The Ducati That Brought Road Rash to Life: A Journey Through Gaming History

I always enjoy discovering obscure stories about motorcycling, Ducati, or video games. It's even better when these themes overlap. Recently, I was reminded of one such story...

A while ago, I was interviewing for a position at Electronic Arts (EA) in Redwood Shores, in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. As I was being escorted from one interview room to another, I noticed a motorcycle in one of the lobbies. To my surprise, it was a Ducati. My second surprise came when I realized this was the Ducati used to develop the 90s hit game called Road Rash.

Road Rash was a game about illegal motorcycle races, developed by EA and released in 1991. It came out on many different platforms and had several sequels. The game was a sales success and still brings back fond memories for those who grew up with video games in the 90s, including me.

Next to the motorcycle is a sign that tells the story of that particular 1993 Ducati Desmodue 900 and how it was used (and abused) to develop the game.

The damaged side of the 1993 Ducati Supersport 900 used to develop Road Rash

It reads:

"Randy Breen, then producer of Road Rash, bought this Ducati on behalf of EA for the 3DO version of Road Rash in development in the summer of '93. The red Ducati first posed for photographs with a rider wearing a custom leather suit colored magenta and lime green—for contrast against a blue screen and easier computer manipulation. After producing 400 frames of animation, they took EA's fleet of bikes on the road.

On location in the Santa Cruz Mountains and then at the Beale Street Annex in San Francisco, Team Road Rash shot video footage of the bikes in tight formation, leaning into curves. Breen rode along with the stunt riders, on his own bike as well as this Ducati. On the final day of shooting, for a scene where he accelerates away from two chasing police cars, Breen laid the bike down to stop short of an active downtown intersection. Now fully depreciated and drained of its vital bodily fluids, this $10,000 bike did booth duty at the CES and E3 shows sporting a sign that read "crashed during filming." The crash, though so small it's hard to notice, can be seen in the final cut of the game-which appeared on five game platforms, and sold more than two million units.

One side looks sleek, polished, and powerful. The flip side shows rash, from one gutsy EA guy pushing farther. A symbol, somehow, for life at EA."

The mostly undamaged side of the 1993 Ducati Supersport

I am still amazed that someone, somewhere in the past, approved the purchase of a Ducati to develop a video game like Road Rash. One can only imagine the discussion with, I assume, Randy Breen. Their decision, however, resulted in an amazing game and a sales success for EA.

The sign next to EA’s Ducati Supersport (text quoted above).