Somehow, I completely missed that footage from the cancelled Nintendo Switch-exclusive Ridge Racer game had leaked online. I stumbled across it today, and while I am happy to finally see what could have been, it also makes me disappointed that this project never was never completed, and made its way to us.
Rumors surrounding the game first surfaced in 2018 after a Bandai Namco Studios Singapore employee listed Ridge Racer 8 on their LinkedIn profile. The game was described as a high-speed drifting title being developed exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, but Bandai Namco never officially announced it or explained what happened.
Years later, footage from an early playable build appeared online after reportedly being recovered from an old Nintendo Switch development kit. It is clearly an unfinished prototype, complete with rough environments and placeholder elements, but it proves that a new Ridge Racer game for the Switch was real.
The footage shows the menus,...
