The madness begins: IGN hands on with Final Ridge Racers (PSP)

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Some of their points:

The actual racing side of Ridge Racers has some new features that build upon the basic drift-style gameplay that makes the series so much fun. Ridge Racer is all about heavy drifting, and the new nitro system makes sure that you'll drift even when you don't have to. When in mid-drift, you build up your nitro meter, which is split into three nitros. Fill up one of the nitros and you can use it with a press of the right trigger to send your car zipping past rivals. We found ourselves purposely slipping and sliding in order to build up the meter faster.
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The massive number of courses and cars make for what's sure to be a fulfilling launch experience. Surprisingly, the game doesn't seem rushed, with an attractive interface leading you through all options and a clean on-screen display during races. Namco even had room for some nice touches, like different speedometers depending on the origin of the track upon which you're racing. Of course, the visuals are as polished as they were at TGS -- maybe even more, as we didn't notice any pop up in the courses that we played.
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The only area that causes some concern, as you may have guessed, are load times. While the problem isn't too bad, with the loading being faster than Sony Computer Entertainment's own Minna no Golf Portable, we would've at least liked a shortcut for the car and track select screens. Let's hope future titles end up with better loading schemes (that initial loading phase has to go away!).
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Interesting...
 
Ridge Racer V is the same way. You have to wait for it to load the 3d track preview, then the level itself, and even menus when you want to quit. Sometimes I just hate launch titles. :(
 
StoOgE said:
who cares, RAVE racer is in it. That is all you need to know.
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What's the big deal about Rave Racer? I've never played that one, you just seem so excited about it.
 
The building up of Nitros, eh. Oh boy. This does not sound good to me at all. The last thing I want is for my precious Ridge Racer to turn into a rocket simulator a la Burnout 2 and 3.

Also:
different speedometers depending on the origin of the track upon which you're racing
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Huh? The speedometer changes depending on which course you're racing? Surely they must mean depending on which car you're in. Otherwise it makes no sense at all.
 
The game was perfect.

I allways prefered Sega racers to Namco's alternative.. but even this ardent Daytona fandboy had to admit that nothing Sega had made could hold a candle to Rave Racer.. it was so fast, the tracks so wide open, the drifting was smooth.. it was just the perfect arcade racer.

Not to mention some of the tracks backtracked over stuff in the first game. The construction yard from the first game was completed this time.. just a cool little touch.
 
BuddyChrist83 said:
A portable with load times. It doesn't seem right, at all.
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When I want to fire up a game on the pisser, I don't want it to take longer to load than it does to do my business! :-|

callous said:
What a stupid thing to say.
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Yeah, it is. Mainly because both have poor gameplay as a hallmark of their series'.
 
callous said:
Huh? The speedometer changes depending on which course you're racing? Surely they must mean depending on which car you're in. Otherwise it makes no sense at all.
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Sure it does, each track is from a diffrent game, hence the diffrent spedos!
 
Nitro boosts in a Ridge Racer game?

gunmouth.jpg
 
sliding to charge up nitros sounds chillingly reminiscent of crap like burnout or pgr. you should slide when it's the most efficient way to take a turn, not constantly, like an idiot, because the game encourages it. i hope this can be turned off. i find the hud intrusive too. otherwise it looks fantastic.
 
To start up a race in any of the modes, you have to wait through a ten second load session..
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Getting into a race takes another fourteen seconds of load time
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ooh that's painful. I imagine it's because they cant constantly stream from the disk during gameplay. Or the battery will die :(
 
drohne said:
sliding to charge up nitros sounds chillingly reminiscent of crap like burnout or pgr. you should slide when it's the most efficient way to take a turn, not constantly, like an idiot, because the game encourages it. i hope this can be turned off. i find the hud intrusive too. otherwise it looks fantastic.
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Its probbaly their way of updating the game for today. It might be ok.
 
Deg said:
I just prefer NFSU more fun.
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Well there went any credibilty you might of had. NFSU shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Ridge Racer.

And FUCK!!! The nitros have to GO! I want a new RR game, not Burnout!! WTF namco!! Having nitros is one thing, but building the entire gameplay around them is SHIT. We finally get Rave Racer tracks at home and they have to fuck it up somehow >:(
 
I figure roughly 8 minutes of an entire 5 hour battery charge will be spent watching a load screen.
I also figure the PSP will dominate the DS in both the US and Japan and that Ridge Racers will outscore and outsell anything on DS.
 
StoOgE said:
I never saw this post coming.
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Well, Namco obviously made a heck of a game, but yeesh. Screw the DS. Is a 14 second load time really worth it? That's an eternity on a console, which is exactly what I'd switch to after waiting so long.

I just don't get the new batch of handheld gamers. Didn't get the old batch either.
 
Deg said:
Its probbaly their way of updating the game for today. It might be ok.
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No. There's no possible way it "might be ok" unless you can turn it off. I must echo the "FUCK!" from above.
 
olimario said:
I figure roughly 8 minutes of an entire 5 hour battery charge will be spent watching a load screen.
I also figure the PSP will dominate the DS in both the US and Japan and that Ridge Racers will outscore and outsell anything on DS.
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That's okay. The GBASP will dominate both during the year in which RR releases.
 
Sliding for nitro... eh, always been a good deal of drift in the series, so I'm sure filling up without driving wreckless won't be tough.

10-14 second load times, though, maaaaan... they really DID use the RRV engine for this didn't they? I remember writing a review of RRV for DVD Shrine nearly four years ago and including the NOW LOADING screen as one of the featured screenshots. That screen certainly was integral to the experience.

