Donutta's Blogs

I'm going to start this blog off with a rhetorical question: where the hell is Ridge Racer 8?  It seems that lately the series has been content to be a launch title and nothing more.  As my favourite racing series -- I have yet to find a racer with as much elegance and style -- this disappoints me to no end.

The original PlayStation launched with a port of the arcade version of Ridge Racer.  It was sublime for its day and was one of the major selling points of the untested PlayStation.  It was followed up by Ridge Racer Revolution, an equally impressive game.  While the arcade Rave Racer failed to see a console port -- although some of the tracks made it into later games -- the PlayStation was blessed with the entirely original Rage Racer.  (This was actually my first experience with the series, being on the Demo 1 disc that came with my PlayStation, and it hooked me instantly.)  Years later, Namco released Ridge Racer Type IV, a masterpiece of gaming that had some of the best graphics on the PSOne and some of the best racing to boot.

When the PS2 launched, it was accompanied by Ridge Racer V.  While taking a drastic departure from some of the series recurring elements and generally not a patch on its predecessor, the game was still fun and a worthy addition to the PlayStation launch line-up.  However, after that, things went quiet.  The PS2 saw no further Ridge Racer titles.

When the PSP launched, Ridge Racer once again showed its face as the brilliant Ridge Racers.  When the Xbox 360 launched, it got Ridge Racer 6.  When the PS3 launched, it got Ridge Racer 7 (which was essentially a reworked Ridge Racer 6, obviously ported due to poor sales on the Xbox 360.)  Even the DS got a version of Ridge Racer at launch.  Ridge Racer was popping up whenever there was a launch of a console.  However, it always seems like it now appears at console launches and never again.

There is hope, however.  The PSP did receive a sequel to Ridge Racers, so it's not like there are not exceptions to the trend.  But where is Namco-Bandai's flagship racer now?  There has been no news on Ridge Racer 8 and little evidence to suggest that it is even in development.  While the PSOne got four Ridge Racer titles in its life, it looks like both the Xbox 360 and PS3 are fated to only get one.  So where is Ridge Racer 8?  Is the series doomed to be a launch title and nothing more?  Will we see Ridge Racer 8 with the launch of the PS4?  I, for one, certainly hope not, and hope that Namco-Bandai will release Ridge Racer 8 on the PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime in the near future.  After all, there isn't a racer out there that touches it.  It's almost criminal to deprive gamers of a sequel until the next generation.