Just about anyone, automotive buff or not, has dreamed of driving a Ferrari and getting his freak on with it on a freeway. Koch Media and System 3 are making that happen very soon with the coming of their new game, The Ferrari Challenge.

The title isn't ready to roll out of the garage yet, but Koch Media has already announced that it will be distributing System 3's multi-million euro project in all German and French-speaking territories in the European market.

"The distribution reach of Koch media was never in question, but we needed a company that understands our marketing strategy and has the resource to realise our plans," says System 3 CEO Mark Cale. "Koch has shown the level of commitment that we were looking for and we’re delighted to be working with them on this key launch."

Fans of Ferrari cars should be satisfied with the level of authenticity that the game will carry as the car maker has made an active and concerted effort to scrutinize the development and see to it that the experience is as realistic as possible.

The release date for The Ferrari Challenge is yet to be determined, but it has been confirmed that it will have distinct versions for the Sony PlayStation, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS platforms.

Apparently the dual-SKU model ain't just for Warhawk, too. Talking to PALGN, System 3 CEO Mark Cale mentioned that the Epyx title California Games rumored to come to the Wii, is coming to the Wii. Twice. "You'll be able to buy it online," he says, "and you'll be able to buy it as a retail product, too."

Dang. Someone reevaluate the economics of what Peter Dille said about this dual-SKU thing.

And speaking of Peter Dille, Mark also confirms that California Games will be coming to the PS3 as well. Twice. He says it can/will be bought on the PlayStation Network and as a physical retail copy. Mark doesn't mention about any extra goodies for buying a blob of optical plastic (either the Wii optical plastic or the PS3 optical plastic), however.

At this, we can also suspect that the California Games coming to the Wii and PS3 isn't just a simple port of the original, Amiga-era Epyx title, but potentially a full-blown new-gen revamp (or else why dedicate blobs of optical plastic to the title?). Potentially, it could mean motion-sensing controls, high-def graphics (depending on platform), yada yada, but no concrete details have surfaced yet.

Cale did mention that the Wii version would be "playable online through the Wii," though. So there's online multiplayer, too.

 

London based developer System 3 has recently announced the signing of a deal with Ferrari, which could lead to the developer acquiring rights to create Ferrari-licensed games. Mark Cale, CEO and founder of the studio, talked with Nintendo Gamer and revealed that developers have a the goal of creating a Gran Turismo-like game for the Wii.

According to Cale, the game will be made not only for the Nintendo platforms (the DS and the Wii) but also for the Sony PlayStation 3 and the PSP. So far it's set to be a cross between a simulation title and an arcade title.

Aussie-Nintendo reports that Cale has noted that the developers are looking at putting an accelerator and a proper steering wheel in for the Wii version of their game. Cale explains:

...that's one of the problems of the Nintendo controller - you either have a very loose system that's very forgiving but unrealistic, or if you have it realistic and you suddenly flinch or something it could affect the performance. We feel we've come up with a very good solution to that.

Will System 3 succeed by making racing games for the Wii? After all Cale himself said: "The advantage we've got with the Wii is there aren't any great racing games on there..." Time will tell.