Video Game Vintage Title: Initial D Extreme Stage

Initial D Extreme Stage

Initial D Extreme Stage is a racing game developed by Sega for the PlayStation 3. It is based on the Japanese comic Initial D created by Shuichi Shigeno in 1995.

Initial D Extreme Stage was released in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea on July 3, 2008. Initial D Extreme Stage is the sequel to PlayStation 2's Initial D: Special Stage and the PlayStation Portable's Initial D: Street Stage. Initial D Extreme Stage is not region protected. It was released in two versions, the Japanese version and the Asian version. They are both in Japanese, but the Asian version offers an English manual.

Initial D Extreme Stage Gameplay

It bears much similarity to Initial D Arcade Stage 4 with tweaks and additions. Restrictions placed on the player in the arcade, such as allowing vehicle tuning after 3 IC card ejects, have been removed as there is now no IC card.

The online play is available with a PlayStation Network account. The Japanese PSNet account allows users to connect using Sega's All.Net. Online is usable for all regions, but only in the Japanese version. Online play has ranking races, free races, chatrooms used for initiating free races, and currently ranked player lists. The chatrooms offer a limited chatting capability but allow custom messages.

Ranking mode matches up players on the PlayStation 3 system. Game points are gained from all races, based on how the player performed. After the race the player's ranking meter will either increase or decrease according things like match result, opponent ranking, and ranking points required for leveling up.