Load Inc.'s Mad Tracks was just nominated to receive an award under the best French console category in the upcoming French Video Game Festival. The ceremonies are to be held in Paris from September 21 to 23 and the jury deciding the fate of the games is directed by none other than Frederick Raynel, creator of Alone in the Dark.

So what's the keen thing about Mad Tracks getting nominated here? Well, you might want to note that the micro-racer is going against GRAW 2. And that's definitely something. Mad Tracks was primarily nominated by the jury for its original gameplay, popular success, depth, and playability. Also, one of the factors is its overall quality relative to its 47MB size.

Load Inc. VP Denis Bourdain is ecstatic about the news:

Competing against GRAW 2 in an official award ceremony is a victory already. Being selected by Frederick Raynal and his jury makes us all hyper!! We hope this will prove that size doesn't (always) matter. We also are very happy our friends from Hydravision are selected in this prestigious race. They deserve to win as much as we do.

It's always good to foster some friendly competition. The Video Game Festival isn't all too far, and we'll keep you guys updated. Could an XBLA title topple over a next-gen giant? We'll see...

Mad Tracks fans, here's another new expansion pack for you to try out. Load Inc. and D3Publisher of America have officially announced that the Mad Tracks Bravo Expansion Pack is now available for download.

The Bravo Expansion Pack is the third part of what has been dubbed the Mad Tracks XBLA trilogy. The pack gives players seven races ranging from Antarctica to a dance hall in Germany as well as eight original mini-games.

The Mad Tracks Bravo Expansion Pack is now available worldwide - with the exception of Korea - for 350 Microsoft Points. A Crazy Cars Mad Tracks theme is also available for 150 Microsoft Points.

 

It took a while, but it's finally here. A little more than a week after announcing that a fix was underway for a detected glitch in Load. Inc's Mad Tracks game for the Xbox 360 console's Live Arcade, Microsoft is letting everybody know that a new patch is now available for download via Xbox Live.

This patch is designed to fix the game bug that prevents players from playing their full version if they had previously downloaded the game's trial version. The new patch will automatically kick in the next time players activate mad Tracks, and should activate even for guys who skipped buying the trial version. That's all for the moment - kick back, and enjoy your now glitch-free racing!

Over at the Xbox forums, some gamers have been complaining about a problem in Load Inc.'s video game, Mad Tracks, which was made available last May 30 over at Xbox Live Arcade. The problem? Most users who bought the full game through the trial version had a hard time unlocking other tracks, races, and minigames. Some forum-goers advised others to play in the adventure mode first before unlocking other tracks, but that didn't work.

Load Inc. finally confirmed that this is definitely a glitch in Mad Tracks. It occurs when you purchase the full game after downloading the demo. The developers are already fixing this, and have informed everyone that the patch is already with Microsoft. You only need to wait for the patch's release to finally unlock those features and to play the game hassle-free. Or, as one forum-goer advised, you can log in to another account and use that one to get the full version and get the unlockables.

By now, most of you have probably purchased Load Inc.'s offering for the Xbox Live, Mad Tracks. For those of you who do not know, this much awaited title has been set to be available in Xbox Live worldwide (with the exception of Korea) today. The fun wouldn't stop there as it would also have expansion packs (Bravo and Encore) which would carry 15 more races and mini-games. From the looks of it, Mad Tracks was surely worth the wait.

A few days back, we hooked you up with some of the game's car models and other tidbits. Today, we found a GameTrailers video of Mad Tracks dubbed as the Beastie Balls gameplay. So for those of you who are still on the fence about getting this game, we could only hope that this video could help you decide.

 

In case the Xbox 360 guys missed out on our previous announcement, we're letting you know that Load Inc.'s Mad Tracks game for Xbox Live is getting release this May 30 (Wednesday). Now, in case the guys here are still wondering if the game will be worth all 800 Microsoft Points come its release, we'll be posting a quick sit-rep on the game's expected features:

• 15 distinct challenges (6 races and 9 mini-games)
• 12 stackable power-ups (rockets, freezer, oil drop, EMP and more)
• 12 different cars to choose from
• 4 player multiplayer over Xbox Live, and 4 player local multiplayer via split screen mode
• Championship mode and Arcade mode
• 2 free gamer pictures
• Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points

Mad Tracks will be available in Xbox Live worldwide (except Korea) at 09:00 BST. Also make sure to look out for the Bravo and Encore expansion packs - each carries an additional 15 races and mini-games for your download pleasure. Each will be expected to be available for 350 MS Points.

