Playstation's Best

Playstation’s Best
WipEout
Psygnosis | Psygnosis | 1995 | Racing
NINTENDO MARKETED ITS NES TO KIDS. Sega
found its niche with Mortal Kombat-loving teenagers. Sony
was smart enough to notice the trend: every year, gamers
were getting older. Why not market the Playstation to
twenty-somethings? UK developer Psygnosis plotted the
development of a futuristic racing game named WipEout,
with a capital E, aimed squarely at member of the burgeoning
global rave culture.
In the year 2052, the player races hovercrafts at absurd
speeds in the F3600 Antigravity Racing League. A solid
framerate and clever track design keep the feeling of speed
quite high, though a mere bump is enough to bring your
hovercraft to a dead stop. The difficulty level is high. Seemingly
inspired by Mario Kart, WipEout allows the player to
pick up weapons to fire at other hovercrafts, though these
are largely useless. On strict gameplay alone, WipEout is
nothing special, though the sequel (WipEout XL) addresses
nearly all of these concerns.
Why, then, is WipEout considered a classic? It’s all about
the style. Ian Anderson’s graphic design firm Designer’s
Republic, legendary in music circles for essentially defining
the typography and image of modern electronic music, was
contracted to design the “feel” of the game. Logos, track
outlines and menus were simply cooler in WipEout than in
any of the competitors. This was a futuristic racer that
looked the part.
The music was also top-notch. Tim Wright, the lead
soundman at Psygnosis, produced the electronica soundtrack
under the name Cold Storage. In the UK, additional tracks
by Leftfield, the Chemical Brothers and Orbital were included
in the “Platinum Edition” release. Marketing for
this title focused on the music – Playstation pods were set
up in clubs around the world, especially in Europe where
WipEout was the only non-Japanese launch game. A separate
soundtrack and WipEout-branded club clothing were
also released. The game was instrumental in bringing the
Playstation to an adult audience and securing its European
success. Videogames would not again be considered just
“toys for kids.”
Playstation Game List [078 | 079]