Ridge Racer 3D Street Pass detailed, 3D effects had to be reduced

Namco Bandai general manager Yozo Sakagami has detailed Ridge Racer 3DS's StreetPass Duel system, and said the game's 3D effects had to be dialled down in order to preserve the racing experience.

In the latest Iwata Asks, Sakagami said the development team's original plans for 3D crash effects had to be toned down.

"For example, in scenes where the car in front of you gets hit, loses control, and flips back and bangs into the front of your car," he said.

"We thought something flashy like that would be cool in 3D, and at first it actually was cool when we put in scenes like that.

"When you're pleasantly cruising along and something like that happens, it doesn't feel very good."

The executive explained that special effects can disrupt player concentration.

"When a car cuts across you all of a sudden, it breaks your rhythm. We've always wanted players of a Ridge Racer game to get into a rhythm and enjoy that feeling of speeding along," he said, later adding the team chose instead to use 3D to "really portray the substantiality of the cars this time".

Namco has utilised another of the 3DS's unique feaures - Street Pass - by allowing players to swap "ghosts".

Inspired by arcade ghosts, which players use to race against each other asynchronously, StreetPass Duel automatically collects and distributes player racing data to nearby consoles. Players can then save the ghost data and watch or race against it at a later date.

StreetPass Duel races last from three to five minutes, and up to 50 can be stored on the 3DS.

Thanks, GoNintendo.