Juiced (game series)

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Juiced
developer United StatesUnited States Acclaim Entertainment Juice Games
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Publisher United StatesUnited States THQ
First title Juiced (2005)
Last title Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (2007)
Platform (s) NDS , PS2 , PS3 , PSP , Windows , Xbox
Genre (s) Racing game

Juiced (from English (to) juice , provided with energy) is a racing game series by the THQ company . It was initially developed by Acclaim Entertainment and then by Juice Games . Under this name, three games were published between 2005 and 2007, of which the first two games in the series have great similarities. The games appeared on numerous platforms, only the second part, Juiced Eliminator , was an exclusive release for the PSP .

After three releases, THQ announced that it would discontinue the series due to insufficient sales. A total of around three million units of the series were sold.

The games are located in the street racer area. All parts are about mastering short racing events on street circuits. The tuning of vehicles is of great importance for the success of these events. In each part there is a multitude of tuning options for individual upgrading of your own car. Another special feature is the large number of original licenses. There are a total of 56 to 92 real vehicles in the games.

Development history

Juiced was originally designed by Acclaim as a competing product for the racing game series Need for Speed ​​and should appear on the market in 2004. Since Acclaim ran into financial difficulties during the development of the game and finally filed for bankruptcy, the entire company inventory, including the title Juiced , but not the game itself, was auctioned to cover debts .

The game in its current state belonged to Fund 4 Games, but the naming rights to Juiced remained in Acclaim's bankruptcy estate. THQ was finally awarded the naming rights via a purchase of the Acclaim bankruptcy estate, reached an agreement with Fund 4 Games and had the game developed and improved by Studio Juice Games. In the summer of 2005, the title Juiced finally appeared on the market.

Juiced

Juiced (of English coll.. To juice : something provided with energy) is a 2005 Windows , Xbox and PlayStation 2 , released Street Racer game, which was developed by Juice Games and published by THQ. It is the first in the Juiced range. The game was originally planned for 2004, but due to the bankruptcy of the original developer and the purchase by THQ, completion was delayed.

The game is based on Need for Speed: Underground and comparable titles. Accordingly, in addition to driving races, tuning vehicles is also important. The player takes on the role of an unknown driver in the fictional American coastal town of Angel City. His goal is to gain respect among the eight dominant racing teams by building their own successful racing team.

The game only contains licensed vehicles and tuning parts. According to the developer, around 7.5 trillion customization options can be realized through tuning.

Juiced: Eliminator

Juiced: Eliminator was released in 2006 as the successor to Juiced , making it the second part of the Juiced range . It was developed exclusively for the PlayStation Portable handheld game console to compete with the PSP versions of the Need-for-Speed series. The aim was to take advantage of the platform's distinctive multiplayer functions .

The structure of the game is very similar to that of its predecessor. There are two main areas: driving races and tuning vehicles. The plot is also identical to that of the predecessor. The player takes on the role of an unknown driver in the fictional American coastal town of Angel City . His goal is to gain respect among the eight dominant racing teams by building their own successful racing team.

Only original licenses were used for this game. This means that all vehicles and tuning parts that are shown in the game also exist in reality.

Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights is the third and final part of the Juiced racing game series , which was released in 2007 for a total of six platforms ( Nintendo DS , PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 , PlayStation Portable , Windows , Xbox 360 ). Like its predecessors, it was developed by Juice Games and published by THQ.

The game deals with the same topic as its predecessor: It is a street racer in which, in addition to driving races, tuning vehicles plays a major role. It is based on the tuning show of the same name from the USA. Compared to its predecessors, Juiced 2 offers the greatest scope in terms of tuning options and vehicles. Especially in the field of optics, it has been greatly expanded. B. Apply stickers to almost all body parts. Significant changes have been made to the career mode, for example the racing calendar has been replaced by a league system and the races are now mostly held at night.

reception

Meta-ratings
title GameRankings Metacritic
Juiced 66.95% (Windows)
67.48% (PS2)
71.45% (Xbox) 		63/100 (Windows)
68/100 (PS2)
68/100 (Xbox)
Juiced: Eliminator 62.48% 65/100
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights 68.00% (PS2)
74.14% (PSP)
61.00% (Windows)
68.67% (Xbox 360) 		66/100 (PS2)
73/100 (PSP)
61/100 (Windows)
68/100 (Xbox 360)

Overall, the reception of the juiced titles was quite similar. Most meta-scores are in the range of 60 to 70 percent of the possible points.

Juiced's ratings were mixed. While German publications still gave relatively high ratings, foreign magazines gave the game a lower rating. Editors criticized the level of difficulty and the outdated graphics, while others praised the very high level of realism and the wide variety of vehicles.

Since Juiced: Eliminator is a port of Juiced and the games are accordingly similar, the comments of the testers were similar. There was particular praise for the amount of game content and the long career mode.

