''Project Gotham Racing'' (''PGR'') is a series of racing video games developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Studios (Xbox and Xbox 360) and

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

(Dreamcast). The series appeared on the Dreamcast, Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, and consists of '' Metropolis Street Racer'' (Dreamcast), '' Project Gotham Racing'' (Xbox), '' Project Gotham Racing 2'' (Xbox), '' Project Gotham Racing 3'' (Xbox 360), and ''

Project Gotham Racing 4 ''Project Gotham Racing 4'' is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released exclusively for the Xbox 360 in October 2007. Development history ''Project Gotham Racing 4'' was accident ...

'' (Xbox 360).

Gameplay

The ''PGR'' series have a system called Kudos points. These are given for performing stunts with the vehicle (such as power sliding, overtaking another driver, two wheels, etc.). The longer the stunt is maintained, the more points the player receives. Colliding with the

guard rail Guard rail, guardrails, or protective guarding, in general, are a boundary feature and may be a means to prevent or deter access to dangerous or off-limits areas while allowing light and visibility in a greater way than a fence. Common shapes ...

s and other surroundings will cause the Kudos points from that stunt to be lost. ''MSR'' did not support direct network play via SegaNet/Dreamarena, however it did provide some online features. Players could download ghost data and download Hot Lap and Time Trial challenges set by the developers. It also featured rudimentary downloadable content in the form of challenges which featured new racetrack configurations. ''PGR2'', ''PGR3'' and ''PGR4'' supported direct network gameplay via

Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an Internet, online multiplayer video game, multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox ...

, while the first installment in the series did not. The cover of each game in the ''Project Gotham Racing'' franchise has featured a

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

car on it, going from the F50 (''PGR'') to the Enzo (''PGR2''), the F430 (''PGR3''), and the 599 GTB Fiorano (''PGR4''). The car manufacturer was even the main focus of a free mobile entry in the series, ''PGR: Ferrari Edition'' for the Zune HD, similar to that of

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

in '' Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed''. The ''PGR'' series is the successor to Bizarre Creation's Dreamcast game '' Metropolis Street Racer'', as evidenced by the similarities and the recycled content between the first ''Project Gotham Racing'' and ''Metropolis Street Racer''.

Discontinuation

In September 2007, after being bought by Activision, Bizarre Creations announced that ''PGR4'' would be the last game produced for Microsoft. Bizarre developed ''PGR4s spiritual successor, '' Blur'', which was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. As no new ''PGR'' games were released in the 2010s, and Bizarre Creations was shuttered by Activision in 2011, the franchise is presumed to be discontinued.

Titles

Releases

Reception

All five games in the series received positive reviews from critics.

References

External links

* {{Xbox Game Studios Microsoft franchises Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 2000