ModNation Racers Message Board older than one year ago

#greengaming This is a user-created race car in ModNation Racers. Its paint job comes with a twist. Covered in oil splatters and BP logos this kart proves no matter how cuddly the medium, the BP oil spill is serious business. More »

Despite three high-profile launches in May, the racing genre got lapped that month, according to NPD sales data. Sony's PS3-exclusive ModNation Racers, Activision's Bizarre-developed Blur and Disney's excellent Split/Second all fared poorly on the retail circuit with ModNation squeezing its way into the top 15 (on just one platform, mind you), while the other two multiplatform titles didn't crack the top 30.

Analyst Michael Pachter told IGN that he "thought the ModNation number was respectable, since the game came out only on May 25." Blur came out on the same day, so, relatively, its sales were disappointing.

While sales figures weren't provided for any of the above games, Pachter writes in his monthly NPD analysis that Blur "sold well below our estimate of 100,000 units," giving us some insight into how both it and Split/Second performed. However, Split/Second was released a week earlier than ModNation and Blur.

With two much higher-profile racing games coming out this fall, in Gran Turismo 5 and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, it remains to be seen if the racing genre itself is toxic at the checkout counter or if gamers have simply passed over May's hybrid concepts, content to wait for the new models of their favorite makes.

Who says Master Chief will never be on the PlayStation 3?

Greetings everyone! We’re back after a little E3 break with the latest and greatest news from ModNation Racers.

ModNation Racers Online Changes

To keep the racer in you having fun in ModNation, some changes where made to the XP Race and XP Series that we think everyone will like. Firstly, we’ve added all the United Front Games tracks to the XP race queue. In addition, we have created seven new XP Race Series, which brings the total to 14. Both of these changes are live in ModNation Racers as of today!

New XP Race Series:

Series 8:

• Dire Cliffs
• Rumble Jungle
• Fracture
• Crazy Crater
• Citadel Heights

Series 9:

• Modobahn
• Sinkhole
• Lost Temple
• Rumble Island
• Launchers Rush

Series 10:

• Drift Paradise
• Rickety Bridge
• Craggy Hills
• Market Run
• Crazy Crater

Series 11:

• Miners Rift
• Island Dash
• BoardWalk
• Flaming Jumps
• Sinkhole

Series 12:

• Switchback Valley
• Launchers Rush
• Fracture
• Drift Paradise
• Marina

Series 13:

• Alpine Drop
• Boardwalk
• Wild Run
• Market Run
• Crazy Crater

Series 14:

• Miners Rift
• Sinkhole
• Craggy Hills
• Sandstorm
• Lost Temple

Patch Update?

Thanks for all the great comments and opinions on our last post. As UFG stated, we are listening to all your concerns and are hard at work on upgrades to make your experience the best possible. While we don’t have a date today, know that one will be coming soon.

Calling All Creators

Amazing ModNation creations are shared every day and we are playing a ton of them. If you are interested in submitting your “mod”-sterpiece, kart, or track to be a future “creation” of the week be sure to visit up on the official ModNation Community site. Who knows? You might see your handiwork on the PlayStation.Blog.

MNR Creators Showcase

Mod of the Week: Kaptain K9
Creator: RobynnDarcy

Kart of the Week: Mako Shark
Creator: Flippy71134

Track of the Week: America, oh so beautiful
Creator Name: schwagman

Princess Mod and Princess Kart

Last week we released Princess Mod and Kart for all of our female racers in ModNation. Princess Mod and Kart can be purchased separately or as a bundle from the PlayStation Store.

ModNation Racers Community is Growing

While the official community site is on Community.ModNation.com, there are other amazing MNR sites to visit who have cool contests, tips, creations on display, and more. Be sure to check some of them out. On behalf of the entire ModNation team, thanks for all the Mod love and support.

ModNationOnline
www.modnationonline.com
ModNation Online is an invaluable resource for ModNation fans. Here you can get the latest news, weekly features, and HD videos or jump in the forums for polls and discussions with the active and ever-growing community. ModNation Online also features a database of user-generated creations where you can browse, rate, or submit mods, karts, and tracks.

ModNationRacersCentral
http://www.mnrcentral.com/
ModNation Racers Central is a forum-centric fan site that aims to provide all types of designers and racers a place to interact in fun and meaningful ways. Here you will find breaking news, user created blogs, and an active forum where members can discuss all things ModNation and promote their latest creations.

ModRacingsNation
http://www.modracingnation.com/ ModRacing Nation is a fan blog dedicated to delivering all news and media related to ModNation Racers. Gathered here you’ll find all the latest news, as well as a sleek archive of high quality screens and videos.

