Neo Tokyo: The Running Man

[Hybrid Divide]

Just found this short film from the 1980's.

It's not exactly WipEout, of course. But it's about an AG racer. Really dark, and not much dialogue, but I figured it's worth mention here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV0hl1njPt4

The animation style looks VERY similar to that of Akira.

[Lion]

That was pretty cool :D
It must have been a pretty strong inspiration to Redline (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sonTXTZqE-Q)

[PureSpeed7]

In WipEout,the pilots don't die when they get eliminated, according to official canon.

For one, in fusion (at least) if you listen closely, you can hear it say "protection process eminent" when your ship is about to explode. Then, you see the pilot and seat lifted into the rescue drone.
Second, how would there be enough pilots to fill the ranks of the dead ones? It would be unrealistic to have no system of protection for the pilot.
Finally, in fusion when a pilot is eliminated, they come back in the next race.
Elimination was added to put a little extra thing to worry about for the teams, as they would have to rebuild their ship.

EDIT: 8:41 Cipher billboard :O xD

[AGgamer]

In WipEout,the pilots don't die when they get eliminated, according to official canon. EDIT: 8:41 Cipher billboard :O xD

That's true for the most part. Daniel Chang was the first pilot in WipEout's canon to die as a result of an accident during a race, after which the sport was banned until the safety procedures were much better. This means that the first (and possibly only) death in WipEout happened after the sport had existed for at LEAST four years as WipEout 1 takes place in 2052 (I think). So yeah, no deaths. But the do call them "Kills" in eliminator events (which I can't believe the league actually would realistically allow, I mean 20+ ships destroyed in a single event? that's stupid.)

[Hybrid Divide]

I don't think that's exactly true.

I remember reading in official cannon that a Qirex pilot is quoted as saying "We race, we die. There is no beauty anymore."

Also, I remember reading that in either the F-5000 or F-9000 eras, that pilot deaths skyrocketed.

I'm guessing F-9000, considering the significantly increased emphasis on weapons during that time.

All of this is not to say that safety systems were not in place, but that with more and more powerful weapons (and corruption), comes increased risk to the life and limbs of AG-Pilots.

[PureSpeed7]

It is officially stated that Natasha Belmondo was alive to see the fx leagues, and she raced in the f-9000 for 14 years, so she must've been eliminated at least once. It's not like all humanity has been lost, and just to prove that.. ehem, HARIMAU

[PureSpeed7]

I, for one, believe that leagues only included races. The other game modes were only in the games and not included in canon.

[Jonny]

Since it's a league and no championship, why not including other kind of events? TT is nowadays quiet popular.
Taking everything canonically a event is rather short, but there would be soooooo many of them in one season.

About fatalities: Racing is never save, you may are in the 23rd century, but also fire Quakes and Plasmas at other people.
Let's count through:
Canonically Daniel Chang was the first fatality of professional AG racing, I wouldn't doubt that in the Amateur scene before the AGRC there were may a lot of deaths. Anyway, so in the AGRC noone could have died.
In the F3600 obviously Chang died, beside that the chairmen of the League died like flies I guess that noone else would have paid with his life...until 2085.
The ability to eleminate someone was of course a problem, How should one be protected from an exploding craft. Not going into that matter it wasmentioned that the Phantom class got banned after several pilots died due to it's speed.
In the other leagues it was maybe not different, no matter what, sometimes safety measuremtns won't work.
In the F12000 there was the infamous Tremtesh Bay Desaster, I won't have to explain further.
Finally I just won't to leave a hint on the stats in WipEout PulsE, showing your "Deaths".

PS: Also "official canon" is such a nonexistant term in the wipEout Universe. I just see things like "What Damon wrote is true"
PPS: Oh redline seems interesting :D

[Hybrid Divide]

"What Damon wrote is true"

Very true.

Also, wasn't there mention of a disaster at Sokana? Specifically, a bunch of spectator bleachers falling into lava or something like that?

Man, I love this stuff. :D

Just what IS it about this series that just seems to feel "right" versus so many other futuristic racing games?
Even ones that have a backstory don't feel right. And I don't think that's just from my "WipEout is awesome" tinted glasses! :D

Thoughts?

[AGgamer]

Just what IS it about this series that just seems to feel "right" versus so many other futuristic racing games?
Thoughts?

Well, yes.

WipEout is a "cult following" series, the way it was made was such that only a specific kind of person would feel truly "right" as you put it. Amd what kind of person is that? Cyberpunk. It's pretty clear WipEout is Cyberpunk and NOT generic science fiction: The dark gritty atmosphere, the dystopian theme, the neon colors and flickering lights, the emphasis of technology and lack of natural life. WipEout is the definition of Cyberpunk.

I'll bet you'd like lots of other Cyberpunk games and films too, like Blade Runner, Matrix, Final Fantasy 7... These all share a "gritty near-future" theme that is characteristic of the sub genre.How do you feel in Las Vegas? Tokyo? New York? these cities can evolk a similar atmosphere as Cyberpunk.

The combination of Cyberpunk and Racing gives WipEout a unique personality that just speaks to us. ;)

[Jonny]

I wouldn't call WipEout generally dark!
The tracks always show how the world at that time was, but they are never ALL dark or ALL bright.
That is it, why WipEout is so special. There are many dystopic racing games, where the whole sport is some kind of deadly fight or even necessary to survive, like POD.
In WipEout it's just a great sport.

[Hybrid Divide]

Well, I think my like of Cyberpunk definitely has something to do with my love of WipEout. No doubt about it. And I definitely love the feel of places like Vegas. (I haven't been to NY or Tokyo yet, but of what I know of them, I'd feel right at home.
Seattle gets that feeling sometimes. (And I was really psyched the first time I raced on Arc Prime and found out where it was located.

I also wouldn't exactly call WipEout "dark", it certainly has dark moments. But then, the F-7200 era feels positively Utopian in comparison. The whole bit about wildlife dying off and such? Given how things are going now, it seems realistic to me.

And I think that while "realistic" and Anti-Gravity Racing don't exactly go hand in hand, all of what happens in WipEout feels like it could very realistically happen (The AG tech itself being the only thing seemingly fictional about the whole thing). The massive government petrol taxes, etc. And instead of the story simply being that it's year 2065 and (insert racing league title here) is the most popular sport in the world, we get info on Belmondo, and find out that AG Racing was at least partially started to further develop the technology, and to get the public interested in it. It all just feels like if AG technology were ever invented, that the rest of the story could very easily fall into place.

Hell, even the idea of people having UFO sightings turning out to be prototype AG craft fits.

I could keep gushing about this all day. :D

[Jonny]

I remember reading in official cannon that a Qirex pilot is quoted as saying "We race, we die. There is no beauty anymore."
Right, that was Stefan Geist, a reserve pilot of Qirex (not sure when, propably F5000).
That was his opposed oppinion about Belmondo seeing "the new world" (after the introduction of AG technology) bright(er than it is?).
In the end, our existance is neither perfect, nor dystopic, not nowadays, not in the past, not in WipEout.