Frank-ProvoThe "downloads" option in WipeOut Pure has been taunting us since the game was released. What juicy goodies will Sony serve up from the currently-benign menu selection? We're impatient, so we asked and asked and asked, and finally someone from SCEE answered.
Content downloads for WipeOut Pure will come in the form of 12 new courses, 4 new ships, an unknown number of new team logos and front-end skins, and a website feature that will allow players to edit in-game billboards and music tracks.
Four of the new courses will be full-length original environments that were "held back" from the initial release. Four other courses will be re-made versions of classic courses taken from previous WipeOut games. The remaining courses will be so-called "short courses," geared primarily toward brief sprint races and link play.
Once downloaded, the new course packs will integrate into the game to create two additional tournaments. Of course, they'll also be available for single-course play as well.
Two particularly interesting features that will soon be made available are a billboard editor and a music mixer. People will be able to log on to the WipeOut Pure website, either on their PC's or using the PSP, and use the tools on the website to insert new billboards and music into the game. Apparently, the music mixer will allow players to re-mix all of the currently available music tracks and then re-insert them into the game or download them as standalone music files (MP3 most likely).
The various Sony branches (SCEE, SCEA, SCEJ) are currently hammering out the schedule of when downloadable content for WipeOut Pure will be made available. Currently, the plan calls for two new tracks and the editing features to be put online sometime in May. Additional tracks and downloads will then be made available on a monthly basis.
Those of you that don't have a WiFi router or access point will be happy to learn that it will also be possible to integrate downloads into the game by connecting your PSP to your PC using a USB data cable.
No matter which way you choose to obtain the bonus content, one this is certain–you're going to want to pick up a larger capacity Memory Stick before you start leeching downloadable content. Our source at Sony tells us that all of the tracks alone will consume roughly 50MB on a Memory Stick, and that the billboards and music tracks could potentially quadruple that amount. The pack-in Memory Stick holds only 32MB.