It'll be out in Europe on October 16, and priced at £20 (USD$33). Even allowing for a wonky exchange rate, that's a great price.

No word on an American release, but then, it's a PS3 disc. If it's not released in the US, feel free to import to your heart's content.

WipEout HD Blu-ray bundle official [Eurogamer]

"The ad has been removed from WipEout HD", a Sony rep told Eurogamer, "and we are investigating the situation to ensure that any in-game advertising does not affect gameplay".

Note this doesn't mean all advertising in the game has been removed; only the ad that was causing the annoying, increased load times.

Sony removes naughty WipEout advert [Eurogamer]

Those video ads began appearing during WipEout HD's loading screens, presenting players with a video spot that, in some cases, appears to be pitching State Farm Insurance. That advertising looks to be limited to U.S. based owners of WipEout HD for now, a new addition that may have been introduced during the game's recent software update.

While the annoyance of in-game ads may be written off as nothing more than virtual visual blight, justifiably bothersome are accusations that the new ads increase loading times between races. Double Fusion boasts that the ads "contextually match the game's sleek futuristic design" and "complement the WipEout HD world seamlessly," but some players disagree. One YouTube video of WipEout HD's ads shows this in action, a surprising difference that we've yet to verify for ourselves.

Advertising in the WipEout series isn't exactly new, with entries as far back as WipEout 2097 sporting a noticeable presence for energy drink Red Bull, not to mention the design houses that were responsible for the games' visual style.

We have contacted Sony Computer Entertainment America to see what's up with WipEout HD's new ads.

Thanks to Caleb and Gabriel for the heads up.

Thursday, June 23rd is when the WipEout HD Fury pack races onto the PlayStation Network, trailing along tons of new game play in its wake. Eliminator, Zone Battle, and Detonator game modes bring new ways to do battle in the PSN version of the futuristic racing series, while an all-new campaign, new trophies, and new online ranks will keep players driving, and striving, and hugging the turns.

Two days before the pack hits there will be a free update to the game, which will add a new statistics system while tweaking the menu system and adding some enhanced community features.

Basically, the face of WipEout HD changes next week, either a little for free, or a whole lot for $9.99. Your choice!

WipEout Fury Developer Diary - New Game Modes (+date & price) [PlayStation Blog]

WipEout HD report that they're experiencing some issues following the 1.30 update, with the PlayStation 3 game bugging out when trying to load autosave data. While that's an annoyance, there is, thankfully, a workaround.

According to posters on the official PlayStation forums, it seems to be related to your PlayStation Network log in. To get around that, simply....

1. Sign out of PSN.
2. Launch the game.
3. Choose "Online" from the main menu, letting it sign you in to the PSN.
4. Acknowledge the release notes for the 1.30 patch.
5. Wait for the game to auto-save.

Hopefully, Sony and the WipEout HD team will have version 1.31 out the door in no time.

Wipeout crashes on startup with 1.30 update [PlayStation Forums - thanks, David!]

Online multiplayer gets a bit more competitive tomorrow as Sony introduces 50 ranks to WipeOut HD, giving players a little something more to race for. Along with the rankings, a new podium screen appears after each race, where players regardless of placing can earn any of 33 different badges based on how they performed.

A bit more competitive, but a bit more friendly as well, with the addition of friend invites, finally allowing players to invite their pals or join them in their own matches, already in progress. Speaking of in progress, joining a game in progress now allows players to watch the action in spectator mode, rather than simply waiting in the lobby while everyone else finishes.

Some excellent changes, though arguably features that should have been in the game from the get go. Still, a free update is a free update, and if you've been on the fence about whether or not you should snatch up the game, perhaps these changes will push you off into oncoming traffic.

"Following the release of WipEout HD on PLAYSTATION Store yesterday, we’ve been following the reports by some members of the community regarding problems with game freezes," SCEA reps confirmed. "We’d like to reassure you all that the WipEout team is working hard to resolve this issue as quickly as possible."

As far as the cause, SCEA tells us that anything we might have read about the source of the issue is, at this point, "rumor and speculation." It is worth noting though, that some WipEout HD players are noting that they're having better luck with a leaner friend list. Just sayin'.

Serious epilepsy warning for WipEout HD [CVG]

WipEout HD Officially Dated, Priced [PlayStation.Blog]

WipEout HD priced £11.99 [CVG]

So, happy anniversary Wipeout HD! We got you the traditional gift — hands-on impressions!

The presentation has received a noticeable amount of polish over the past year, with a more informative heads up display, slick new menus, a feature rich photo mode and additional graphical effects. Lighting and shadows look softer and more realistic, with ships more layered in sci-fi eye-candy than before.

When we played Wipeout HD at the previous Games Convention, we were limited to just a few racing teams and tracks. This year, we had access to the first portion of the campaign mode, with a broader selection of vehicles and paint jobs.

The campaign is stuffed with opportunities to win medals, with challenges based on lonely time trials — full race or a single lap — and competitive races against a line-up of CPU opponents.

Splitscreen is also in, with both horizontal and vertical layouts that should make every Wipeout fan happy.

Gameplay was largely the same, given that the Wipeout HD is a remake. That said, the game feels like more of a full-fledged release, now that it's been given additional time in the incubator. It's looking like it's going to be worth the wait.

The reason for the delay of WipEout HD on PS3 has been due to the many improvements we have been making and the numerous features we've added to the game. These include: 8 reverse tracks, 4 extra ships, 2 alternative HUDS, 2 Player offline split screen and XMB Trophy support. We look forward to sharing WipEout HD with you very soon.

Regarding the speculation about health issues, we can assure you that we take consumer safety very seriously and monitor it very carefully.

That last line doesn’t entirely rule out the epilepsy stuff, but that first paragraph is making the wait sound worth it regardless.

Wipeout HD Delay Response Confirms Trophies & Splitscreen News [TVG]

WipEout HD delayed due to technical issue [Eurogamer]

The dates MTV provides for the next four PSN showpieces match up pretty well with the leaked release schedule from a few weeks ago.

According to the report, it would appear that Echochrome may very well be bypassing a UMD release, opting for a download from the PC and PlayStation Stores. The hard copy release in Japan didn't exactly light a fire under the PSP community.

Quickie previews for the uninitiated await.

PSN Next Wave Revealed — WipEout HD, Echochrome, Elefunk, PixelJunk Monsters Encore [MTV Multiplayer]

It's been a while since we've had our hands on WipEout HD, but if we ever had a bad thought about it, I wish we could take them all back. It's looking better and better every time the gang in Liverpool dishes out new media. A bit of a WipEout XL junkie back in the day, I simply cannot wait until this shows up on the PlayStation Store for a proper online race. The HD version at GameTrailers certainly does the whole more justice than the one above.

Wipeout HD in HD [GameTrailers]