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A racing game is any game that involves competing in races through a surrogate playing piece or vehicle, either getting it from one point to another or completing a number of circuits in the shortest time. One of the more common uses of the term racing game is to describe a genre of computer and video games. Racing games are either in the first or third person perspective. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings, and feature any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. In general, they can be distributed along a spectrum anywhere between hardcore simulations, and simpler arcade racing games. History The arcade title Night Driver, released by Atari in 1976 was generally considered as the progenitor of the genre. Night Driver's premise was very simple; drive a car down a road without crashing, for as long and as fast as possible. While it is definitely challenging, it is not competition racing. True "racing" as we know it was started by another Atari game, Pole Position, in 1982. This time the player has AI cars to race against, and time limit to keep pushing the players to go faster. Pole Position is also the first game to be based on a real racing circuit. Racing games in general tend drift toward the arcade side of reality, mainly due to hardware limits, esp. in the 1980's and 1990's. The hardware back then just isn't capable to handling the amount of graphics and physics calculation needed to produce a "realistic" driving experience. In 1986 Sega produced Out Run, one of the most graphically stunning game of its time. It used two Motorola 68000 CPUs for its 2D sprite-based driving engine, and it became an instant classic that spawned many sequels. In 1987, Midway produced Final Lap, the first arcade game that allowed multiple machines to be linked so you can have multiplayer races. In the same year, Atari produced Road Blasters, a driving game that also involved a bit of shooting. In 1989, Atari introduced Hard Drivin', the first arcade driving game that included force feedback as well as 3D polygonal graphics. This is the first game where the wheel actually fights you as you take harder/faster turns. It also featured a crash replay camera view that plays back your biggest crashes. However, the 3D trend was not followed by the rest of the industry, who kept to 2D sprite graphics until 1992. In 1992, Sega produced Virtua Racing. While not the first game with 3D graphics (see Hard Driving), it was able to combine the best features of games at the time, along with multiplayer machine linking, clean 3D graphics, and excellent car control (for its time) to produce a game that is above and beyond the market standard of its time, and basically marked the end of the 2D era of driving games. On the other end of the spectrum, Nintendo broke new ground by introducing the Mario Kart originally on the SNES. Using the familiar characters from the Mario franchise, the game not only departed from the realism paradigm by using small karts for the players to drive, but also featured fantastic environments and allowed the players to pick up power-ups to improve performance or hamper other racers. This franchise also spawned multiple sequels. In 1993, Namco struck back with Ridge Racer, and thus began the polygonal war of driving games. Sega struck back in 1994 with Daytona USA, while Midway introduced Crusin' USA (with photo-realistic textures). Atari didn't join the 3D craze until 1997, when it introduced San Francisco Rush. From 1997 on, the PC world has caught up to the arcade world in terms of graphical quality, mainly due to the introduction of first generation 3D accelerators such as 3DFX Voodoo. Indeed, PC games are even MORE inventive than their arcade cousins as they are not required to force the players to feed more and more quarters. The CPU now are capable to simulating decent physics, car control, and graphics. Colin McRae Rally was introduced in 1998 to the PC world, and was a successful simulation of the world of rally driving (previously only available in Sega's arcade-y Sega Rally Championship). Motorhead, a PC game, was later adapted back to arcade. The year 1999 marked a change of games into more "free form" worlds. Midtown Madness for the PC allow the player to explore a simplified version of the city of Chicago using a variety of vehicles and any path that they desire. Driver, also for the PC, introduced the most realistic physics engine yet with body deformation and collision bouncing, as well as simplified versions of four American cities for driving in as you chase (or evade) bad guys while fulfilling various missions. In the arcade world, Sega introduced Crazy Taxi, where you are a taxi driver that needed to get the client to the destination in the shortest amount of time. A similar game also from Sega is Emergency Ambulance Driver, with almost same game play (pick up patient, drop off at hospital, as fast as possible). Games are becoming more and more realistic visually. Some arcade games are now featuring 3 screens to provide a surround view. From 2000 on, there is a wide gamut of driving games from simple action-arcade racers like Mario Kart Double Dash (for the Nintendo Gamecube) and Nick Toon Racers to ultra-realistic simulators like Live for Speed and Grand Prix Legends to sci-fi racers and everything in between. Racing simulators Simulation style racing games strive to replicate the handling of a car as it feels in the real world. They often license real cars or racing leagues, but will use fantasy cars built to resemble real ones if unable to acquire them. Although these racing simulators are specifically built for people with a high grade of driving skill it is not uncommon to find aids that can be enabled from the game menu. The most common aids are traction control (TC), anti-lock brakes, steering assistance, damage resistance, clutch assistance, automatic gearbox, etc. This softens the learning curve for the difficult handling characteristics of most racing cars. The Formula One World Championship has a fan base all over the world and is one of the racing series with the most simulation adaptations. Some of these racing simulators are customizable, as game fans have decoded the tracks, cars and executable files. Large internet communities have grown around the simulators regarded as the most realistic and many websites host internet championships. Arcade racers Arcade style racing games put fun and a fast-paced experience above all else, as cars usually compete through odd ways. They often license real cars and leagues, but are equally open to more exotic settings and vehicles. Races take place on highways, windy roads or in cities; they can be multiple-lap circuits or point-to-point, with one or multiple paths (sometimes with checkpoints), or other types of competition, like demolition derby, jumping or testing driving skills. Popular arcade racers are the Daytona USA series, the Rush series, the Cruis'n Series and the classic Out Run. Over the last three years there has been a trend of new street racing; imitating the import scene, one can tune sport compacts and sports cars and race them on the streets. The most widely known ones are the Need for Speed Underground series, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Street Racing Syndicate and Juiced. Simulation style racing games Semi-simulation style racing games These games are neither simulators nor arcade racers; they stand in the middle of the spectrum. Arcade style racing games Radio control racers Futuristic/Extreme racers Kart racers Kart racers, popularized by (and often credited to) the Mario Kart series, are a style of racing game that introduces the ability to pick up items during the race, and use them to boost one's performance in a race, or to attack other players and hamper their progress. Like arcade racers, kart racers feature simple racing physics and imaginative environments to race in. Kart racers include: Arcade racing games time line | |||||||||||
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