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Nitrobike - exciting bike racing game!
LewieP
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ubisoft are releasing, what looks like it will be the first 3rd party online Wii game, devloped by Left Field Productions (Excitebike 64, MTX Mototrax, Disney's The Little Mermaid II: Pinball Frenzy). IGN recently had an interview with James Higgins, CEO -
IGN Wii: How long has the game been in development and how big is the team?
James Higgins: Nitrobike has been in development since October 2006. Left Field Productions has thirty full-time staff and we also use external contractors (individual and companies) for animations, environments and character art.
IGN Wii: Left Field Productions is responsible for the amazing Excite Bike 64. How much of the original team is working on Nitrobike?
James Higgins: Excitebike 64 had a very small development team. Nintendo actually loaned us one of their game gurus to help with the track designs and gameplay. Later on he left Nintendo and joined us full-time, and he helped us create our award-winning MTX Mototrax. He is now our Lead Designer on Nitrobike, and he is making sure that we live up to the high expectations that Excitebike 64 fans have for our new game.
IGN: Is the title developed from the ground up for Wii, or are there other builds underway?
James Higgins: Nitrobike from concept to completion has always been a Wii game. We wanted to make a great racing game for the Wii as soon as we got our hands on the Wiimote. There are no other builds underway at the moment, but the LFP Engine supports PS3, X360, PS2, PSP and PC so, in theory, we could bring it to the other platforms but we'd have to do a serious controller overhaul.
IGN Wii: Excitebike 64 had very heavy, realistic bike physics. How does this compare to those powering Nitrobike?
Nitrobike features six-player (minimum) online multiplayer.
James Higgins: Nitrobike is all about fun! While the bike physics incorporate a bit of realism, when you have a jet engine strapped to the back of your bike you throw a realistic motorcycle simulation out the window. Comparing Nitrobike's speed to Excitebike, we're going about 5 times faster now. Do you catch more air? Absolutely! I think we have the perfect balance of fun vs. realism in Nitrobike.
IGN Wii: How do speed and air time play into the gameplay mechanics?
James Higgins: Pulling off tricks empowers the player with the ability to boost longer, shaving crucial seconds off the clock. The bigger air you get, the more tricks you can perform in succession, making how you spend your time in the air almost as important as how you spend it on the track.
IGN Wii: How do you play the game? Please explain the controls.
James Higgins: Hold the Wii Remote horizontally with the buttons facing up. Tilt it left and right to steer and while in the air, tilting the remote back or forward will point the nose of your Nitrobike up and down. You also have Gas and Brake and to use your Nitro you hold the D-Pad - then you just hold on!
Yeah -- this is what happens when you strap rockets to the back of your bike.
IGN Wii: Why did you decide to go with the classic-style NES-held control setup, omitting the nunchuk?
James Higgins: The classic style control setup lends itself naturally to driving a bike when coupled with the Wii's motion sensing capabilities. The nunchuk is unnecessary for this work, and in fact would have made the gameplay clunkier. Fortunately, there are enough buttons on the NES style setup to do braking, boosting, and an assortment of tricks.
IGN Wii: How many levels are in the game and what different types of terrain will players race through?
James Higgins: There are 20 distinct levels in the game and various game types that will be played on them. (Eliminator, Hoop Havoc, etc). Terrain ranges from a desert airplane graveyard, to volcanic islands, to the inside of a movie studio.
IGN Wii: Are there weather effects? Do these have a bearing on the track?
James Higgins: Different tracks have different surfaces, and we take that into account when dealing with the bike physics. Snow, grass, wood bridges, dirt, and asphalt all have different driving properties, which will have an effect on how your bike handles.
There are a smattering of weather effects, used as appropriate for the different tracks. For example, if there is snow on the ground, then you can expect to see snow actually falling.
IGN Wii: How many different bikes can you choose from, and how do they handle differently?
James Higgins: There are 10 different bikes to choose from, each with their own unique set of stats. Each bike has unique acceleration, boost power, grip, air turn, and steering properties. And, of course, the bikes with the best stats are unlocked by doing well in the career structure.
The game is roughly five times faster than Excitebike 64.
