From Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) April 2019 (#160) Issue: Reason behind the cosmetic additions in Polar Pass

If you haven’t purchased the Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) April 2019 (#160) Issue for the Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled feature, you should. It’s a nice read if you’re hyped about the game and should give you a nice recap of the hands-on we’ve got earlier last month. Here’s what the Creative Director of Beenox, Thomas Wilson, had to say about the motivation and reason for these new cosmetic additions for Polar Pass:

For instance, Polar Pass. With Polar Pass we assigned that level to Polar [the polar bear race], and we said “Well then, what is this place?” We could create a fishing village, we could had a treehouse with the glowing lanterns, we could even have a DJ in there – so we have a polar bear DJ actually just remixing the music track with penguins dancing on the side.

These are the things that we start thinking about that would be just nice additions to the original experience, so what’s great is that we’re not modifying the layout, but we’re looking for opportunities outside of the track to put a little bit of humour and just a little bit of story in each of the tracks.

Source(s): Official PlayStation Magazine (UK)

Quickies: Some new info to know about regarding Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled (maybe ongoing)

In celebration of Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled coming June 2019, why not talk about some quick things that recently came up with the major February 2019 hands-on preview reveal of the gameplay:

• Some of the Out-of-bounds shortcuts are being removed but as expected, all intentionally-designed shortcuts are being kept, courtesy of Nick Sherman at GameSpot
  • They’re still considering adding a “no items” variant for races in online multiplayer
  • Trying their best to make it control like the original, even to the lap times and time trials
  • According to Nick, a few changes seem to have been made with the drifting and boosting. For instance, they shortened the burst time with the boost, noticeable on long straight turns. Coming off a drift just felt a tiny bit “off” with how they adjusted the turning radius after boosting.
• According to HeyImNatalia, there are new characters that will be introduced to Nitro-Fueled that were not in the original game, apparently, we will know when it comes out.
• Per Activision PR, the game will support these following languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Castilian), Latin American Spanish, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, and Japanese. It does support 4K on Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, with all consoles except for the Nintendo Switch supporting HDR on supported TVs and Monitors.
• Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled started development a little over a year, based on educated guessing from N. Sane Trilogy’s development time, I can say that it started around November 2017, a little later after work on the N. Sane ports started since October 2017 if SteamDB’s history is anything to go by. Courtesy of PlayStation Blog’s article about the new gameplay.
  • They were the ones to take the chance when Activision was looking for a studio to remake the game
  • They are checking on online forums and we already know they are checking closely with the fans on social media
• According to an Arabic article by Mohammed Al-Basimi at TrueGaming, there is no confirmation on the final set frames per second for the game, even though current gameplay showcases only 30FPS. Hoping for Beenox to change this to 60FPS to make the experience even better!
• According to an Arabic interview by Sundus Al-Kabaaz at Saudi Gamer with Stéphane Gravel:
  • Shortcuts will be usable online, same “expert” gameplay strategies will be achievable in Nitro-Fueled
  • You will begin with 8 characters and unlock as you go through the Adventure Mode like in the original, no comment on Penta Penguin being playable, unfortunately.
  • They’re still developing the workings on the matchmaking and cannot comment on it currently.
  • No comment on a Beta trial or even for cross-play.
• Joe Pellicone of FanFest has recently made a small interview blog with Stephane Gravel, here’s what he had to say:
  • Karts can be recoloured, changes to some new ones in the game, although they do not affect the character stats since they’re cosmetic only
  • Several skins in the Nitros Oxide Deluxe Digital Edition are exclusive and will not be made available later via DLC or micro-transactions.

That’s all for now, this post is on-going and might get more information as we go through the months with new content and tidbits to include.

[LINKED] Fan Fest: Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (Demo) – First Impressions & Interview

Last week, I got invited to demo the new Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled in New York City and not even a freak pop-up snowstorm could stand in my way of testing out Activision’s latest nostalgia-fueled remake/ remaster! And as an added bonus, I got a chance to chat with Project Director Stephane Gravel about how he and his team were able to bring this 20 year old game back to life.

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CoinOpTV: Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled Interview Preview (Beenox Production Director)

Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled Preview Interview with Stephane Gravel the Production Director at Beenox. For the first time gamers will be able to race as the antagonist of the game Nitros Oxide. Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled is a Remastered version of the original CTR game for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch releasing on June 21, 2019.

[LINKED] The Big 10: “Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled” on Official PlayStation Magazine UK Issue #158 (Sampler)

While we loved the nostalgia trip Vicarious Visions’ brilliant Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy took us on in 2017, it felt like a little something was missing. Back in PS1’s glory days, the Crash saga wasn’t truly complete without Crash Team Racing – and happily, that game is now getting its own remake, courtesy of the steady hands over at Beenox.

In 1999 a lot of us spent many a day racing against our friends and family on Crash’s crazy tracks, pitting the speed of Tiny Tiger against the precision of Polar. The quirky world design from the platformers translated well into thrilling track designs; things like the Aku-Aku shield and – of course – the abundance of crates made for some great power-ups, and the presence of a deep-feeling single-player story mode really made the experience feel like it had the edge on the kart racing competition. Even on PS1, it was quite the Bandicoot-sized package, but things are getting an even stronger fuel injection in the Nitro-Fueled remaster.

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[LINKED] Wireframe Magazine: Issue #5 “Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy’s Crate Expectations” Vicarious Visions Interview

It’s a new year, and a new edition of Wireframe. Lift the lid on video games with a subscription to the magnificent Wireframe magazine. Yes, issue five is available in stores and online from today, the January 17.

Physical copies of Wireframe are available now in WHSmiths, Tesco, and all good independent UK newsagents. You can also order a copy online at the Raspberry Pi Press store – and yes, we’ll deliver to just about anywhere in the universe.

If you prefer, there’s also the option to download a free PDF if you’d like a handy digital version.

So what’s inside? Well, you’ll find all this and lots more (pg. 45):

“It was in 2015, at Sony’s second PlayStation Experience event in San Francisco, when rumours started to rumble that a certain platform-defining mascot might spin his way back Irom obscurity. Gleefully rubbing his hands together, SIE Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden emerged on stage not donning his usual sharp suit, but a PlayStation-branded t-shirt featuring Crash Bandicoot. For most in the outside world, it was the first clue that, thanks to a partnership between PlayStation and Activision, Naughty Dog’s platform hero was set to return.”

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