Pure Download - Jap only....

Has anyone got this yet???

New tracks and ships added ... but not here yet.

April 8, 2005 - Can't get enough of WipEout Pure? With the downloadable features built into the game, you will be getting more. SCE has plans to deliver continuing content for the game, stored onto a memory stick, and the first downloadable set of tracks and more should be available soon ... if you live in Japan, it's already waiting for you.

While the US plans for the WipEout Pure downloadable updates are still in limbo, the newly-released Japanese version of WipEout Pure has already received, marked for release this week via the Japanese WipEout Pure website. Users can download the file via the Japanese version of the game similarly to how the North American version works: inside the game is a feature for downloadable content, which connects to a wireless router or HotSpot and delivers the file to your PSP Memory Stick.

Called the Gamma Pack 1 for WipEout Pure (full technical name: UCJS10007DGAMMAPACK1PI), the downloadable content includes one new track (Staten Park), a new ship (the Tigron), and a new "Piranha" skin for the menu interface in the game. The downloadable content is saved to the PSP's SaveGame folder on a Memory Stick Duo, which is then accessed by the game while in play to deliver the new content. It works much like a WAD file in a PC game (in fact, the downloaded content includes a .wad file for the patch, as well as a new thumbnail for identifying the download when you're searching your save files.)

Total file size on your memory stick is 3.7MB-- so long as you haven't filled up your 32MB stick with music and videos, you should have plenty of room for a few updates of the game, although with new updates coming monthly while support lasts, there may eventually be more update files than a standard card can hold and you would have to sacrifice older saves or buy a bigger card. The developers at SCE Studios Liverpool have already plotted out and designed the bulk of the downloadable content, and are expecting the total file size to tip past 40MB.

This new content allows players to integrate the new ships and tracks by creating their own custom tournaments for single and multiplayer play. Note that all players have to have the various Gamma Pack saves in order to play on those tracks if you set up a multiplayer tournament on these new courses and with the new ships.

The WipEout Pure update for the Japanese version of the game unfortunately does not work with the North American edition of the game (even if you can get the file for your Memory Stick without downloading it through the game's internal uploader, you only get an error message when trying to make use of it.) We will have news on the North American update (which we would guess would/should be close to or the same as this Japanese one) as it becomes available.

(Credit to PS2DEV.org for advanced technical info on the update -- tech-savvy readers should check out the forum if you are interested in the methodology behind the integration...regular folks would be advised to wait for gameplay impressions of the new stuff.)