Driving Video Games

Driving Video Games

Welcome to Driving Video Games. This site is dedicated to bringing you the best reviews on all the latest vehicle racing video games.

A Driving Video Game is a genre of video games in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land vehicle. They may be based on anything from racing leagues to entirely whimsical settings. In general, they can be distributed along a spectrum anywhere between arcade  games and hardcore simulations.

Gran Track 10, an arcade game, which was released in 1974 by Atari , is generally considered the first in the racing genre. Night Racer, released in 1977 by Micronetics , took the game to three dimensions by displaying some posts next to the road. Turbo was released in 1981 and featured a third person perspective, the first to do so, and a rear view format.

Pole Position, introduced  in 1982 by Namco, is generally credited with creating the first true racing game.

Early Games had a tendency to drift toward the arcade side of reality, primarily due to hardware limitations. In 1984, however, the first attempt at a racing simulator was made for the BBC Microcomputer and was named REVS.

Out Run was produced in 1986 by Sega and was one of the most impressive games of its time, particularly in the graphics area.

The Final Lap was introduced in 1987 by Namco and was the first arcade game that allowed multiple machines to be linked and thereby permitted multiplayer races. Atari produced Roadblaster in the same year which was the first Driving Game that also involved a bit of shooting.

The  game, Hard Drivin was produced in 1988 by Atari and was the first arcade driving game that included 3D polygonal and force feedback graphics.

The first attempt at a racing simulator was provided in the form of the Indianapolis 500: The Simulation by the Papyrus Design Group in 1990.

The new champion of simulation became the Formula One Grand Prix. The simulation featured full and unparalleled detail of the circuits, cars, and drivers of the 1991 Formula One World Championship

At the same time Sega introduced Virtual Racing at the other end of the spectrum. Although this was not the first game to have 3D graphics, it did to combine the best features of games at the time and came with linking via multiplayer machine and clean 3D graphics which produced a game that was above and beyond the standard arcade market of its time. Nintendo also broke new ground when they introduced the Mario Kart series with Super Mario Kart.

Then Ridge Racer was produced by Namco in 1993, and thus the polygonal war of these games was born. In 1994, Sega then released Daytona USA, while Midway produced Crusin’ USA. It wasn’t until 1997 that Atari joined the 3D fad when it released San Francisco Rush. Then in 1996, Konami produced GTI Club. Next, Gran Turismo was released for the Play Station.

By 1997, the typical PC was capable of matching an arcade machine in terms of graphical quality. This was primarily due to the introduction of first generation 3D accelerators. The faster CPUs were by now capable of simulating realistic graphics, car control, and physics. In 1998, Colin McRae Rally was introduced to the PC world, and was a successful semi simulation of the world of rally driving.

Then, in 1999 a free form was introduced with Midtown Madness. With this game the PC allows the player to explore a simplified version of the city of Chicago using a variety of desired paths and vehicles. In the arcade world, Sega introduced the game Crazy Taxi, where you play the role of a taxi driver who needs to get the client to the destination in the shortest amount of time. A similar game from Sega called Emergency Ambulance Driver which had the same game play.  Most games are becoming more visually realistic visually. Many arcade games are now featuring 3 screens to provide a surround view.

In 2000, Angel Studios introduced the first free roaming racing game on video game consoles and handheld game consoles with Midnight Club: Street Racing which was released on the Game Boy Advance and Play Station. The game allows the player to drive anywhere around virtual recreations of New York and London. Instead of using enclosed tracks for races, the game uses various checkpoints on the free roam map as the pathway of the race. This gives the player the option to take various shortcuts or any other route to the checkpoints of the race.

There is a wide gamut of driving  simulators ranging from simple action arcade racers like rFactor, Live for Speed, Grand Prix Legends, and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Replicating the handling of an automobile are what simulation style racing games strive try to do. They often license real leagues or real cars, but do use fantasy cars which are built to resemble real ones. Vehicular behavior physics are a key factor in the experience. The rigors of being a professional race driver are usually also included. Precision racing maneuvers and proper cornering technique are given priority in simulation racing games.

While racing simulators are specifically built for people who have a high degree of driving skill, it the game menu will often have driving aids available. The most common aids are automatic gear changes, clutch assistance, damage resistance, steering assistance, anti-lock brakes, and traction control. Driving views, other than the interior driver view, are also arcade. This softens the learning curve for the difficult handling characteristics of most racing cars.

There is a huge fan base all over the world for the Formula One World Championship and is one of the racing series with the most simulation adaptations.

Some game fans have decoded the executable files, cars, and tracks. Large internet communities have grown around the simulators regarded as the most realistic and many websites host internet championships.

Currently the Racing Simulator rFactor has the largest driver base because of its heavy capability of modeling.

Arcade style racing games put excitement and a fast paced experience above all else, as vehicles compete. One key feature that distinguishes arcade racers from simulation racers is that they have far more liberal physics. Arcade racing games generally encourage the player to try to take turns as fast as possible whereas in real racing the driver must reduce their speed to take most turns.

Track obstacles, collisions, or vehicle traffic are also usually much more pronounced than simulation racers. Arcade racers, for the most part, simply ignore the precision required from the simulation experience and focus strictly on the racing element itself. They often license leagues and real cars, but are equally open to more exotic settings and vehicles. Races take place on cities, windy roads, and highways and they can be point to point or multiple lap circuits, or other types of competition, like the classic Out Run, the Midnight Club, the Cruis’n Series, the Ridge Series, the Rush, and the Daytona USA series.

There has been a trend of new street racing over the last three years which is imitating the import scene since all one has to do is tune the sports cars and sport compacts and race them on the streets. The most widely known ones are Juiced, Need for Speed, the Midnight Club series and the Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.

Many of arcade racing games increase the competition between racers by adding weapons that can be used against opponents to impede their progress or otherwise slow them down so they can be passed.

The primary game play mode in a car racing game is driving the car. However, they sometimes offer a secondary mode for tuning the car up. There are various principles in winning car racing games, and while most are unique to the game itself, many apply to real life situations.

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Nintendo eBay auctions you should keep an eye on:

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Some recent Driving Video Games auctions on eBay:

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Driving Video Games eBay auctions you should keep an eye on:

Some recent Nintendo auctions on eBay:

Nintendo *GAME OVER MUSHROOM* T-Shirt Youth - L 14/16

US $14.99 End Date: Saturday Jan-28-2012 3:38:15 PST Buy It Now for only: US $14.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $238.88 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Jan-28-2012 3:39:49 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $3.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Jan-28-2012 3:40:06 PST Buy It Now for only: US $4.54 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

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Nintendo eBay auctions you should keep an eye on:

Nintendo *GAME OVER MUSHROOM* T-Shirt Youth - L 14/16

US $14.99 End Date: Saturday Jan-28-2012 3:38:15 PST Buy It Now for only: US $14.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $238.88 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Jan-28-2012 3:39:49 PST Bid now | Add to watch list

US $3.95 (0 Bid) End Date: Saturday Jan-28-2012 3:40:06 PST Buy It Now for only: US $4.54 Bid now | Buy it now | Add to watch list

Xbox 360 eBay auctions you should keep an eye on:

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PS3 on eBay:

for PS3 Move Motion Controller USB 4 in 1 Quad Charger Dock Stand Black ZVOT290

US $5.99 End Date: Saturday Jan-28-2012 3:37:54 PST Buy It Now for only: US $5.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

US $12.99 End Date: Saturday Jan-28-2012 3:37:56 PST Buy It Now for only: US $12.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list

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