ModNationRacersNetwork
http://www.mnrnetwork.com/
ModNation Racers Network is a fan forum where you can get recent news and announcements as well as a place to gather and discuss the game, critique creations, get feedback on your designs, or promote your latest work of art.

ModNationPodcast
http://www.youtube.com/mnpodcast
ModNation Podcast provides a weekly video podcast that wraps up the week’s news and spotlights user creations from the community. They offer a funny unique perspective on the world of ModNation, reporting on rumors, reviewing creations, and providing helpful tutorials.

More news to come on the next ModNation Monday!

We've got Mods and karts from Sony's racer that all honor the Big N.

Hi, it’s William Ho here for the Pre-E3 ModNation Monday post. I’m excited to give you some updates about ModNation Racers and what’s been cookin’ at United Front Games.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since we announced ModNation on stage at E3, now it’s out in the world! It’s been exciting to see the massive amounts of Racing, Creating, and Sharing going on. Our dev team couldn’t be happier to see our supporters enjoying the product of two and a half years of love and labor. We enjoy playing ModNation Racers as much as you do.

Now while there a lot of people that love the game, we know there are some issues that are affecting the fun factor of ModNation, and we just want to say-

United Front Games is with you for the long haul.

I’m always asked, “what are you guys up to now?” The answer is always the same: job number one is actively monitoring and supporting the ModNation community.

We are amazed by your published creations every day. We’re enjoying online races with you. We read your forum postings and your tweets. We discuss all of your suggestions, no matter how big or small. We watch. We play. We listen.

We are working on multiple fronts to make your ModNation Racers experience even more fun. You’ve already seen some improvements in our online racing. Our friends at Sony San Diego Studio officially launched community.modnation.com so you can stay connected to the ModNation community from just about anywhere. And there’s much more to come.

With that said, I have something exciting stats to share with you. The ModNation community has exceeded the 500,000 creation mark! We worked hard to build the most accessible, freest, and deepest sandbox for you to play in. With a half million creations and counting, I think we achieved that goal. Here’s just a few of the half million awesome creations created by the ModNation community:

Mod: Glass-eye Phil, Creator: Reavyn1

Kart: Glass Eye Television Repair, Creator: Reavyn1

Track: Modcoaster, Creator Name: hellstorm0157

Also, you’ve played more than 1,000,000 ONLINE RACES. That’s an amazing milestone for a community that’s only a few weeks young.

We can’t thank our fans enough for your support. We’ve appreciated your enthusiasm since we revealed ModNation Racers at E3 one year ago. We’re thrilled with all of the e-mails, forum postings, tweets, and fan sites, so keep ’em coming! We are dedicated to make the best possible Race, Create, Share experience possible and know we’re working hard on some rock-solid upgrades to ModNation Racers.

Look out for more information after E3, you’ll hear about it first on the PlayStation.Blog!

I’m back with two videos for you. First is the ModNation Racers launch trailer that shows what we feel is the core of the game: Racing and Creating wherever you are.

Second, I’m happy to give you the final installment of our behind-the-scenes look at ModNation Racers PSP. It was a crazy year, and in this video you can see it all come together as we get ready to ship for our May 25th shelf date. As you saw in the last video, we have some of the best programmers and artists in the industry and in this follow-up you can see how the entire team comes together, whether at 10am or 4am, to ship a killer game. Working side by side with us is our QA group. You met several testers and management in the last vid, and here you will see how integral this talented, dedicated group is.

This game has been an amazing journey and we are all very proud to be part of the ModNation family. Keep an eye out for some of the names you see in these videos while racing and throughout the community. Our guys have made some great Mods (including Biff and Gary, Mom, and the rest of the Career family), Karts, and Tracks that are some of our favorites. The thousands of creations that the community has already published is making our goal of unlimited download possibilities become a reality!

Hope you all have enjoyed the look ‘behind the curtain’ and enjoy the game as much as we do.

Another week, another bunch of gems you have to download.

Give gamers creation tools, and they'll immediately recreate icons from other famous franchises. Like LittleBigPlanet before it, ModNation Racers' extensive character and car editor has been used to pay homage to a number of high-profile games and films -- and these creations are the most beloved by the MNR community.

In addition to Peto-Mad's Mario (above), the top downloaded creations include Iron Man, Spider-Man, and a Transformer to boot. The accuracy of these creations have us wondering: will Sony take these user-submitted Mods down before another company threatens a lawsuit?

Give gamers creation tools, and they'll immediately recreate icons from other famous franchises. Like LittleBigPlanet before it, ModNation Racers' extensive character and car editor has been used to pay homage to a number of high-profile games and films -- and these creations are the most beloved by the MNR community.

