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Ridge Racer games and Sony’s consoles have been joined at the hip from the very beginning, with a Ridge Racer title being present at the launch of the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PSP. So it comes as no surprise to hear that Namco Bandai is developing Ridge Racer 7 for the PlayStation 3.
Famitsu features an interview with Masaya Kobayashi (director), Hideo Teramoto (assistant producer), and Hiroshi Okubo (sound director). These are pretty safe hands, with the trio having worked on the PSP and Xbox 360 Ridge Racer games. Although not confirming the game as a PlayStation 3 launch title, Kobayashi said that the team’s goal is to convey the power of the PlayStation 3 to the games player as quickly as possible.
Teramoto discussed that even with improved graphics over previous Ridge Racer games, the PlayStation 3 still has plenty of power to spare, allowing the developers to work on effects to convey a better feeling of speed. Ridge Racer 7 will continue the recent trend of Nitro boosts and we can expect a full on 5.1 surround sound experience.
As with Ridge Racer 6, RR7 will feature online racing for up to 14 players, plus a new online mode said to be similar to co-op play. Players will be able to take customised cars online and show them off. Talking of customisation, the scope here sounds massive, with more than 200,000 car combinations. More than 160 races will form the brunt of the single-player mode, with time attack and single race modes also available.
Fans of the Ridge Racer girl Reiko Nagase, will be pleased to hear that she returns, but Famitsu hints that this time she will have a more mature look. Ridge Racer 7 will be at E3, but in what forms is unclear. As a minimum we can look forward to a game trailer.
