Removing online play for MotorStorm Japan was intentional

Evolution Studio’s MotorStorm has been out for quite a while now. Even though some people think that the video game is not good enough, it seems that PlayStation 3 (PS3) fans dig it so much that it recently topped the console’s charts for North America, Europe, and Japan.

Now, did you know that the Japanese version of the game doesn’t have online play? People argue that MotorStorm is lacking in features because the developers were pressured to make it as a launch title in The Land of the Rising Sun. However, lead designer Nigel Kershaw explained recently that that is not entirely the case.

Speaking to online site RIOTTT, Kershaw mentioned that removing online play in Japan was quite intentional because Japanese players are not so keen on that. When asked what Evolution did during the the gap between the Japanese release and the North American release, the lead designer remarked,

Well, the European and American versions have online. The Japanese version does not, they weren’t as bothered about online. We also tweaked a lot of things under the hood. Nothing you’d probably notice. We played around with some of the numbers and some of the graphics but the main thing we did was add online play.

Hmm, we wonder what some of our friends back there would say about that. Anyway, in case MotorStorm hasn’t made a believer yet in some of you, here is Kershaw’s explanation why the racing game is great,

While MotorStorm is a very accessible, arcade-y game, underpinning the whole title is a very, very realistic physics model and a very, very realistic driving model. And we always knew that was the starting point. To make something accessible, you donÂ’t twist reality, you have to start with reality. And then we let our imaginations run wild.

Evolution Studio’s MotorStorm has been out for quite a while now. Even though some people think that the video game is not good enough, it seems that PlayStation 3 (PS3) fans dig it so much that it recently topped the console’s charts for North America, Europe, and Japan.

Now, did you know that the Japanese version of the game doesn’t have online play? People argue that MotorStorm is lacking in features because the developers were pressured to make it as a launch title in The Land of the Rising Sun. However, lead designer Nigel Kershaw explained recently that that is not entirely the case.

Speaking to online site RIOTTT, Kershaw mentioned that removing online play in Japan was quite intentional because Japanese players are not so keen on that. When asked what Evolution did during the the gap between the Japanese release and the North American release, the lead designer remarked,

Well, the European and American versions have online. The Japanese version does not, they weren’t as bothered about online. We also tweaked a lot of things under the hood. Nothing you’d probably notice. We played around with some of the numbers and some of the graphics but the main thing we did was add online play.

Hmm, we wonder what some of our friends back there would say about that. Anyway, in case MotorStorm hasn’t made a believer yet in some of you, here is Kershaw’s explanation why the racing game is great,

While MotorStorm is a very accessible, arcade-y game, underpinning the whole title is a very, very realistic physics model and a very, very realistic driving model. And we always knew that was the starting point. To make something accessible, you donÂ’t twist reality, you have to start with reality. And then we let our imaginations run wild.