If you didn't know already, GripShift (PS3, PSP, X360) is awesome. An updated version of Sidhe Interactive's racing platformer is coming to Xbox Live very soon. During my preview of the forthcoming game, I asked Sidhe managing director Mario Wynands some questions I didn't include in the writeup. Here they are.

Shack:

Are you going to add the extended content of the Xbox Live version to the PSN version of the game, like the battle mode?

Mario Wynands:

We are continuing to develop and support the PS3 version. We've already released one free expansion so far. And we're working on another one right now which includes voice support and rumble support amongst a range of other things. There is a challenge there though in that while the Live Arcade version is published by us, the PSN version is published by Sony Online. So there's some logistics that we have to work through in getting their buy-in to do certain things. Certainly its our intention to support the PSN version as well as the Live Arcade as long as people want new stuff.

Shack:

The PSP version had a level creator. Are there plans for a level creator on either the PSN version or the Xbox Live version?

Mario Wynands:

There's some challenges that need to be overcome regarding the infrastructure of PSN and Live. Certainly there's some ambitious plans that Microsoft and Sony have announced in terms of content sharing, but that hasn't really materialized yet. Even something like Halo 3, which does have a lot of content sharing, does it in a way which is kind of outside of what Live is, you know in a separate website form. We're talking with Sony and Microsoft and we understand there's a real want for it from consumers. We know that it's a great way to help build our community around the game. It's an investment that we want to make. We're talking with the relevant parties to work out how we can make that happen.

Shack:

Will GripShift 2 be distributed digitally or a full retail release?

Mario Wynands:

That's a very good question. I think it's hard to say because the landscape of the market is just changing so quickly right now. I can't think of any time in video game history where the market has been so fragmented between so many different platforms. There's some great opportunities there but when you're talking about a sequel that's coming in 18 months, 2 years time, somebody's going to need a crystal ball to know exactly where to go. That being said, our technology is very cross-platform. Our team is very experienced across different platforms. The approach that we're taking right now is that we're planning on supporting multiple platforms, we're planning on supporting all of the platforms that we've delivered GripShift 2 so far...

Shack:

From launch?

Mario Wynands:

We'd like to do something simultaneous this time around. Obviously there are benefits to launching on multiple platforms simultaneously. It's going to be a matter of timing, potentially working with a publishing partner, and making sure the game is where it needs to be. There's a few things to consider there. We're having those conversations now. We have a lot of ideas for where we might take the franchise and we're very interested to see what resonates with consumers of this version as well. We're very active on different forums like our own forums, IGN, GAF, all the usual suspects.

Shack:

Is GripShift 2 the company's main focus right now or are you working on other stuff?

Mario Wynands:

A more recent announcement has been that we're working on Speed Racer. It should be a very interesting sort of a game. The trailer for the movie actually comes out this Thursday I think with Golden Compass. Should be interesting to see how people's reaction to that. The Wachowski brothers, as you can imagine, they're doing some very innovative things with the property. Yeah, it's an exciting project to be working on. That's for Wii and PS2. Certianly a lot of what we've learned in GripShift about both conventional and nonconventional racing is lending itself to that project as well.

Shack:

Will you actually be using any of the GripShift assets in Speed Racer?

Mario Wynands:

There's elements of the technology we're using. We have announced that, or Emergent have announced that we're using Gamebryo as the graphic solution for that. But there are aspects of our technology that we're using on that title as well.