Sony quests for biking domination

Despite releasing a rather enjoyable anti-war ad, Sony is clearly suffering from the rampant Francophobia currently sweeping the US, announcing a cycling sim of its own to compete with Konami's Le Tour de France: Centenary Edition, announced exclusively (at least for the time being) for PS2 yesterday afternoon. Ah not really, we're just stirring.

Downhill Domination, the game's called, and it's currently underway at SCEA's Santa Monica studio and Incog Inc. Downhill Domination is "the first downhill mountain bike racing game ever published for a next-generation console" according to Sony, and features 14 pro riders, licensed manufacturers and all the rest - not to mention the requisite extreme sports soundtrack.

Indeed, "extreme sport" finally, blushingly, creeps into the third paragraph of the press release, so Konami clearly hasn't much to worry about. We doubt there's a button to be bashed in DD. For its part though, Downhill Domination aims to have us racing down vertical mountainsides and through urban environments with lots of stunts to perform "at speeds in excess of 60 miles per hour". There will be three unique course styles; Mountain Cross, Technical Downhill and Freeride, with 27 "go anywhere" tracks, and lots of SSX-style points to be earned. Finally, in the multiplayer department, SCEA is promising five multiplayer modes for four players simultaneously (perhaps including online options, given Twisted Metal Black Online developer Incog's pedigree).

Downhill Domination is due out in the summer, and, as with everything at the moment, we should get a good look at it during E3 next month.