Thank Goodness RRV was so fun to play... and it sounds like Ridge Racers PSP will be also.
 
Speevy said:
Well, Namco obviously made a heck of a game, but yeesh. Screw the DS. Is a 14 second load time really worth it? That's an eternity on a console, which is exactly what I'd switch to after waiting so long.

I just don't get the new batch of handheld gamers. Didn't get the old batch either.
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Errr, handhelds will never be as good as console systems.

The point is you can't play a console on a 1 hour train ride to work (1-2 hours is average train commute for many Japanese). So you have to make sacrifices in order to get your gaming on the go.
 
This was one of my biggest fears with the PSP. They really should have went with cartridges. 200-500 megs cartridges would be enough for games. Also much more durable than discs and drive.

If these loading times will be the norm on PSP, I don`t think I`ll get one.
 
exactly, handhelds are for playing games when you dont have access to a console. I dont see why you think PSP should compete with a home console.
 
StoOgE said:
exactly, handhelds are for playing games when you dont have access to a console. I dont see why you think PSP should compete with a home console.
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So you think millions of handheld gamers buy the GBA's so they can play it when they're not playing the SNES?
 
Speevy said:
So you think millions of handheld gamers buy the GBA's so they can play it when they're not playing the SNES?
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No. I think millions buy it so that they can play it when they are on a road trip, or at school, or doing something away from home. I would imagine alot of GBA's are bought by parents to keep their kids entertained in the car.

Sure there are some who bought a GBA because they saw it as a resurgence of 2d gaming, but the vast majority bought the console so they could play portable games. Back when the SNES and Genny ruled the roost, why do you think people bought Game Gears and Game Boys? To play watered down 2d games at home? No, they got them to have something to do on the road.
 
Who cares about the load times, as long as they aren't a ridiculous 1-2 minutes or some shit. Does crappy load times on some PS2 games make you wanna break out you're SNES and play games only on that instead?
 
StoOgE said:
exactly, handhelds are for playing games when you dont have access to a console. I dont see why you think PSP should compete with a home console.
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I agree that handhelds should not compete with consoles. But I don't think the PSP is doing that very well. I only say this because much of the software seems to stem from console gameplay on a handheld platform. There are the exceptions with your puzzlers like Luminez, Puyo, etc. But they're the same on every platform. We can't exactly say this is the case completely, but many of the franchises on the PSP at the moment are very much like their console counterparts.

Personally I think load times are more fine on a console than a handheld. You timing on a handheld, especially one of lower battery life is limited. That along with the amount of time spent playing handhelds is much shorter than time spent playing consoles. Long load times can mean a lot out of one hour of gameplay, and it can also mean a lot out of battery life. Especially for a game as intense as Ridge Racers.
 
olimario said:
I also figure the PSP will dominate the DS in both the US and Japan and that Ridge Racers will outscore and outsell anything on DS.
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I dont think it's a sure thing. 24 seconds pure loading is not going to sit well with the handheld community.
 
just because the PSP has games that are extremely similar to games you get on home consoles doesnt mean they are competing... I mean, a discman and my stereo both play the same music, but I dont consider the discman an alternative when at home.
 
seismologist said:
I dont think it's a sure thing. 24 seconds pure loading is not going to sit well with the handheld community.
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I also don't think you'll be dealing with 24 seconds of pure loading either...

From the way it sounds, it seems as if it will be similar to Ridge Racer V...
 
kpop100 said:
Who cares about the load times, as long as they aren't a ridiculous 1-2 minutes or some shit. Does crappy load times on some PS2 games make you wanna break out you're SNES and play games only on that instead?
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Portable gaming is so unpredictable because of all of the outside influences. It is very 'pick up and play'. You need games you can hop in and out of quickly and still have fun with the short bursts you play. You need gaves where you're able to save often so you don't have to replay certain sections over and over.

Load times destroy that. Load times will ruin portable gaming.
 
kpop100 said:
Handheld community being you in this case?
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Not just me. I'm sure other portable gamers find themselves playing games in short bursts (which is one reason Wario Ware is so popular).

24 seconds loading every time you turn the system on sort of defeats the purpose. :(
 
dark10x said:
I also don't think you'll be dealing with 24 seconds of pure loading either...

From the way it sounds, it seems as if it will be similar to Ridge Racer V...
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Yes...The music select screen/3D trakc is a thing that helps to override the long load times :)
 
seismologist said:
Not just me. I'm sure other portable gamers find themselves playing games in short bursts (which is one reason Wario Ware is so popular).

24 seconds loading every time you turn the system on sort of defeats the purpose. :(
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Then the simple route is don't buy it, stick with your DS, and you have no worries.
 
Hey guys! Isn't it funny that:

DS = "Nitro"
RRDS = Teh Suck
RRPSP = RRDS + Nitro + Load Times

So that means:
RRPSP = Teh Suck + DS + Load Times

unless.
 
StoOgE said:
just because the PSP has games that are extremely similar to games you get on home consoles doesnt mean they are competing... I mean, a discman and my stereo both play the same music, but I dont consider the discman an alternative when at home.
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I agree, I wasn't trying to say that both platforms will compete, nor do I think that's the original intention. But I can't be sure that consumers will pick that up so quickly.
 
Short bursts...what is considered a short burst for you guys? The walk from your Gamecube to the toilet and back when you take a piss for 30 seconds? If that is the case than the problems run much deeper than loads times I'm afraid.
 
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