The following is not really hard news but given the extreme lack of info on Blimey’s Ferrari Project, every bit of an update is precious. RSC user Dom_D has had the honor to visit Blimey! Games and try their Ferrari Project simulation.

He posted the following in the RaceSimCentral forums, sounds very promising to say the least:

Hi all, I went to Blimey yesterday and met Ian , nice guy and free drinks! Ian made me sign an NDA so I can’t go into any details… but I tried the Ferrari game, all i can say is Holy moly, the gfx are better than Gran turismo, the lighting was spot on, the real time reflections on the car were amazing, the general effects are just a new level.

I only drove it on an Xbox 360 pad but it felt really natural, the physics engine has been re-done it seems from scratch, they have a great physics team of 3 guys including Eero from RBR fame! I think the main thing i noticed was the atmosphere, the ambient sounds and graphic effects really make you feel like you are on track, the amount of movement and ‘life’ all around is quite breathtaking.

Anyway, I was quite shocked how much better this looked than most other titles, nothing on the PC comes close, iRacing for instance looks like its 4 years behind.

Germany-based games publisher 10Tacle Studios has hit serious financial troubles and has filed bankruptcy after being unable to attract new investors. Back in March, 10Tacle first announced financial problems, releasing 25 employees.

This news could provide some shock value to the sim racing community because 10Tacle is strongly affiliated with Blimey! Games and their upcoming Ferrari Project game. Blimey! however has reacted, releasing the following statement by Blimey! CEO Ian Bell:

“Despite 10T’s unfortunate and recently announced insolvency, Blimey! Games is in a very strong position. We have recently signed an unannounced major project for a top tier publisher which secures our continued growth and our Ferrari title remains unaffected. Work will continue as normal at our studio.”

While this is good news, it certainly is sad to hear about 10Tacle’s problems. Founded in 2003, the company was the first publisher freshly-founded Simbin Studio’s could attract to publish GTR, their first ever simulation. 10Tacle went on to publish GT Legends and GTR2, making them a known name among sim racers.

After the announcement, the 10Tacle stock dropped by 76% to 0,32€, the stock’s all-time high was 14,95€ back in May 2007.

It has been very silent around Blimey! Games projects for quite a long time. While the community is still guessing whats hiding behind their “Project Falcon”, new previews of their Ferrari Project game have surfaced.

Backed by the official Ferrari license, the game will feature a variety of Ferraris, from racing machines to street cars, from vintage to the newest prancing horses. While those four screens don’t show too much, they indicate some interesting things.

The game seems to feature motion blur similar to what could be seen in Codemasters DIRT, the effect seems to be much less overdone though. And the shot with the vintage F1 cars shows a track that looks suspiciously like the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Or do you know any other track with graffitis on the tarmac?