Yuke's of America goes drifting

Yesterday, noted developer of THQ's wrestling games Yuke's Co., Ltd. announced that it was setting up publishing operations in North America. The company isn't wasting any time getting started, as today it announced its first product, D1 Grand Prix for the PlayStation 2, set to hit stores next month. Yuke's Co., Ltd. has already released a pair of D1 Grand Prix games in Japan.

D1 Grand Prix is a professional federation for drift racing, an autosport based more on style than speed. Drivers must race around tracks, sliding their cars sideways through turns to demonstrate their skill to scrutinizing judges. Drifting is becoming increasingly high profile in US pop culture, serving as the basis of the upcoming film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

In D1 Grand Prix, players will be able to choose from 39 real-life American and Japanese drift drivers and more than 40 licensed vehicles from manufacturers including Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Pontiac, and Subaru. The game includes 13 circuits from real D1 competitions, a D1 Series mode, time attack, survival, battle, and "X-treme" modes, as well as real-time judges' commentary and variable time-of-day and weather conditions.