Check it out…

The “Moddys”: Our Favorite Mods
This week we begin the uber-popular “Moddys” Celebration 2.0. We searched through thousands upon thousands of Mods. Karts, and Tracks to present you with some of our favorite amazing, scary, and wacky creations.

This week we bring you… our favorite Mods.

The categories include:

• “Wrong Place, Wrong Time” (Favorite Mod Eating Another Mod)
• “Mostly Found In B-Rated Restaurants” (Favorite Fly Mods)
• “Baby Got Black” (Favorite Goth Mods)
• “I Find It Rather Easy Being Green” (Favorite Green Mods)
• “These Tights Cut Off My Circulation (Favorite Superhero Wanna-be’s)
• “We’re Big In Japan” (Favorite Japanese Themed Mods)
• “I Flatulate In Your General Direction” (Favorite Knight Mods)
• “That’s Gonna Leave A Mark” (Favorite Ouchy Mods)
• “Oh Great, Nightmares For A Week Now!” (Favorite Scary Mods)
• “hsssssssss……….” (Favorite Snake Mods)
• “Excuse Me, Can You Take My Picture?” (Favorite Tourist Mods)
• “Mommy… I’m Scared” (un-Favorite Clown Mods)
• “Making You An Offer You Can’t Refuse” (Favorite “Wanted” Mods)

Please take the time to view these creations HERE

ModNation Racers Two-Year Anniversary Collectable Wallpaper

Over the next few weeks we will randomly be handing out these limited edition wallpapers (25 only ea.) for your PS3 or Vita. Those lucky fans will have our crack team of artists customize their wallpaper with their PSN ID! Everyone will have the chance to attain the non-personalized anniversary wallpaper in our forums and Facebook page this week!

“Road Trip” Track of the Week / Community Hot Lap Challenge
Each week we will host the “Track of the Week” Community Hot Lap Challenge to see who can post the best time on selected tracks. The top three times will be mentioned here in this ModNation Monday blog for the world to see.

Last Week’s Hot Lap Results:

Track: “ModNation Movie Studios” by DougHeffernan

1. JuJitsu97 52.947s
2. ZlheckJr 53.497s
3. Jeanbean8 56.222s

This week’s track:

ModNation Racers For PS3

Track Creation Challenge: “Home Sweet Home”
This is going to be fun and quite possibly the best track creation challenge yet: We are pushing the ModNation track creators to design a track modeled after their hometown! The challenge will test the skills of the best track creators in the game. Relying on imagination and not a “midnight pizza-vison” to come up with amazing tracks or creations, those skills may not work here. Players will need to simulate the city where they live. Our favorite tracks will make their way into Top Tracks or Hot Lap for a week of notoriety. Sign up HERE!

Anniv. Celebration Fun Race Nights in May
Join ModNationSD for a night of fun races all throughout the month of May from 4:30 – 5:30 pm PST! If you would like to race, send a friend request to ModNationSD and I will add you for the night!

ModNation Racers Grand Prix 2012
Sign up this week for the ModNation Racers Gran Prix 2012 Racing Championship. The first set of qualifying “time trials” will be held this weekend (May 12-13). Racers will have the chance to qualify on a pre-determined United Front Games track to be hosted in Hot Lap all weekend. The top five fastest lap times (of those signed up) will automatically be entered into the finals. A remaining five spots for the finals will be decided the following week. Signup’s HERE.

Note to ModNation Racers players of both Road Trip and PS3 MNR – you may qualify for an “invitational” spot in the ModNation Racers PS3 Grand Prix Finals. The racer with the fastest time on a track tba will earn an automatic bid in the Grand Prix. Pretty cool huh? Sign up HERE and add the comment VITA GP to your name

Top Tracks: Best of PSN ID: MrDufus

ModNation Racers Hot Lap Track of the Week – Camping school in summer by Std9325

Monday: Croatia-Paklenica Park by mackAttack8000
Tuesday: The Corner Garden GP by anaximperator
Wednesday: Polar Plaza by Audi_S4-HB84
Thursday: Crocodile Chaos! by flathletics102
Friday: Dino Derby by Iop330
Saturday: Camping school in summer by Std9325
Sunday: Kyronia City by prob_alex

Happy Anniversary ModNation-ites!

Mark
PS3: ModNationSD
Vita: ModNationSDVita

Lately I’ve been spending a great deal of time outside the studio and, I must say, the positive reception the game is receiving from those that get their hands on the game has been outstanding. From in-store demo stations to my local “corner coffee station” to my kid’s little league team each and every comment is similar to “I’ve got to get this!”