In addition to Peto-Mad's Mario (above), the top downloaded creations include Iron Man, Spider-Man, and a Transformer to boot. The accuracy of these creations have us wondering: will Sony take these user-submitted Mods down before another company threatens a lawsuit?

The importance of music in a game can’t be understated. It can make all the difference, no matter what type of game you’re playing. Getting the right music was tricky for ModNation Racers since it needed to not only feel like racing, but also to capture the creative spirit and unique visual style of the ModNation Racers universe. Thankfully, United Front Games did a great job finding the right guys for the job.The end result is an upbeat mix of rock, hip-hop, and funk music composed by a handful of talented composers, including Peter Chapman, Marc Baril, and Melissa Reese, who are all featured on the soundtrack.

We are now happy to announce the release of the ModNation Racers soundtrack on PSN for only $7.99. The 16-track soundtrack, featuring 15 songs from the game as well as a bonus track, can also be found on iTunes.

Here are a few of my favorite tracks:

ModNation Theme

This bonus track is the official anthem for ModNation Racers and everybody who worked on the game is required to sing it to themselves once a day.

Here to Have Fun

This track always elevates my mood… probably has something to do with the vocals saying something about partying all day.

Put Your Headphones On

This track invariably gets me nodding my head when the chorus kicks in. It’s good driving music too, although I have to remind myself when I am in my car not to boost too much and that drifting is probably not a good idea.

We hope you enjoy the soundtrack as much as we are and, of course, if you haven’t already, pick up ModNation Racers out now on both PS3 and PSP!

Also, if you have any questions on how the music or soundtracks are put together — ask away and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Hi everyone, Ramone Russell here with a bit of ModNation Racers news. All great games deserve their own website and ModNation Racers is no different. Today we are excited to reveal the Community Website. (For those who haven’t stumbled across it during our soft launch)

Community.ModNation.com is your one stop shop for all things ModNation Racers when you aren’t taking down Espresso in your career or trying to break the Hot Lap time for the day in the ModSpot. Interacting with ModNation Racer’s web community is only the tip of the iceberg. You can search/view all the top rated Karts, Mods, and Tracks from both the PS3 and PSP versions of ModNation Racers. In addition, Hot Lap, XP, and Race leaderboards from the game are searchable here as well.

ModNation Racer’s community portal was built mostly in house here at the San Diego Studio. The San Diego Online Development team started working on ModNation Racers’ community portal over 6 months ago with heavy involvement and input from United Front Games. Providing everyone a seamless experience from the game to the game’s website was one of our goals from day one.

Browsing creations and viewing the leaderboards are just a fraction of the features included in the site. You can also visit the forums and interact with other members of the ModNation Racers community, including members of the development team at UFG. In the coming months we will introduce new features to the site, many of which will come from community requests. It’s also a great place to provide feedback and let us know what you think about ModNation Racers.

The home page of ModNation Racers Community Portal. Here you can browse the Top 5 Mods/Karts/Tracks, view yesterdays Hot Lap Champ and Top Players. It’s also where you can create your personalized signature.

By clicking on the Creations tab you can browse thousands of community created Mods, Karts, and Tracks using the same search options found in the circle menu.

The Leaderboards tab allows you to browse by Hot Lap, Race, Creation, and XP.

Your personalized profile card displays all of your stats and the Mods/Karts you have uploaded to the servers.

Last but certainly not least, ModNation Racers official forums. Be sure to check weekly for official ModNation Racers news and event updates from the development team.

Well, that’s all from me for now. We look forward to seeing you in the ModSpot and on Community.ModNation.com.

Me and my low-rider

P.S. Ready for a new Kart or Mod? Every 2 weeks we will be introducing new Mods and Karts on the PSN! Each comes with new accessories you can use for your own creations.

We kicked things of with Van Man and his Super Nova Kart.

Tomorrow “Vamp” hits the track in a Kart fitting for the undead. A new Mod or Kart for ModNation Racers PS3 is only ($.99) separately and ($1.75) for the bundle.

Drive the Back to the Future time machine, deliver a pizza, or be the president.

Virgin Gaming may not be ready to officially reveal its operations until E3, but a bit of sleuthing has shown that at least part of its business likely will be online tournaments for popular games -- with cash prizes. MaxConsole found that the VirginGaming.com domain is administered by Entertainment Tech, the same company that runs WorldGaming.com; a site that allows members to compete in PS3 and Xbox 360 games for money. In addition, a call by MaxConsole to Entertainment Tech's Toronto office reportedly was met by a "Welcome to Virgin Gaming" greeting.

