For a few days ago, Panaflex wrote me a private message, telling me that he wanted to quit the crew due to limited time. And since I can't force him to stay I would just like to say "thank you" for the work he has done during the short time he was here. Panaflex will continue on visiting the site, but will be more passive than what we have seen before.
Since a lot of you have requested more articles I am of course happy to give you some ;) The first one is written by Alex135 and is a part of his monthly Pro Tour Review. Since we are in May, he concentrates on this month's Pro Tour-events which - of course - includes the Giro 'd Italia. Read it here: http://pcmdaily.com/readarticle.php?article_id=22
We have also added a new database review. The article, written by Crommy, reviews the new 2009 DB V3 - and it could seem like it needed a little bit more work ;) You can read the full review here: http://pcmdaily.com/readarticle.php?article_id=23
Well, with four seperate news articles this week it really proves what a "mess" the community is right now ;) Information is rampant all over the net, and you can't even be sure that all of it are true. We are doing our best, though, to keep you updated.
Starforce to be implented in PCM 2007 As I said on several forums last week, it finally seems like we have a clarification on the Starforce-subject. Many have asked me whether or not the Starforce protection system would be in PCM 2007 or not, and I brought the question to Clément who answered the following: "I don't know if it will be Starforce or not (editor's choice). As it's the only real protection in the game industry (all other choices seems to me pure marketing to make the community happiest, but their games are cracked before the release :p) i guess it will be the same."
My conclusion? Starforce will definitely be implented ;)
Short beta phase More 07-news. The beta tests have still not started at Cyanide which logically means that the beta phase will be quite short. For the same reason it seems like Cyanide will only choose few beta testers - and probably also only testers who have tried it before. So, for those of you who applied, well, don't get your hopes up too high.
No PSP-demo? Even though the PSP-version of PCM 2007 will be released on the same day as the PC-version we still don't have a lot of information on that subject. That is proved by the fact that it's still undecided whether or not a demo of the (PSP) game will be available since it's actually Sony's choice. Unlike the PC-game market, the PSP game market are strictly controlled by Sony who - after all - are positive about the game. The game did pass Sony's alpha test earlier this month.
About the PSP-version, we have also been told that the beta phase will start very soon.
"Flawed" cover After the cover was revealed in the PCM community people immediately started questioning if the cover was real or not. That is due to the fact that some of the shirts the cyclists wear on the cover are outdated:
1. The Cofidis-man in the middle wears the 2003-shirt of Cofidis; not the new one which is a lot more red. 2. The helmet worn by the guy in polka dots looks like the old Domina Vacanze-one. 3. The Kazak national jersey in the very left part of the cover is the one Vinokourov wore while riding for T-Mobile.
Another funny fact is that some of the riders have been copied from this picture: http://blog.erdener.org/archives/images/20050706-stage5-mcewen.jpg Notice the facial expression of the man in the Green jersey (Boonen) and the Cofidis-guy and compare them to the cover -- yep, it's the same.
As mentioned in our news article earlier today the cover is not fake, though. You can read more about the case in our news article: http://www.pcmdaily.com/news.php?readmore=47
V3 of DB 2009 released The futuristic career database by Weale and Belokiller has now gone into its 3rd version. The new version is pretty much the same as the V2, but it does bring new objectives for the teams and revised stats for some riders. For those who don't know the concept, it's a database which tries to predict the future. Therefore, you will find completely new teams, new riders, and more in this database. Download it by clicking here.
A review of this database will be released soon - I promise ;)
Germany brings another database Another ambitious DB-team has released a 2007 DB - the German CyM Team's 2007 DB. It's a pretty large 2007 DB which contains almost everything. Leader Jerseys have been included for every single PT-race, rider pictures for more than 95 % of the riders, new flags and accesories, true faces of about 150 riders, UCI 2007 calendar.
It also contains a lot of new 2007 races - and as something unique, they have made a tool which makes it easy to change the sponsors from race to race.
Along with the screenshots and the cover of PCM, Focus, the official publisher of Pro Cycling Manager, sent out a press release about the two upcoming versions of Pro Cycling Manager 2007. It doesn't give us a lot of new information, but the PSP-introduction is a little more precise compared to what we have heard before. We do now have a precise release date, though. Pro Cycling Manager 2007 will be released on the 20th of June 2007. Along with the press release the first screenshots were released (as said in earlier news articles), and what's noticeable is that the cover showed yesterday is included in that package. Therefore, it must be the official one despiste people thinking it's fake.
Also, the press release gives us the precise names of the upcoming games: PC-version: Pro Cycling Manager/Tour de France 2007 PSP-version: Pro Cycling/Tour de France 2007
Press release by Focus: "The 2007 cycling season starts now!
To celebrate the launch of the 2007 pro cycling season, Focus Home Interactive and Cyanide today released the first images for their upcoming cycling game - Pro Cycling Manager/Tour de France 2007. Already one of the most popular sport titles on PC, the Pro Cycling series will be expanded to include Pro Cycling/Tour de France 2007 on PSP, marking the first time the Pro Cycling license is available on a console.
In development by Cyanide Studio, the new Pro Cycling Manager/Tour de France 2007 for PC strives to create the ultimate in sports simulation, while still being approachable to newcomers to the series. The Management game's career mode has received a significant reworking, offering a more intuitive interface, transfer system, simulation engine and scouting tools. These updated features have been modeled on real-world cycling to give players the truest feeling of being a team manager. In real-time mode, the gameplay has been fine-tuned and made even more comprehensive than ever, opening up new possibilities in the races, and an improved AI for more varied behavior to generate an incredibly realistic gameplay experience.
The graphics in Pro Cycling Manager/Tour de France 2007 have also been updated to make use of modern features such as shaders, shadowing and new textures. These features, when combined with the updated gameplay, will give players the feeling of being dropped right into the center of the racing action.
The PSP™ version, Pro Cycling/Tour de France 2007, is being specifically designed to take advantage of the features of Sony's® PlayStation Portable handheld system. The real-time simulation aspect of the game is enhanced and the game sets a faster pace than its PC brother. With careers lasting up to five seasons, unique gameplay modes which include time trials, sprints and optimized race lengths, Pro Cycling/Tour de France 2007 on PSP is a lean, mean portable dream. Players and cycling fans will love the 20 official teams and their star cyclists, and will experience the most thrilling Tour de France ever, available for the first time on PSP!
Scrolling through the different media's coverage of PCM 07/08 I noticed that one site had something which the other sites didn't -- the cover of Pro Cycling Manager, Saision 2007. So, here you go! You can see the cover in full version in our Screenshots section.
