When you think about racing video games, one of the first games that come to mind would be Midnight Club. However, when conducting an investigation of Rockstar San Diego — because of the recent work condition accusations — anonymous sources (within the company, of course) spoke about Midnight Club’s future.

“Jay Panek and Mark Garone, people who were at the company for over 10 years, were fired in 2009 after the completion of Midnight Club: LA … other major people quit, as they lost hope in the company after the handling of MC:LA and didn’t want to work on Red Dead Redemption,” reported one source.

When questioned about the possibility of there being another title, a second source relayed to Joystiq that “there was going to be another”. But, soon after the team got the news, they had been outsourced. However, at the time, a small development team were still developing the title. Then, after a while, nothing happen. So anything could, and would, happen to the Midnight Club series at this point, seeing that Take-Two, its big brother, wants something soon.

When the makers of the Grand Theft Auto series announced that they were doing  a following up to ’04 western shooter Red Dead Revolver, we strapped on our riding boots and pumped bullets into our six-shooters.

Okay, that actually didn’t happen. But, if you watch the trailer below, you may be inclined to do something cowboy-like.

“The team at San Diego have massively exceeded our expectations with the sheer depth of experiences in Red Dead Redemption,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games.

“The seamless combination of breathtaking beauty and intense action, all woven together with strong plotlines in a massive vibrant, rural environment is mind-blowing. We think this game helps to push the limits of what an open-world gaming experience can be.”

As many of us may already know this holiday season, if you are a gamer, you may need to take a loan on something because man are you going to need it. Well, with many release date given for almost every week of the holiday season it looks like if Rockstar wants you to take sometime off so that you can really beat one of the many games you are to buy before you buy another. Today, Take Two has decided postponed two of the upcoming Midnight Club games, Midnight Club: LA and the PSP spin-off Midnight Club: LA Remix. The release dates are now changed from October 7 to a few week later, October 21.

Rockstar has revealed that Australian gamers will getting the chance of play there upcoming street racing game, Midnight Club: LA, early. They will be taking an an exclusive pre-release demo of Midnight Club Los Angeles featuring the MCLA Saleen 302E to the locations listed below:

30th August – Shadow Wars (Manning Bar Sydney University)

13th-14th September – Auto Salon (Newcastle Entertainment Centre)

25th-28th September – Royal Melbourne Show (Royal Melbourne Showgrounds Epsom Road, Ascot Vale)

4th-5th October – Auto Salon (Melbourne Exhibition Centre Southbank)

Rockstar Games announced that the Midnight Club: Los Angeles released has been pushed to October 7, 2008 this date also come’s in effect for the PSP version. Along with this delay they where nice to grace us with some new screenshots.

Rockstar Games announces new release date for Midnight Club: Los Angeles on the Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION® 3 and Midnight Club: LA Remix for the PSP®
Open-world street racing series debuts on October 7th and 10th in North America and Europe, respectively

New York, NY – July 3, 2008 – Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) today announced a new release date for the fourth installment of its critically-acclaimed and genre-defining Midnight Club franchise, Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Set for release on October 7th in North America and October 10th in Europe and developed by series creator Rockstar San Diego, Midnight Club: Los Angeles will give gamers the unprecedented freedom to race through a hyper-realistic LA.

Rockstar San Diego has created a beautiful rendition of Los Angeles to race through at break neck speeds and explore at your own pace. With no tracks and no load times, Midnight Club: Los Angeles offers the ultimate freedom to play however you choose.

Also scheduled for release simultaneously, Midnight Club: LA Remix for the PSP® system will provide another incredible portable racing experience. Developed by Rockstar London, the game will take full advantage of the hardware to deliver the unrivaled sense of speed and style that the best-selling Midnight Club series is known for.

Rockstar Games is proud to announce the fourth installment of its critically-acclaimed and genre-defining Midnight Club franchise, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, is set for release on September 9th in North America and September 12th in Europe. Developed by series creator Rockstar San Diego, Midnight Club: Los Angeles will give gamers the unprecedented freedom to race through a hyper-realistic LA.

“From the beginning, Midnight Club has been about street racing in a open-world,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “With our team at Rockstar San Diego we have developed a game that we feel once again pushes the boundaries and expectations of what a racing game can be.”

Whether driving by the beach or beating the competition by cutting through a parking garage at 200 mph, Midnight Club: Los Angeles provides a seamless, breathtaking environment for everyone who loves to compete. With no load times, no tracks, and no rules, the game allows players to race who they want, when they want, and where they want in an unbelievable recreation of Los Angeles.

“People are going to be blown away when they see how true-to-life Los Angeles looks in this game,” said Jay Panek, Midnight Club Producer Rockstar San Diego. “We’ve added some great twists and turns that let players experience the authentic vibe and feel of the city at blistering speeds that you simply couldn’t get away with in real life.”

A racing game is nothing without the great cars and Midnight Club: Los Angeles allows extensive customization of vehicles for both performance and appearance. Players can now fully personalize their officially licensed imports, tuners, classic muscle cars and motorcycles both inside and out with a dizzying array of licensed rims, spoilers, interior gauges, tires and more.

Source: Rockstar Games

We can’t remember the latest time we saw a Midnight Club: LA video but, it’s aways good to see that the game is going strong. Midnight Club: Los Angeles is the fourth game in the Midnight Club series, the game is set in the city Los Angeles. The game’s gameplay is set to a free-roam aspect just like Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition. The game is set to release some time this year on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Hot off the press this morning from Rockstar Games the new Box art for the upcoming game Midnight Club: Los Angeles coming to the Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3.