Software:Big Scale Racing

From HandWiki
Big Scale Racing
Big Scale Racing.jpg
Developer(s)BumbleBeast
Publisher(s)HD Interactive
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: August 16, 2002
Genre(s)Racing

Big Scale Racing is a 2002 racing video game by BumbleBeast.

Development

The studio began as a subsidiary of digital company Virtual Environments Systems & Consultancy (VESC), which was spun-off to create PC CD-ROM games on April 1, 2001. The company consisted of seven employees, which created scale models of racing cars (90 cm long) for the racing game.[1] The company anticipated an Autumn 2002 launch date, and aimed to distribute the game to big retailers and entertainment shops over the world, while accepting online orders over the Internet.[1]

The company started production on February 9, 2001.[2] In Spring of that year, BumbleBeast signed license agreements with various race tracks to have the tracks featuring in current and future games.[2] The company hired cartoon artist Patrick Schoenmaker[3] on June 1, his debut video game.[2] An internal beta was released on August 2, followed by an internal demo on September 9.[2] The BumbleBeast website - premiering content about the game - was uploaded September 14.[2] Summitsoft (Omaha) signed a publishing/distribution deal for the North American continent on March 10, 2002.[2] On March 12, an August release date for retail was set.[2] Weather effects were added March 28.[2] In response to beta and demo testers regarding Multiplayer LAN, developers announced 8 player LAN gaming on April 1, 2002.[2] On April 11, Dutch company HD Interactive signed a publishing/distribution deal for Europe.[2] A public demo was released April 14.[2]

On April 18, Japanese company Aqua Systems signed a publishing/distribution deal for Japan.[2] On May 25, Summitsoft and HD-Interactive presented the game at E3.[2] By June 14, the United States /Canada version of BSR was set for the second week of August 2002, the EU version was set for September 20, and the Japanese version was set for mid August.[2] On July 10 it was announced the game would have dedicated versions in Spanish, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, French, German and English.[2] On July 7, QVSoftware signed a distribution deal for release in Australia /New Zealand for early October 2002.[2] On July 28 it was announced that in the previous week 50 thousand demos were downloaded from various sites.[2] First screenshots were released on July 31.[4] On August 16, the game was released in the US, and in the online stores Navarre, EB Games, and Amazon.[2] An estimated 1,500,000 downloads of the demo occurred from August–October. A special edition of the game (Big Scale Racing Special Edition) was released in 2003.[2]

Gameplay

Players race with 1/5 scale RC racing cars. The game features weather, multiple tracks and cars, and internet competition.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic60/100[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGM2.5/5 stars[6]
GameSpot6.1/10[7]
GameSpy3/5 stars[8]
GameZone5/10[9]
IGN6.5/10[10]
PC Gamer (UK)67%[11]
PC Gamer (US)75%[12]

Eurogamer thought in its hands-on preview that the game was a serious simulator but also fun and playable.[13] On release, the game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "VESC". http://bigscaleracing.com/eindex.htm. 
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 "BumbleBeast Game Development | News". http://www.bumblebeast.com/news.html. 
  3. "Bumblebeast & Big Scale Racing". http://www.ukgamer.com/articles/166/1/Big_Scale_Racing.html. 
  4. Calvert, Justin (July 31, 2002). "First look: Big Scale Racing". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/first-look-big-scale-racing/1100-2876122/. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Big Scale Racing for PC Reviews". CBS Interactive. https://www.metacritic.com/game/big-scale-racing/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. 
  6. "Review: Big Scale Racing". Computer Games Magazine (theGlobe.com) (150): 86. May 2003. 
  7. Osborne, Scott (August 29, 2002). "Big Scale Racing Review". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/big-scale-racing/1900-2878817/. 
  8. Smolka, Rob (November 21, 2002). "GameSpy: Big Scale Racing". IGN Entertainment. http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/big-scale-racing/569653p1.html. 
  9. Ovaldog (September 10, 2002). "Big Scale Racing Review". Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080913221631/http://pc.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r20104.htm. 
  10. Polak, Steve (July 24, 2003). "Big Scale Racing". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/07/25/big-scale-racing. 
  11. "Big Scale Racing". PC Gamer UK (Future plc). December 2002. 
  12. Smolka, Rob (November 2002). "Big Scale Racing". PC Gamer (Imagine Media) 9 (11): 126. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060315132549/http://www.pcgamer.com/archives/2005/06/big_scale_racin.html. Retrieved March 6, 2020. 
  13. Bye, John "Gestalt" (September 3, 2002). "Big Scale Racing (Hands-on)". Gamer Network. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ho_bigscale_ects02. 

External links