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Nikola's new zero-emissions vehicles include a jet ski and a dune buggy
Nikola isn't messing around when it comes to its vision of a zero-emission future -- at this year's Nikola World event in Arizona the company unveiled no less than five clean vehicles, including the much-anticipated fully electric semi-trucks, Nikola Two and Nikola Tre.
Eco Watercraft electric waverunner makes no sound, burns no fuel, zaps no fish
Beware Big Oil executives: EVs aren't content to just take over the morning commute. They're targeting all motorized leisure activities, and while we've already seen how an electric motorcycle can be just as much fun as a petrol-powered version, electric waverunners look to be next. The company is Eco Watercraft, pledging to build its machines in a factory powered by renewable means, thus giving the vehicles twice the green cred. The model in the videos embedded below doesn't look like it could stand a chance of keeping up with some of the more powerful watercraft on the market today, like Yamaha's ridiculous FX Cruiser SHO and its supercharger, but it should be good enough to get your kicks whilst earning fewer dirty looks from birdwatching kayakers. Now if only we knew how much that privilege will cost you.[Via TreeHugger]
WaveBreaker: the electric, inflatable jet-ski
Nah, the WaveBreaker probably won't provide the kind of thrills that a jet-powered kayak would, but riding around on this thing is a lot less likely to leave you maimed. This electric, inflatable watercraft comes loaded with a 600-watt motor, weighs 66-pounds, and touts the ability to scoot around for "45 to 75 minutes" before needing a recharge. Of course, we hope you weren't planning on picking one of these up for racing, as the 6.21mph top speed may hurt your chances at victory. Reportedly, this bad boy is slated to arrive in America later this month for the low, low price of $499 -- just steer clear of Cypress knees and stray fish hooks, ya heard?[Via Gizmag]
Vice City's watery playground
It's common knowledge that you'll now be able to play in the water in the PSP's Vice City Stories. Although swimming was introduced in the PS2's San Andreas, this handheld iteration of the popular series will feature the most complex water-based gameplay in the franchise's history, according to IGN. Each vehicle in the game will respond to the game's new water physics model: they'll bob in the water, be affected by currents and be slowed down by drag. (It's like you're buying GTA and getting Wave Race for free.) Using the jet-ski, you'll be able to do drive-by shootings on the water, terrifying rich boat owners. The APV sounds exciting, as you'll be able to drive it around and enter the water when you really need to make a dramatic getaway.With speedboats, yachts, sailboats, zodiacs, airboats, and more, Vice City Stories "might have the largest collection of sea-based vehicles in gaming history," which is especially impressive when you consider the platform's diminuitive size. By making the waterways important to gameplay, gamers can expect tons of mini-games: swimming events, boat and jet ski races. Heck, if you feel like being a good guy and wash your hands of all the sin you're committing, there's no better way than to partake in a water rescue mission. Is anyone else concerned that this game might feature too much content?Vice City Stories hits stores at the end of this month.
Why you want Vice City Stories: the interview
Ever since the official trailer for Vice City Stories dropped on us, Rockstar has been very actively hyping this PSP-exclusive follow-up to the insanely successful Liberty City Stories. (Of course Rockstar doesn't have much of a choice: this game may be the only thing that saves the company from financial ruin.) IGN recently had a chance to talk to Gordon Hall from Rockstar, and Mr. Hall (obviously) has a lot of good things to tell us: Game features twice the number of polygons and a new radiosity lighting model. A new way to have the CPU and GPU communicate to each other was developed so that improvements could be made across the board. A new streaming process and lossless animation streaming allows the game to load more data at once. "With the Jet Ski you can dive under water and come bursting back up, you can really feel it bounce off the waves as the weather conditions change, you can turn on a dime and really send the water spraying." (Sounds like they packed in an entire water racing game in our GTA!) "The combat system has more depth to it than any other Grand Theft Auto game." Targeting and combat has been tweaked just a bit: you can now fight unarmed and do grappling moves and throws. "The soundtrack has over 100 tracks, and is probably the best, deepest collection of songs ever assembled for any one project -- TV, Film, or Game." (But the game includes Custom Soundtracks too if you don't like retro music.) Call me stunned. I know this is mostly PR hype, but considering how amazing the original Liberty City Stories was, I'm willing to believe that Rockstar is making this game a masterpiece. It sounds to be this could be the best GTA yet... handheld and console. And you didn't even have to wait until 12:01 AM for such amazing news. The game hits America the same time as Killzone. Ouch: my wallet's already crying.
