Atari's decisions as of late are somewhat confusing. First they decided to sell off the Driver license over to Ubisoft, supposedly so they could focus on one single racing series (namely Test Drive Unlimited, which will be priced only $40 at launch on the Xbox 360). And now they're back on the racetrack, having announced an agreement with 10tacle Studios for the European distribution of GTR 2. Does that make any sense to you?

No delays are being introduced by this deal, so Blimey! Games' SimBin's hardcore racing simulator should come out of the pits by the end of September 2006.

"Featuring a staggering 140+ accurately and detailed car models from two full FIA GT seasons GTR 2 brings a higher level of detail than ever seen before: cars will scuff, dent and break to an absurdly high level of accuracy, slight twists to the chassis will alter the handling and players will even be able to see the brake discs visibly change colour as they get hotter beneath the rims. Players looking to improve their skills will be happy to hear that GTR 2 features a driving school where amongst others; lessons are given on cornering, braking and overtaking techniques for players in their quest to become the ultimate GT racer."

We should also note that late last week 10tacle released a playable demo for GTR 2. But since our download servers are still out on vacation, I'm affraid you'll have to pick another download location from this list of mirrors on the official GTR 2 website. And here's a bit about it:

"With the demo the player can go the full distance on a complete racing weekend with their choice of training, qualifying, warm-up and the race itself. Both beginners and pros can test themselves against 14 virtual drivers based on the unique artificial intelligence.

The player can choose between two teams with truly hot machines for the world-famous Barcelona Grand Prix course: the Team G.P.S. Giesse Squadra Corse with its Ferrari F575 and the Team DAMS with its Lamborghini Murciélago.

With the introduction of the new Time-Trial Mode nothing stands in the way of the first multiplayer contests. In this mode players can easily save their laps and post the file on the Internet for comparison with other drivers."

Sharing files with lap times over the Internet... Truly next-gen multiplayer!

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)