They’ve not seen a “mainline” numbered release of Ridge Racer since 2006, a spin off on ps vita in 2011 and a PS3/X360 in name only “Ridge Racer” unbounded.
So yeah, what happened?
I miss the simple arcade racers. I loved Horizon Chase Turbo, but I would love to see Ridge Racer take the arcade racer crown back!
Ridge Racer the first one already came out, how can you follow up on perfection?
Riiiiiiiidge Raaaceeeer
I was never a Ridge Racer guy but i will always associate Ridge Racer with Kaz Hirai just absolutely bombing on stage for the PS3 premier. Right up there with Giant Enemy Crab
That can be asked for so many genres and series. In general racing games seem to be not as popular any more I guess.
In addition, costs to produce AAA games have really gone up so they have become even more mainstream. And racing game fans generally expect good graphics, so the chance for indie developers with a limited budget to succeed with a racing game is low.
I think a lot of it is just, the market changed. People wanted games with licensed cars, either more realistic or way more arcade-y (think kart racers), and the last few RR entries didn’t do so hot, so they packed it in.
It sucks but I can kinda see why it happened. I’d love to see them come back but I think it’s increasingly unlikely from Namco, just because the cost to make one vs the risk is likely to deter them from trying it. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more games in that style in the indie space!
Would love to see those games return. The PS Vita version was a hot mess and a disgrace to the series.