At Juiced 2 , the reception tended to be weaker due to German-language magazines. Critics complained that the controls were too cumbersome and that the driving behavior of the vehicles had lost its realism.

End of series

Official discontinuation of the series

Juiced 2 did not meet the sales expectations of THQ, however information on the sales figures was not published. The game series was officially discontinued after this title. The publisher cited his requirement of the developer to develop the game for a total of six different platforms as one of the reasons for the failure. This led to a significant impairment of the control and to technical problems as well as to a weaker graphics performance.

Juiced 3 rumors

A few months later, based on job advertisements, suspicions arose that Juice Games was working on a new project. Some magazines assumed a successor to Juiced 2 . But as part of the austerity measures in the THQ Group, this project was classified as too risky and stopped. However, there was no official confirmation of whether the discontinued project was a new part of the Juiced range .

Acquisition by Nordic Games

In December 2010, the THQ group filed for bankruptcy. The goodwill was auctioned off at subsequent auctions. On April 15, 2013, the Swedish publisher Nordic Games acquired the rights to a total of around 150 titles, including the Juiced series, for a total of 4.9 million US dollars.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Introducing Juiced 2 in San Diego
  2. ↑ Fabian Walden: Fund 4 Games is looking for a new developer. gameswelt.de, September 3, 2009, accessed on September 18, 2013 .
  3. ^ Rob Fahey: THQ set to publish Juiced next summer. gamesindustry.biz, October 8, 2004, accessed September 18, 2013 .
  4. ^ Christian Klaß: Acclaim develops racing game “Juiced”. Golem.de, October 8, 2004, accessed on September 18, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Peter Grubmair: Test “Juiced”. gamezone.de, May 22, 2005, accessed September 18, 2013 .
  6. ↑ Dominik Sitzer: Presentation of “Juiced”. speedmaniacs.com, April 7, 2005, accessed September 18, 2013 .
  7. ↑ Fabian Walden: Announcement of Juiced: Eliminator . gameswelt.de, September 9, 2005, accessed on October 14, 2013 .
  8. ↑ Peter Grubmair: Test "Juiced: Hot Import Nights". gamezone.de, December 11, 2007, accessed September 26, 2013 .
  9. ↑ Meta evaluation “Juiced” (Windows). In: GameRankings . CBS Corporation , accessed November 17, 2013 .
  10. ↑ Meta ranking “Juiced” (PS2). In: GameRankings. CBS Corporation, accessed November 17, 2013 .
  11. ↑ Meta rating “Juiced” (Xbox). In: GameRankings. CBS Corporation, accessed November 17, 2013 .
  12. ↑ Meta evaluation “Juiced” (Windows). In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed September 18, 2013 .
  13. ↑ Meta ranking “Juiced” (PS2). In: Metacritic. CBS Corporation, accessed November 17, 2013 .
  14. ↑ Meta rating “Juiced” (Xbox). In: Metacritic. CBS Corporation, accessed November 17, 2013 .
  15. ↑ Meta evaluation “Juiced: Eliminator”. In: GameRankings. CBS Corporation, accessed September 3, 2014 .
  16. ↑ Meta evaluation “Juiced: Eliminator”. In: Metacritic. CBS Corporation, accessed September 3, 2014 .
  17. ↑ Meta-rating for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PS2). In: GameRankings. CBS Corporation, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  18. ↑ Meta-rating for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PSP). In: GameRankings. CBS Corporation, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  19. ↑ Meta-rating for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (Windows). In: GameRankings. CBS Corporation, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  20. ↑ Meta-rating for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (Xbox 360). In: GameRankings. CBS Corporation, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  21. ↑ Meta-rating for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PS2). In: Metacritic. CBS Corporation, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  22. ↑ Meta-rating for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PSP). In: Metacritic. CBS Corporation, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  23. ↑ Meta-rating for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (Windows). In: Metacritic. CBS Corporation, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  24. ↑ Meta-rating for Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (Xbox 360). In: Metacritic. CBS Corporation, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  25. ↑ Chris Roper: Juiced: Eliminator Review. IGN Entertainment, June 29, 2006, accessed October 31, 2014 .
  26. ↑ Christian Klaß: THQ lets juiced and stuntman die. golem.de, January 25, 2008, accessed September 26, 2013 .
  27. ↑ David Martin: That's why Juiced 2 and Stuntman flopped. golem.de, February 6, 2008, accessed September 26, 2013 .
  28. ↑ Dennis Leschnikowski: Is a successor in the works? onlinewelten.com, October 7, 2009, accessed September 26, 2013 .
  29. ^ Christian Merkel: Savings at THQ. gamepro.de, November 4, 2009, accessed on September 26, 2013 .
  30. ↑ Alexander Sliwinski: THQ auction results: Nordic Games takes Darksiders, Red Faction; 505 Games is Drawn to Life ( English ) In: Joystiq . AOL . April 22, 2013. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved on April 24, 2013.