Ridge Racer V Preview

   Besides Tekken, what other diamond lies in Namco's field, Ridge Racer of course. When the original Playstation launched, Ridge Racer was one of the few games that awed audiences, nobody had ever seen anything like it. But comparing RR to today's racers, such as GT2, NFS 5 and RR4, PS1 first generation titles are laughter. Well it's another PS and another Ridge Racer title, that launches with it. Namco may have very well been one of the first developers/publishers to receive a development kit for the PS2, if so far they have been able to achieve such detail with their titles, like Tekken Tag and RR5. There is not a question in my mind that Namco, Square and Capcom were very likely the first publishers/developers to receive a DEV-KIT for the PS2. But we are going to concentrate on Namco's Ridge Racer V, it was the most promising PS2 launch games in Japan, and it may be one of the most promising PS2 launch titles in Japan. So see how RR5 is doing, and hopefully in a couple of weeks we will have an import review on it.

   We have tons and tons of screens for you to look at, and you have to admit that this is one of the prettiest racers you have ever seen on any console. The game isn't using the PS2's anti-aliasing but the results are still wonderful. The whole game may not be pushing the PS2, (far from it) but the Emotion Engine has been nicely put to work. All cars will look magnificent, the sheer detail is mind boggling, this is something that PCs will not be able to do for a while. There is virtually no pop-up (so I've heard) and the backgrounds are lush and realistic. Anyways, Ridge Racer V was released with the PS2 and came out to be one of the highest selling games for the new system.

   It is still unknown on the amount of cars or tracks that the game has but that will be figured out soon. As soon as our PS2 comes (knock on the wood) we will sit down, play all of the games we got with it, play them for hours and hours and then deliver an in depth import review. The one fact I know about RR5 is that the game is less simulation based and more arcade like Ridge Racer and Rage Racer.

   Most of you know that this title came out in Japan, and that is a good indicator that the US gamers will get a smoother version of the game. The Japanese version was rushed and it could've been much better than it is, so we predict that the little details will be ironed out for the versions outside of Japan. With games like Tekken Tag and GT2000 getting pushed back a few weeks, and being released this March 2000, it looks like things for Sony have just started. Oh and, contrary to the reports you may have heard on other sites, the PS2 does indeed have anti-aliasing, and games like Tekken Tag Tournament and Kessen are already using it.