Criterion Games

Burnout Crash - available now for iPhone and iPad

Burnout Crash is now available on iTunes.

If you're not familiar with Crash, it's a wicked little iPhone and iPad game inspired by our original Crash Mode from Burnout 2.

It takes its cues from old coin-op arcade games, pinball and of course plenty of Burnout.

Burnout fans - you know the drill.  Launch a car at a busy intersection.  Smash it into the traffic and watch the action escalate.  This time, you can move the car around with touch and swipe controls to keep the action going and rack up massive scores.

We wanted to concentrate on pure fun - amazing scoring, insane, over-the-top action and sweet 80s pop music make this the wildest Crash ever.

For the first time, you'll experience tornadoes, UFOs, giant blue lobsters (of course), the Pizza of Fortune, ice-cream van and lots more.  It's a no-holds-barred extravaganza of destruction.

We built three game modes: Rush Hour, Road Block and Pile Up.  They all offer a different spin on smashing cars up with against-the-clock, 5-lives and time-extend gameplay.

It wouldn't be a Criterion Games game without Autolog featuring strongly.  We thought it would be fun to share gameplay with friends.  You fire up a push challenge, rack up the biggest score you can, then send it to a friend.  They get one chance to beat your score and send it back.

Simple, easy, fun.

And with 54 levels, 6 areas, 7 awesome vehicles and hours of fun for just $4.99 (£2.99 here in Blighty), you can't go wrong.

Giant Blue Lobster Terrorises Streets

Run!  Run for your lives!

I just walked out to grab a sandwich in Guildford High Street, local shopping centre for the Burnout Crash team and was confronted by this horrific scene!  I just barely made it back to the studio alive.

Yes!  A giant lobster.  Some fool must have allowed it to escape from Burnout Crash (coming soon to an undisclosed touch-based handheld gaming device near you).

For the love of God, buy the game and exorcise those inner Lobster demons within the safe confines of Burnout Crash.  Not the high street.

Burnout Fans favourite 1980s pop songs

We love the sounds of the 80s.  The cheesier the better.  It just brings it all back: Relax t-shirts, wet-look hair gel, drainpipe jeans, Wimpy, Swap Shop...

And what better way to relive the glory days than with your favourite and cheesiest tracks.  Check out the track list we posted earlier.

You can mail us your favourites at mailbag@criteriongames.com, and we'll publish a new play-list of the finest tracks of the 80s, as chosen by you, the Burnout fans.  Make us laugh, and we might just send you a t-shirt.

And if you love all that, check out more spectacular 80s awesomeness right here.  But don't say we didn't warn you.

Burnout Crash Reviews

Here's what players and critics are saying about Burnout Crash:

"A game with great first timer appeal that never fails to raise a smile, but also has great depth for when you start shooting for the really high scores. Autolog recommendations adds some real longevity and the Pile Up mode just keeps me coming back to get a slightly higher score."  8/10.  MSbridges

"Burnout Crash is amazing!!!!!! I loved it from the first explosion, strategy, autolog and amazing production value and love was put into this game."  10/10.  McBees

"It's hardcore and awesome."  10/10, MaxSwann13

"From its simple premise Crash! delivers plenty of fun to reproduce a simple childhood joy".  85. GameCritics.

"Big, passoionate, epic in its sweep, Burnout Crash is one of the great personal journeys, a mirror to the soul and a true video gaming landmark."  128/128.  Richard's mate Dave.

"Quite simply, the greatest achievement in the history of human civilsation."  Jacob Bronowski.

"Playing Burnout Crash is by far the best thing to happen in my life."  13/10.  Craig (Greg)

The Greatest Songs of the '80s. Crashing onto Spotify now.

Here on the Crash team, we love nothing more than launching tiny cars into miniature traffic jams and smashing them to pieces.

And what better way to enjoy such a pleasurable activity than with the manliest sounds of the 80s?

CriterionGames.com regulars will also be familiar with our love for Spotify's spectacular music-streaming service.  Check out this link to unleash a firestorm of pop jolliness.

Enjoy Burnout Crash On The Move

Big news for iOS Burnout fans next week.  Check back soon or Like Us for exciting news next week!

Criterion Games Open Day

Have you ever wondered what it’s like working for one of the world’s best Game Studios?  Wonder no more!  Criterion Games is offering the opportunity to win a unique work experience placement to a lucky few students! 

 Want to know more? Log onto www.criteriongames.com/openday for full details.

Happy 4th Birthday

There's a saying here in the UK that "Time Flies When You're Having Fun". 

Well, time has certainly flown for us here at Criterion. Last week marked the 4th anniversary of the launch of Burnout Paradise and we just can't believe it's been so long.

When we finished Burnout Paradise, we knew that we had created something special. We'd shipped our vision of an open world racing game, one that fused super fast vehicle action with online features that had never been seen before. 

We also knew that it was just the start. Throughout 2008 and into 2009 we embarked on an all-digital Year of Paradise and it taught us an awful lot and informed us of how Criterion would develop in the future. 

Now, more than 4 years later nearly 5.5m people have visited Paradise City. They've embarked on more than 13m online freeburn challenges with a really healthy online community of more than 200k still active each month. An amazing 15% of our audience have achieved an A license or better, with an even more impressive 2% attaining Criterion Elite status - many more than we could ever have expected. Lastly who would have thought that the Firehawk would be the most selected vehicle?

Amazing.

We believe in great fun, accessible online experiences where Friends are more important than strangers. From the beginnings of Burnout Paradise came the seeds of our thinking that shaped Need For Speed Hot Pursuit.

So, somewhat belatedly, but heartfelt nonetheless. Happy Birthday Burnout Paradise.

Learning to program

It seems like learning to program has been this year’s must have “new year’s resolution”. The folks over at Code Academy have set up some easy to follow computer programming lessons which seem to be taking the world by storm.

Apparently even the New York mayor has been learning his functions from his objects.

The great thing about coding is pretty much anybody can get started. There are a wide array of free environments that allow you to get up and running quickly.

Why not join everyone else a learn to program in 2012? If you practice enough then remember Criterion Games are hiring!

How fast can you go ?

Joseph Kittinger holds the record for the highest sky dive ever. In 1960 he jumped 102,800 feet from a balloon and dived head first back to earth, reaching a maximum speed of 614mph, just 100mph short of the speed of sound. That jump is around 3x the height of Everest, or an airliner flies. When he stood out of the balloon gondala, this is what he would have jumped into:

During his record breaking jump he started to spin so violently that he blacked out and only came to when his parachute opened up automatically a mile above the earth.

That record has stood for 50 years but things can change.

There has been talk of an even higher jump, from 120,000 feet which is 4x the height of Everest or an airliner flies. Jumping from that height would enable you to break the speed of sound, the first human to do so without being inside an aircraft or space shuttle. The jury is out as to exactly what will happen when you make that supersonic bang, but the physicists reckon it’d be a 15 min flight before you got back to the ground. If you're wondering what the jump would look like, well you'd be leaping into this:

Michel Fournier, a retired colonel from the French airforce, has been planting “Le Grand Saut” but has never got there due to last minute cancellations of his project. Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian, has been working with scientists and Red Bull on a project to be the first man to go through the sound barrier, but legal issues have dogged his challenge.

The record still stands, and is out there for the taking. Anybody fancy it ?