But hey, don’t just take my word for it. Below is a random screenshot* from my personal Vita’s “near” feature showing what I and many others have experienced: players are loving this game! After only a few minutes of hands–on time with ModNation Racers: Road Trip they realize just how much long-lasting fun this title has to offer. That’s all we can ask for. Give it a play or two and you’ll be sold. The game speaks for itself!

You like us and we couldn’t be happier. Thank you!

ModNation Racers: Road Trip For Vita

Mod Explorer Destination Check-ins
Speaking of “Out and About” here are the Top 10 Mod Explorer destination check-in locations so far…

1. San Francisco – USA
2. New York – USA
3. Los Angeles – USA
4. Toronto – Canada
5. Tokyo – Japan
6. Kyoto – Japan
7. Singapore
8. Berlin – Germany
9. Melbourne – Australia
10. Chicago – USA

ModNation Racers: Road Trip San Diego Studio Faves

Show Us Your Creations!
Here is what we are looking for…

• ModNation Racers: Road Trip for PS Vita – MODS / KARTS
• ModNation Racers: Road Trip for PS Vita – TRACKS
• ModNation Racers: Road Trip for PS Vita – POSTCARDS
• ModNation Racers for PS3 – MODS / KARTS
• ModNation Racers for PS3 – TRACKS
• ModNation Racers: Road Trip “Track of the Week” Ice Empire by punishthem420

ModNation Racers For PS3

Top Tracks: A “RAD” Tribute
Imitation truly is the purest form of flattery, so we thought that the most appropriate way to celebrate the creativity of one of ModNation’s most celebrated and talented “Mod-jesters” was to challenge the community to design a track in the flavor of RADMANROB.

Look at what they came up with…

Hot Lap Track of the Week: Pirate Kingdom by statickey_660
(IMHO this is the definitive Pirate Themed track for ModNation Racers. Obviously a lot of planning and impeccable execution went into creating this track. Truly an epic adventure. Thank you statickey_660! )

This week we put the community up to the task of selecting this week’s “Track of the Week” and Hot Lap tracks.

Take a look and see if you agree.
Monday: Dino Crisis Coaster by statickey_660 (Another great track submitted this week from our friend statickey_660 from Japan. This man knows how to build some blockbuster tracks!)
Tuesday: Desert Garden Utopia by LLoyd2k4 (LLoyd2k4 is one of the best racers in the game so there is never a doubt you’re getting a great track from him)
Wednesday: Tenuki Midnight Showdown by ath_racing (atheistsw’s new name and as expected, same great tracks)
Thursday: Blizzard Beach Resort by statickey_660 (this could well be the first week ever with three tracks from one creator in Hot Lap. All three are well deserved IMHO)
Friday: Ice Carnival by anaximperator (Last minute votes put this track into the rotation. Congrats!)
Saturday: Pirate Kingdom by statickey_660
Sunday: St. Philipsburgh Thaw by atheistsw (This track was a very close second in the Hot Lap voting this week. Any other week it would have won. Great track!)

Have a great week everyone,
Mark

PS3: ModNationSD
Vita: ModNationSDVita

* randomly taken at casa de modnationsdvita

1. Postcard Image
The first thing you’ll be asked to do is either load an image or take a photo. “Take a photo” is fairly straightforward. Using either the Vita’s front or rear camera you’ll frame your shot using the front touch screen’s viewfinder. You’ll notice a miniature Tag and his Kart superimposed into the center of the display awaiting the click of the shutter. Simply touch the “Take Pic” icon in the top left corner to take the picture.

The second option is “load a photo”. Trust me when I say this makes things even more interesting. Load any image you have downloaded onto your Vita as the background of your Mod Postcard or utilize Vita’s built-in web browser and you’ll have access to all the images you could hope for via the web.

2. Mod / Kart Poses
The next step asks you to tap on the Mod or Kart and thus begins the fun. Use your fingers to move, pinch, push, pull, squeeze and rotate Tag or his Kart to your desired size and position in the photo. You will also have numerous options for your chosen Mod’s expression as well as pose. Just a press of the save icon (pencil writing to disc) button and voila!!!… your very own Mod Postcard! Oh, it doesn’t stop there – remember the two million-plus creations that you and the ModNation community have created so far?… YEP, you’ll have access to ALL of those Mods and Karts to use in your ModNation photo masterpieces. Think about the possibilities. Ba-BAM! That was your mind being blown right? Yeah, I thought so!

3. Share Your Postcards
With Vita’s connectivity you have the ability to link to your Facebook account and publish your Mod Postcards for all your friends and family to see! hmmmmm… can’t wait to see what the ModNation “paparazzi” come up with. This ought to be fun!

ModNation Racers For PS3

This Week’s Top Tracks: Best of StealthReborn–

Speaking of…, ModNation Photo Challenge!
Over the past year we’ve seen some awesome screenshots (and creative track icons) and thought what better time to collect these “masterpieces” for the world to see!

