Today, Namco Bandai announced a new installment in the long-running Ridge Racer series, scheduled for a release on the Nintendo 3DS some time this spring. The series was first launched in arcades around the world in 1993, but became a popular franchise on homeconsoles in the following years. The most recent major installments in the series were Ridge Racer 6 (2005) and Ridge Racer 7 (2006), both of which were launch titles for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 respectively.
The new game will feature 4-player multiplayer gamemodes for local play, and Namco Bandai has promised all-new environments and new customization options for the Ridge Racer 3D, as this latest title is known. To accommodate new players who are unfamiliar with the series, the developer has also promised to include a “drift-button,” which will allow players to make use of the drift feature without having to worry about complicated controls. Still, for those looking for a challenge, players will be able to drift in the same way as in previous Ridge Racer games, without making use of this dedicated button.