Almost certainly the most overlooked and possibly best game to be released this month will be Codemaster's GRID for the PC/PS3/360.
That's why the news of the 360 version being broken, is unfortunate.
The races pause for a second or two during all races, due to a compatibility issue with the 360 hard-drive. I'm sure you've probably heard all about this. Anyway, 2 things about that:
A. The patch to fix it is in the works and will be released in 2-5 weeks.
B. There is a temporary fix, remove the 360 Hard-Drive and use a memory card for the game.
An inexcusable error, of course, as games that require patches for errors that should have been fixed at launch, have no excuse. I call it the Overlord syndrome, but I digress.
Grid(I shall be using common English capitalization for all words, from here on. Sorry Play B3yond fanboys):
Anyway, to my point. Grid is new and expensive as hell. It's a classic engine from the old Colin McRae series that Codemasters did. One of the main draws to this game are its graphics. They are amazing, literally the third best looking game on the Xbox 360 and it is a really nice showcase game for your HD-TV.
Ah, but little did you know(or maybe you did, who cares), a little less than a year ago, Codemasters released a very similar game with Off-Road rally style gameplay.
Dirt:
If Grid has the 3rd best graphics on the 360, Dirt has the 4th.
What advantages does Grid have over Dirt?
Well, considering the price, none, if you've never played Dirt, so I highly recommend it instead of Grid, especially if you own a 360, for several reasons:
A. 360 version, and to a lesser extent the PC and PS3 versions, have bugs that need patching.
B. The price of 59.99 dollars is something I will never, ever pay for a game, it's too expensive.
C. It's the same engine. The differences are very slight. The 360 version of dirt has slight slowdown, while the 360 version of grid is unplayable until a patch forthcoming in the next month.
D. Dirt has little to no online mode outside of time trials, while Grid I assume has an online mode. However, Dirts single player is supposedly deeper(Note I didn't say better, because I haven't played grid).
So, why did I make this post? Well, I figured there would be a lot of not so hip gamers who saw Grid, and didn't know anything about who developed it and were just awed and happy about this awesome game. They didn't know this game was actually a not so quick and dirty spinoff of Dirt that came out less than a year ago.
If Dirt were Guitar Hero 3, then Grid would be Guitar Hero Metallica. Amazingly awesome and better? Certainly. Original? Nein(I'm not german, I just sometimes like yelling random things irl when I'm by myself or with my brother. I'm quite insane, and could be a psycho killer)!
Anyway, just so you know, if you are low on money and want the Grid experience without all the bugs, patches, cost, and general hubub that comes with a new HD game, then do yourself a favor and pick up Dirt for 25 or 30 bucks off Ebay. If you like it, sell it back for the same price, and if your a big fan of the game, then get Grid, resell it, and use your money wisely. Just because we track sales of games, doesn't mean we can't make our own dollars buy a little more than the gaming industry wants them too.
Dirt: Recommended for purchase
Grid: Recommended to play Dirt first, at least until the bugs are worked out, and maybe even after that
I don't need your console war.
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor.
You're power hungry, spinnin' stories, and bein' graphics whores.
I don't need your console war.
NO NO, NO NO NO.
