Our first video diary was all about Festival mode. The most ambitious aspect of MotorStorm Apocalypse, ‘Wreckreation’ mode, needs two more video diaries to fully explain… and today we’re unveiling the first!

Dive deeper into in the suite of diverse multiplayer and solo game modes, and learn more about the flexible, rewarding and entertaining game-play experiences Wreckreation has to offer – and watch out for new footage and reveals of some of the challenges, rewards and customisation features. ;-)

There is still a lot more of MotorStorm Apocalypse to uncover, and we’ll be sharing the second video diary on Wreckreation on the blog soon. In the meantime, we’d love to hear what you thought of this video and what you’re looking forward to from “the party at the end of the world.”

Finally – a demo is coming! Dates are very close to confirmation (it needs to be tested around the world just like the full game), but if you’ve seen any glimpses of a track called Mainline, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect. As soon as we have a date we’ll share it.

MotorStorm Apocalypse will be shaking things up this April 12, and you can pick up some really cool exclusive in-game vehicles just for putting a few bucks down to pre-order.

Last week, we invited a bunch of journalists to join us at the Classic Car Club in London’s trendy Shoreditch to celebrate the upcoming release of MotorStorm Apocalypse. There was a presentation and live playthrough of a brand new track, loads of 3D TVs to play the game on and some fairly spectacular burgers.

While it was all being set up, I sat down with the Assistant Game Director Simon Barlow to chat about online multiplayer, the challenges of moving to an urban setting and the sheer scale of the arcade racer coming exclusively to PS3 in March.

Yes, it was pretty cold in there.

Hello, PlayStation blog readers. I’m excited to be able to deliver some big news about MotorStorm Apocalypse: the game will officially be bringing off-road racing mayhem of apocalyptic proportions to your PS3 on April 12, 2011.

And to introduce the game’s cool cover art, here is Matt Southern, the Game Director at Evolution Studios.

Our cover art has been sent to shops and websites ready for pre-order. Once again we’ve got different boxes depending on where you live! I thought I’d share them here.

Here’s our European box. Our priority here is to show what is new in the game, and it slightly harks back to the box for MotorStorm 1. It is quite unusual for a racing game and we spent a long time working out what we thought would be right.

…and here’s the US version. It is much more of a ‘classic’ box and is based on an image we created in early 2010 that I absolutely love, which means I can’t decide which l like best…

I’d love to know which you all like the best – and what cover art over the years have really stood out for you. My all-time favourite is probably the EU/Japanese version of ICO, painted by Ueda-San and inspired by The Nostalgia of the Infinite by Giorgio de Chirico. I also get a nostalgia buzz from looking at the games I played in the 80’s with airbrush art by Bob Wakelin. Good times. :)

You’ve read about some of the cool new features the game has to offer, and watched the first 12/21/motorstorm-apocalypse-dev-diary-details-the-festival-new-gameplay-video/">in-depth developer diary video. And the game just had a great showing at the Sony booth at CES last week, wowing people with its mind-blowing 3D and intense racing across, and through, gigantic skyscrapers.

So don’t forget to pre-order the game before it hits on April 12 to get one of the cool /blog.us.playstation.com/2010/12/17/motorstorm-apocalypse-pre-order-content-revealed/">pre-order packs available. There’s much more in store for MotorStorm Apocalypse in the coming months to look forward to. Until next time!

We’re happy to confirm that MotorStorm Apocalypse will be hitting shelves throughout North America in Spring 2011, so get ready for the most insane and adrenaline-fueled racing experience of your life. As we start gearing up for launch, we wanted to fill you in on the three awesome bonus packs available when you pre-order MotorStorm Apocalypse.

MotorStorm Apocalypse Pre-Order Pack 1: Carbon Edition Supercar

Pack Contents (all exclusive to the Supercar):

• Carbon Edition Supercar
• Unique high-end vinyl design plus 4 exclusive chrome sticker designs (which can be applied to any other vehicle in-game).
• Dynamic XMB Theme
• Carbon Edition PSN Icon

MotorStorm Apocalypse Pre-Order Pack 2: Carbon Edition Rally Car

Pack Contents (all exclusive to the Rally Car):

• Carbon Edition Rally Car
• Unique high-end vinyl design plus 4 exclusive chrome sticker designs (which can be applied to any other vehicle in-game).
• Dynamic XMB Theme
• Carbon Edition PSN Icon

MotorStorm Apocalypse Pre-Order Pack 3: Carbon Edition Superbike

Pack Contents (all exclusive to the Superbike):

• Carbon Edition Superbike
• Unique high-end vinyl design plus 4 exclusive chrome sticker designs (which can be applied to any other vehicle in-game).
• Dynamic XMB Theme
• Carbon Edition PSN Icon

You can find these pre-order programs at retailers like Amazon.com, Best Buy, Gamestop, and/or other participating retailers.

