Will you be Wiping Out?
Many of the gaming younglings nowadays take things for granted in the world of gaming. Their bar of expectation is set very high, as they have entered the fray at a time where hardware is no longer a limiting factor to game design. If a game doesn’t look photorealistic enough and have a 20 hour AAA single player experience and a huge online component as well as free and constant downloadable content then it’s officially pants and its straight onto the internet and spam the messages boards about what morons the developers are.
Apart from expectations these relative newcomers into the world of gaming have simply not been around long enough to be able to experience the nostalgia factor. Thinking back to my youth and the games that I played always brings a smile to my face. Going back however and playing those old games now will not always result in the same excitement as it did since they tend not to hold up so well with the passage of time.
One game that I have fond memories of was Wipeout on the original Playstation, where you control ships of different classes (i.e faster, more defensive, easier handling) that hover over tracks of varying intricacy as you race against the Artificial Intelligence (A.I).
Were the game came into it’s own was playing four player split screen against your friend, soon to be ex-friends, as you would talk trash, gang up and use power ups to rain havoc upon each other.
The series has recently also had success on the PSP were you could race online for the first time and play your own MP3s as your propelled around in the most vibrant and colourful of tracks to date.
I was watching the 1UP Show yesterday and they were showing gameplay footage from the soon to be released Wipeout HD which will be launching on the Playstation Network (PSN). The price has not been announced yet but one thing is for sure I will be parting company with whatever numeric figure will be displayed on my TV when it is finally made available.
As you may or may not know I am a sucker, I could end the sentence there, for games that throw both the visual and acoustic experiences into the melting pot. So you can imagine the look on my face when I saw that when you play your own custom soundtrack in Wipeout HD the track pulsates and the colours change in the beat of the music. Not only will you get the rush from the frantic pace of the game but also the music will add another layer of sensation.
But that is not all. Eight player online multiplayer coupled with possibly the best use of the Six-Axis to date as you get to control the direction and the pitch of your ship by simply tilting the controller.
Only one question remains: Will you be the wiper or the wipee?
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Re: Will you be Wiping Out?
"with possibly the best use of the Six-Axis to date as you get to control the direction and the pitch of your ship by simply tilting the controller."
Now that would be quite an achievement especially as the Six-Axis will be obsolete in a year's time to be replace by "old gen" rumble controller Dual Shock 3.
Never really got into this game either when it first came out on the Playstation nor on the PSP. One question, is the game's content new or just the same as previous editions (including PSP) but in HD.
Re: Will you be Wiping Out?
The tracks and the music are from the last two PSP games, Pure and Pulse, as are most of the weapons but they have been balanced out a little, according to the 1Up Show.
It's only eight tracks but being Wipeout, which had downloadable content on the previous PSP versions, and in particular on PSN means I have a sneaky feeling that there will be more to come. I wouldn't be surprised to see new ships and tracks after the release.
The Six-Axis control is meant to be difficult to learn put after a few days of smashing into walls the new control scheme is the way to go as it make the experience more "active" as opposed to the "passive" D-Pad ... sounds good to me!
Re: Will you be Wiping Out?
You will love LAIR then dude!
Re: Will you be Wiping Out?
Lair was a complete failure and the Six-Axis control was universally declared as very poor implementation.
Ryan O'Donnell, of the 1UP Show, has been playing Wipeout for over ten years on a D pad and after he played the preview build of Wipeout HD with the Six-Axis he said it was great so I have a lot more faith this time round ... fingers crossed.