Man, specialist racing game dev studio Firebrand Games sure is putting its name on the map with the DS, especially in terms of track editors that take advantage of the platform’s touch screen interface. Last year’s Race Driver: Create & Race was excellent –so excellent Codemasters has the team working on the recently announced DS version of GRID — and now Firebrand is also hard at work on bringing the hit TrackMania arcade racer series from the PC to Nintendo’s portable. And yes, it too will feature a robust track editor to tinker around with, stylus in hand. Focus Home has signed on to publish TrackMania DS and is currently set to release the title in Q4 2008.
“We are very happy with this partnership with Firebrand,” said Cédric Lagarrigue, CEO of Focus Home Interactive, “Their technology and background guarantee TrackMania DS will be a solid adaptation of the PC game, while also making the most of unique features of the DS. The fact that some members of the Firebrand team are true TrackMania fans definitely convinced us to trust them, and the first results are spectacular. We believe that the Nintendo DS console is well-suited for more casual games than to realistic simulations, and TrackMania DS, with the fun it brings in solo as well as in multiplayer mode, along with its well-known track editor, should find itself quite a nice place on Nintendo’s handheld.”
Back with more on TrackMania DS as soon as new info and/or media comes along. For now, hit the jump to watch the debut teaser trailer for a hint of what’s to come.
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Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