We will be collecting your best MNR track / racing screenshots and track icons over the next few weeks to ultimately present the grand opening of the “ModNation Museum of Art”. Here are just a few of the categories we will be collecting for our favorites – Action, Floral, Abstract, Sunset, Bizarre, Humorous, Scary, etc… The best part is that they don’t have to be your tracks!

To participate or for more details please click HERE.

Creations of the Week: Best of craigybaby_86

Hot Lap Track of the Week: UFO Site: Airborn by its2l84that
its2l84that completes(?) his UFO Invasion Trilogy with a track that can only be described as epic! If I was ever abducted by aliens (again?) this is EXACTLY what I envision the experience to be like. I am not sure what was done to me inside its2l84that’s glorious alien spacecraft but when my new(?) friends dropped me back down to earth, I felt a peace and harmony unlike I have ever known before. I also had a profound ringing in my ears and a large rash down both legs; other than that, it was heavenly!

Hot Lap Tracks of the Week:
This was a great week of Hot Lap track submissions by many of the best racers in the game. The top hot lap times on these tracks will surely be a feather in any racer’s cap.

Monday: National Capital Region by Freshwick, Takila101, Ambr0ster
Tuesday: WHALE wander land by tadaryou
Wednesday: Ryukyu big wave by marusarusa
Thursday: We Come In Peace by Ph1LThy31
Friday: Jungle Boogie on High by Lloyd2k4
Saturday: UFO Site: Airborn by its2l84that
Sunday: AssyrutopiA by Assyrion

ModNation Racers Grand Prix: Round One
The much anticipated MNR Grand Prix is well under way. Weekend one of the final’s pre-qualifiers took place with over 60 racers competing for the Top Five fastest times to pre-qualify for the Grand Prix Finals.

The Top Ten Times (Mt. Pain UFG qualifying track)

1. maverick–07– 43.616
2. wipeout_god 44.090
3. yahhohoi 44.120
4. Assyrion 44.226
5. earlizd1 44.437
6. TUKSILHA 44.481
7. glaudea 44.528
8. circuitferrari 44.635
9. NUKACOLA9 44.854
10. Lloyd2k4 45.139

(had to withdraw – WD. AngelG_No55_FTW 44.564)

Check next week’s blog for details on the latest qualifying races leading up to the 10 player Grand Prix Finals!

With that in mind let’s take a look back at some of our favorites over the past six months in an event we are calling “The Moddys 1.5.” Creative huh?

The Moddys 1.5: Favorite Year-End 2011 Creations
We recognize the ModNation community for all the effort, creativity and skill you have poured into this game over the past six months.

Our Favorite Tracks:
1. “Have Fun Storming The Castle” (Favorite Gladiator Tracks)
2. “Best Raced Under A Blacklight” (Favorite Colorful Tracks)
3. “We’re In Some Deep Powder Here” (Favorite Winter Tracks)
4. “Redonkulous. Absoluley Redonkulous” (Favorite “You Did What?” Tracks)
5. “Smells Like A Gym In Here” (Favorite Sports Themed Tracks)
6. “Woohoo!” (Favorite Track With The Word “Wu” In It)
7. “Sandals, Sweat, and Swords” (Favorite Gladiator Tracks)
8. “Bleep Blop Bloop” (Favorite Outer-Space Tracks)
9. “Fire. Good.“(Favorite Prehistoric Tracks)

Click HERE to view the recipients.

Important Recognitions:
1. Overall Favorite Mods of the Year
2. Overall Favorite Karts of the Year
3. Overall Favorite Tracks of the Year
4. ModNation 2011 “Hall of Fame” Inductees
Click HERE to view the recipients.

This Week’s Top Tracks: Best of Laidbackcat

Laidbackcat is a favorite track creator both among his esteemed peers. He doesn’t build tracks as much as he creates worlds. His creates on his terms and is never in a rush to finish a track. This shows itself in the amazing design, detail and stories his tracks exhibit.

ModNation Racers Grand Prix

Sign up this week for the ModNation Racers Gran Prix Racing Championship. The first set of qualifying races will be held on the weekend of January 7-8th. Racers will have the chance to qualify on a pre-determined United Front Games track to be hosted in Hot Lap all weekend. The top five fastest lap times (of those signed up) will automatically be entered into the finals. The remaining five spots for the finals will be decided the following week.

More details and signs up HERE.

Creations of the Week:

Hot Lap Track of the Week: Pearl Blue Soul by marusarusa
Let me start off the new year a little differently with my track reviews. I am often accused of being too enamored with pretty colors, flowers, rainbows, unicorns, puppies and other soft, squishy things. So for the first Track of the Week of 2012, let me start off a little mean and nasty by listing this track’s negatives:

1.
2.
3.