The PC-original Mad Tracks is getting the Xbox Live Arcade treatment and there seems to be a lot of effort coming from D3 Publisher and the development team. The word is that there's going to be a lot of DLC for this XBLA title coming in the form of 17 Gamerpics which will come in three sets of five. Two of them will be free at the time of purchase.

New content will be made available after a month, which will also come in the form of Gamerpics and a theme pack. Pricing ranges from 100 to 150 Microsoft Points, depending on which goodies you get. Speaking of goodies, here are 12 screens of car models that you'll be able to drive in the game.

If you didn't catch Mad Tracks the first time it hits, don't expect realism to the level of Gran Turismo. In fact, this game doesn't even want to come anywhere close to that. It's an RC car simulator that's all about speed, customization, and reflexes. It gives us the lighter side of blazing through tracks, and we're glad it's getting a second spin on the Xbox 360.

   

See the rest of the Mad Tracks car models after the jump!

And right about time too. According to Xboxic and their reliable sources "only an incoming meteor could stop Mad Tracks from final release" next Wednesday, May 30. Since last week, rumors of the crazy racer getting released soon were already doing rounds of the web.

While Load Inc. big man Denis Bourdain neither confirmed nor denied the Mad Tracks' release, everyone's pretty worked up that, when he dropped by the Xboxic forums, the tone of his update made everyone assume that it was more or less confirmed anyhow. Only time will tell, but for what it's worth, (given that we've already waited this long) what's a few more days of waiting?

We'll drop the bomb once we get some cold, hard confirmation of the release. Or maybe hope to god that that meteor doesn't show up.

This was the message plastered on the front page of Load Inc's website, and it sure is good news:

Mad Tracks XBLA has passed final Xbox certification and is good to go. Microsoft, D3PA and Load Inc. are still adjusting a release date. Thanks for everyone's patience; the wait is soon over.

While fans have been waiting for Mad Tracks to run its course on Xbox Live for quite a while now, it does send truckloads of relief for the bosses involved (read: publisher and developer) to finally confirm that it's soon coming our way.

While there's still no specific release date yet, we did pick up word from the Xbox GamingTalkHQ site for how much it will be available. Confirmed by Denis Bourdain himself of Load Inc., Mad Tracks is yours for 800 Microsoft Points. Anyhow, enjoy this bit of good news first. We'll be sure to bring you some more sweet goodness as they trickle in.

Given the craziness of these past few months, you might have forgotten about Mad Tracks. We really don't know what happened to this arcade-style party racing game but just like a few things in life, it just never came. Maybe its multiplayer support is still somewhat tangled up as developer Load, Inc. just added it the last minute.

Anyway, when the game finally arrives on Xbox Live, we don't want you to become lost not knowing what to do. Sure, 12 various kinds of vehicles and 46 different challenges (23 races, 23 minigames) sound fun but without an objective, those things would only get you for so far.

With that said, here's the complete list of Mad Tracks' achievement list. There are twelve all in all with a total number of 200 points to be earned.

• Bronze Rumble (10 points): Gather at least 11 Bronze medals
• Can't pick this (10 points): Do not pick up any power ups for 3 laps in Black Out
• 8-Ball (10 points): Win a pool game without pocketing the black ball
• Real fun (10 points): Finish 5 challenges with friends on split screen
• Treasure hunt (15 points): Find 5 golden flags in Black Out
• Loaded (15 points): Unlock all power ups
• Chain racing (15 points): Finish Toy Race 20 times in a row
• Alien Hunt (20 points) Find 5 golden Aliens in Toy Race
• Gold Struggle (20 points): Gather all 15 Gold medals
• Hero (20 points): Finish 1st 5 times in a row against 5 hard NPC on Speed Racer
• Ultra Fast Food (40 points): Beat 1m15sec on Fast Food
• Silver Fight (15 points): Gather at least 12 Silver medals