Wipeout (series)

Wipeout
Series logo used in Wipeout Omega Collection
Developer(s)	SCE Studio Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis) XDev Clever Beans EPOS Game Studios Amuzo Games
Publisher(s)	Sony Interactive Entertainment Rogue Games
Platform(s)	PlayStation Sega Saturn MS-DOS Microsoft Windows Mac OS Nintendo 64 PlayStation 2 PlayStation Portable PlayStation 3 PlayStation Vita PlayStation 4 iOS Android
First Release	Wipeout 29 September 1995
Latest Release	Wipeout Omega Collection 6 June 2017

Wipeout (ワイプアウト; Waipuauto) (trademarked as WipEout) is a series of futuristic anti-gravity racing games originally developed by Studio Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis). The series is well-known for its fast-paced gameplay and high-quality 3D visual design, along with running on the full resolution of the console the game belongs to; as well as its association with electronica and electronic dance music.

Gameplay

Wipeout is a racing series that features vehicles that hover over futuristic racetracks. Power-ups (or "pick-ups") are available and come in offensive ("weapon") and defensive ("item") varieties.

Games

Year	Title	Platform	Notes	Set
1995	Wipeout	PlayStation, Sega Saturn, MS-DOS	—	2052 (F3600)
1996	Wipeout 2097/XL	PlayStation, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Sega Saturn, Amiga, Mac OS	—	2097 (F5000)
1998	Wipeout 64	Nintendo 64	—	2098 (F5000)
1999	Wipeout 3	PlayStation	Wipeout 3: Special Edition was released in Europe in 2000	2116 (F7200)
2002	Wipeout Fusion	PlayStation 2	—	2160 (F9000)
2005	Wipeout Pure	PlayStation Portable	—	2197 (FX300)
2007	Wipeout Pulse	PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2	Ported to the PlayStation 2 in Europe in 2009	2207 (FX400)
2008	Wipeout HD	PlayStation 3	An expansion pack, Wipeout HD Fury, was released in 2009	2206 (FX350)
2012	Wipeout 2048	PlayStation Vita	Features Cross-Platform play with Wipeout HD/Fury add-on and is a prequel to the other games in timeline	2048-2050 (A.G.R.C.)
2017	Wipeout Omega Collection	PlayStation 4	Remaster of Wipeout HD, Wipeout HD Fury and Wipeout 2048; PlayStation VR support later added via a free update	2206 (FX350) 2048-2050 (A.G.R.C.)
2022	Wipeout Merge	iOS, Android	Mobile phone-exclusive spin-off game; card-based idle merger game	2207 (FX400)

History

The Wipeout franchise began with the release of Wipeout in 1995. Three more Wipeout games were released by the end of the decade, all developed by Liverpool-based developer Psygnosis. In 1999, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe acquired Psygnosis and its intellectual property, including Wipeout. As part of the acquisition, the name "Psygnosis" was changed to "SCE Studio Liverpool". After the acquisition, five more Wipeout games were developed, one on the PlayStation 2, two for the PlayStation Portable, and a downloadable title for the PlayStation 3, Wipeout HD. It is now available on Blu-ray disc packaged with the Fury expansion as of 16 December 2009. The latest original entry was Wipeout 2048 for PlayStation Vita.

The closure of Studio Liverpool was announced on 22 August 2012. In a press release Sony stated that after an assessment of all European studios, it had decided to close Studio Liverpool. Sony said that the Liverpool site would remain in operation, as it is home to a number of Sony World Wide Studios and SCEE Departments.

Eurogamer was told by an unnamed source, that at the time of its closure, Studio Liverpool was working on two PlayStation 4 launch titles. One was a Wipeout title described as "dramatically different", and the other was going to be a motion capture game based along the lines of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. The collapse of the studio was a disappointment for all fans of Wipeout, and the fate of the game series remained unknown for several years.