There were none! (I tried!)

We are kicking of the new year with a few adjustments to the Hot Lap lines ups. Starting NEXT week our spotlight “Track of the Week” will be placed in a Saturday slot (instead of Monday) to bring more well-deserved attention to the “best of the best.”

Monday: Pearl Blue Soul by marusarusa
Tuesday: Nature by apricot-jam-IS
Wednesday: 14 Days In May by jefferzone
Thursday: Sensei Xu’s River Rally by flathletics102
Friday: Azuzzi Peninsula by atheistsw
Saturday: Grand Prix Qualifiers (see above)
Sunday: Grand Prix Qualifiers (see above)

Bring on the pretty colors!
Mark (PSN ID: ModNationSD)

b(cool weapons + explosions) + w(great racing + track design) * y(MNR’s “Secret Sauce”) = !(freaking fun kart racing)

Key: b = BOOM, w = WOW, y = YAHOO, ! = !!!

(please note: this information IS NOT CONFIDENTIAL)
—————————————–

b1. Weapon Classes
ModNation Racers: Road Trip weapons add more excitement to our already great racing experience on the PS3 with all new weapons that give the racers more control both offensively and defensively. The seven weapon classes fall into these categories: Earth, Fire, Ice, Mines, Bolt, Guns, and Sonic weapons. Notice below that weapon classes are distingushed by color. Once a weapon is attained all future weapon pods collected will remain the same color until used. Color key: Red – Gun, Dark Green – Earth, Light Blue – Ice, Dark Blue – Sonic, Pink – Bolt, Orange – Fire, Light Green – Supercharger, and Yellow – Mines.

b2. Weapon Types:
- Track Based Weapons: These weapons are triggered by you or your opponents to bring potentially devastating damage to enemies and/or yourself if you’re not careful! Imagine being in the middle of a heated race and desperately needing to break from the pack. Well, if you have a Level 3 Phoenix in hand unleash that bad boy and watch it literally fly ahead of the pack. At the right moment your Phoenix will stop and unleash a rain of fire upon the track. Racers will scramble along with you to make it through the carnage. Some will make it, some won’t. Will you? This is just one of the uber-powerful level 3 track based weapons along with and Level 3 Rockslide and a Level 3 Sonic Rift.

- Spray Weapons: These multi-purpose weapons allow racers to swerve their kart while firing to spray projectiles across the track. This gives the players a choice: hit a single opponent with all of the projectiles, or spray to try and hit multiple opponents.

- Roaming / Near Weapons: These weapons add the random factor to your weapon arsenal. Set one off and watch as they travel freely down the track. They don’t lock on to your Kart but you’ll have to act fast to avoid these.

- Drivable Weapons: These give players the ability to use their driving skills to dish out punishment to their opponents. I personally can’t begin to tell you how rewarding it is to literally snowball over a racer(s) that just sideswiped me into a wall. No. Really – I can’t tell you. The judge and my anger management coach restrict me from articulating this pleasure any further.

– Lock-On Weapons: Ah, lock on weapons… so much fun to give, not so fun to receive – the pure definition of being “pwned”. In ModNation Racers: Road Trip you’ll have a little more say to the degree of “pwnage” your opponent can dish out. You will still have audio clues (can be turned off) of incoming attacks but you’ll now have the advantage of a “lock-on” reticule for visual assistance in timing your shields. This results in a more balanced racing experience while not removing the pure joy of unleashing your “Hydra’s” up someone’s tailpipe!

- Mines: Now a weapon class of their own and the only instance you’ll be dropping a weapon behind you (see below). This class includes Plutonium Mine, Toxic Cloud, and Toxic Cesspool

b3. Weapon Pod Cash In
In ModNation Racers for the PS3 you could drop weapons as mines behind you or in essence “dump” weapons that you did not like. In ModNation Racers: Road Trip you now have complete control of how to best use your acquired weapon. Don’t like the weapon you picked up and maybe running a little low on boost?… simple…you can press the weapon icon on the bottom right of the front touch screen or just hold down on the fire weapon button to “cash” it in. Voila… more boost in you gauge. You can “cash-in” your weapon up to and including level three’s! The sprint towards the finish just got a lot more exciting didn’t it? Yeah it did!

b4. Amnesty Shield
Another brand new feature to ModNation Racers Road Trip is the Amnesty Shield. This automatic shield comes into play when you fire a weapon and an opponent fires the same exact weapon at or toward you. This again adds a little more strategy to the racing experience and helps avoid races being decided at the very last second by the ever popular “Hydra-palooza”.

