What is the point of racing games?

What is the point?

You' re in a car, and you drive around. Wow.

Seriously? I can understand games like mario kart where it' s not really about racing but about beating the crap out of other people, but plain old racing games like Gran Turismo? What the hell is the point?

Hmmm what' s the point in beat' em' ups? Just beating somebody up.
Or Shooters? Just walking around and shooting stuff.
And so on



Anyway, I believe the big fun comes from (as with almost any genre) that you can do things you can' t really do in real life. If racing games were all about getting in the car you already own and driving around in a city in a law-abiding way, I think I couldn' t have agreed more with you. But well, that' s not what racing games do. They let you drive a Ferrari and have some nice races which ends up equalling fun.

Any genre can be boiled down to a simple statement like that.

FPS: Wow you run around and shoot stuff.
RPG: Raid dungeons and talk...a lot.
Sports: Hit a ball around woohoo.

No real point to any of it cept for enjoyment on behalf of its designated audience.

Not only it makes you try soemthing you can' t do in real life but the real enjoyement comes also when it testes your reflexes and your know how, all games do , it gives you a sense of accomplishement.. it' s not often easy to drive in gran turismo, you should tune your car accordingly, break when you should , not early and not late, and much more, it' s applying these techniques that give your more satisfactions when they are well done... it' s called gameplay baby

I rarely agree with Emo, but in this case i do. i only like racing games like Mario Kart, or fast racers like Rollcage

Racing is about competing. That' s the core of racing.
Competing against other players, against the CPU, against your own record times, it' s all very satisfying if you' re a competitive person.
Also, the sense of speed can often be a thrill, especially in games like F-zero GX.
Add to that the huge variety of racing games with very different art styles, car types, settings, tuning options, etc. and you have a very versatile genre.

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I rarely agree with Emo, but in this case i do. i only like racing games like Mario Kart, or fast racers like Rollcage

I rarely agree with anyone agreeing with emofag, but I feel exactly the same way. Unless you are talking about Outrun 2 in the arcades, that is (I' ve also gotta try a Burnout someday).

It' s not my favorite genre. But as someone said, everything can be simplified like this in the end. I do like a few racers though, like Outrun or Test Drive Lemans on DC. And F355 Challenge is one I would like to test eventually.

F1 games are a good way to spend my time.

But then it has to be where I am in control of the car setup to the smallest detail. Especially in F1 games finding a perfect setup for your car for a certain track can be challenging with also keeping in mind that it can start raining if it is predicted that rain may fall.

So then you' ll have to find a setup that gives you enough speed on a dry track but also one that gives you enough grip on a wet track.

There' s a lot more in certain racers than some people would think. I' ll try showing with a simple example.

If you' re in the lead with a rather small gap of like only 5 seconds or so you can play your cards very differently. You can either go full speed and take risks to increase the gap, but since you do that your burn more fuel and your tire wear will be higher making you have to go into the pits sooner but with a greater gap leaving you more room for your pitstop.

On the other hand if you are faster than the one behind you can control the gap. Reducing fuel usage and tyre wear which allows you to stay on the track longer than your opponent since he' s pushing to catch up to you while you can control. When he goes for his pitstop this should result in you being able to stay out a lap or 2-3 to go all out effectively increasing your gap since your opponent will be slower due to the high amount of fuel he has onboard. And when you finally go into the pits you also need to waste less time tanking fuel since you have lesser laps to do. In other words you effectively increased the gap between you by pushing 2-3 laps with almost no fuel and a rather good set of tires. Because of this you come out of the pits with a few seconds extra than you did before and another extra second since your pit-stop was shorter. And after that you can just control the race again or you can push again for a few laps increasing the lead more so you can start cruising after a while.

So as you can see you can put as much depth into a racing game as you wish.

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PSN: Demonoroth
pm me if you add anything

The forklift race in Shenmue. Now that was awesome!
The trick was to raise the forks so you didn' t hit obstacles and edges on the track.

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the racing Genre exisits to make the other Gneres look better. Thanks Sega!

Change is inevitable. Except from a vending machine.

Viva La Revolution! erm, I mean Viva La Wii!

I think one of the point of racing games is to live out your automotive fantasies without the harsh penalties of the real world ;).. Try going 100 miles per hour in most places around your town and see what happens to ya

Also, play a racing game drunk and drive a real car drunk and compare the repercussions

Terry Bogard - currently the most Unhelpful member of the Kikizo forums.

The point is to finish first!

Different things appeal to different people.

Folks like Demonoroth find the detailed management of a vehicle really interesting, so racing sims are really fun for them.

On the other hand, the gameplay he described sounds less like a game and more like some unusual torture to me. If you gave me the option of playing that game and punching myself in the crotch, I' d put on my boxing gloves.

You mean putting on the boxing gloves to play the game that way? Since it' s even more of a challenge then to press the buttons ;)

ORIGINAL: nekkid_monkey
On the other hand, the gameplay he described sounds less like a game and more like some unusual torture to me.