That’s all the updates for now, but keep checking back because we’ll have many more exciting updates for you in the next few months before launch, and here’s a quick word from Game Director, Matt Southern.

This is the first time Evolution has offered any form of pre-order gear, and we really hope you like what you see! There are two of the new vehicle classes and an old favourite, and we’d love to know which one you guys like best. For me it’s the Superbike again, but some of you will know we made some amazing rally games in the past, and a lot of us have been trained to drive them, so there’s a lot of love for the Rally Car at Evo towers.

Vehicles are the main star but we wanted to offer some more, so we’ve also put together some nice carbon-themed content, plus the ability to use the livery elements on any vehicle. Hopefully we’ll see some of these vehicles and liveries featuring in your Photo Mode shots when we launch, for that added layer of cool.

I’ll provide more info on DLC and other aspects of the game as operation blow-load marches into 2011!

On the recent trip to New York we unveiled the new MotorStorm Apocalypse track Skyline and we’d like to share a video, as well as bring you details revealed at the event. First up, the video of Skyline starring my favourite new vehicle, the Superbike.

Here’s a recap of the new info we shared:

• Player customization: Perks enable full visual customisation and performance customization in the form of perks are both new features.
• Playable demo: A demo is being planned for 2011.
• Stereoscopic 3D: We showed Skyline in stereoscopic 3D, and pretty much everyone agreed with me that it sets the benchmark for 3D gaming. I hope you get to experience it in this way!
• Exclusive content: PSN avatars, dynamic themes, pre-order and PlayStation Plus exclusives are all planned and we’ll have specifics to share very soon.
• New Photo Mode: We’ve got a sophisticated Photo Mode that can capture gameplay images in ultra-high resolutions, as well as some easy-to-use tools that allow for fantastic post-effects – all of the Skyline screenshots were taken using Photo Mode mid-race!
• Post-release content: We have big ambitions to continue support for the game after it releases, and to develop some of the concepts we haven’t been able to find time for in development, including a special island track we’re hoping to be able to give away for free.
• New taunts and gestures: All previous versions of MotorStorm featured the ability to taunt other riders. This time, we have a set of insanely flamboyant gestures guaranteed to get your opponents fuming.
• New videos: The videos, including a series of developer diaries , will be launched on the PlayStation.Blog and PSN in the next couple of weeks.
• Release date: We don’t have a final global release date, but are scheduled to launch in Spring 2011.

We always try to release video and game information first on the PlayStation.Blog, but as some of you have already discovered we didn’t quite manage it this time. Here’s a quick round-up of some of the reaction to the unveiling, and some links to me talking and (more excitingly) videos of MotorStorm…including some play-through footage of the track.

• MotorStorm Apocalypse Preview “The special effects-strewn setting seems like the perfect complement to the impressive visuals and physics tech the franchise is already known for.”
• Exclusive MotorStorm Apocalypse Developer Interview Including New Skyline Footage “MotorStorm Apocalypse will leave your palms so sweaty there should be a warning on the box…”
• MotorStorm: Apocalypse’s Iconic “Skyline” “The folks putting out the party-at-the-end-of-the-world racer MotorStorm: Apocalypse vow that “Skyline” is winnable by all 16 vehicle classes.”

Jamie, our Community Manager who answered your questions while I was travelling back, has shared your reactions, feedback and concerns with me, and a great way to be in the loop on all things MotorStorm Apocalypse is to follow him on Twitter.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and your support. Speak soon!

It’s been a while since we’ve shown anything new from MotorStorm Apocalypse, we were planning on keeping pretty quiet while we work like maniacs to get the game finished. But when I was asked to skip over to New York for one last reveal of 2010, I couldn’t resist showing just one more track, and of course sharing a glimpse on the Playstation.Blog.

Let me introduce a track that has presented us with some of the biggest gameplay challenges we’ve ever had: Skyline, AKA ‘the Blockhopper’ AKA ‘Vertigo Redux,’ AKA ‘the one with a race where you get dropped from a helicopter onto a skyscraper that is already collapsing, and are expected to win against a pack of bikes and ATVs on rooftops and in offices that are falling to pieces.’

Making the track spectacular but also fun and winnable by all 13 vehicle classes has been a real test of everything we’ve learned.

For obvious reasons there are a lot of jumps and ramps as you pelt from one building to the next, and that means ensuring you can always make those jumps after bailing, even in a Monster Truck. The addition of in-air cooling (you can earn more boost if you release the accelerator in the air) means there’s another new tactical layer to the gameplay, as you can hunt out ramps to maximise the boost available to set world-beating times. It’s been an interesting track to get right!

We’re close to nailing it though, and hope people agree that there’s never been a race like this before.

We haven’t blown our load yet – there are a good few more surprise tracks in store from MotorStorm Apocalypse. So keep your ear to the ground for some more news in the next few weeks, I hope you can join us for the party at the end of the world when we launch next year!

Cheers and Happy Holidays.