TOKYO - Namco had announced quite a few titles for 1998 and 1999 earlier this summer, but at TGS this fall, some of them were left in the dust. The company chose to make R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 its biggest attraction, devoting almost its whole booth to the game. The booth featured a DJ mixing tunes while women clad in Namco and R4-wear swung flags around and danced. The atmosphere was an interesting one, with maybe two dozen or more stations set up with R4. The JogCon controller, however, was nowhere to be found.

　　So how did R4 play? It feels very much like one of the classic Ridge Racer titles. The control is very intuitive and Namco has fixed some of the problems with the series. For instance, now instead of scraping a wall and coming to a complete stop, it's much more realistic that way. Analog control on the Dual Shock wasn't working as of yet, but the game did have some excellent force-feedback effects using the pad. Its graphics are superb, and they really do their job to make you feel like you're in a real environment, with some amazing lighting effects.

　　The game promises to be more of a role-playing game, with a true "team" simulation. R4's menus are all high-res and look great with a mixture of Rage Racer's futuristic yet simplistic look somewhat like Gran Turismo.

　　R4 goes on sale in Japan on December 3, the same date that all the previous games in the series have been released on.

　　In addition to R4, Namco had the soccer simulation Libero Grande, Smash Court 2, and Tails of Fantasia (all for PlayStation). But absent from its booth were any sign of Pac-Man 3D, Star Ixiom, or Ace Combat 3, all of which were expected to be on show.