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Ridge Racer | 
enlarge | From: Namco Category: Video Games
Buy New: $89.99
New (2) Used (5) from $9.44
Avg. Customer Rating: 53 reviews Sales Rank: 6904
Platform: Sony Psp ESRB: Everyone Media: Video Game Autographed: No Memorabilia: No Number Of Items: 1 Batteries Included: No Age: 5 - 20 years Operating System: Sony PSP Shipping Weight (lbs): 1 Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.1 x 0.6
MPN: 15001 Model: 722674150019 UPC: 722674150019 EAN: 0722674150019 ASIN: B0007UDYUQ
Release Date: August 8, 2006 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) | | • | Racing |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description The nitrous boosting racing game everybody knows and loves is now available on the Sony PSP. Scorch some asphalt in 24 circuits of breakneck speed and exhilaration - that's all that stands between you and glory. Beat the clock in Time Attack Mode or test your racing skills against up to 8 players in WiFi compatible Wireless Battle Mode. Drive in style and rise through the ranks to unlock hidden bonuses in World Tour Mode. Features popular racecourses from arcade classic Rave Racer and the entire Ridge Racer series -- old favorites like Seaside Route 765, Crimsonrock Pass and Greenpeak Highlands.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 48 more reviews...
Best Racing Game for PSP so far April 9, 2005 30 out of 33 found this review helpful
Currently, there are only 3 racing games available for PSP, and Ridge Racer is definitely the best of the three. You should be able to pick it up and learn the basic mechanics of the game fairly quickly. Most of the courses (of which there are many) are designed so that you are supposed to drift, rather than brake, through the turns. Drifting also builds up your nitrous so you can get boosts later on.
My only complaint is that the game gets pretty difficult. It seems that a cheap tactic was used to make the game more difficult. You see, it is fairly easy to drive the courses faster than all of the other racers. Unfortunately, this does not always mean you win. You will start out in last place out of 12 cars every single time. The lead car will start out with about a 20 second lead and you have three laps to catch up. So it's not like you can ever get a good start and jump into first place and just worry about holding onto the lead for the rest of the race. You are chasing another car almost the entire race. What gets frustrating is that you will often finish a few seconds behind the first place car and realize that you technically finished the race faster than he did, but you still lost the race.
I guess I learned to get over that annoying detail since the game itself was just incredible. Until Gran Turismo 4 comes out (and maybe even after, who knows?), this is the best racing game on the PSP.
Great fun and amazing graphics August 16, 2005 7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This game is just plain amazing in terms of graphical power for a handheld-device game. Plus, it plays well. I am not a huge fan of racing games on consoles or PCs (unless they are true similations), but this game is very entertaining. You can also play it in short bursts, a race or two at a time, which makes this game ideal for a handheld.
Unless you completely hate the idea of owning a racing game, you probably want to get this one.
Stunned April 1, 2005 17 out of 21 found this review helpful
I've only played one other title on the PSP so far, Wipeout Pure and I must say I was initially impressed with what this little handheld device can do. Today, I loaded up Ridge Racer and I have to say there is no comparison.
The first thing I notice is the music. It's adrenaline pumping music which goes hand-in-hand with the unbelievable graphics. There are at least 6 or 7 different music "discs" to listen to, each with around 7 or 8 songs.
Once the game got going, I played the first track Seaside Route 765 over and over again until I got through it. I quickly went on to the second and third routes and then on to other world tours. It's thrilling to find yourself in first place in a race and I'm compelled to keep competing to see what other tracks are like. I'm enjoying this game so much, I must say I hope it takes me a while to get through all the tracks. It's also great trying out different cars and getting to know their unique handling style.
After the race, you can watch an instant replay from the perspective of a television camera following all the action. The cars are about as close to photo-realistic as any graphics I've seen in a video game. The city-scapes and rural scenery alike are absolutely beautiful, although not quite like a photograph. I think this adds to the appeal.
Also, the game that is available when you first load Ridge Racers was a nice touch. I remember playing that as a stand-up arcade game and although quite a different experience from Ridge Racer itself, it's a fun little diversion.
I want to see who will come out with a better title than Ridge Racers on the PSP.
The Perfect Racer for the Perfect Handheld March 27, 2005 14 out of 17 found this review helpful
Ridge Racer was the first game I ever played on the original PlayStation. I spent hours upon hours playing it. I figured, just for nostalgia's sake, I'd pick up Ridge Racer while buying Sony's new PSP, see if the magic remained.
Yeah....almost everything about this game is perfect. Impressive graphics. Responsive and intuitive controls. At first I was worried about playing a driving sim with the PSP's tiny analog stick, but it works wonderfully. Great music.
I was also worried about playing a driving sim on such a small screen. How would I be able to pick up on visual cues that a sharp turn was imminent? Somehow, the game designers throw in enough visual cues, almost subliminally.
Ridge Racer for the PSP borrows liberally from previous iterations like Rave Racer, etc... Just about every track looked familiar to me, every piece of music, too. I didn't recognize all of the content, but enough to realize that not everything here is new.
