I recently had the pleasure of posing an excruciatingly serious series of questions to the most serious man in the XBLA world: Denis Bourdain. Anyone that has had contact with Mr. Bourdain knows that he hates the spotlight, despises talking about games, and generally lives the life of a hermit. And so, I count my lucky stars that I was able to track down this elusive and evasive man to peel back those layers of shyness.

Without further ado, cue the interview.

XBLArcade's LunarDuality: Denis, thanks for risking contact with the outside world in order to answer my questions. First question: What's the biggest lesson you learned in the aftermath of Mad Tracks' release? And how have you applied that wisdom to Things on Wheels?

Denis Bourdain:

1. Buy a larger coffee machine (from 10 to 16 bars!)

2. Spend more time on the multiplayer lobby system (why do I know you were thinking about this?).

3. Ask the community what they want – after all, we’re doing this for them, why not include them in the process?

4. Don’t confuse people with a wide genre. I think the ‘mini games + racing’ gameplay of Mad Tracks was too wide for some casual players to grasp. We’re stripping ToW to racing only.

After the break find out how Denis feels about NASCAR, desert islands, and whether lawnmowers will be featured in Things on Wheels.

The judges at the annual French Video Game Festival have nominated Mad Tracks to compete in the best French console game category at their award ceremony. This is great news for Load Inc as they share the console nomination with Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW) 2 and Obscure 2. Granted my guess is all of us have only heard of one of those games, but hey the other has yet to be released! Citing as proof of the title's greatness was the Mad Tracks "depth, playability, original gameplays, popular success and overall quality for a 47Mb game (XBLA limits)". Hopefully, the lack of sequelitis in Mad Tracks will let this game get credit where credit is do. We'll find out if Mad Tracks has what it takes when the festival takes place during September 21st and 23rd.

A nifty interview of Denis Bourdain, of Load Inc (aka the Mad Tracks personages), went up over at Xboxic. In it, Denis talks about the critical response to Mad Tracks, dealing with the community, and what is next for Load Inc (not that he gives any details).

Now we just have to wait for the unveiling pf Load's next game, ToW, at Leipzig.

[via Xboxic]

Apparently Load Inc is working overtime lately. Hot on the heels of the release of the Bravo Pack for Mad Tracks and their announcement of their upcoming game ToW (that's gotta be an acronym, right?) comes some more fuel for the lobby fire. Load Inc is trying to find a "viable solution" to the lobby problem. Is that a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel?

Full statement after the break.

If you haven't gotten enough castle action today while playing Carcassonne, maybe you should download the new DLC for Mad Tracks. The Mad Tracks Encore Pack features 9 new races and 6 mini-games including a ramp romp in a German Castle. All this can be yours for a mere 350MSP.

Who's buyin'?

[via Kotaku]

Are you a fan of Mad Tracks? I know that I am! In fact, 360GameRadio actually had the opportunity to chat with Denis Bourdain of Load Inc. and discuss all things Mad Tracks, including the prices, release dates, and content of the upcoming "Encore" and "Bravo" expansion packs. Not only that, be we also get a tidbit of information on a new game that Load Inc. has in development. ToW anyone?

Denis was also kind enough to provide us with redeemable Microsoft codes to download Mad Tracks for free! So, give it a listen, and you'll have a chance to win Mad Tracks for free! The giveaway is tomorrow! The show clocked in at 41:22, the interview is at 25:30, and it is about 12 minutes long.

Enjoy!

In case you missed our forum topic on the subject, Mad Tracks has successfully made a pit stop, got a full tank, and changed all four tires in 4.372 seconds. And by pit stop I mean got patched. And by 4.372 seconds I mean approximately two weeks.

TeamXbox even goes as far as saying "The update will automatically install at title launch and will have no side effect." Yeah, Microsoft has said that before. Let's hope that comment doesn't foreshadow the announcer's curse like with the console-bricking dash updates of the past.

But who cares about all that. Just go enjoy some racing with your newly un-trial-ified Mad Tracks.

[via TeamXbox, thanks Hexx]

Many people have been experiencing a frustrating upgrade glitch in Mad Tracks. Users have been reporting that after downloading the trial version of Mad Tracks and then subsequently paying to upgrade to the full version they have still been stuck with the trial version.

Luckily, Load Inc put their crack team on it and they have submitted a patch to Microsoft for approval. To all those affected, may the relief come swiftly.

[via Kotaku]

Not only do we get to enjoy some Worms Downloadable Content, we also get to enjoy the long-awaited, highly-anticipated Mad Tracks!!

Press Alert:

3D racing party game Mad Tracks will be available for download beginning Wednesday, May 30, at 9:00 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. Pacific Time).

From the media alert just posted:

Players can race through 15 challenges consisting of nine mini-games and six different races behind the wheel of one of 12 sleek compact cars. “Mad Tracks,” from Load Inc., features 12 power-ups to keep engines revved up and players in the fast lane ahead of the competition.

“Mad Tracks” will be available worldwide (with the exception of Korea) for 800 Microsoft Points and is rated E for Everyone.

Game Features

• 15 distinct challenges (6 races & 9 mini-games) provide a full-fledged racing game experience
• 12 stackable power-ups (rockets, freezer, oil drop, EMP and more!)
• 12 sleek looking cars to choose from
• 4 player multiplayer over Xbox LIVE and 4 player local multiplayer via split screen mode
• Championship mode & Arcade mode
• 2 free gamer pictures
• Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points

UPDATE: We've now added 15 screen shots to the Mad Tracks image gallery here

The folks over at GamingTalkHQ have added more fuel to the rumor that Mad Tracks will arrive next week. Thanks to their diligent stalking coverage of the original story broken by Xboxic, we now have the following clue:

Denis Bourdain's (of Load Inc) most recent IM away message reads "Save Your MS points for next week."

Another "rumor" coming true? Who woulda thunk it? Now that all signs point to its release next week, are the signs also pointing to "buy"?

[via GamingTalkHQ]