Kotaku
GameSetWatch has a fun interview up with Neil McFarland, creator of the "Paris Hair" WipeOut Pure Omega Pack track seen above. As one commenter noted, "...I think I got some sort of contact high from reading this." It's an interesting chat about aesthetics, level design, what McFarland would do if turned loose on Half-Life, and why DLC can give more to the industry than many people think:
'I'd like to think that [my track] is as far from the established aesthetic of WipeOut as is possible, and that it evokes the spirit of my own work,' says Neil.'For the gamer, I hope it's a track that's fun to play, surprising, and at times distracting to fly through. I want people to feel that they have entered into a lysergic fun fair and that [my art] has added a whole new atmosphere to this terrific game.
You can find videos of the other 3 tracks included in the Omega Pack over at YouTube; the interview is definitely worth a read through, if for its 'My, that was trippy' value alone.
'Jump Button': Future Hairy Racers, Neil McFarland [GameSetWatch]
Comments
Wipeout: from a time when every game had to import the right sort of cool.
I hate this game, not because of how it plays, but what it represents. It symbolizes the death of gaming games and the birth of msm marketing. I don't like it, never liked it. I'm really uncomfortable with it.
Sony entering the video games industry has been bad thing, as well as good. Mostly bad. They're converging everywhere.
There is the country called Japan were there was mainstream marketing before Sony entered the market.
This is not something that Wipeout started. The most famous song was Firestarter which isn't exactly multi-platinum. Things only got really bad in America with Halo 2, imo.
@Malvolio the Magician: what the hell are you talking about? for the 64, this was one of the best games you could play. it was ridiculously hard, and it was fun because you could keep on playing it. these new versions demonstrate your MSN marketting as they look terribly easy, especially when the guy controlling the thing crashed like twenty billion times and still comes in first. this is not what wipeout was, and this will never be what wipeout should be. this is a bastardization of what was once a phenomenal game.
it's a shame i can't get into wipeout anymore. i love this track design, but i simply don't want to play wipeout. i tried pure and pulse or whatever. i have owned all of them, and they simply don't do it for me anymore. xl owned my mind for months, but the series never took hold of me again. i guess wipeout will forever belong to high school nights circa 97 as a beloved alternative to studying mathematics. nothing negative about this track though, i think it's top notch.
@deathscent:
Wipeout was on the 64?
@Malvolio the Magician:
surprisingly enough, it was called Wipeout 64.
anyone know how to get these tracks? looks pretty crazy. and wipeout pulse is awesome. i never played a wipeout until pure but I love the 2 psp games.
@thaKingRocka: Didn't see that coming...
What i loved about WipeOut was how it sounded and looked so futuristic in a way i cant explain. Futuristic games allways existed, but WipeOut was in another level.
I just loved the graphic design work involved in all the project, from the packaging to the in-game menus and icons and track decoration. The Designers Republic made a hell of a job back then with all the japanese inspired graphic design, and im glad to see that another one of my favourite designers collective, 123Klan, has worked in WipeOut's Omega Pack!
In some way its true, with the first WipeOut, and then 2097 (XL in the States), they mainstreamed some game aspects. They created a modern visual identity that was so hot back then! I mean, everybody was playing 16-bits games and then BOOM! we began playing 3D games, that didnt looked like Mega Drive's (Genesis) Virtua Racing, with sublime graphic work and a direct-from-cd soundtrack where you could find The Chemical Brothers!
The idea of "the future is now" lived in that game, it represented a new era and (at least in Europe) everybody wanted to be part of the new gaming era that was rising; WipeOut was one of the must buy games that came out on launch day. All games wanted to follow that modern attitude, so its easy to think that some game characteristics became mainstreamed and even associated to pop culture.
I guess that i stopped playing the series after Wip3Out, because there was nothing new to be introduced. 3D, digital sound, etcetera, were nothing new anymore. The 16 bit to 32 bits jump was a lot more of a revolution because of the NEW factor. I guess the series got lost after that, only really enjoyed by who lived the first WipeOut experience.
I just wished that something new could be added to the series, something that could give it the boost it needs to repeat the past glories! :P An handheld version did in fact give it a boost, but now im waiting to see what they'll manage to do on the PS3.
The 1st Wipeout also made me ask, "What the hell is this 'Red Bull'? Is it beer?". Of course we all know what it is now, but back then, not so much.
OH! Also, when are we gonna get to play the version that was shown in the movie Hackers? At least, I think it was Hackers.... O_o
Am I the only one who thinks this looks ALOT like AudioSurf?
Wish I could get that... it's not listed on the US Pure site, which is broken anyway - no downloads. :/
@Knoxximus (360/PSN):
Soon. I'd say that's Wipeout HD.
the Omega pack was PAL regions only…amazing content for free, puts the Pulse packs to shame.
It is disappointing that Wipeout HD is taking so long to release, it isnt the 'next gen' Wipeout but Pulse in HD
Woah haven't played a Wipeout game in years, but those tracks look hypnotically trippy. Who needs mind altering drugs? Well, maybe the track designer.
Will give the interview a read, always nice to see some kind of original aesthetic and artstyle at work.
This track reminds me of the last 20 seconds or so of the video for Go With The Flow by Queens Of The Stone Age
+ Watch video
This is a really nice looking track.
No bad, but the video has bad quality. This calls for a HD version :D
When does the US get the Pulse packs? Or did I miss something? They're not on the Sony store.
I've never played Wipeout Pure, but that track seemed really really short. High on asthetics, but short on length and difficulty.
cool! a "creepy-chick" ride!
wwwww@deathscent:
Wipeout is dead when Phantom class is easy…
…not going to happen.
If you can have time to see the corner, your not going fast enough.
that was an awesome level, but the article/interview/review thing was a little overthetop.
i appreciate that the writer was trying to match the creativity of the level in his writing, but ending a quote with "...", spasms mcfarland as he contemplates the possibilities
or whatever... it just comes across cheesy and silly.
but still.. i do like the idea of an artist redesigning and changing the mood of games as DLC.
he really would make a fuckin' RAD gta universe. although it definitely wouldn't be GTA anymore afterwards.
I'm kind of seeing people complain about the death of video games. If it matters so much, go make your own game. I'm not trying to troll, I'm just tired... too tired...
Wow, this is pretty interesting. Marketing or not, its still pretty cool looking.
The track was great, shame about the unnecessary verbosity of the interview. I mean, what is this, a CD review of Autechre or something?!
"...this is not old-school, this is old testament, and it's as important as the fucking bible."
Something to that extent.
Start a discussion:
Login with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?