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.

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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 ?

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I’ve always loved making software. Even when I was around 9 or 10 years old I was looking through BASIC programs to try and work out how I was meant to complete a text based adventure.

When the Amiga came out it was amazing what you could squeeze out of Fat Agnus, Paula & Denise. Demo coding came of age with a scroller, some sort of background copper effect and some music:

Whilst those demo coding competitions are still running time has moved on. Our modern day demo coders seem to have moved to web apps and are busy coding away WebGL eye candy. Some of it, is impressive.

You need a WebGL compatible browser (latest Firefox, Chrome & Safari works if configured on a Mac) and then you can see what modern day demo coders are up to.

Here’s some pretty cool WebGL car rendering: http://alteredqualia.com/three/examples/webgl_cars.html

There’s also this guy who has captured himself using his X360 Kinect which he then replays in WebGL: http://mrdoob.com/lab/javascript/webgl/kinect/

Will ALL television be broadcast that way one day ? Broadcasts you can literally place the camera anywhere and watch from any angle you decide ?

Then there’s this small demo, real time ray tracing with an ASCII renderer directly into your web browser: http://demos.twilightparadox.com/demos/AsciiTracer/asciitracer.html

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The Lamborghini Aventador.  We love it.

Ever wondered how they put together the most beautiful car ever made?

And if you happen to find yourself driving through Armageddon, it's got the performance to get you out of trouble:

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Rough start this morning after not much sleep.

Luckily I found one of these on my way in.

Don't remember Mario ever having this problem.

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There was a time where you could go to an area, and for a bucket full of coins, experience gaming several years in advance of what you were used to. These places were called “Arcades” and contained custom hardware which blew away what you could play at home.

Sometimes, what you saw was just jaw dropping.

Take “Power Drift” from 1988:

This is what you could see in an arcade, whilst at home you were content with “Last Ninja 2”:

Then there were things like the laser disc games, Firefox being eye popping at the time:

The fact we were blown away is, perhaps, understandable given that in 1983 we were more used to seeing this at home:

But hey it spawned the platform game.

Today things have turned around. What you see in the seaside arcade is probably lower fidelity than the current blockbusters available to purchase and play at home.

Whilst it’s great that entertainment is available in the privacy of your own personal arcade I can’t help but wish it were possible to go somewhere, and for a few coins, witness video games 5 or 6 years ahead of where we are today. You can only guess at what we’d witness in there…..

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Our failure to qualify for entry to Black Box's awesome Porsche 911 Carrera S competition, got us all talking Porsche yesterday.

Ah.  Risky Business.  What a movie.

And Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed.  That takes us back.

We talked favourite Porsches for some time.

So today, we thought we'd reveal the results of our instant Criterion poll / discussion / fight:

What is our greatest Porsche of all-time?

We had to disqualify any car owned by one of the development team, which meant the 911, Cayman and Boxster S were out.

We managed to whittle it down to these 3, but we're still having trouble deciding.  Maybe you can help us.

The 356 is a beaut. The GT is sensational. The 959 is an incredible car for it's numerous firsts. Plus it took Paris-Dakar. Imagine any other exotic doing that?

If you want to vote on these or any other, comment on our Facebook page (Criterion Games) or Tweet us @criteriongames, and we'll find out which car you love best.

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Just realized those Black Box guys are giving away a real-life Porsche.

Seriously, an actual Porsche!

Not some second hand stinker, like this one.

I doubt it’ll have the cool plates or the amazing autumn backdrop.  That's just the game version, but it's probably red.

A real Porsche!

Oh…just saw in the small print.

Employees of Electronic Arts Inc. (“Sponsor”), its affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, advertising, promotion and publicity agencies are not eligible to participate or win a prize. Any person who is an immediate family member of or resides in the same household of any such ineligible person are also not eligible to participate or win a prize.

That includes Criterion Games.

Gutted.

But hey, if you want a free Porsche and don’t work for EA, you should so check it out…

http://www.needforspeed.com/therun/porschecontest#Details

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Hey - here's a quick plug for a new game from our friends over at EA Black Box.

After a week indulging in the refinement and sophistication of Forza Motorsport 4, I figured it was time to get down and dirty with something a little more insane and in-your-face.  Enter the sparkling new PS3 and 360 demo for The Run.

Let’s just say it’s a little less “civilized”.

If you’ve never ragged a Porsche 911 down a closed, fast-flowing mountain route, while over-zealous mountain-rescue crews detonate half the mountain on top of you (and who has?), it's gotta be time you did.

It’s a 'blast'.

Suddenly, everything counts.  You can see the impact of every sloppily drifted turn, wheel off the tarmac or head-on collision with a 100-ton boulder (!) on your time vs your rival.  It’s pretty damn tense.

The demo comes with a choice of that crazy Valentino Balboni Gallardo or the sweet new 911 (if you invite a pal to join you) and 2 routes – Desert Hills or Independence Pass.

Here’s a snazzy video with some highlights, but you should really play it to find out if it’s for you.  The demo’s up for another week…

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Here at Criterion Games, we're big fans of high speed action, crashing and destruction.  And you may have noticed from our posts that a few of us are into mountain-biking, too.

We've all crashed plenty, but none of us has ever hit one of these!

The valuable lesson here is: always wear a helmet.  And maybe avoid riding in close proximity to rampaging South African antelope.

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You take delivery of that cardboard box containing the latest top of the range television. When deciding what to do the options go through your head. Do you switch over to the footy? Enjoy the visual fidelity of the latest hit games in beautiful pixel perfect colour? Gorge your eyes on the HD channels?

Or maybe you do what this guy did, whack on the Commodore 64 and complete Impossible Mission. To this day I still don’t have a clue what the puzzle sections are about or what I’m meant to be doing outside of jumping robots to search random bits of furniture.

We salute you!

No, no no!!!!!!

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Criterion Games Creative Director "The Sarge" recently returned from a tour of duty in Venice, Italy, where he was seriously injured in the line of fire.

Normally, we'd assume he was just pulling some rookies out of a massive fire-fight deep behind enemy lines.  Or riding a bull through a minefield.

But he insists he was actually "skateboarding", and he's sent us this (quite obviously Photoshopped) x-ray picture with titanium screws and plates and stuff to prove it.

This so-called "evidence" does appear to support his skateboarding claim, but the timing is suspiciously close to the Forza 4 release date.

How convenient!

Either way, we hope The Sarge is soon back in action and enjoys his time at home, feet up, racking up killer Certified Laps and rocking Rivals Mode.

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