Even more conclusive is this page on the Virgin site for a ModNation Racers "Online Tournament" for Canadian gamers, held in coordination with GameStop and EBGames' Canadian branches. When contacted by Joystiq, Virgin declined to comment on its business as it relates to game tournaments -- so we'll continue holding out hope that tournaments will be merely a side project, and the real business of Virgin Gaming will be to publish a Color a Dinosaur sequel.

#e3 A tournament ad packed inside Canadian copies of ModNation Racers leads us to a Virgin Gaming countdown clock, indicating June 14 as the date for the unvieling of Virgin's new gaming service, along with an early partnership with Sony. More »

Come see the nifty creations that have been whipped up in the game's first few days.

#ps3 ModNation Racers on PlayStation 3 may be a fine racing game, but its frequent 30-plus-second load times are lamentable. Good thing one of the game's producers told us a fix is coming. More »

Hi everyone! At long last, ModNation Racers is available now for the PSP! Thanks to those who have been following my blog posts the past few months as we’ve been working hard to bring you a great game loaded with features. We’ve talked at length about the over-the-top kart racing action, as well as the revolutionary Creation Studio tools that let you design Mods, Karts, and Tracks on the fly before you Share them with the world! Critics are starting to chime in too with great things to say, and we’re happy all our efforts are paying off.

What we haven’t talked about yet is price. You can get all of this amazing content for a low price of $29.99, whether you prefer to buy it on UMD or digitally through the PlayStation Store. With over 25 tracks, a PSP-version exclusive Last Kart Standing Mode, and virtually endless user-generated content, this really is an incredible purchase for the long summer days.

Speaking of long days…just how hard have we been working? Well I kind of touched on that in my previous post, when I mentioned a Behind-the-Scenes video that was coming. It’s here now to watch, and watching it myself I am reminded of all the fun we had making ModNation Racers as well as all that hard work. Throughout the video you’ll see some of our daily meetings, trips to QA, and nearly every person focused on making the game all that it is today!

From day 20 down to the final hours before we shipped, from funny moments to the serious make-or-break decisions that have to be made on the fly, everything is chronicled in this video. You will see the design decisions, bug reviews, programmers and artists working side-by-side and some of the levity that breaks the tension of a team at 4am.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy this first installment of the video, above. And alas, now I can finally see you on the track!

#unitedfrontgames Find out how cake and beer helped one studio produce the massive creative racing engine that is ModNation Racers in this week's Kotaku Talk Radio Podcast, now available for download. More »

#review The PlayStation 3 Play Create Share initiative takes to the streets with ModNation Racers, the urban vinyl-fueled kart racer from United Front Studios. Let's take it for a spin. More »

#podcast Our review of the Playstation 3's ModNation Racers won't be hitting for another hour or so, so why not take the time to talk to the folks behind the game on Kotaku Talk Radio? More »

Kotaku Talk Radio will be recording live on Wednesday. 11am Kotaku Time. 1pm ET. 10am PT. Host: Me. Guests: Dan Sochan talking about his new game, the PS3's ModNation Racers. Call-in and live-streaming details will be on Kotaku at showtime. More »

Hey everyone! I’ve spent the last couple years of my life working on ModNation Racers, and now I’m excited to sit back, relax and enjoy it!

Lets begin with our Launch Trailer!

So I’ve just unwrapped my copy and I’m about to check it out. Now there is a LOT of things you can do in ModNation Racers, so I figured I would help you out on your first day.

Here’s a list of the five things I think are worth checking out right away.

1. Download Sackboy!

If you’re lucky, you scored a voucher for Sackboy and his Kart (one of my favorite karts in the game). The voucher is packed in with the game and manual, so make sure you don’t accidentally toss it out.

2. Career Basics

The first few races in the Career will teach you the basics: drifting, drafting, defense, boost, weapons and all the good stuff. A few quick tips:

• Use Boost wisely! Once you get out in front of the pack, manage your boost wisely. Save some boost for shields if you want to stay out in front.
• Learn to drift! Use the X button to drift. Drifting accumulates boost and it’s critical to getting around the tracks.
• Shortcuts! Keep your eyes open and watch out for shortcuts. The risk is worth the reward.

3. Track Studio

Track Studio is the bread and butter of creation in ModNation, and is THE BEST track creator, well, ever. It’s super easy to use and makes creation really fun. Want to try something a little different? Try playing around with the terrain before you lay out your track. It’s a different experience than you have seen in most videos and happens to be my favorite way to build tracks. I was going to list out some tips, but it’s probably best if I just point you in the direction of the Tutorials, which are informative and fun to watch. You don’t have to leave the Track Studio to watch them — just press the Start button and select “Tutorials” in the circle menu.

