The Q3 and Q4 game releases are starting to trickle back down after a slight lull over the past few weeks, and as such you're going to be seeing a lot of new games popping up on AusGamers in reviewed form.

Today we have Ubisoft and Reflections' reboot (of sorts) of the Driver series, which takes it all the way back to its core foundations, and namesake: driving. Interestingly, the narrative context for not embodying your protagonist in any on-foot activity barring a flooring of the accelerator, is utterly ridiculous, but because the game really is a lot of fun, we're more than willing to look over the Days of Our Lives coma stuff.

Click here to check out our full review.

In case PC gamers weren't feeling neglected enough by Ubisoft by the recent PC-only delays of Call of Juarez: The Cartel and From Dust, the official Twitter channel for the Driver franchise has today confirmed that the PC version of the upcoming Driver: San Francisco will require a "permanent internet connection" to play.

This means that not only do players need an active Internet connection to launch even the singleplayer component of the PC game, but that connection has to remain active for the entirety of play, as the game periodically "phones home" to authenticate the user, pausing the game if unsuccessful.

The conversational method is clearly an attempt to curb piracy, but remains very unpopular among gamers as it inconveniences legitimate owners while the games are almost always eventually cracked by pirate distributors anyway.

Other Ubisoft games such as Assassin's Creed 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction utilised this technology, but patches were released to remove the persistent check several months after launch.

Buckle up, because Ubisoft have sent along some new information detailing what Australians can expect to find the collector's edition packs of the upcoming Driver: Fransisco.

The Collector Edition includes :

• The retail version of the game
  
• Collectable Replica of the 1970 Dodge Challenger Hemi R/T Six Pack
  
• A map of San Francisco with all collectables
  
• 3 legendary cars in multiplayer including 1 exclusive : Shelby Cobra 427 - 1966- 4 new challenges in single player including 2 exclusives :
  • Mass Chase : Escape the whole police
    
  • Russian Racers Hills: Race against 3 super cars
• The Driver San Francisco comic book

A picture of the bundle can be found in the press release or you can watch the trailer embedded below (or click here for HD).

Driver: San Francisco is due in Australia on September 1st 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.