Namco Bandai Drifts Toward Hollywood
Guess who's making the official game for the next Fast and the Furious movie? Good guess!
Published: April 4, 2006
Drift racing has been popular in Japan for years, but aside from a few racing games that have sought to cash in on the appeal, there hasn't been too much to get States-based racing fans interested. Granted, part of this was because there was no sure-fire way to call attention to the powerslide-heavy underground sport, but with Universal moving their Fast and the Furious movies to the streets of Tokyo, you can't get much more of a spotlight.
Enter The Fast and the Furious, the game based on (wait for it...) The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, which is directed by Justin Lin (who did the awesome Better Luck Tomorrow). If the announcement sounds familiar it's probably because this isn't the first game that's been announced bearing the license, and rumors had drift racing master Genki helming the project.
Instead, we're getting the game by way of Big Mutha Truckers developer Eutechnyx and publisher Namco Bandai. The big NB is touting the game's "advanced rubber band AI", a world " related to, yet separate from, the movie" sound effects pulled from Universal's sound libraries, a context-based camera, and context-based rumble feedback, 500 body kits from real manufacturers, the ability to swap out the entire engine, 100 licensed wheels, and of course a drift racing model.
"Namco Bandia Games America Inc. is proud to be the first publisher to bring this great movie franchise to console and handheld video games," gushed Jeff Lujan, business director at (wait again...) Namco Bandai Games America Inc. "The alluring underground world of street racing has made for some of the industry's most popular games. The Fast and the Furious will offer never-before-seen drift mechanics, endless customization capabilities and top licensed cars. It's everything a racing fan could ask for."
"We are excited to work with Namco Bandai Games America on this project," gasped Universal Studios Consumer Products' VP of Interactive, Bill Kispert, before taking another deep breath. "Namco Bandai has a history of developing top quality racing games, and we look forward to putting players behind the wheel of a game that delivers the action and the attitude for which The Fast and the Furious brand is renowned."
It'll be very interesting to see how things will turn out, but we're willing to bet we'll get a peek at the game come E3 time. Pop back over around then for more info.
Enter The Fast and the Furious, the game based on (wait for it...) The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, which is directed by Justin Lin (who did the awesome Better Luck Tomorrow). If the announcement sounds familiar it's probably because this isn't the first game that's been announced bearing the license, and rumors had drift racing master Genki helming the project.
Instead, we're getting the game by way of Big Mutha Truckers developer Eutechnyx and publisher Namco Bandai. The big NB is touting the game's "advanced rubber band AI", a world " related to, yet separate from, the movie" sound effects pulled from Universal's sound libraries, a context-based camera, and context-based rumble feedback, 500 body kits from real manufacturers, the ability to swap out the entire engine, 100 licensed wheels, and of course a drift racing model.
"Namco Bandia Games America Inc. is proud to be the first publisher to bring this great movie franchise to console and handheld video games," gushed Jeff Lujan, business director at (wait again...) Namco Bandai Games America Inc. "The alluring underground world of street racing has made for some of the industry's most popular games. The Fast and the Furious will offer never-before-seen drift mechanics, endless customization capabilities and top licensed cars. It's everything a racing fan could ask for."
"We are excited to work with Namco Bandai Games America on this project," gasped Universal Studios Consumer Products' VP of Interactive, Bill Kispert, before taking another deep breath. "Namco Bandai has a history of developing top quality racing games, and we look forward to putting players behind the wheel of a game that delivers the action and the attitude for which The Fast and the Furious brand is renowned."
It'll be very interesting to see how things will turn out, but we're willing to bet we'll get a peek at the game come E3 time. Pop back over around then for more info.