ModNation Racers Road Trip: Recent Features Preview
Track Studio I – ModNation Racers: Road Trip Track Studio – Your Wish is Our Command!
Track Studio II – ModNation Racers: Road Trip Track Studio – Part Two
Mod Studio – ModNation Racers: Road Trip – Mod Studio Preview
Kart Studio – ModNation Racers: Road Trip – Kart Studio Preview
ModNation Racers: Road Trip – New Racing Features

PS3 ModNation Racers News

Triple Threat Team Challenge – Results!
A few weeks ago we challenged players to team up and create the ultimate MNR experience. Judging from the great response this was MNR’s best creation challenge yet. We choose our favorite overall “experience” based on these criteria – Track: 30%, Mod(s):25%, Kart(s): 25%, and Story: 20% (how it all ties together). After careful consideration of all the hard work that went into every creation, we came up with our overall favorite – Team “Parenthood” (DeathsMom, OnePoppa, POULTRY_GOD). Take a look around the track as you drive and you’ll see many of life’s big events. Congrats!

Please take time to download and experience all of the entries unique creations HERE.

Creations of the Week: Team Triple Threat Challenge

Hot Lap Tracks of the Week: Team Triple Threat Challenge

Monday: Land of the prehistoric by Team “Prehistoric Invaders” (prob_alex, Flathletics102)
Tuesday: X’mas Cake [BSA] by Team “Japan” (skid18-18, asura-007, big-village_920_)
Wednesday: Parenthood by Team “Parenthood” (DeathsMom, OnePoppa, POULTRY_GOD)
Thursday: Kawaii High Rise by Team “5W” (Ginsu_Loki02, Blu_Caracal, Yika)
Friday: Hiroko’s Secret Dimension by Team “Otaku Trinity” (BandaiNamco209, parise93, John31269)
Saturday: The Astro-Prison by Team “Super-Duper-Leet-Awesome-Epic-Lazer Explosion-Steve” (Biver_, dane9261)
Sunday: Ivo’s Trash Lands by “Team Science” (IvoYaridovich, IndustrialSavior)

Have a great week everyone!
Mark (PSN ID: ModNationSD)

1. Free highly-caffeinated energy drinks and donuts in the break room.
2. A sudden rash of car alarms blaring from the parking lot like a jet plane just grazed the roof top.
3. A bogus announcement over the company P.A. system that Kevin Butler has arrived on campus.

These events usually buy me an additional hour or so with the game. This is a purely selfish endeavor as it really only takes a few minutes with the game to see and understand the brilliant, creative, and subtle, yet powerful features of ModNation Racers: Road Trip. I have yet to (voluntarily) set the game down and not walk away saying, “now that was just flat out fun!” Indeed when it comes right down to it that’s what ModNation Racers: Road Trip for Vita is… a flat out fun kart racing game!

Let me share with you a little of what I experienced…

1. Controlled Drifting
An essential element of any great kart racing game is the drift mechanic. In ModNation Racers: Road Trip drifting is no longer solely about building up your boost meter to gain acceleration or as a cache for shielding from weapons or hazards. Though these abilities are still a large asset of drifting in the game, we have made many improvements allowing players more complete control of their racing lines. In a correctly-executed drift your forward momentum is increased while your outward momentum (inertia) can be managed (or decreased). You will find your kart easier to hold a desired line by being able to carve and progressively link drifts together without over- or under-steering into walls, guardrails or flying off the track. This refinement allows veteran racers to rely more on their racing skills as well as allows newbies a greater sense of control.

2. More Forgiving Collisions
Now racers will notice fewer if any “dead stops” brought on from an opponent’s attacks. Racers will also find it easier to get back into the pack if they happen to land a jump a little off kilter or accidentally slam into a wall with the new auto-correct feature built into the racing controls. It can be frustrating in any racing game to have the slightest error result in what seems like an eternity of reverse Y-turn after Y-turn to get you back in the race. ModNation Racers: Road Trip = problem solved.

3. Refined Braking
Braking? What’s braking? I don’t need no stinking braking!
Sure you can still go all out and avoid your helpful little friend (the brake button) but if you truly desire to master the art of racing in ModNation Racers: Road Trip you will appreciate the ability to finesse your level of control with the a reworked braking system. Players can now use the brakes to adjust steering controls while drifting and this does not stop or cancel the drift.

4. The Best For Last!
These “tweaks, changes, and improvements” not only improve the experience for all Vita-centric tracks but also insure that all PS3 user-generated tracks played on Vita would enjoy the same enhancements. This means a brand new exciting racing experience on all your favorite PS3 tracks. That ModNation is quite frankly awesome! We hope you’ll agree!

