Question about the game's title

[adam917]

Why is this game named differently depending on where it was released? I'm from the US and of course initially got the 'XL' copy found here, then see that it is called 2097 elsewhere, like in PAL regions (and Japan?). Correct me if I'm wrong but Wipeout 2097 was the original title of the game, right? Is something wrong with the name 2097 that made whoever was in charge of releasing it in the US change the name to XL here? Does 2097 fit perfectly in as the setting is in the year 2097? What's the XL even stand for? I hope it doesn't stand for 'extra large'. Maybe Accell(erate)?

Anyone wish to tackle this mystery? I can understand name changes in other contexts like when a title may offend a culture when released in other countries, but '2097' -> 'XL'?

[Lance]

I suspect that at that time, "XL" just sounded so
'cool', so advanced, so cutting edge, so fashionable.

Which means that I thought it sounded childish, shallow, and meaningless.

[abukii]

XL, iirc, was the record label that produced the music. Because I can clearly recall getting some Underworld/Prodigy/Chem Bros with the XL logo on the cd/vinyl.

[Task]

2097 is indeed the original title.

The way I heard it is that the North American distributor decided that "Wipeout 2097" would be a confusing title to many, that they would be wondering about the previous 2096 versions of the game. So they tacked "XL" on it instead. Which wasn't a bad choice really, seeing as how it's the most 'arcade' version of the game.

I can't recall my source on that one, so I don't know if it's a joke or truly sad reality, but there you go: "Original title found too confusing". 8 P

[Lance]

And Max Headroom was cancelled by ABC because it was "too cerebral". Man, we Americans are so stupid.

:ironic-eyebrow-lift:

[adam917]

2097 is indeed the original title.

The way I heard it is that the North American distributor decided that "Wipeout 2097" would be a confusing title to many, that they would be wondering about the previous 2096 versions of the game. So they tacked "XL" on it instead. Which wasn't a bad choice really, seeing as how it's the most 'arcade' version of the game.

I can't recall my source on that one, so I don't know if it's a joke or truly sad reality, but there you go: "Original title found too confusing". 8 P

I wouldn't believe it if the confusion was interpreting the number as being a version or specific sequel rather than a year! Before WO2097 (XL ;-) ) came out there were already plenty of other games & films out that had settings in the future and seeing a year being used in their titles was seen as normal for something like that. The only thing I can probably say that the XL name had going for it is that it can make a smaller abbreviation.

[Slacker]

Personally, I want to know why the seperate consoles and regions had different songs. Why not have FSOL on the Saturn or Windows? Copyright problems? The original was like that too, why were the Rob Lord (or whoever made them) songs only on the Saturn, and why not have some Chemical Bros or Leftfield in the USA. Doesn't make sense.

[Lance]

IIRC, licensing problems. Licenses ran out before the U.S. release and were not renewed, hence the use of tracks by Tim Wright [CoLDSToRAGE].

[Kyonshi]

XL, iirc, was the record label that produced the music. Because I can clearly recall getting some Underworld/Prodigy/Chem Bros with the XL logo on the cd/vinyl.

The Chems have been and are still producing under the Astralwerks/Freestyle Dust labels, which are owned by Virgin. Underworld also never been on XL Recordings. Prodigy is indeed under XL Recordings, but nonetheless, the "XL" in WipEout XL is not related in any ways to the similarly named label.

The musical direction is taken care of by Cold Storage, who actually produced almost all tracks on WipEout in 1995.

[Damon]

Psygnosis had a US office that was able to make its own decisions as regards game names and other cosmetic elements; for whatever reason, they just didn't want the game to be called Wipeout 2097 in their territory.

As for the music, they also decided that because dance music enjoyed far lower mainstream penetration in the States than it did in Europe, they didn't want to pay for the licensed music - Leftfield, Orbital and the Chemical Brothers. Those acts were more or less unknown in the US in 1995 - or so the US office reckoned anyway. So blame them!

Neither were the licenses extended to cover the Saturn or Windows versions of the game. I guess the feeling was that the licensed music had done its job in raising the game's profile at the initial PlayStation launch, and in a world in which budgets were tight, it wasn't worth the money when Tim Wright's in-house music was so great in any case.

[Lance]

Hi, Damon. :) Good to see you round here. Thanks for your take on this. Who was running SCEA at the time? I'm pretty sure it wasn't Bernie Stolar. ;)

[Damon]

I'm afraid I don't know Lance; it seems a long long time ago now! In any case, the US office of Psygnosis had a degree of independence from the SCEA organisation, mirroring the situation here in the UK. While Psygnosis stationery declared that we were a "wholly owned subsidiary of SCEA", we still operated in many ways like an independent company. Though that wasn't to last of course.

Just looking back at my previous post, I realise I may be confusing matters a little. In the first instance, regarding the naming of the game, I was talking about Wipeout 2097 and XL, but as regards licensing the music, I was of course referring to the original Wipeout from 1995.

A further observation: am I right in thinking that Wipeout XL in the States did have the full licensed soundtrack? Prodigy, Photek, Underworld, FSOL, all those guys?

I think by the time 2097/XL came out, the US office did indeed appreciate that there was some value in licensing these established artists; by then, Wipeout had become more widely known for its soundtrack, and having licensed music was part of the Wipeout 'brand' - even though those same artists may still have been little known in the US. Although to some extent that situation was changing too, with 'electronica' being trumpeted as the 'new thing'. Which now sounds rather quaint doesn't it?

If I'm mistaken, and XL didn't have the full soundtrack, please disregard the above!

[Lance]

I'm not sure, but I think that the PC version went with Tim's tracks because SCEA could not or would not get the licenses for the 2097 tunes. My console version does have Firestarter, Landmass, et cetera, but my PC version doesn't. It's all very confusing. :D

[adam917]

I have the NTSC-US version of Wipeout XL for PS1 and yes indeed, it does have all licensed music (sans 2 tracks which were by Tim WRIGHT (CoLD SToRAGE)). The PC version that I also have does not have any licensed music but does contain the same two CS tracks from the PS1 version, plus a number of other tracks by the same person (some of which I wish made it to the PS1 version as they are quite nice, like Messij Received, Hakapik Murder, and Plasticity just to name a few). Funny thing is there was space on the CD to fit some more music in (something like 20 minutes IIRC).

I often wonder why none of this extra music made it to any soundtrack. Perhaps a limited edition release with a bonus disc or something would've been nice. Oh well, at least we can play all the tracks from these games in any standard CD player. :)

[Slacker]

OK, went to Wiki and here's what I found:
NTSC and PAL:
-- -----------------------------------
FSOL - We Have Exlposive
FSOL - Landmass
Fluke - Atom Bomb (Straight Six Instrumental)
Fluke - V6
Chemical Bros. - Dust Up Beats
Chemical Bros. - Loops of Fury
Photek - The Third Sequence
Underworld - Tin There (Edit)
Prodigy - Firestarter (Instrumental)
CoLD SToRAGE - Canada
CoLD SToRAGE - Body In Motion

Windows:
-------------------------------------
CoLD SToRAGE (supplied all tracks)- KinKong
- Plasticity
- Messij XTND
- Tenation
- Surgeon
- Hakapik Murder
- Messij RCVD

Saturn:
-------------------------------------
ALL WINDOWS TRACKS AND
CoLD SToRAGE - Body Plus (Body In Motion Remix)


So yes, the NTSC and PAL versions of WOXL/2097 are the same.

[abukii]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I do remember seeing 'XL' on the back of the game case, thats probably why I assumed it was named from/ after XL Recordings.