On 4 December 2016, during the annual PlayStation Experience expo, Sony unveiled Wipeout Omega Collection, a PlayStation 4 remaster of HD, its Fury expansion pack and 2048 for a Summer 2017 release. The Omega Collection was developed by XDev Europe, Clever Beans and EPOS Gaming Studios, and was released on 6 June 2017 in North America and 7 June 2017 in Europe.

Trivia and popular culture

• According to an urban legend, the idea of Wipeout was conceived from the developers playing Super Mario Kart whilst drunk. As for the naming, it may have been taken from the song "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris.
• A Wipeout "arcade" game was also featured in the 1995 movie Hackers. The actual game footage was pre-rendered CGI and the actors merely pretended they were playing the game.
• The font for the original Wipeout was first used on the cover of Joey Beltram's "The Caliber EP", which was also designed by The Designers Republic and released a year prior to the game's release.
• Wipeout character Arial Tetsuo may possibly have served as the inspiration for the Ridge Racer character Reiko Nagase.
• Footage from Wipeout has been used in some music videos. Footage from Wipeout 2097 was used in Fluke's music video for "Atom Bomb". KeeMo used footage from Wipeout Fusion for the music video of "The Dawn".
• Wipeout makes an appearance in the crossover fighting game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, in the form of items (Leech Beam and Gravity Shield). There is also a DLC stage called Fearless, prominently representing Heavenly Sword (an action adventure video game developed by Ninja Theory), but also featuring elements from Wipeout HD.
• The British electronic band Goteki is named after the team of the same name. Said band also has a song called "Piranha Advancement", also named after one of the teams in the series, featured on the "Goteki O/S" album.
• The video game Bully featured an arcade racing game called "Future Street Race 2165", which is very similar to Wipeout.
• Wipeout Pure was responsible for the emergence of the PSP homebrew scene. This was mainly due to the game's content download feature which featured an in-game web browser and was exploited through DNS redirection in order to run unsigned code.
• There is a Wipeout-inspired skin/character set in Fortnite: Battle Royale for the character "Rox", who resembles Camila Mendes, with the character design somehow inspired by pilot concepts from the series, including the many colour variations, available from Stages 4 and 5, which resemble the livery colours of no less than four teams in the series, namely AG Systems, Qirex, Harimau and Mirage, although the rest of the character set's colours, such as the glider (complete with the barrel roll visual effect), as well as the wraps for vehicles and weapons, lean heavily towards AG Systems.
• The first customer-spec BAC Mono R track day supercar sports a livery based on FEISAR, leading it to be popularly referred to as the "FEISAR Mono" (chassis number: R-01-FEISAR). A photo of the FEISAR Mono can even be seen in BAC's museum feature found inside Brand Central in Gran Turismo 7.
• PlayStation 4 game Astro's Playroom has a shout-out to Wipeout in the form of the "SSD Speedway" world, where robots similar to Astro Bot's species are seen racing around a planet in FEISAR ships.
  • PlayStation 5 game Astro Bot also has Wipeout-themed VIP Bots based on FEISAR, AG Systems, Piranha, Qirex and Auricom, with taglines and certain aspects even alluding to the series' lore.
• "Contender eliminated" can also be heard in other futuristic racing games heavily inspired by Wipeout, such as "AG Drive", "Redout" and "BallisticNG".
• A Wipeout-themed book, Wipeout Futurism, was released towards the latter half of 2024, containing previously unseen concept art, graphic design and memorabilia from the entire series' history.

External links

• WipeoutZone - Wipeout fansite, includes a dedicated community forum
• WipEout Arena - French language Wipeout community forum (inactive)
• Wipeout 推進委員会 - Japanese language Wipeout fansite (defunct)
• WipEout Future - Wipeout universe fansite, available in English and French languages (defunct)
• CoLD SToRAGE - Tim Wright, the creator of Wipeout music & sound effects
• Wipeout AG Community - Fan-made Facebook page