Sega's New Racing IP; Sega World Drivers Championship

[Marky264]

Sega have pulled the wraps of their New Racing Game; Sega World Drivers Championship.

As you're all very aware Sega rarely produce Racing Games anywhere especially outside of Japan. Initial D is still very successful over Japan so this good news either way.

The title is very reminiscent of It's 90's Cabinet racing heyday & Brings Touring Car feel to a racer according to the Website that is! Currently Sega are Soft Launching/Testing the Game Cabinets in Japan in Two Locations & Are set for a Full Launch (Japan only sadly) similar to what they do with the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 5DX Plus Cabinets etc. The Game features all the Official Licensing of the Super GT Cars from the GT300/GT500 Series. Ex Formula 1 Driver Heikki Kovalainen races in the Sport and has had some great results in the past.

Below is a Picture of the Cabinet Setup followed by an Introductory Video by the Producers/Sega themselves. There's no gameplay as of yet! But the begging for them to bring to the West/EU Market in a PS4 Format/Nintendo Switch Format can start now! Or even just the Cabs!

https://swdc.sega.jp/

 

[JohnBM01]

It's based on Japan's Super GT. That's going to be a problem with most other markets because SEGA Super GT- my all-time favorite arcade racer- will probably have to be named something else or named after something else to avoid confusion with this Super GT (formerly the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, or JGTC). Of course, SEGA Super GT to us is SEGA SCUD Race in Japan. Naming aside... I am kind of intrigued about this game. As most people seemed to have been disappointed with the newest Daytona USA game, this may be something to be excited for.

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Sega Announces New Arcade Racer Based on Super GT Series

This article was published by Adam Ismail (@glassjaw) on July 22nd, 2017 in the Gaming category.

 

[Zona]

I wonder how much one of those units would cost me. Be awesome to have in the man cave

 

[The Chosen One]

 

[Supermelon]

I saw this and thought it would be an arcade style racer on consoles, never thought they meant "arcade" racer literally.

Would be more excited if it was for PS4 or PC, oh well.

 

[MisterWaffles]

So that's where Gran Turismo's Super GT liscense went.

 

[RaceFuchs]

As someone who grow up with these kind of games, im kind of curious. However, without any gameplay footage, there is no reason to get excited. I think the days of Daytona, Scud Race or F355 Challenge are simply gone. The racing genre has massivly changed and evolved. Todays console racers offer so much more in graphics, realism and content then any arcade game - no need to pretend we are still living in the 90s.

I will stick with PCars 2, GT Sport and Forza 7. So - no, thanks. Not going to get hyped over this. But maybe i will give this a try if im visiting Japan again.

 

[glassjaw]

As someone who grow up with these kind of games, im kind of curious. However, without any gameplay footage, there is no reason to get excited. I think the days of Daytona, Scud Race or F355 Challenge are simply gone. The racing genre has massivly changed and evolved. Todays console racers offer so much more in graphics, realism and content then any arcade game - no need to pretend we are still living in the 90s.

I will stick with PCars 2, GT Sport and Forza 7. So - no, thanks. Not going to get hyped over this. But maybe i will give this a try if im visiting Japan again.

That's an interesting take. No doubt today's racers are more polished, realistic experiences, but I think both styles of gameplay can co-exist. Not everyone needs or wants what those three games are offering. There's something to be said for a quick thrill ride.

While the likes of Daytona and Ridge Racer hardly have the breadth of content to keep people's attention today, some of those early 3D arcade racers are still a blast to play, and I think that proves the fundamental experience is still viable.

Though not many developers and publishers are interested in pursuing honest arcade racers anymore. Forza Horizon 2 and 3 and Driveclub are I feel this generation's best, then you've got The Crew and the divisive NFS 2015 and then...what? Evolution is gone (hopefully they'll develop something similarly compelling for Codemasters), and even devs that kind of took over the genre over the last decade, like Criterion, have pretty much disappeared. It's becoming something of a lost art, which makes news like this feel really special. Let's hope it delivers, and Sega might actually think twice about bringing it overseas.

 

[TVR27]

If its as arcade as Driveclub I will probably not want to buy it.

 

[Suzumiya]

If its as arcade as Driveclub I will probably not want to buy it.

too bad it's an arcade cabinet

 

[GT Kelv]

seeing this reminds me of past Sega arcade racers. I wish Sega would bring "Super GT/ Scud Race" to console with wheel use. It's my favorite arcade racer.

 

[Marky264]

New Screenshot released via their Twitter Page - Flappy Paddle Gearbox for the Cabinet! Very cool.

 

[Wolfe]

If its as arcade as Driveclub I will probably not want to buy it.

too bad it's an arcade cabinet

It's probably at least $15,000 USD or more for a cabinet if you wanted to buy one.

 

[YayoiGT2]

...so it's more of a spiritual successor to Sega Touring Car Championship rather than Sega Super GT/SCUD Race.
I'm both absolutely enthralled [SO HIGH, LIKE THE SUN UP IN THE SKYYYYYYYYYY] and depressingly crushed.

dat dashboard display and paddle shifter tho, mmm.

