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GCDC 2008: Firemint shows off awesome iPhone racing game

But Real Racing could end up as an N-Gage title

GCDC 2008: Firemint shows off awesome iPhone racing game
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| Real Racing

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Watch the video above. Just watch it. Pretty nifty-looking accelerometer-driven iPhone racing game, eh? But that's not the half of it. The game is called Real Racing, and it's the work of Australian developer Firemint. Although that's it running on an iPhone, the company also has it running as a Symbian game on a Nokia N95.

Firemint boss Robert Murray demoed it to us today – the first time it's been shown to a journalist, apparently. And we are properly excited about the game, which is on course for a pre-Christmas release.

Why? The graphics are spiffing, and the tilt controls knock spots off other iPhone racing games so far.

However, it's the connected features around the core gameplay that made our jaw drop.

There'll be head-to-head multiplayer racing over the network or via wi-fi, which is nice. But you'll also be able to upload your best times to Firemint's web-based community, and even create mini-leagues of your friends.

What's more, the game will have spin-off Facebook and OpenSocial applications, letting you show off your prowess to friends on social networks.

Plus whenever you upload a lap, the replay of your performance is automatically converted into a video and slapped onto YouTube as well. Here's one of those that's been uploaded as part of the testing process:

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Impressed yet? We were, hugely. Murray says Firemint is still deciding how to release the game. They could partner with a publisher, or go it alone on the App Store. Then again, it could potentially be a Nokia first-party title for N-Gage. Either way, Firemint is aiming to get Real Racing out this year. If we were the big publishers and/or Nokia, we'd be beating a path to the developer's door, contract in hand. For now, check out the video at the top of the story again, which we shot today at the GCDC show, and spend a bit of time on YouTube searching for 'Real Racing Replay' to see some other uploaded clips from Firemint. In short: cor! Remember, you can keep up-to-date with the latest iPhone news and reviews in our dedicated iPhone section.
Stuart Dredge
Stuart Dredge
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)