Originally Posted by
Task
2097 is indeed the original title.
The way I heard it is that the North American distributor decided that "Wipeout 2097" would be a confusing title to many, that they would be wondering about the previous 2096 versions of the game. So they tacked "XL" on it instead. Which wasn't a bad choice really, seeing as how it's the most 'arcade' version of the game.
I can't recall my source on that one, so I don't know if it's a joke or truly sad reality, but there you go: "Original title found too confusing". 8 P