Modnation Racers, seen as something of a LittleBigPlanet on wheels, is dropping one of its biggest features for the Road Trip iteration on PlayStation Vita – users won't be able to play online in head-to-head races. The game will still support ghost laps, leader boards and the like, but live races aren't going to be supported.
This is a surprising omission from a title in a genre that traditionally relies on multiplayer for longevity and with the multiple online options supported by the Vita, there's no obvious reason as to why it would be dropped from Road Trip. The game still supports local multiplayer via ad-hoc, so you'll be able to play with any local friends with Vitas, otherwise you'll be competing via time trials and leader boards.
It's may not be as bad as it seems, the developers plan to run over the full list of online features closer to the release date and there might be something there to surprise us and explain this strange omission.