September 2000. Spanish PSM magazine, independent Playstation-only magazine. Street racing game by Criterion, no title yet and it was privately shown at E3. Developed in six weeks by a programmer with recent finished career. Easily developed using Renderware, main reason of high detailed cars and wide open urban tracks. Like his other project, Stunt Squad (cancelled), Criterion still has to announce the release date and publisher. Cars have good look but what we actually really liked is the depth of the urban environment. Smoke and reflex have good looking. Something like that
The IGN Page for the PS2 version of Burnout has these screenshots dated august 2000, but no news from this date. Not sure if this was back in the day it was condenamed Red Shiny Car, althrough the earliest use I've found was on Spong, when they made a preview at e3 2001. Stunt Squad was the beta name for Airblade Burnout also bears an striking resemblance to an arcade series called Thrill Drive, and the console series Runabout (heck it use even all words but A).
Criterion Street Racer A surprise game that looks excellent This urban racing game, coming from the british developer Criterion, even without a title and being shown closed-doors in the E3, was a sensation. Not because it was a complete surprise or it looked really well, but because it went from a simple concept to a playable form in only six weeks, by a programmer who just had graduated. Criterion says that the developement easyness comes from the lastest version of their game engine, RenderWare, responsible for such detailed cars and the wide urban environments that can be seen in those images. Taking into account that it's the result of just a month and half of work, we're waiting to see what will they be able to come up with all the time they've got, until the release date comes. As well as with their other PS2 project, Stunt Squad, Criterion still has to announce a release date and a distributor for their titles, although when we get to know them, we'll tell you the details (including, of course, the game's title). Distributor: Not yet known Developer: Criterion Studios Avaible: Not yet Genre: Racing Number of players: Not yet known Disc Count: 1 ^ The cars look really good, but what really touched us was the wide urban scenario that they have achieved. It looks like you can see buildings going on forever. < Even yet it's too soon, smoke, reflections and other effects look quite good. And obviously, it's the first Burnout.
The first Burnout is almost an clone of Thrill Drive, seeing the images back when I didn't have a PS2, and then finally having the GameCube version, it does look like those arcade racing games, the gameplay, feel, and the timer makes him a perfect game to be ported to arcades. The sequel was kinda more fast paced, plus the minigames, the Third and beyond went into very fast paced gameplay with crashes being the main focus (Takedown).