 

[tankuroded]

New Screenshot released via their Twitter Page - Flappy Paddle Gearbox for the Cabinet! Very cool.

Super Monaco GP and Virtua Racing also had paddle shifters. 💡

Also, I have feeling that this game will cater to the Battle Gear 4 Tuned audience, considering that BG4T had the most simulation value (F355 Challenge notwithstanding) for an coin-op title...

 

[tankuroded]

Footage is out:

 

[FoRiZon]

Love how the game simply focuses on GT300 and not GT500.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

Kind of hope the game will drive in similar direction to the old Sega F355 Challenge, realism in arcade cabinet.

 

[highlifeGT]

If it's anything like the over-the-top Sega super GT arcade game from my childhood in the mid 90's, this should be a blast.
Super GT, or SCUD Race in Japan, was incredibly far ahead of it's time, or at least was marketed that way. There was legitimately plenty to awe at. Graphics looked insane... probably 5 years ahead of what was avail of console. The game play was incredibly hard but very fun, and it features the craziest, and loudest music of any racing game I've ever heard, edging out even ridge racer at the time. The technology used for the rendering was actually a property of lockheed Martin at the time, but later sold off as a separate entity and presently knowing as real3d if I'm not mistaken.
Great news but even better once we hear something confirming a console release.

 

[GT Kelv]

If it's anything like the over-the-top Sega super GT arcade game from my childhood in the mid 90's, this should be a blast.
Super GT, or SCUD Race in Japan, was incredibly far ahead of it's time, or at least was marketed that way. There was legitimately plenty to awe at. Graphics looked insane... probably 5 years ahead of what was avail of console. The game play was incredibly hard but very fun, and it features the craziest, and loudest music of any racing game I've ever heard, edging out even ridge racer at the time. The technology used for the rendering was actually a property of lockheed Martin at the time, but later sold off as a separate entity and presently knowing as real3d if I'm not mistaken.
Great news but even better once we hear something confirming a console release.

I'd love to play Super GT/ Scud Race on my rig at home. They released Daytona USA on console but not SG/SR. I never understood that.

 

[glassjaw]

@highlifeGT I can relate, it's my favorite game of all time

I'd love to play Super GT/ Scud Race on my rig at home. They released Daytona USA on console but not SG/SR. I never understood that.

There's a theory about that. Sega used Scud Race for a tech demo on early Dreamcast SDKs. I've read that Core Design (the old Tomb Raider people) were at one point working on or being considered to work on a port, but by the time the home version would have released, the BPR Global GT Series (which the game fully licensed) had been shuttered in favor of the FIA GT Championship. Besides, everyone had Gran Turismo fever about that time, so they may have just doubled down on Sega GT instead. There are also rumors Scud Race was originally planned for the Saturn, kind of like the port of Virtua Fighter 3 that never saw the light of day.

That's why I'm so excited for SWDC. This game feels like the second coming of Scud Race in a way. No, it probably won't play quite as well, and be as much ahead of its time (or even at all), but the partnership of cutting edge GT racing series + Sega arcade style just screams Scud Race.

 

[bdj57]

I'm glad finally Sega make a return to make interesting stuff like this. Myself has been grown up by the likes of Sega Rally, Daytona USA and Scud Race (also with other arcade racers, that was a good times...) Those are games that fill my childhood and now having a racing arcade like this once more just brings me great feels of nostalgia! . Hopefully this will be available worldwide not just in Japan or specific region, because I really want to try it!

 

[highlifeGT]

I'd love to play Super GT/ Scud Race on my rig at home. They released Daytona USA on console but not SG/SR. I never understood that.

I figured out how to do that much...

 

[tankuroded]

Deployment to Japanese arcades have began.

 

[jm79]

In Japan at the moment, and just had a play of this! It's brilliant, arcadey, in a very fun, Sega style way. Raced against some online guys and the rest of the field was bots.

I was driving the thing terribly because, you know, excuses, but I got a video, I'll try and put it up later...

 

[JohnBM01]

I figured I'd revisit SEGA World Drivers Championship.

I never seen or played this game, but I think this game is truly beautiful and detailed. Kind of helps this game is powered by the Unreal Engine. All of cars and tracks are nicely detailed. A great job was done with this game from videos I've seen. It may not be any vintage SEGA racing experience, but it's a noble effort to say the least.

 

[tankuroded]

End of an era: SWDC online services to shut down on April 30, 2021

Arcade owners may able to continue using the machine offline after the date - this is probably related to launch of their new Initial D arcade game (Initial D the Arcade).

 

[MXH]

Not the necrobump I was looking for

So the likelyhood of this ever coming to consoles is zero, right?

Gutted. Looked like so much fun.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

I've been wanting to play this ever since it was announced, but it's impossible unless you live in Japan probably.

With the servers shutting down, we might actually now be able to play it with emulators so it's a blessing in disguise if you think about it.