JDM fans will soon be able to hurl the likes of Mazda’s original MX-5 Miata, the Fairlady Z, the R34 Skyline GT-R, the Subaru BRZ, and even the Honda Beat kei car, among many other Japanese classics, sideways through Tokyo as the arcade drifting simulator JDM: Japanese Drift Master is coming to consoles next month.
IGN has confirmed via the series’ latest trailer that Japanese Drift Master will be available to Xbox Series X|S owners from 21 November onwards, with pre-orders set to begin one week earlier on the 14th. Playstation 5 owners, meanwhile, will need to wait a bit longer, as the PS5 port will only be released in Q1 next year. An official starting price has not yet been revealed, IGN has confirmed this “remain consistent with the PC release at a 34,99 EUR tag” (around $40 USD).
While a full vehicle list has not been confirmed, IGN has confirmed, via the Steam Community boards, that the console version of JDM will launch with the content currently available on the PC version. Notably, this means console players will be able to personalize their cars through Paint Shop, can compete in more than 40 different stories, and, rather remarkably, race across 155-plus miles of digital roadways.
That also means that the 22 officially licensed cars from Subaru, Mazda, Nissan and Honda available on the PC will also be available to console gamers. And what a smorgasbord of Japanese goodness that proves to be too, for not only can you dive behind the virtual wheels of the Honda S2000, Mazda’s RX-8 and the Subaru Impreza WRX STI, but, tantalizingly, you can also destroy the rear rubber in a Nissan Silvia S14, the grandfathered Skyline 2000 GT-R, and even, as the trailer suggests, a Honda Acty pickup truck. Moreover, JDM fans who sign up for pre-orders on 14 October will also have access to the Akina Phantom, an unlicensed example of the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno that fans of the Initial D manga and anima series.
Previewed by the short-lived JDM: Rise of the Scorpion game in February 2025, in which players competed as the inexperienced but determined Tomasz “Touma” Stanowski in drift competitions against the talented and arrogant Hatori “Scorpion” Hasashi (think the third Fast and The Furious movie without the shonky southern American accents…), Japanese Drift Master was first launched earlier this year in May, and has only been available for PC users to play online via Steam.
Though set in the fictional region of Guntama (an area that was actually based around Japan’s Honshu mainland), JDM was designed by Indie developed Gaming Factory to offer “realistic, carefully-tuned physics in a simcade experience.” So, those of you looking to hammer a Honda Beat in much the same way you would an NC1 Acura NSX and/or an FD-gen Mazda RX-7 may find the Honda’s digital, inline three-cylinder screaming for mercy before inevitably detonating itself.
Source: IGN / SteamCommunity / Japanese Drift Master
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