Ridge Racer Slides Onto the PS3

Is a Sony hardware launch truly a Sony hardware launch if there's no Ridge Racer game around? Apparently not.

Xbox 360 owners are only just settling into the sixth instalment in the drift-heavy Ridge Racer series and already newly merged Namco Bandai has revealed that it has a seventh coming - and this one is just for the PlayStation 3.

Fans of the long-running series should already know the score. Ridge Racer 7, revealed by Next Generation by way of the latest issue of Famitsu, brings more than 160 races to keep you busy in offline mode. But connect your shiny new PlayStation 3 to a broadband connection and you'll be able to race against 13 other wanna-bes online.

Car customisation is still a main part of the experience - the developers are promising more than 200,000 variations in total. And if tradition holds true you'll likely unlock a few vehicular monstrosities along the way too.

The Ridge Racer series and the PlayStation brand have worked together for over a decade. There's never been a Sony console launch without the popular series being on hand. The PlayStation launched with Ridge Racer in 1994 while the lucky few that managed to snap up PlayStation 2s in 2000 found Ridge Racer V waiting patiently for them. Even the PSP had Ridge Racers when it debuted last year.

There's no confirmation yet that the game will be there for the launch of the PlayStation 3 in November, but it's a fair bet that Ridge Racer fans won't go empty handed.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games