Last weekend, lucky gamers and members of the press had their first opportunity to try Sega World Drivers Championship, an upcoming arcade racer developed in a close partnership with Super GT. A number of YouTube videos, images, and early impressions of the game have already begun to surface following the event’s conclusion on Sunday.
The recent demo session gave us a look at six of the cars. Three tracks are also included, with the imaginatively named City Circuit, Street Circuit, and Riverside Circuit. There was some confusion upon the initial announcement as to whether SWDC would receive more content, but fortunately a report from French-language SEGA-Mag has quelled concerns.
According to the report, Sega is considering updating the game over several years to reflect the changing Super GT field. In terms of tracks, fans can expect “much more” than what was present at the company’s arcades in Akihabara and Ikebukuro last weekend.
Fortunately, the video below gives us our first look at the beginner City Circuit in motion. The three venues so far follow a very similar theme, best described as GT Sport’s Tokyo Expressway-meets-Ridge Racer. Thankfully the environments are very colorful despite the urban setting, and wide roads keep the multiplayer action humming along.
In terms of physics, SEGA-Mag reports that the game isn’t as realistic as some may have initially assumed, given the Super GT branding. At the same time, players at the event were instructed not to drive as they would in Initial D.
The tracks shown didn’t have many low-speed corners, and overall lacked opportunities for oversteer. As such, it’s hard to glean much about the gameplay and physics from the off-screen footage currently circulating.
Likewise, while we can’t exactly determine how good SWDC looks in the flesh, the visuals seem promising. The aggressive motion blur makes the whole experience look buttery smooth, which is great. We look forward to seeing different environments debut in the future — perhaps even some real-world Super GT locations.
土屋監督からドライビングの指導が入ってますww #VivaC #SuperGT pic.twitter.com/4hIuenXmq8
— #25 HOPPY 86MC (@25xTSUCHIYA) July 29, 2017
SWDC hasn’t only received the endorsement of the series’ organizers, but seemingly its teams as well. Vivac Team Tsuchiya, which runs the No. 25 Toyota 86 MC, was on hand for the weekend’s excitement. Chief engineer Takeshi Tsuchiya and driver Takamitsu Matsui enjoyed some virtual seat time with their class-leading GT300 entry, in between mingling with fans and signing autographs.
As for what’s next for SWDC, the game’s website has seen a comprehensive update over the past week, with new images and leaderboards following the three-day test run. It’ll surely be a space to watch over the coming months. Likewise, keep an eye on GTPlanet for the latest news on Sega’s next arcade racer.
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