Ridge Racer 3D 3DS

Released on 25-Mar-2011

• Ridge Racer drifting in new direction?

  Wee always had a soft spot for Ridge Racer delightfully gaudy and lightning-quick brand of racing - where else can you slide a car around a tight corner at a 90-degree angle? and the recent release of Ridge Racer 3D on Nintendo 3DS literally brought a new dimension to the game, with some of the best 3D effects on the console. So it might come as a surprise to learn that the next game in the series, Ridge Racer Unbounded, would rather take a similar racing line to the likes of Need for Speed and Burnout.

  Speaking to Siliconera, Namco Masamichi Yamazaki said that developer Bugbear Entertainment creators of the riotous Flatout series would be gunning for its arcade rivals with an experience likely to trade drifting for an altogether more aggressive racing style.

  "Ridge Racer has traditionally been a game which appeals to the mass market due to its simple arcade-like feeling,Yamazaki explained. ith Ridge Racer Unbounded, it more similar to Need for Speed or Burnout instead of the traditional Ridge Racer."

  Indeed, the first teaser suggested some fender-bending action along the lines of Criterion series, and Yamazaki is adamant the publisher should be allowed to follow the road it chooses. "Ridge Racer should be able to try different directions," he continued. "Even compared to other racing series, they have different themes and styles. I believe Ridge Racer can also do this and give players a game with a new direction."

  We'll have to wait a little while to find out exactly where Ridge Racer Unbounded is headed: it set for a 2012 release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

• Sony/Namco studio working Ridge Racer Vita

  Seminal driving game series Ridge Racer will be available on Sony's beefy handheld PlayStation Vita, due for launch later this year, and it's being developed by a development studio that doesn't make games.

  Confused? Cellius, the studio in question, was set up as a joint venture by Sony and Namco Bandai not to create games but to explore the possibilities of the PlayStation 3 Cell processor. he concept was to be an outfit that researched ways to use this technology to create neat things vice president Hideo Teramoto told Gamasutra this week. t not exactly pure research; it more about finding ways to expand the things that can be done with the PlayStation family./p>

  And apparently one of the things that can be done is to cram arcade perfect racing simulation into a handheld console. The choice of studio isn't as strange as it might sound though Teramoto is a Ridge Racer veteran, having worked on the series before moving to Cellius.

  He describes their new title as ort of an experimentbut insists that Cellius' unique hardware focus will keep their games distinctive. "If we do continue making games, I think wel still remain different from normal game companies" he says. Sounds like this new game could be quite different from current PS3 hit, Ridge Racer 7.

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