Well if you play online it' s best to let them feel you control the race. You could say I like to torture the mind when I' m superior in a race and let them feel it. Makes them emotionally unbalanced and they start making mistakes and go off track. Saves me the trouble of having to take risks that aren' t really called for and spare the car.

And YS who' s talking buttongs here...nothing beats a racing wheel and pedals for a racing game. Gives you much more control at cornering, braking and accelerating.

Wii code: 2072 1110 4558 6538
Smash Bros Brawl: 1848-3246-8526
Mario Kart: 412452409500
Mario Strikers: 120360 413659
NiGHTS: 3737-8754-6785
PES 08: 4339-4437-7901

PSN: Demonoroth
pm me if you add anything

ORIGINAL: Evilkiller

Hmmm what' s the point in beat' em' ups? Just beating somebody up.
Or Shooters? Just walking around and shooting stuff.
And so on



Anyway, I believe the big fun comes from (as with almost any genre) that you can do things you can' t really do in real life. If racing games were all about getting in the car you already own and driving around in a city in a law-abiding way, I think I couldn' t have agreed more with you. But well, that' s not what racing games do. They let you drive a Ferrari and have some nice races which ends up equalling fun.

I can' t go around beating the crap out of people because A) I' m not a skilled martial artist in real life and B) I' d go to jail.

I can get on my car and speed on highways with a far better sense of speed than a video game can provide.

ORIGINAL: Mass X

Any genre can be boiled down to a simple statement like that.

FPS: Wow you run around and shoot stuff.
RPG: Raid dungeons and talk...a lot.
Sports: Hit a ball around woohoo.

No real point to any of it cept for enjoyment on behalf of its designated audience.

Um, whens the last time you shot someone in real life? Exactly.

When' s the last time your saved the world like in an RPG? Exactly

When' s the last time I drove at 100mph down a highway? Last night.

Exactly.

Again I can understand UNREALISTIC racers like Burnout where you can pull off insane speed and stunts that just can' t happen in real life, but stuff like Gran Turismo? Come on.

Yeah the problem though is - you are talking about Need for Speed and saying Gran TUrismo. Let' s ask a bit different questions.

When did you participate in a race for the last time? Exactly.
When did you drive a Ferrari for the last time? Exactly.

But it isn' t even comparable.

I could get into races if I wanted to, I can' t go on a killing spree as much as I wanted as there are consequences, I can' t save the world if I wanted to, etc.

To get to the nice cars like ferraris you usually have to unlock them and drive a bunch of crappy cars as you progress through the game, that is sleep inducing.

Yeah well you could get in a race if you wanted to(though I doubt I' ll see you racing F1 anytime soon). You could also go and kill some people - just enlist in the army! And if you want to beat the crap out of people, preferebly black ones - just become a police officer. (Yes, this is irony)

See, if you really want to, you can do most of that stuff you can do in games nowadays anyway.(at least if we are talking about games in a " real" setting) So why do you still play them?

But enlisting in the army would require a lifestyle change, its not a realistic possibility.

I could really go and race people just spending a few hours out of my life.

So far there is only one racing sim fan in here. Demonoroth. What he described is a large part of why I enjoy racing games. I love the mind set you have to get in, the control and patience required and most of all, the ability to try so many things in one lap.

You get to try and find the perfect line through a corner so you nail the apex, you can ride the rumble strips in area' s while others will throw you way off. Some corners are more effective if you power out of the turn, some a slow in fast out approach, and the opposite, fast in, slow out.

Racing sims are for people who truly love driving, not just the speed aspect, but the true fundamentals of driving and everything that goes with it.

I for one am not a fan of NFS type games. I have Carbon for ps3 and it is absolutely no challenge, if you actually know how to drive its childs play. Second, every car feels the same in it. Sure they have different grip limits and power levels, but they all fundamentally feel the same. In Gran Turismo you can feel the difference in a cars chassis and setup so immediately. Cars like the MR2 and RUF' s are fast as hell and can grip a huge amount under power in the corners, but god save you let off the throttle mid corner. Snap oversteer 4tl. The same is said for the FF cars. Some understeer so painfully its aggravating, others are tuned so well that left foot breaking makes the tail step out perfectly. Type R' s for example.

Anyway, I could care less what people think of racing sims. They have a following, devs continue to make them, and I will continue to play them. Those that understand them love them, and if you can' t understand why people do, then thats your problem.

Your analogy of driving fast on a highway is pointless too. Any dipshit can do that in a decent car. Its the corners that matter. Which is why for 50 years american cars went like hell in a straight line, but couldn' t corner worth a damn. The c6 vette rectify' s that, as well as the viper to an extent, but the majority still can' t handle worth shit.

I dont understand why someone would want to drive a in circle.

on the same lap.

fuck racing games!

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

And what is so fascinating about driving through corners?

Grats you drove by that corner, WOW.

How exciting. /yawn


And grats on using other cars as cushion on that corner, because its so realistic to bump into other cars and not crash.

I beat 99% of GT races by using other cars as cushion during corners, curves, etc.

Btw why do we pay for pokemon games?

