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"First Released: PSOne, PC (1995) Now Available On: PS3, PSP (via PlayStation Store)  Sony is about to launch its new handheld console PlayStation Vita in Europe, and, true to form, there&amp;#039;s a WipEout title spearheading its launch line-up. The futuristic racing series has served as a flagship for the studio&amp;#039;s hardware since its debut offering was released alongside the PSOne, and has been a fan-favourite ever since. Developed by Psygnosis in 1995, WipEout was released for Sony&amp;#039;s PSOne and PCs running MS-DOS. The game was a zero-gravity racer set in the year 2052, where traditional Formula 1 has been replaced by a high-tech successor. Breakneck speed and weapons-based combat were the sport&amp;#039;s standout features, and the action was set against a blistering soundtrack. There were four racing teams to choose from, with two ships in each. Vehicles offered varying degrees of acceleration, speed, mass and turning radius. By driving over the power-up tiles scattered around each track, players&amp;#039; crafts were equipped with shields, turbo boosts, missiles, rockets and other weaponry.  WipEout&amp;#039;s races took place against futuristic versions of Canada, Japan, the US and various other locations. There were six tracks to tackle, and an unlockable seventh that ran across the dusty surfaces of Mars. WipEout&amp;#039;s development team drew inspiration from a range of sources. The triangular ships were influenced by the crafts in Amiga hit Matrix Marauders, while the core concept was reminiscent of Nintendo&amp;#039;s F-Zero. The power-ups system, which hooked the player up with a random weapon, came straight out of Super Mario Kart.  Psygnosis&amp;#039;s magnum opus was geared towards a new breed of gamer. Graphics firm The Designers Republic was drafted in to help market WipEout towards trendy club-goers with a passion for music. An exceptional soundtrack that included tunes by artists such as Leftfield and The Chemical Brothers did its cause no harm. Tim Wright, under the alias CoLD SToRAGE, composed the remainder of the in-game music.  An official soundtrack CD was released separately to promote the game, though its tracklisting deviated from the music that actually appeared in the title. The most notable absentee was CoLD SToRAGE, who contributed more to the game than any other artist. PSOne consoles running the game were set up in nightclubs to support WipEout&amp;#039;s launch, and a range of branded clubwear found its way on to the market. WipEout was a commercial triumph, climbing to the top of software charts the world over. Off the back of its success, Psygnosis churned out the sequels. WipEout 2097 and WipEout 3 were multi-platform follow-ups, while WipEout 64 touched down on the Nintendo 64. Following the developer&amp;#039;s rebranding as Sony Computer Entertainment Studio Liverpool in 2001, the series went PlayStation-exclusive. The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable saw two entries each. WipEout HD hit the PlayStation 3 in 2008, and the recent PS Vita iteration, WipEout 2048, rounds off the series to date. The latter two entries take advantage of the cross-play function between the two consoles, enabling PS3 players to race against their Vita counterparts in near lag-free contests.  Unlike most long-running games series, WipEout has stuck to its guns since day one, providing the same concoction of high speed, combat and a killer soundtrack, whatever your platform of choice. The graphics have grown ever more sophisticated over the generations, but the blueprint has never fundamentally changed. The original WipEout is available to download from the PlayStation Store, compatible with PS3 and PSP devices. It&amp;#039;s of historic significance, but later entries such as WipEout HD offer pretty much the same experience with improved visuals.  One thing is for sure, we haven&amp;#039;t seen the last of WipEout. Where there&amp;#039;s new Sony hardware, the racing series is never far behind. Who knows, maybe we&amp;#039;ll even have real-life vehicles that hover by the time the PlayStation 4 comes along. Do you have any fond memories of WipEout? Post a comment below.      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/retro-corner/news/a366543/retro-corner-wipeout/>