Sooooo, anyone else here playing TrackMania United? I have no idea if there's a retail distributor for the US, but the game can also be purchased and downloaded on the official website.

I've done my fair share of mentioning TrackMania before it got really popular over here, of course, and ever since the first title arrived, there's always been at least one TM game on my HD.

So, what's new about United? It incorporates all previous TM games (TM, TM Sunrise, TM Nations), which means there's a nice selection of different driving models and settings to choose from. The older ones, naturally, did receive a graphical overhaul.

However, the most awesome part about United is how it really incorporates the community. Messaging a friend, getting news, building a track, sharing a track with others, getting replays from others - it's all done in-game. Seriously, one of the things that bothered me about the previous TM title is that you had to leave the game, look up new tracks on some websites, save them into a specific directory and the like - no longer necessary. It's all in the game now and works incredibly well. I'd say no other game does it as good as TMU at this point, and I'm not talking about racing games only here. Devs should take note.

It's one the reason why the game is worth its money despite TM Nations being available for free.

Another cool part of the multiplayer component - when you set up the game you also can say which town you live in. And you can easily compare yourself with other players in your region or country. Or any group you want.

In case anyone's interested, I created a "GamersWithJobs" group. Login: GWJ - Password: goodjer