Ridge Racer to become a Need for Speed-like brand

Unbounded is just 'a different branch' to the arcade style games.

With the development of Ridge Racer Unbounded, Namco Bandai is creating a harder, less arcadey racer, more akin to the likes of Burnout and NFS: Hot Pursuit than the arcade Ridge Racers of old, but that doesn't mean the classic style of gameplay is lost.

Speaking at Namco Bandai's ongoing showcase in Dubai, product manager Kevin Chadine suggested the Ridge Racer name will become a brand within the racing genre, featuring a range of different style games similar to what EA is doing with Need for Speed.

Laasko Jonaas of developer Bug Bear expressed his desire to see more games in the classic Ridge Racer style. "I do hope Namco will continue making ridge racer games in the traditional vein," he said.

Chadine then jumped in to say: "This is just a different branch."

Asked by VideoGamer.com if this meant Ridge Racer was becoming its own brand, Chadine added: "That's the overall concept, yeah."

Ridge Racer Unbounded is scheduled for release in 2012 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.