ModNation Racers Road Trip: Recent Features Preview

Track Studio I – ModNation Racers: Road Trip Track Studio – Your Wish is Our Command!
Track Studio II – ModNation Racers: Road Trip Track Studio – Part Two

Mod Studio – ModNation Racers: Road Trip – Mod Studio Preview
Kart Studio – ModNation Racers: Road Trip – Kart Studio Preview

PS3 ModNation Racers News

Creation Challenge: Holiday Themed Mods, Karts, And Tracks!
We are looking for some great Holiday themed Mods, Karts and Tracks to promote in our upcoming Mod-Holiday blog.

1. If you would like to submit your TRACK or recommend a Holiday themed track you liked click HERE.
2. If you would like to submit your MOD and/or KART or recommend a holiday themed Mod / Kart you liked click HERE.

This Week’s Top Tracks: Best of IndustrialSavior

Check out his player profile HERE
Creations of the Week: Best of PSN ID: rainbowhillbilly

Hot Lap Tracks of the Week: University Challenge by atheistsw
atheistsw has outdone himself yet again! He has built us a complete college town including what I perceive to be a world renowned library, a top research facility and charming off campus housing. I know I added at least 15 I.Q. points after only racing one lap (that takes me up to 37!). Yes, he’s that good!

Monday: University Challenge by atheistsw
Tuesday: Oasis River Run by OnePoppa
Wednesday: Guards Guardin’ Gardens by Yika
Thursday: CITY the shuttle bridge by inosan0518
Friday: Christmas Shopping V 1.1 by JNM-CIM
Saturday: Verazzo Pass by atheistsw
Sunday: Mega Skyscraper Hop by statickey_660

1. Kart Parts – Explode View
Yep, it’s as fun as it looks! ModNation Racers: Road Trip for Vita brings you even closer to a true Kart modeling experience (without the sticky toxic smelling glue) with the rotatable “exploded” view of your Kart and it’s customizable components. It’s as simple spreading your thumb and finger on the screen to open and then a pinch to close the view. We can’t say it enough but there is just something intrinsically fun with the tactile feel of using your fingers to “explode” you kart open, spin it around, rinse and repeat!

2. Drag and Drop
As with the Mod Studio Edit feature, you simply drag and drop your parts and props right onto your Kart. You’ll feel like a real mechanic as you drag a new set of wheels onto your kart or simply touch the color selector and add that “new coat of paint to items like your shocks, engine, seat, etc. The same ease of drag and drop also goes for adding stickers and text to your Kart (or Mod). Drag, drop, rotate, resize, etc… all with ease of using your finger(s). If you have a penchant for sticker mania this feature is your new best friend.

3. Shake To Randomize
ah… finally a way to “encourage” your Kart (or Mod) to randomly transform into your perfect creation… by shaking it! It’s an experience similar to the PS3 randomize feature yet while playing the nickel slots in Vegas. As opposed to your time in a casino, a few shakes of the Vita may find you hitting the road in the car of your dreams!

ModNation Racers Road Trip: Recent Features Preview

• Track Studio I – ModNation Racers: Road Trip Track Studio – Your Wish is Our Command!
• Track Studio II – ModNation Racers: Road Trip Track Studio – Part Two
• Mod Studio – ModNation Racers: Road Trip – Mod Studio Preview

PS3 ModNation Racers News

This Week’s Top Tracks: Best of PSN ID: PH1LThy31

ModNation Player Profile: PSN ID: PH1LThy31
In our opinion one of ModNation’s most unheralded premier track creators is PH1LThy. He is a VERY respected creator amongst his peers and one of the best track design collaborators in the game. We hope a little long overdue public recognition will garner his tracks a few more eyes. Take a look at his tracks and get ready for some spectacular racing moments. Some off his own personal favorites are … Cliffside, Japanese Tea Garden, Cool Breeze, Green Acres, and Trailblazer. Read PH1LThy’s player profile HERE.

Creations of the Week: Best of PSN ID: Hey-There-You

Hot Lap Tracks of the Week: Ruins of Aztlan by prob_alex

A truly EPIC track. Never been anything like it, probably never will be.

Monday: Ruins of Aztlan by prob_alex
Tuesday: White Summit Winter Games by IndustrialSavior (an instant classic in my book. Hockey FTW!)
Wednesday: “Red Sun” Oil Factory by marusarusa
Thursday: Junglira Shrine by dane9261
Friday: River of Eternal Life by IndustrialSavior (I loved this track. I actually felt as if I was racing along a beautiful river. Very well done!
Saturday: Immortal Rainforest by atheistsw and PH1LThy31 (Difficult to not choose this as “Track of the WeeK”. Two top creators joined up to create a beautiful track that has to be raced a few times to see everything it has to offer. Five stars at least!
Sunday: Multi-Story Mayhem! by OnePoppa and atheistsw (another great collaboration this week with atheistsw)

If you are interested in submitting your mod, kart or track for consideration as “Creation of the Week,” please visit us on the official ModNation Community site and who knows? You might see your hard work on the PlayStation ModNation Monday blog or in-game on the Hot Lap section of the Modspot. You never know what catches our eye.

