WipEout Vibes: 90s Culture Explosion Now In The Browser!
With this power, I'll never get work done again.
The pace of technology is relentless.
You're sitting in front of the TV proclaiming it won't get better than this as you hurtle around Altima VII for the 100th time.
You plead with your parents, "Just one more try!" before the images on your CRT are replaced by similar scenes in your dreams.
Wipeout was just that kind of game. So different from anything before it, so influential for everything after it.
Fast forward 28 years, and here we are, a bit older and greyer. It's our time now to set the rules for our kids, fully aware of what it was like being young ourselves.
But what was once a cutting-edge tour de force, showcasing what the PlayStation was capable of, is now available to play with a simple internet connection and browser.
It's extraordinary just how much of our childhood experiences can be distilled down to a smartphone, or in this case, effortlessly accessed through Chrome or your browser of choice.
The evolution of gaming accessibility is truly remarkable. But how did we get here, in the browser, specifically?
Enter, PhobosLab...
Rewriting wipEout
In 2022, the source code of the iconic PlayStation launch title wipEout was unexpectedly leaked.
For mere mortals like myself, I admittedly didn't grasp what this truly meant, but for engineers like Dominic Szablewski, he immediately saw potential.
"Recently, I delved into it, culminating in a (almost) full rewrite that now compiles seamlessly on Windows, Linux, macOS, and WASM." he says on his blog.
Dominic is the wizard behind the scenes, performing what seems like magic to my non-technical mind, and what he has achieved is quite the feat.
The real highlight is the WASM aspect, and without delving into technical details, Dominic successfully ported the code with finesse.
Dominic on his blog goes on to say, "The quality of the leaked source is abysmal. From what I can piece together, it mainly contains the “Wipeout ATI 3D Rage Edition” of the game. A lacklustre port for Windows that was bundled with ATI GPUs."
I highly recommend exploring Dominic's blog; delving into his thoughts provides a genuinely fascinating insight that I believe you'll find enriching and insightful.
In his closing thoughts, he said, "There's still lots of bugs to fix (both old and new) and more features to implement. If you want to help, please stop by over at github.com/phoboslab/wipeout-rewrite, clone the source and build the game yourself. You'll need the wipeout-data-v01.zip to run it. I will not provide the executables for any platform; please don't ask."
As for WipEout in the browser, have a look for yourself by clicking on the button below.
Have fun, party like it's 1995 and indulge in just one more turn.
Wipeout Omega Collection
Still got a Wipeout itch that needs to be scratched? Grab a copy of Wipeout Omega Collection from Amazon. Wipeout Omega Collection is the last great Wipeout released on console. We'll get a small kickback from any purchases made.
Comments ()