4. Hottest User-Generated Tracks

If you want to see what the community has deemed to be the hottest tracks, then the best thing to do is check out the Top Tracks or Hot Lap events in the ModSpot.

The Top Tracks event is populated with the hottest user-created tracks. It’s really easy and fun way to dive in a check out what’s hot. It’s a series event, so may the best Mod win! Hot Lap is also populated with user-created tracks. It’s another way to check out the hottest tracks, but there is a twist to this event. You get to race against the ghost of the Hot Lap leader; it’s all about lap times! There’s a new track every day and, if you finish in the top 10%, you’ll get a nice little reward.

5. Creation Browser

Probably the fastest way to see just how cool the creative tools are in ModNaiton is to see what other players are doing with them. To do that, check out the Creation Browser. To access the Creation Browser, simply drive up to and activate the “Share” station in the ModSpot.

Each creation gets a thumbnail preview so it’s really easy to browse. If you see something you like, download it and check it out. It’s a good way to get inspired and see just how cool the creation tools are.

Oh… and don’t forget to leave comments and vote! A lot of people put tons of work into their creation, so if you’re going to download it be sure to give them some props!

That’s it for now, can’t wait to see you in the ModSpot!

Ability to Play, Create, Share brings a fresh kart racing experience to players with unique customization and deep online features.

Greetings and happy “OMG we are launching tomorrow” ModNation Monday!

If you are like me, you’re still a bit dazed from last night’s LOST season finale (anyone else still confused?). But I’m still uber-stoked that everyone will finally get their hands on ModNation Racers TOMORROW on both PS3 and PSP!

Actually playing the final version of the game you’ve been working on for so many months is probably the best part of being in this incredible industry. That’s how I spent my weekend and that’s when I was reminded of why I love playing this game (and why the Photo Mode rocks!).

*Please excuse my “so-so” screen shots. I’m a racer, not a photographer!

#1 The Chuck Wagon

It’s not sexy, it’s not even that cool, but it’s MINE. There is no feeling like making and racing your own kart, and it’s 100% yours. Look out for this kart online, you’ll both know who to aim your weapon at. If it passes you up, you’ll know who just smoked you!

#2 Mini-Me

Some racers will make their favorite characters, some will think of some completely original creations of their own. But if you’re like me, you will put yourself in the game so when you showboat, you can say, “THAT’S ME!”

#3 Bringing the Hurt (and avoiding it too!)

We’ve covered this subject in past blog posts, but the weapons are a BLAST (see what I did there?). While I love raining down the pain in a well-timed Bolt Storm or dropping a well-placed mine right in front of a tailgater, there is a great feeling hitting my shields just at the right moment to avoid an attack or dodging a nasty missile like this.

#4 Attitude Adjustment

What I love about ModNation Racers is that as soon as you get cocky, the game will remind you of your mistake. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are, there is always someone better, or who has a weapon ready to trigger. As soon as I got online I learned the hard way. Ouch! No matter how much time I’ve spent with the game, there are some great racers out there.

#5 Trading Paint

While weapons are fun, the art of the sideswipe is a beautiful thing. Lining up next to a racer, tapping your right analog stick just at the right time, and smacking your competion into railing (…or off a very high cliff) is pure bliss.

#6 Fire From My Tires

Drifting is huge source of joy in this game, but when you drift long enough, your tires ignite and light up the road. Best Back to the Future tribute ever.

Those are just a few things I dig about ModNation Racers, and I’m pretty certain you will too TOMORROW! Notice I didn’t even touch track creation, which is probably the most revolutionary thing about the game, but we have to save some things for later. :)

Stay tuned for a Launch Day post tomorrow from Kyle Zundel, the game’s producer, to get some Race Day tips and to see our launch trailer. And we’ve got more good stuff to come in following ModNation Mondays, including new Artist Spotlights. Until then…

See you online!

#podcast One of the creators of ModNation Racers, the next big PlayStation 3 exclusive, joins us for Kotaku Talk Radio this week. I invited him, so I guess he won't technically be crashing. More »

#mods ModNation Racers was pitched as a kind of kart-racer meets LittleBigPlanet, so half the fun is in the character customizations. These homages to Spider-Man, David Hasselhoff and The Bride from Kill Bill show how deep the creation engine runs. More »

Come watch the ModNation creation suite in action.

#clips What happens when Sony's hilarious mouthpiece Kevin Butler goes head to head against Sony Computer Entertainment America's CEO and President Jack Tretton in ModNation Racers? "Tell me more, grown-up child actor." More »