F-ZERO vs. Wipeout (A Practice Essay).

Note:  Before I start, just let me say that I'm well aware that Wikipedia isn't considered a 'reliable source' for academic purposes, but keep in mind, this is nothing more than a 'practice essay', so I'm keeping it simple for now.

This essay is going to compare the video game franchises F-ZERO (Nintendo) and Wipeout (SONY), and argue whether or not Sony's Wipeout is indeed a 'shameless copy' of Nintendo's F-ZERO.

F-ZERO was a launch-title for Nintendo's popluar system, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (henceforth referred to as SNES), released in Japan in the year 1990, and was, ground-breaking it terms of using what Nintendo called Mode 7 (crude replication of a seemingly three dimensional world), giving players, for the first time in video game history, a well-simulated, high speed racing game.

Wipeout was released on the PlayStation, in 1995, a year after the PlayStation's launch, and five years after F-ZERO.

Both games feature "flying cars" in worlds that race on unique mag-lev/anti-gravity technology for their tracks, as opposed to racing on a more traditional road.

In the original F-ZERO you could choose from one of four cars, each different slightly in weight, speed, acceleration and handling.  However in the original Wipeout, you could choose from one of four teams, each team having two cars each, giving the player a total of eight cars from which to choose, again, each car having its unique pros and cons.

The designer of Wipeout, Nick Burcombe, admits that he "took inspiration" for the car designs from games "like [...] F-ZERO and Mario Kart"

F-ZERO, although ground braking for the time, was limited by the at-the-time inability of the SNES to emulate a true 3D world, meaning that the tracks were, save for a few jumps, entirely flat.

 By the time the first Wipeout game was released, video game technology had improved in leaps and bounds, allowing this game to exist more naturally in all three dimensions, with tracks offering the likes of banked curves, tunnels, loops and corkscrews (something that wouldn't be seen in the F-ZERO franchise until three years later with the release of F-ZERO X, on the Nintendo64).

Wipeout also offers, on some tracks at least, the ability to take an alternate route to the finish line, where as F-ZERO almost exclusively sees all racing participants holding steadfast on the one track.

As far as game-play is concerned, while both can be considered "arcade racers" (as opposed to racing simulators), F-ZERO encourages competition strictly through racing, where as Wipeout offers it, much like in Mario Kart (another popular Nintendo franchise, which also pre-dates the release of Wipeout, this time by three years), through the gimmick of items you can use to hinder your opponents progress (without rendering them helpless nor out of the game completely).

CONCLUSION:
Given that the designer for the Wipeout franchise openly admits that he got his 'inspiration' from games "like [...] F-ZERO and Mario Kart", and that Wipeout was released so long after the release of the original F-ZERO, it is plain to see that Wipeout is nothing more than a 'shameless copy' of Nintendo's F-ZERO.

- Ian Hollis.

So it's 2012, and I'll be moving back to Sydney earlier than expect.  Why?  Because I found a place.  A place that I thought if I let slip by, I might not get as good of a place in as good of a location at as good of a price if I waited to move at a later date.  It's an upstairs bedroom with an upstairs bathroom, for $200/wk.

I'll me moving on  Wed, Jan 18, 2012.

There's a family that lives down stairs.

It's 'central' in that it's around a half hour walk to either the university, or the nearest shopping centre (Westfield Eastgardens), except that they are in opposite directions to one another.

And, just so you know, I am now enrolled in the following subjects:

Introduction to English
Introduction to Film
The Structure of Language
Educational Psychology

I'm still keen on doing ESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), but I'm in the wrong program, or something, so will see one of those student guidance people to see what I can do about that.

And now that I'm moved this blog to the same central location as all my other blogs, I'll hopefully be updating a lot more often from now on!

Enjoy My Life as a Student, 2012!

Bye bye! XD