Giant Japanese publisher Namco Bandai announced today that it is producing a brand new racing title called The Fast and the Furious -- which is based on the upcoming Universal Pictures movie, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Scheduled for release on both the PSP and the PS2 this summer, the title's appearance marks the first time in its history that the franchise will make it out in console videogame form.
The Fast and the Furious should not be confused with the Genki-developed software based on the original movie from several years ago (read more about that here). That title's publisher, VU Games, ultimately pulled the plug on that project while this new game is an all-new property with an all-new development team.
"Namco Bandai is proud to be the first publisher to bring this great movie franchise to console and handheld videogames," said Jeff Lujan, business director, 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," said Bill Kispert, vice president, interactive, Universal Studios Consumer Products Group. "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."
Surprisingly, quite a few details about The Fast and the Furious has already come to light -- the most significant of which, is Namco Bandai's claim that the game will be the first to create a drift model system "authentically." Special assist functions can be turned on and off to cater towards players of various skill levels and cars are reported to be 10,000 polygons apiece.
Interestingly, an "advanced rubber band AI" has also been listed as a game feature (an include that typically comes under fire by critics), as has more than 100 licensed wheels, multiple boss challenges, 500 body kits from real JDM companies, and multiple car tuning elements that have yet to be disclosed. Developed by Eutechnyx, Tokyo Drift will support 1-2 players on a single machine and up to four online (console version only, PSP multiplayer details are still unknown
Unfortunatly it will only be released for the PSP and the PS2 but other than that it looks like it will be a good game
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