So far, I've purchased Wipeout Pure, Ridge Racer and Lumines for the PSP. Ridge Racer has gotten about 90% of the attention. If you get the PSP, get Ridge Racer, if only just to show off what your new PSP can do.
Ridge Racer is Back! February 5, 2006 4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Hands down, Ridge Racer is the best racing game on the PSP right now. Here are a few reasons why:
1.Excellent gameplay. Easy to pick up and play. Cars have a great sense of speed. 2. Kick A** soundtrack 3. Jaw dropping graphics. Namco spared no detail too small for Ridge Racer. When you boost up your car, a cool blur effect trails your car. Racetrack backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous. 4. Great replay value. The more you play, the more cars, tune up kits and courses you unlock(Check out the PacMan car!).
Ridge Racer is arcade racing through and through. There are no real cars endorsed in this game, no fine tining your gear ratios,etc. like you would find in Gran Tursimo. Just choose your car and use your best skills to win the race. Your main goal is the completion of the World Tour. In every race, you start from last place and try to end up in first. Drifting on turns fills a boost meter, which gives you extra speed to overtake the car in front of you. Winning more races opens up different portions of the tour. Your garage amasses better equipped exotic cars to leave your competition in the dust. That being said, Ridge Racer is a must have for PSP owners.
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The Nintendo Wii goes on sale on Sunday, November 19. Thanks to the inclusion of the simple--but infectiously fun--Wii Sports game, the Wii is the first console in recent memory that lets you have fun straight out of the box. Still, there are a few key Wii accessories you'll want to pick up to maximize your Wii experience--especially if you're buying it as a gift.
Extra controllers: Like all recent consoles, the Wii ships with just a single controller (well, one two-part controller: one Wiimote, plus one nunchuk). But the real fun of the system is playing the head-to-head Wii Sports games such as tennis and boxing. To do so, you'll need at least one extra set of controllers--and again, that's one Wiimote ($28.99) plus one nunchuk ($12.99). The Wii supports as many as four, but just the one extra controller set should suffice--at least for Christmas morning.
Rechargeable batteries: The Wiimote takes two standard AA batteries. They're included--with the Wii, and with the sold-separately version of the controller mentioned above--but avid players may find the juice draining pretty quickly, especially if they keep the nunchuk attached (it draws its power from the Wiimote). Instead of buying an endless stream of costly AAs, consider investing in a set of rechargeables. You can score a charger and four rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride batteries for less than $25.
GameCube controllers: The Wii is fully backwards compatible with the Nintendo GameCube, but there's a catch: to play the GameCube games, you'll need a GameCube controller ($15.99). You can even go wireless with the Nintendo WaveBird ($59.99). If you already have a GameCube, your existing controllers will work just fine--just plug them in to one of the four ports underneath the flip-up panel on the Wii's topside. GameCube controllers should also work with the Wii's "Virtual Console" games--which saves you the trouble of having to buy a Classic Controller.
GameCube memory cards: One other annoyance when playing GameCube games: your progress can only be saved to GameCube memory cards, not to the Wii's internal memory or to an SD card (we're hoping Nintendo fixes this with a future firmware update). Like the controllers, your old GC cards will work just fine--there are two slots right next to the GameCube controller ports. If you don't have any onhand (and you want to save your games on GC titles), you'll need to spring for a $26.90 (2GB) memory card.
Wii Points: One of the big attactions of the Wii is its Virtual Console, which lets you purchase classic games that originally came from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the Super NES, the Nintendo 64, the Sega Genesis, and the TurboGrafx16. By the end of 2006, at least 30 titles should be available, including Donkey Kong (NES), Super Mario 64 (N64), and Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis). To purchase the downloadable titles, you'll need to use a Nintendo currency known as Wii Points (similar to the Microsoft Points on Xbox Live), which currently have an exchange rate of 100 points per U.S. dollar. You can buy Wii Points directly through the console's online store, or use prepaid cards (2000 Wii Points) available in various denominations.
SD card: If you're close to filling the Wii's built-in 512MB of storage with your Virtual Console games, you can always expand your available space with an SD card. Nintendo sells its own, but any run-of-the-mill card will do. Fairly spacious 1GB cards are available for less than $20--even less with mail-in rebates--and they'll work in plenty of other gadgets as well.
Wireless access point: In addition to the downloadable Virtual Console games, the Wii offers online "channels," including news, weather, and even an Opera Web browser (head-to-head online gaming is said to be coming sometime in 2007). You can get online for free via the Wii's built-in Wi-Fi. To do so, of course, you'll need a nearby wireless access point or router. Alternately, you can plug the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector into any nearby PC on a wired network, and the Wii--plus your Nintendo DS--will be able to use it to get online instead.
Component video adapter: The Wii doesn't have the graphical horsepower to handle high-def graphics, but it can do DVD-level 480p video, which will look considerably better on large HDTVs. To see the Wii's games in 480p, you'll need Nintendo's proprietary component video adapter, which should run about $20. |
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