Fatal Inertia EX finally arrives on PS3

When Fatal Inertia was first announced, it was presumed to have been secured by Sony as a PlayStation 3 exclusive, but in November 2006 it was announced that the game would also head to Microsoft's Xbox 360.

In September 2007, the Xbox 360 game came and went with no sign or news of its PS3 cousin, save that it had been further delayed. Koei today confirmed that the game is finally on its way to PS3 owners via the PlayStation Network. It will reach the console in May, having been tuned up and redubbed Fatal Inertia EX.

The sci-fi racer sees gamers race heavily armed hovercraft in a variety of exotic locales, attempting to win races, achieve top speeds, or just be the last one standing. GameSpot complimented the original on the Xbox 360 for its imaginative weapons and good-looking locations, but it came under fire for its punishing difficulty and sometimes lacklustre course design.

Koei has confirmed that Fatal Inertia EX will feature new weather effects, a new training environment to help players along, and an "overhauled garage for racecraft customization." The publisher also said that the vehicles in Fatal Inertia EX would be faster than their Xbox 360 counterparts, and would feature improved handling.

Talking to MTV, Fatal Inertia EX's lead producer, Mike Bond, insisted the team had learned its lessons from Fatal Inertia's lukewarm reception, and blamed "growing pains" for the delays to the title. Bond also said that the developers at Koei Canada had learned from its mistakes with the Xbox 360 title, and would be expanding the game's online component and tweaking the game's difficulty in response to feedback.