| Wipeout | |
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| Developer(s) | Psygnosis |
| Publisher(s) | Psygnosis |
| Designer(s) | Psygnosis, The Designers Republic |
| Released |  September 29, 1995 November 1995 March 22, 1996 |
| Genre | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer (for PlayStation via link cable) |
| Ratings | Kids to Adults, ages 6+ (K-A) |
| Platform(s) | Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, DOS CD-ROM Microsoft Windows 95 CD-ROM, PSP, PlayStation 3 |
Wipeout (also WipEout) is a racing game developed and published by Psygnosis, which was released in 1995 for the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and PCs running MS-DOS. It was also re-released for the PSP (via the PlayStation Store) on March 8 2007, and made PS3 compatible on May 3 2007 in North America. [1]
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Set in the year 2052, players compete in the F3600 anti-gravity racing league, piloting one of a selection of craft in races on several different tracks. There are four different racing teams, and two pilots on each team, from which the player chooses; each ship has distinct characteristics of acceleration, top speed, mass, and turning radius. By piloting their craft over power-up pads found on the tracks, the player can pick up shields, turbo boosts, mines, shock waves, rockets, or missiles, which protect the player's craft or disrupt the competitors' craft.
Launch and development
Wipeout was launched alongside the Sony PlayStation in Europe in September 1995, and was the first non-Japanese game for the console. Two months later in November 1995, it was released in the U.S. The game went to number one in the all format charts, with over 1.5 million units of the franchise having been sold to date throughout Europe and North America. A number of marketing hooks were built into the product, including music tracks licensed from non-mainstream dance acts and the hiring of cult design agency The Designers Republic to work on the game packaging, manual, and in-game branding. The intention was to place Wipeout firmly within the context of the fashionable, club-going, music-buying audience; a somewhat older audience than what were traditional gamers at the time. Launch activities for the game included installation of PlayStation consoles running Wipeout in popular night clubs, the release of an accompanying soundtrack music CD, and the sale of a range of Wipeout clubwear. The soundtrack of the sequel, Wipeout XL, featured popular electronica groups such as Orbital, Chemical Brothers and Leftfield. An early concept video of the game was featured prominently in the 1995 film Hackers, in which the character Dade beats character Kate's high score in a Wipeout match. The game makes frequent use of billboards along the sides of the racetracks that reference other Psygnosis games such as Krazy Ivan and G-Police. One billboard reads, "Stuff explodes in Wipeout: The Movie." The Saturn version lacked some of the visual flair due to its more advanced but difficult to utilize multi-processor configuration. Particle effects were dropped in favor of simple sprites for weapon graphics, however, it ran slightly faster than its PlayStation counterpart, and some claim it was easier to control. In 1996, an OEM edition of Wipeout was bundled with new Sony Vaio PC's utilizing ATI's 3D Rage chipset. This 3D accelerated edition using the ATI3DCIF API provided additional resolutions of up to 640x480 pixels as well as bilinear filtering. This version also made use of the 3D Rage's MPEG acceleration. The original game was made available for download on the Sony PS3 store in July 2007. Once purchased it could be played on the PS3 or downloaded to a Playstation Portable's memory stick.
Teams
Each team has two pilots, the lead and second, from which the player can choose.
- AG Systems
- John Dekka (lead)
- Daniel Chang
- Auricom
- Arial Tetsuo (lead pilot, legendary by the time of Wipeout Fusion)
- Anastasia Cherovoski
- Qirex
- Kel Solarr (lead)
- Arian Tetsuo
- FEISAR Consortium (Federal European Industrial Science And Research)
- Sophia de la Renté (lead)
- Paul Jackson
Tracks
- Altima VII
- Karbonis V
- Terramax
- Korodera
- Aridos IV
- Silverstream
- Firestar (Hidden track)
Music tracks
- CoLD SToRAGE: "Cairodrome"
- CoLD SToRAGE: "Cardinal Dancer"
- CoLD SToRAGE: "Cold Comfort"
- CoLD SToRAGE: "Doh T"
- CoLD SToRAGE: "Messij"
- CoLD SToRAGE: "Operatique"
- CoLD SToRAGE: "Whip it up"
- TransNation: "Reversal Eye"
- CoLD SToRAGE: "Transvaal" (PC/PlayStation exclusive)
- The Future Sound of London: "Landmass"
- Rob Lord & Mark Bandola: "Brickbat" (Saturn exclusive)
- Rob Lord & Mark Bandola: "Planet 9" (Saturn exclusive)
- Rob Lord & Mark Bandola: "Poison" (Saturn exclusive)
- Leftfield: "Afro-Ride" (PlayStation PAL exclusive)
- Chemical Brothers: "Chemical Beats" (PlayStation PAL exclusive)
- Orbital: "Petrol (Wipeout mix)" (PlayStation PAL exclusive - simply titled "Wipeout" in-game)
Soundtrack
The separately sold official soundtrack had a different track list than the game itself, making use of only a few songs that were present in-game;
- Leftfield: "Afro Ride"
- Chemical Brothers: "Chemical Beats"
- New Order: "Blue Monday (Hardfloor Mix)"
- The Age Of Love: "The Age Of Love (Jam & Spoon Mix)"
- Orbital: "Wipeout (P.E.T.R.O.L)"
- The Prodigy: "One Love (Edit)"
- Manic Street Preachers: "La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)"
- Sunscreem: "When (K-Klass Pharmacy Mix)"
- B.B. feat Angie Brown: "Good Enough (Geminis Psychosis Mix)"
- Robert Armani: "Circus Bells (Hardfloor Remix)"
- Dreadzone: "Captain Dread"
- The Shamen: "Transamazonia (Deep Dish Rockit Express Dub Mix)"
Reviews
- Official PlayStation Magazine UK: 8 out of 10 (80%)
- IGN: 8.0 out of 10 (80%) (PlayStation version reviewed)
- Edge (magazine): 8 out of 10 (PlayStation version reviewed)
See also
External links
- Discogs entry: European PlayStation edition
- Discogs entry: North American PlayStation edition
- Discogs entry: Sega Saturn edition
- Collection photo: all U.S. Wipeout titles represented
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| Games | Wipeout · 2097 / XL · Wipeout 64 · Wipeout 3 · Special Edition · Fusion · Pure · Pulse · HD · PS3 |
| Soundtracks | Wipeout soundtrack · 2097 / XL soundtrack · Pure soundtrack |
| Miscellaneous | Wipeout teams · Pure expansion packs · The Designers Republic |
