WipEout Details, Meaning WipEout Article and Explanation Guide

WipEout Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

wipEout is the title of a series of anti-gravity racing games, originally produced by Psygnosis. The gameplay is different from that of a traditional racing game with cars, instead you race in spaceships which hover over the ground, in addtion you can pick up weapons to fire at enemies. Similar games are Hi-Octane and the popular F-Zero series. As well as offering a fast and intense racing experience with high-end graphics, the wipEout series also has popular electronic music from the time of release and modern design, making its target audience older than the average gaming age. The first game was in the generation of games on the release of the Sony PlayStation, that targeted the older gamer. These games changed the video game industry, making games popular with people in the twenties and not just children.

Table of contents

1 wipEout (1995)
2 wipEout 2097/XL (1996)
3 wipEout 64 (1998)
4 wip3out (1999)
5 wip3out: Special edition (2000)
6 wipEout Fusion (2002)
7 wipEout Pure (2005)

wipEout (1995)

)]] Format: Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PC CD-ROM

The original wipEout was launched together with 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 US. The game went to number one in the all format charts, with over 1.5 million units of the franchise have 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 game packing, the 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 the traditional gamers.

Launch activities for the game included installation of PlayStation consoles running wipEout in popular nightclubs, the release of an accompanying music CD and the sale of a range of wipEout club-wear.

The soundtrack featured popular techno groups, including Orbital, Chemical Brothers, Underworld and Leftfield.

An early concept video of the game was featured prominently in the 1995 film Hackers, in which Jonny Lee Miller's character beats Angelina Jolie's in a wipEout match.

The Saturn version of the game had extra music tracks (Brickbat, Planet 9 and Poison, while lacking the PlayStation version's Transvaal) and some claim better control, but lacked some of the visual flair (due to its difficult dual-processor setup making 3D harder to do) and the two-player mode of its PlayStation cousin.

Tracks:

Altima VII
Karbonis V
Terramax
Horodera
Aridos IV
Silverstream

Hidden track:

Firestarter

Music Tracks:

Cairodrome
Cardinal Dancer
Cold Comfort
Doh T
Messij
Operatique
Tentative
Transvaal (Note: This track is not in the Saturn version)
Brickbat (Note: This track is only in the Saturn version)
Planet 9 (Note: This track is only in the Saturn version)
Poison (Note: This track is only in the Saturn version)

wipEout 2097/XL (1996)

Format: Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PC CD-ROM

wipEout 2097 moved the wipEout brand forward, introducing new tracks and new craft. To cater for the increase in the PlayStation owners an easier learning curve was introduced whilst keeping the difficulty at top end for the experienced gamers.

Tracklisting included The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and Underworld. An entire nightclub tour was also initiated in conjunction with Red Bull Energy Drink that featured prominently throughout the game.

Fans of the series mainly believe this has the best gameplay of all the titles in the series.

Tracks:

Talon's Reach
Sagarmatha
Valparaiso
Phenitia Park
Gare D'Europa
Odessa Keys
Vostok Island
Spilskinanke

Music Tracks:

Future Sound Of London: We Have Explosive
Future Sound Of London: Landmass
Fluke: Atom Bomb (Straight Six Instrumental)
Fluke: V6
Chemical Brothers: Dust Up Beats
Chemical Brothers: Loops Of Fury
Photek: The Third Sequence
Underworld: Tin There
Prodigy: Firestarter (Instrumental)
CoLD SToRAGE: Canada
CoLD SToRAGE: Body In Motion

wipEout 64 (1998)

Format: Nintendo 64

The next move for the wipEout brand was a Nintendo 64 version of the game which was developed internally in the Liverpool Studios. The publishing rights for the game went to Midway in the US and Europe and the game was released in the US pre-Christmas and the UK post-Christmas scoring a big success in the Nintendo charts. For the first time the game featured four-player instant action with a variety of new tracks but essentially the same game as wipEout 2097.

Tracks:

Klies Bridge
Qoron IV
Sokana
Dyroness
Machaon II
Terafumos

Hidden track:

Velocitar

Music Tracks:

PC Music: Chasing Radium
PC Music: Feel At Home
PC Music: Monolith Boy
PC Music: Tomorrow Reborn
PC Music: Sonic Trip
PC Music: Miles Ahead
Fluke: Goodnight Lover
Fluke: Absurd
Propellorheads: Bang On!

wip3out (1999)

Format: Sony PlayStation

For PlayStation players, the wipEout series had been lying still for 3 years, until wip3out was released on the 8th of September in Europe. The Designers Republic went for a far more neutral and simple color scheme for the design of the ingame menues and trackside landscapes. A notable new feature was the splitscreen two-player option, apparantly difficult to program with the PlayStation specifications, but it turned out ever so fast as the single player experience! Another new feature was the cockpit view, it proved the most challenging view to race with, but was a welcome addition. Wip3out also ran in hi-resolution graphics. It featured 8 different ships to race with, many of them were new models of earlier models (such as the Feisar ship).

Tracks:

Porto Kora
Mega Mall
Sampa Run
Stanzainter
Hi Fumii
P-Mar Project
Manor Top
Terminal

Hidden prototype tracks:

S101/NP62
S102/MG71
S103/AW72
S104/AW73

Music Tracks:

Sasha: Feisar
Underworld: Kittens
Orbital: Know Where To Run
Sasha: Auricom
MKL: Surrender
Propellerheads: Lethal Cut
Sasha: Goteki 45
Chemical Brothers: Under The Influence
Sasha: Pirhana
MKL: Control
Paul Van Dyk: Avenue
Sasha: XPander

wip3out: Special edition (2000)

Format: Sony PlayStation

This version contained all the tracks from wip3out, plus 3 from the original wipEout and 5 from wipEout 2097/XL. All the old tracks were made with the wip3out graphics. This game is a collector item for any wipEout fan, it sort of sums up the whole wipEout series on PlayStation! It uses the same soundtrack as wip3out.