ModNation Thursday Fun Races
Join ModNationSD for an evening of fun racing this Thursday from 4:30-5:30 PST. This is a great opportunity to meet some nice people in a casual racing environment. Check our ModNation Facebook page on the day of the race on how to join.

Now with ModNation Racers: Road Trip and Vita in hand (or pocket) you can create and tote your favorite Mods along with you while “on the road”. Anything that catches your eye from a statue in a garden courtyard to the gigantic inflatable mascot at a high school football game can instantly be preserved in time with your portable Mod Studio.

Here are a few of the new features…

1. Mod Parts
Creating a Mod has always been a fairly straightforward, simple, yet powerful process. Mod Parts now streamlines the process even more with instant access to your Mods parts and features. Touch your finger to your creations head and all parts and props groups for the head pop up (eyes, ears, nose, etc…). Touch his body and all parts and props for his torso appear (pants, shoes, shirts, etc…). Sounds simple because it is.

2. Drag and Drop
Once you have chosen your selected area it’s again as simple as drag and drop the features and props right onto your Mod. With parts like eyes, ears, stickers, etc., you can stretch, pinch, move and rotate to your heart’s desire. You can also do things like change the color of most anything by simply touching the color picker tab at the top right. There is just something that makes the “modding” experience a lot more fun when the items are “at your fingertips”.

Whether you are working on your Mod for minutes or hours you will appreciate the ease and feel of these new features.

PS3 ModNation Racers News

This Week’s Top Tracks:

Medieval Mini-Theme is available in the PlayStation Store now for $6.99

ModNation Player Profile: PSN ID: Assyrion
Assyrion is one of the more well-known ModNation members from France who has made a name for himself as not only a great racer but a great (underrated) track creator. Take a look at his player profile HERE.

Creations of the Week: Going All Medieval Up In Here

Hot Lap Tracks Of The Week: Granada by marusarusa

Each week’s submissions bring with them a new challenge to the question “what exactly qualifies a creation as the Track of the Week”? We’ve mentioned assets like environment, track flow, item placement, lightning and more which USUALLY add up to one track standing out amongst the other great tracks. This week’s TOTW has us a little baffled. jefferzone created an amazing tribute track with elements used together in a way that we have not seen before in his tracked title “Smokin’ Joe”. prob_alex added to his astonishing portfolio of track creation elements in his “Mammy Mammoth” track and all other qualifiers presented Five-Star tracks. Yet something stood out with Granada by marusarusa that kept us coming back. Maybe we should add Mojo to the elements we are looking for?

Monday: Granada by marusarusa
Tuesday: Smokin’ Joe by jefferzone
Wednesday: City Underwater Fiasco by atheistsw
Thursday: Hydropark by RADMANROB
Friday: Planet Ravaia by John31269
Saturday: Mammy Mammoth by prob_alex
Sunday: Solar Ice Cap UV Grid by IndustrialSavior

1. Mod Terrain
The most talked-about feature in ModNation Racers: Road Trip is the use of the front screen and rear touch panel to sculpt your track’s terrain. In Finger Sculpt simply touching a finger to the front touch screen will immediately begin to lower that section of terrain. Continuing to press or rub the area will result in lowering the terrain or create lakes, valleys, or rivers. Conversely the rear touch panel allows you to raise your terrain to create mountains, peaks, plateaus, vistas, etc… with just you fingertip(s). Try making a mountain range with all your fingers… kinda awesome! That’s what Multi-Touch Functionality is all about!

2. Edit Track
Probably the most powerful tool in the new track creation studio is the Edit Track feature. To put it simply, using the corresponding points on the Edit Track Bar you can raise, lower, bank, widen or narrow your track with super simple intuitive touches. Want to raise a section of the track?… press and hold the middle point of the track edit bar and simply slide your finger up. Too high?…slide you finger back down. It is very natural and very intuitive. It’s guaranteed to bring back those childhood memories of building that dirt track in your back yard for your toy cars and trucks. All other adjustments are equally as simple. This feature takes track creating to a new level and it’s a lot of fun!

3. Alternate Route
This feature allows you to easily create branching routes or shortcuts (depending on your desired outcome) by simply touching a beginning and end point on your existing track. An alternate route is instantly generated for you. You can of course undo and try again from a different spot on the track until you achieve your perfect route. The Alternate Route feature does all the heavy lifting for you.

