After years of development, UK publisher Read-Only Memory is finally releasing its WipEout book, WipEout Futurism – and we personally cannot wait to get our hands on it.
To build anticipation for the release, ROM has published a short piece by former Designers Republic staffer and WipEout Futurism design director Michael C Place, who worked closely with Nicky Carus-Wescott on creating the series' unique visual style.
"This is a big one personally for Nicky and I," he says. "We met whilst working on WipEout, Nicky on the WipEout art team at Psygnosis in Liverpool, myself at tDR™ in Sheffield. I think it is fairly safe to say that we were not thinking then that the game would have such a big impact on so many people."
He adds:
You are kind of in this bubble, it was just heads down in the old AVEC Building, doing what we felt was right. Not having done any work with a videogame company definitely helped. We approached the work as though these things were real, it was world-building really.
All this work was of course, done in isolation. All the best work is done by having a great team, and the teams on WipEout, WipEout 2097 and Wipeout 3 were incredible. It was a lot of hard work – a lot of all-nighters – but because we could see how good this could be, it spurred us on to go that extra mile.
So yeah, 29-odd years later, Nicky is sat with me in our studio in Otley. We are both older and a little bit wiser (maybe). But absolutely loving revisiting a big part of our shared history (wait until you see the Psygnosis/tDR™ faxes in the finished book).
Michael and Nicky are now married and run Studio.Build in Yorkshire.
"We can’t wait for people to see the book," concludes Michael. "It’s a real testament to a moment in time where it felt like anything was possible. It’s a testament to a small group of individuals with a shared vision. It’s a beautiful thing."
WipEout Futurism's limited edition has already sold out, and it will launch alongside the 'general release' edition in the Autumn of this year.