan . . . But if you want to take the game to an even wider audience, particularly the United States (for us the largest gaming market in the world), then you have to appeal to a mass audience and so we blend the simulation with an awful lot of arcade elements too."

It certainly seems a little strange to try and please the American market with an F1 game - it's a bit like EA tailoring its Nascar series to the European market. F1 has never really taken off across the pond and, even though the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis has been on the calendar over the last seven years, it's absent from the 2008 line-up and for the foreseeable future.

That said, DiRT wasn't bad and GRID (the publisher's latest offering) turned out to be a humdinger of an arcade driving game with plenty of simulation elements, so perhaps it's worth trusting their ability to blend both sides of the driving game coin.

Cousens also revealed details on the Wii version. Players will apparently be using the Wii Remote as a steering wheel (in a Mario Kart kind of way we presume), so don't throw away those Wii Wheels quite yet.

Codemasters' CEO also hinted at online multiplayer and the damage system that will be at work in the game. If it's anything like the recently released GRID, then Codies are certainly on to a winner:

"What we're trying to achieve here is to take Formula One gaming around the world and in terms of the technological aspect, that's largely related to online developments. Another thing is car damage, or as we call it, deformation. This is a real racing experience and we all know what people want (and expect) - if there is a collision and that car spins off the track, through the gravel, into the tyres, they want to see that actually happening."

As far as the future of the series is concerned, Cousens certainly had an ambitious vision:

"In theory the game could almost become quasi-TV. For example, you could speak to drivers during practice and ask them, 'how are the tyres, how is the suspension?' They may not give much away, as they have to race, but it's all part of the compelling experience that you could replicate in the game - and with every extra piece of information the player can adjust his or her racing experience accordingly. Virtual F1!"

The first F1 game to be published by Codemasters is due out next year as a multi-format release.