Gaming Tube Slider (Image Heavy)

[James]

[color=#507AAC]Ahh yes, what a sudden announcement this was! It seems that lately, we've been seeing more and more third party announcements for GameCube. Tube Slider is yet another.

First, some background information.

This game is being developed by NDcube, the company that developed F-Zero: Maximum Velocity for GBA. For those of you who don't know, NDcube was created as a joint venture between Nintendo and Dentsu (Dentsu being a large advertising & design company in Japan). Thus, NDcube "Nintendo/Dentsu Cube".

After creating F-Zero for GBA, many assumed that the company would handle F-Zero on GameCube. But as we now know, Sega's Amusement vision is taking care of that game.

Instead, NDcube are developing a new game titled Tube Slider. And interestingly, it's quite similar to F-Zero and Wipeout. It is being developed exclusively for GameCube and will be published by NEC (NEC is returning to the game industry after an eight year hiatus).

So what's it about? Well, Tube Slider is very similar to both F-Zero and Wipeout, as mentioned.

The tracks are actually made up of enormous tubes, with many layers of surfaces/wiring/glass/etc...

Interestingly, due to the tube-based design, it's possible to slide your way across all surfaces of the "track". Quite often, you'll find yourself doing a sharp turn and slipping up over the ceiling to avoid other racers.

I'm not sure if there are any weapons at this point, as Tube Slider seems to be more heavily based on actual racing skills rather than weaponry/fighting.

Anyway, here are some shots of the game. I hope they work out (since they're from IGN, but I don't think they're Insider).

Oh and...this game is nearly complete. It will arrive in February (not sure if that's Japan or the USA; I think it's the USA). So it'll be an early taste of things to come, especially for F-Zero fans. ^_^[/color]

[center][img]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/tubeslider_013103_4.jpg[/img]

[img]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/tubeslider_013103_47.jpg[/img]

[img]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/tubeslider_013103_12.jpg[/img]

[img]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/tubeslider_013103_5.jpg[/img]

[img]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/tubeslider_013103_2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/tubeslider_013103_65.jpg[/img]

[img]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/tubeslider_013103_7.jpg[/img]

[img]http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/tubeslider_013103_29.jpg[/img][/center]

[Red]

[b][color=003399]This has certainly caught my eye. The idea of having the entire tube to race on will certainly add spice to the races.

The background scenery looks packed and full of life in those screenshots you provided, which will certainly boost the overall look. It seems a welcome break from the F-Zero games, as the backgrounds were overly bland and uninteresting.

I think having no weapons wouldn't hinder on gameplay, as long as the tube sliding system is used to its full potential.[/b][/color]

[Break]

[size=1][color=crimson]Well I must say, I have a slight soft-spot for futuristic racing games (totally the opposite for regular racers). I'd say that this may prove to be more interesting than both F-Zero and Wipeout, mainly because of the focus being more on racing, as James said, so hopefully there will be lots of goodies to buy (if there's a "win race - get money" kinda system). Or, there could be just lots of things to unlock and the like.

*giggles* You can go upside down.. ^^;;[/size][/color]

[Turkey]

I believe I played a similar game in arcades not too long ago.

[Semjaza]

I've not gotten to see this in motion yet, but people tell me it's rather slow paced. Apparently there is another set of faster cars than IGN hasn't unlocked yet, so maybe it's not that much of a problem.

I've been told the racing is simliar to Extreme G, in that there aren't tons of other racers ontrack and you pass another every so often. It looks pretty good though, and since NEC is apparently back in business here... Maybe we can get some Bonk titles :).

They really need to change that name though... It sounds really perverted :D.

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Hey, this looks pretty good. The tube tracks in F-Zero X were always my favorite, so I'll probably like this game. I'll have to give it a rent, if it's coming out this month. (Not enough money to buy, what with Zelda coming out in March).[/color]

[Posthumous]

[b]Holy *bleep!*

This game looks AWESOME!Looks alot similir to F-Zero.

Boy I sure would love to go 797 MPH on a tube track.

I just can't wait for this game![/b]

[Charles]

This game should provide a nice challenge, judging by the somewhat intense challenge of the Gameboy Advance F-Zero's later tracks. So, I don't know if I'll mind fewer racers onscreen. If they serve a purpose, I'll be happy. The game shouldn't run too slow judging from the speedometer in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen--if the representation of speed is accurate. But, who knows.

The multiplayer mode should be nice. If the game truly runs at a blazing rate, staring into a small box could prove to be a little tricky though.

Hmm, I notice a gravity option in the track selection. The manipulation of gravity could be extremely cool and impact the overall strategy depending on a vehicle's unique abilities. Neat. Judging by the "Best Time" record, the races are still a little long for this style of racer, but definitely trimmed down from F-Zero on GBA. Not bad at all.

Lastly, I dig the lighting effects and trails. They should really spruce up the game's industrial look.

[The Vampire: Ed]

All though this game seemingly just came out of no where, I must say it looks pretty good. I like the whole tube aspect of it, it'll be cool over passing competitors by driving on the ceiling and such. The backgrounds, and lighting effects look very cool from what I see in those pictures. I think this will be a good game, all though I feel the futuristic racers are a bit played out now. But I like how this one seems more based on racing skills, I mean rather than having to worry about someone shooting you down with a rocket or something. That's one thing that really was annoying about games like Wipeout, you spend the whole time in first place with luck but at the very end *BAM!* a rocket hits you in the rear and the other racers pull ahead of you causing you to come in a place other than 1st. So you'd have to do the whole damn race over because of that, well I'll be happy to see that it won't be a factor in this particular game.

[NorykoAngelcry]

[COLOR=darkred][SIZE=1]The images are surprisingly very clear. Normally when I see screenshots on websites, they are a bit choppy looking. So already, my curiousity is peaked about this game. Makers of F-Zero made this, so that is just another reason. I was a huge fan of Maximum Velocity, and if this game is anywhere close to that awesome, this will definitely be added to my library fast! ^_^ [/SIZE][/COLOR]