BUGBEAR back from the dead!!!!

[Purple44]

Shadow sent me a link to new Bugbear trailer today:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ignite-11-ridge-racer/710206?type=flv

Then I Googled this one:

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/02/ridge-racer-is-taking-a-left-turn-with-unbounded/#more-433805

Namco’s Ridge Racer series is turning 18 years old in 2011. What will it do with its new adult freedoms? Get a new developer and what appears to be plenty of destruction, as seen in the new Ridge Racer Unbounded.

Put your seatbelts on, Ridge Racer fans, for developer Bugbear Entertainment is taking the wheel of the arcadey racing game series, steering it in a “whole new direction by adding a punishing dose of destruction.” Unbounded will “take the action off the circuits and into the streets for one of the most action-packed and destructive racing games ever seen,” according to publisher Namco Bandai.

The game’s debut trailer shows Ridge Racer mascot Reiko Nagase engaging in said destruction, which seems a little malicious. Reiko just have finally snapped.

Bugbear, if that doesn’t ring a bell, is the Finnish developer behind the FlatOut series, known for its racing meets destruction gameplay. Ridge Racer Unbounded is coming to the Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 sometime in 2012.


Edit:

Sound like Namco wants to take Ridge Racer in a different direction:

The game’s first teaser trailer, embedded after the jump, shows franchise mascot Reiko crashing her expensive car into a busy intersection. “Unbounded is very different from the Ridge Racer you’ve come to know,” Namco Bandai Games VP of marketing, Carlson Choi, told Joystiq. It’s probably for the best. After all, we have been playing the same Ridge Racer for about 15 years now.

http://www.pushsquare.com/23014/namco-announces-the-tongue-twisting-ridge-racer-unbounded-for-playstation-3/#more-23014

[Purple44]

I had a thought today:

I'm wondering if part of Flatout 3, that BugBear was working on before Empire Interactive went belly up and sold the rights to Flatout name to Zoo Games, will be incorporated into this new Ridge Racer?

[Purple44]

Hmmm, seeing a lot of negative comments from Ridge Racer fans about Namco and BugBear taking Ridge Racer in a new direction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjSguCbrV8s

I was a big fan of ridge racer 6 on 360 and 4 on PS1, and and now some foreign game studio is ruining my favorite racing series by adding nonsense to a game about perfect cornering, going fast and not crashing. I've never been more dissapointed with this premise, it's so unoriginal like if illegal street racing like that hasn't been done before. And I know ridge racers premise of drift racing isn't original either but at least its the only racing franchise to use that design.
ise1880

*****************************

Hello new racing game!

Bye bye Ridge Racer...

I'm already crying...

...hope they (!Namco Japan! and not some "random" EU/US developer) will continue makin real RR games...i really hope.
Bravopunk666

[drag_racer]

Going by Bugbear's track record with Flatout, and then this trailer I think it is going to be a killer game. If you also take into account how long it's been in development, I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being a GOTY.

[Nitronik]

I understand all the negative comments, Ridge Racer is something completely different from this.

But i hope this goes in a good direction

[ainitylor]

Why it was given negative comments.

[ExxionNexxion]

JIC ainitylor, If you OR ANYONE ELSE starts spamming, the posts will be deleted and possibly you will be banned.
We don't like people like that
PS JIC means "Just in case"

[Purple44]

Bugbear has started a new forum to talk about Bugbear games:

http://community.bugbeargames.com

Also Bugbear getting ready to start making a new racing game:

What are we working on?

[Nokikana]

OMG If they make new Flatout that would be the best thing i could ever imagine!!!

[drag_racer]

Check out the making of Flatout 1!

http://community.bugbeargames.com/index.php?topic=25.0

[Purple44]

Bugbear posted a video of their track editor used for Flatout 2 today:

http://community.bugbeargames.com/index.php?topic=102.0

[Purple44]

It look like Bugbear may announce what they been working on lately here in the near future:

http://community.bugbeargames.com/index.php?topic=63.0

Racing, simulation and arcade fun are all very dear to us... It's true there's actually a fair bit of competition in the simulation space right now. We still think there's room for our streak of racing, though, but you'll need to hold on for a bit longer before we can announce what we're working on.

It does make me happy seeing what kinds of games you'd want to see us work on, because all of that is up there on the big board of "stuff we want to do at some point". It all comes down to the current marketplace, what we think you guys want, and where we're headed as a studio.

[Mopower]

Hey guys! This is huge for flatout fans. They have a forum where you can post your opinion and they will take it into consideration. Check it out and let everyone know what you think!

[Purple44]

Bugbear hinted today that we will get some news of what they are working on before the end of the month:

What are we working on?

[Mopower]

Bugbear hinted today that we will get some news of what they are working on before the end of the month:

What are we working on?

The clock is ticking for us fans and for bugbear. It's hard to be patient, but I'm guessing that before thanksgiving is a pretty realistic dead line