Alongside F-Zero, Wipeout was one of the formative sci-fi anti-gravity racing games. Developed by Psygnosis and published for PlayStation and PC in 1995, the game combined high-speed action with a flowing ambient soundtrack made by real electronic music artists including CoLD SToRAGE, Leftfield, The Chemical Brothers, and Orbital.
And now the original game's source code has been secured thanks to archivist group Forest of Illusion. Although the group is nominally dedicated to preserving old Nintendo games, it seems they've branched out to include PlayStation 1 games as well (although Wipeout did make it to the N64 in 1998, this appears to be the original game's source code for PS1 and Windows PC).
"Today we have released the source code to Wipeout by Psygnosis, a futuristic racing game set in 2052!” Forest of Illusion writes on the source code’s page. “ It includes the source to both the original PSX game as well as its Windows port. Please note that it is currently unknown if these sources are fully buildable."
Forest of Illusion added that the source code is being posted for "educational and preservation purposes" and asked people not to do anything illegal with it–like using it to make their own version of Wipeout. That said, a competent programmer could do whatever they want with that code. Forest of Illusion also confirmed that the code "has nothing to do with the authors," meaning it's being leaked without Psygnosis's permission.
Psygnosis went defunct back in 2012 but returned as Firesprite Studios in 2013. Coming full circle, Firesprite was acquired by Sony last year. Although there was no mention of what Firesprite would be working on in last year's announcement, many fans are hoping for the return of Wipeout.
If you're looking to play some Wipeout, you could get the Wipeout Omega Collection for PS4, or you can go back to play Wipeout HD on the original PS3. Sony shut down the PS3's multiplayer servers some time ago, but the PSOne Online Network team brought 'em back so Wipeout HD fans can play online together once again–and in 60fps too!
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