IGN Wii: Will you gain nitro boosts, etc.? How do these work in the title?
James Higgins: The amount of boost you are given at the start of a race can be increased by pulling off tricks while in the air.
IGN Wii: Will the game run in 480 progressive-scan and 16:9 widescreen modes?
James Higgins: Nitrobike fully supports progressive-scan and 16:9 modes. We get kickbacks from the HD-TV makers.
IGN Wii: How many players can race against each other online?
James Higgins: We're promising great six player action. We're still hoping we can support more and continue to test with ten. We feel the most important thing is to ensure that the players racing online have the best experience possible.
IGN Wii: Excitebike 64 had some great content-extending mini-games, like soccer and mountain climb. Are there any plans to incorporate similar features for Nitrobike?
James Higgins: Soccer was a lot of fun and its inclusion was inspired by the number of Brits who worked on Excite Bike 64. With Nitrobike our core team has expanded to include many more Americans - actually the Brits are outnumbered significantly now - which in turn has influenced the content. We don't want to give it away just yet, but there's definitely a great American past-time waiting to be unlocked.
IGN Wii: Will there be online leaderboards using WiiConnect24 or Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection?
James Higgins: We're not using the leaderboards provided by Nintendo, however, you CAN see the number of races your friends have completed and their number of first place wins in your friends roster.
The developer promises a mini similar to the soccer mode from Excitebike 64, except Americanized.
IGN Wii: What are you most proud of both gameplay wise and visually in regard to Nitrobike?
James Higgins: Online multi-player is probably the single biggest element from a gameplay standpoint that we're especially proud of. LFP is going to be the first 3rd party (unless someone surprises us) online Wii game and we can't wait to compete online with everyone.
Visually, we're really happy with the overall Arcade look and the intense sense of speed. We're also throwing around lots of particle effects and many of the levels are populated with spectacular collapses of environment elements.
IGN Wii: Any final words for fans looking forward to this game?
James Higgins: Yeah -- look at our website (www.left.com) on launch day, where we'll be posting our friend codes so we can stomp you all online [smiles].
It currently has a North American release date of November 13th, you can see a video of it in action here
Nitrobike, Wii - £17.99 delivered
LewieP on
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haha, I just dug that one up from their wikipedia history, it was back on the Gameboy colour
I also fear for Mario Kart Wii.
Switch - SW-3699-5063-5018
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
And F-zero GX is like wipeout without weapons
I forgot I even made this thread, but whatever. This game is out in a month, and Gameplay have a fantastic pre-order price for it -
Nitrobike, Wii - £17.99 delivered
These guys made ExciteBike 64?
Odds of purchasing this game just went up exponentially.
I remember playing the Desert Race mode for, like, hours. It was summer and I had my windows open, just listening to the local rock station on my bitchin' stereo. Doesn't get much more chill than that.
More people need to get this so we can race online!
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
Anyway, I hope Mountain Climb comes back, that was pretty challenging.
Also, track editor plz.
It seems like a mix of Excitebike 64 and.. shit, forgot it's name. The really fast racer on the N64 where you could break the speed of sound. Had a sequel on the GCN and was never seen again..
edit: I think it was Extreme-G?
I also agree that Nitrobike looks awesome, I think I might give it a try. The screen with the motorcycle charging into bowling pins sold it for me.
I'm still waiting on more opinions, but yeah.. that score is so low.. it just doesn't bode well for the game.
What's worse is that a score that low and the accompanying quote typically implies technical issues as well as gameplay issues.
How could the ExciteBike64 guys fuck this up? ... actually I have no idea if EB64 was any good or not. Never played it.
Thank God for Excite Truck, eh guys?
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
-touchy motion controls
-narrow track designs
-courses littered with stuff to crash into
-"focus on hairpin turns rather than on grabbing big air and pulling off tricks"
-bad graphics
-framerate stutters when too many bikes are onscreen
-generic character designs
3.5/10
Seemed interesting from LewieP's OP, but I'd wait for another review to come in before deciding.
So basically, without Nintendo's help, they can't do shit for gameplay or design.
Well, that is unless the one review we have to go by turns out to be the minority... we'll see we'll see...
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games