4. Offroad Path
Want to take your racers a little off the beaten path?… Show them some of the hidden beauties of your track?… Reward them with a shortcut of hidden item pods?… or just lead them on a wild goose chase?… Simply use your finger to draw your path off and back onto your track and voila!… you’re offroadin’!
As you can see we’ve not only given the players more power to create but all this can be done in a fun, intuitive, and immersive nature. This is just the beginning. Hang on to your hats as we will be bringing you more details in the upcoming weeks!

PS3 ModNation Racers News

This Week’s Top Tracks: “Best By The Best” prob_alex
While we are on the subject of track creating what better example of the “art” of track design can we offer than prob_alex? He is one the of the game’s most prolific and creative track designers to date. He shares his personal favorite tracks here as well as a nice tutorial on his unique and often “replicated” track creation style. TUTORIAL HERE
Take a look at his MNR Player Profile HERE.

Hopefully you can take away some great tips to become a more creative track designer. I know I did!

Creations of the Week: Happy Turducken Day!

Hot Lap Tracks Of The Week: prob_alex’s Favorite Tracks
Take a look…

Monday: Elephants Graveyard by Laidbackcat (“My fav track of the game.. this inspired me to create what I create today. Truly inspirational”)
Tuesday: Sanctuary by O-jaga (“A truly unique track. vvery simple idea but extremely well executed”)
Wednesday: Another World by BongSoldier (“One of the most creative tracks I’ve played. It really feels like another world”)
Thursday: Gravija Wilds by IvoYaridovich (“Very fast flowing track with perfect curves for fast cornering”)
Friday: Arctic Heaven by marusarusa (“Beautiful looking track and fun to whizz around and a few sneaky shortcuts to find”)
Saturday: Tatroi by Big-village_920_ (“Visual stunning and a great track in every aspect.”)
Sunday: Rumble Rally by WilsonPhillips-x (“Golden oldie in my eyes. For me the creator could not create a better hillside track. Feels so real.”)

1. Multiple Themes: With the power of Vita, San Diego Studio was able to give the user access to up to five times more “goodies” to create with than on PS3. In ModNation Racers: Road Trip the creator has access to over 20 different prop themes and can now mix-n-match up to fifteen of those into their track’s creation.

This means ModNation Racers: Road Trip players can now look forward to experience whole new un-seen worlds. Now THAT is cool! I can’t wait to see them!

2. Fully Rotatable Props: Now track creators have the ability to manipulate all of their track props in full 360 degrees on all axis points (big words for AWESOME!) along with complete scalability of items. Now that alien invaded scenario you have wanted to create with its buildings, buses, parked cars, tanks and park fountains turned on their heads is as easy as rotating two fingers on the front touch screen on the Vita.

3. Draw Track / Trace Track Modes: One of the first features most players will notice and enjoy right off the bat is the two track draw modes. You have previously seen how with MNR: Road Trip you can draw your track in only seconds using just one finger via the front touch screen. What you may not know is now with Vita’s built in camera you can snap photos of anything from your little brother’s face, a fire hydrant, a bus route map of your town or maybe even your cat. Import it and trace the image as the outline of your track. We can’t wait to see what the ModNation comes up with!

4. Estimated Track Times: When you have the whole world in your hands time can seem to fly by so we created a meter that estimates the lap time of your track.

These are only a few of the many cool new features introduced in ModNation Racers: Road Trip. Stay tuned for more in the upcoming weeks.

Creations of the Week: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and RACE!

ModNation Racers prides itself on these environmentally friendly issues:

• Zero tolerance Kart exhaust emission policy
• Modspot maintenance EVERY night from 2am-4am (in case you didn’t know)
• All Mod and Kart paints are lead free
• Flowers not only look nice but do indeed smell nice (preparation for smello-vision)
• No night racing saves on electrical bills
• Biff and Gary carpool. They actually do like each other!

This Week’s Top Tracks: One Man’s Trash…

Creations of the Week: Paper or Plastic?

Hot Lap Tracks Of The Week: Didjerama and Big Thunder Mountain by statickey_660 (this week’s Hot Lap tracks were chosen by the community so it goes without saying that having two of your tracks chosen as track of the week is quite an accomplishment and a first in the vaulted annals of ModNation history. Congrats!)

Monday: Didjerama by statickey_660
Tuesday: Big Thunder Mountain by statickey_660
Wednesday: Ruins of Karzha v1.3 by Iop330
Thursday: Ski resort by yISK8TLZPqQ
Friday: WHALE old resort by tadaryou
Saturday: Port Islander by atheistsw
Sunday: Grab Some Pine by PH1LThy31