First look at Project Gotham Racing 3?

April 13th, 2005, 00:22 Posted By: wraggster

As the countdown to the next Xbox's unveiling progresses, the all-but-official teaser site for the device, Ourcolony.net, has released another teaser image related to the console. However, instead of being a glimpse of the hardware, the image appears to be one of the games for the next-gen console.

Early this morning, players of the Ourcolony.net game were briefly treated to a high-resolution image of a red sports car. The incredibly detailed image shows the front right quarter-panel of the car, including its right headlight and part of its grille. The high resolution of the image lets the viewer see the makeup of the headlight, which shows three distinctive lights within an external glass canopy.

Car fetishists and fans of all things speedy will recognize these features as being unique to the Ferrari 360 Modena. A side-by-side comparison of the Ourcolony.net image with a real-life photo of the same area of a Modena shows that the two pictures are clearly of the same model.

Though the image is not official, a chain of circumstantial evidence points to it as being the first for Project Gotham Racing for the next-generation Xbox. First, a red Ferrari is the signature cover car of the Project Gotham Racing series. 2001's Project Gotham Racing featured a scarlet Ferrari F50 on the cover, while the box for 2003's Project Gotham Racing 2 sported a crimson Ferrari Enzo.

Second, Microsoft Game Studios' Shane Kim has confirmed that a third Project Gotham Racing is in development for the next-generation Xbox. Third, Ourcolony.net has been linked to Microsoft, although the company still refuses to concede that it is behind the site. The fourth and most tenuous link is that the 360 Modena shares the same numeric designation as the Xbox 360, currently considered the most likely name for Microsoft's new console.

Is the image coincidence or evidence? The public will have to wait until May 12, when the still officially unnamed next-gen platform will be unveiled on MTV. For now, a Microsoft spokesperson would say only the following: "Looks like a car to me. Can you believe how great it looks?"

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