Mod Nation Racers

[merf]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-mod-nation/50295

this looks pretty cool, I know the guy doing the demo is probably like the bloke at the Ideal Home show demoing fruit peelers which you can never get to work at home but what he does in 5 mins on stage is very impressive.

the kart racing looked fairly generic but decent all the same, they do appear to have really nailed the editor though, which looked far more intuitive than LBP, on the downside if its that easy of course what people produce may not be that advanced.

looks good fun though and worth keeping an eye on.

[JP]

It's good to hear that Play-Create-Share isn't only going to be LBP.

I'm not really convinced that this will have the creation aspect to anywhere near the same depth as LBP though from what they showed due to the obvious lack of switches, scripting, etc and one person's tracks is going to look much like other people's tracks.

There was no date mentioned for this though so it could be a long way from release and I suppose there's nothing to stop them from having creation options with far more depth.

If they get the handling right though then this could be a really good online game and it won't be long before we get every Mario Kart track to download. They obviously didn't spend enough time on the track creation though, hopefully they'll show far more interesting tracks being created.

[merf]

the scope for depth just isn't there I totally agree, what it loses in that though it gains in speed and simplicity, I could see me designing something in this whereas in LBP I always ended up with a mess of blocks and nothing playable after an hour or so, then I got bored and went back to others efforts.

surprised its taken so long for somebody to get the Trackmania thing onto a console

think i read it was 2010 so got a way to go

[Number45]

Going to keep an eye on this. The tools looked genuinely easy to use (Not something you can say for the more advanced requirements of LBP) and the handling when played looked pretty decent. Needs a new name though.

[merf]

i was going to mention the name, I almost dismissed it without reading about it as some tossy-street-racing-urban-cred-hip-hop-athon before

[JP]

The simplicity of making the tracks is one of the things I really like about it. As much as I love what some people have been able to create in LBP I just didn't have the time or patience to spend weeks making levels.

[Matt]

Yeah. Looks fun and easy. PSN title? Hope so, I'd not buy a full price kart game these days.

Editing looked easy. Yes, hope you can make some complex tracks. However, that track meter was filling up pretty fast for such a basic track, so could be quite limiting. Certainly no Track Mania, but I've hopes for it.

[JP]

I can't decide whether I like the style of the character art work in this! It's probably fine to be honest but after Sackboy I think it's probably just not as appealing.

It's certainly not ugly though.

Greetings from United Front Games, in Vancouver British Columbia. We?re really excited to finally be able to talk to you about ModNation Racers. It?s rare as developers that you get the opportunity to make the game you?ve always dreamt of creating, but that?s the fantastic situation that we?re in. We wanted to make a game that had the pick up and play accessibility of a kart game, with the depth and handling of a classic racer. So, we made ModNation Racers, a fresh take on a classic kart racing game that empowers you, the player, to personalize the entire game.


Vinyl art & collector toys were an inspiration for us as we set out to create a game about creativity and self expression. It was in this spirit of creativity that we developed our character, kart and track editors. We wanted to give the user the ability to make whatever they wanted, but do so in a way that felt like playing and not working. For example, you just drive and the track is created behind you, so it?s intuitive and fun.


An expression that came up early in development was ?anonymity to superstardom?, which is exactly how we want the user to feel. You create your ideal character, kart or track, then upload and share it with the world. Next thing you know, you?re ranked as one of the top designers in the ModNation community!

In the coming months, we?ll be able to share a lot more information with you.

EDIT:
I think this is probably too early to get proper trailers at the moment.

[Matt]

Nothing is as appealing as SackBoy This could easily have ended up SackBoy Kart.

[Mr M0by]

I've seen a fair negative impressions of the character art across different forums now. I'd like them to just make all the drivers Sony IP: Ratchet, Clank, Kratos, Ico, Yorda, SackBoy, Specter, Isa bod, Helghast bod, Sly Cooper, Jak, Daxter etc etc. There are more I promise! I'm sure it would sell more because of it too.* Do you think Sony would be concerned that if the quality of the actual racing isn't fantastic, it'd be scored more harshly in the face of Mario Kart comparisons?

edit: *Or perhaps the margin & profit is greater if they sell less of the main game but then charge us for each of the characters every other week!

[Fuddle]

leave it alone i say. if it was sackboy racing i wouldnt like the look of it as much, and i'm sure extra costume packs can be made available for a few extra quid.

i've got high hopes for this. if they can get the handling to feel right, and avoid all the copyright problems lbp had with levels, it could/should be the greatest thing ever. but i thought that about lbp too, and in the end it turned out a bit crap.

[merf]

the problem with many of these 'designer' titles is that the core game is inferior to proper fixed games of the same type. I quite enjoyed LBP but would have liked to have seen a better platforming core mechanic as that was a bit undercooked, it still got by on charm and style though but was no Mario beater in the platforming stakes

this looks less likely to suffer from copyright issues on whats been shown as the tools don't look as advanced as LBP, whether this becomes an issue in itself only time will tell as it could result in everything looking a bit generic and similar.

that said Trackmania didn't offer the most spectacular graphics and assets and the endless supply of tracks there didn't get that stale for me so I've got high hopes for this, nail the racing and it could be good.

[JP]

DEBUT TRAILER

[saturn-gamer]

the problem with many of these 'designer' titles is that the core game is inferior to proper fixed games of the same type. I quite enjoyed LBP but would have liked to have seen a better platforming core mechanic as that was a bit undercooked, it still got by on charm and style though but was no Mario beater in the platforming stakes

this looks less likely to suffer from copyright issues on whats been shown as the tools don't look as advanced as LBP, whether this becomes an issue in itself only time will tell as it could result in everything looking a bit generic and similar.

that said Trackmania didn't offer the most spectacular graphics and assets and the endless supply of tracks there didn't get that stale for me so I've got high hopes for this, nail the racing and it could be good.

Thats pretty much the truth.

I felt the same about LBP. I thought it failed as a platform game on itself. Found the gameplay too slow and too floaty. This was especially apparent when I played some of those Sonic and Mario rip off levels. It was charming, it was original... but the actual platforming was kind of 'meh' to me. Maybe they should've gone entirely 2d, no multi-plane.

ModNation Racers looks about the same, the actual racing looked kind of ropey or rather, bland. But MNR has my attention for a bit. LBP's editing was too deep for me, this looks easier.

[merf]

this is looking pretty good, I have my doubts but am cautiously hopeful for this

http://www.edge-online.com/features/interview-modnation-racers