They' re all the same,and the writers behind pokemon are just amazing,I mean the only thing a pokemon can say is his own name.

Must be hard to make the story / character conversation on Pokemon.

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

Mewtwo can talk.

And the point of videogames is to escape the boringness of real life, theres no pokemon in real life.

Yeah well, it' s so fantastic because it can be challenging, especially against a human opponent. You are constantly under pressure and believe me, when you know that every little mistake means, your enemy could overtake you right there on the spot it' s surely an achievement if you manage to cross a difficult curve without losing your position.

And well, what' s so exiciting about shooting people? Wow, you just took that AI soldier down.

See, you can seriously simplisize ANY game to a point where it sounds utterly boring. But seriously, racing games are mostly NOT about simply driving around but about proving yourself. Either when you are racing alone how good you can control the car to get the fastest lap or, when you are racing against opponents, how good you really are and how well you can do under sometimes massive pressure.

ORIGINAL: Evilkiller
And well, what' s so exiciting about shooting people? Wow, you just took that AI soldier down.

There' s alot of other interesting things going on such as weapons, cool maps, story, etc. stuff you' d never see IRL.

ORIGINAL: emofag

There' s alot of other interesting things going on in racing games such as cars, cool race tracks, championships, etc.

And what is so fascinating about driving through corners?

Grats you drove by that corner, WOW.

How exciting. /yawn


And grats on using other cars as cushion on that corner, because its so realistic to bump into other cars and not crash.

I beat 99% of GT races by using other cars as cushion during corners, curves, etc.

So you played the game the cheap way. Grats.

You are a fucking tool, and I could give a shit what you think.

Is it that time of the month again Dagashi?

Go clean yourself.

And please, the AI uses you as cushion too, it' s simply a game mechanic.

wtf is going on here,I see snakes in my roof...

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

I enjoy a racing game or two. I even have a steering wheel & peddles for the full experience. I could explain why i like the genre, but the explaination would be lost on those that will never, ever find racing games enjoyable. You don' t have to like a genre but don' t have to hate on those that do. Shheesh.

I like arcade racing games. I was hooked (and i still play the shit out of it) on Manx TT Superbike for years and even though i had the Saturn version i still played the arcade version every time i saw it.

My favorite racing games consist are (in no particular order):

WipeOut 2097 (XL)
Daytona USA & 2
Scud Race (Sega Super GT)
F-Zero X & GX
Super Mario Kart & Mario Kart 64
OutRun 2
Ridge Racer Type 4
Metropolis Street Racer, PGR2 & 3

...and i think the only sim games i' ve really enjoyed is Ferrari F355 and MotoGP 3.

Recently, MotorStorm and Formula One Championship Edition have impressed me and i liked what i played of Excite Truck, but i didn' t like the Forza 2 demo and i haven' t played FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage yet so even though i' ll probably buy them both anyway i can' t see myself playing them very much.

Since we' re going on about racers here anyway.

Don' t know if any of you already saw this but this is something that has gotten me excited. I know it' s an e3 trailer but this might have passed under the radar of many people

http://media.wii.ign.com/media/949/949711/vids_1.aspx

It' s a trailer for Nitrobike. The thing I' m liking the most is it' s going online while I' m more into F1 racing wouldn' t mind having a go on a nitropowered dirtbike.

Wii code: 2072 1110 4558 6538
Smash Bros Brawl: 1848-3246-8526
Mario Kart: 412452409500
Mario Strikers: 120360 413659
NiGHTS: 3737-8754-6785
PES 08: 4339-4437-7901

PSN: Demonoroth
pm me if you add anything

I hate sim racing games like GT. I spent an hour driving around in a circle so I can buy a mediocre car that was vastly superior to my shitmobile, but still far below what I would want to drive in real life. I hate the GT series, it' s the most overrated videogame series. I especially hate the fans who will argue that these games have realistic physics LMAO, no it doesn' t. The physics in these sim type games are just as shitty as they are in arcade games, just in the other direction. PGR3 is the only racing game I' ve played with semi decent physics.

PGR3 in the incar view is fun. It' s still a racing game so i can only play it for so long but I can see why people like it.

I don' t care about tweeking the cars, nor do i care about NOS, motion blur is stupid and I don' t like shifting gears. A good racing game is one with well designed levels and good sense of speed, excellent physics and controls and of course a high frame rate. And hey if I can blow something up at the same time it makes the game that much more interesting.

I used to like Xtreme-G on the N64, that was fun. The only thing that was more fun was Road Rash N64. Fuck I had a lot of fun with that. What can be more fun than shoving a crow bar in some assholes spokes at 150kph?

What is the point of racing games?

To win and have fun! The sense of speed can also be fun if the game is good. You can' t drive on rally tracks in real life, especially at rally speed. Games like Gran Turismo suck ass. That' s not a racing game, that' s closer to a coma simulator. But games like Burnout 3 kick ass. Way more than games like Halo or Call of Duty or some other diarrhea game where you run around with a gun shooting 12 year old kids while playing online. I' d much rather shoot 12 year old kids in real life anyday. At least that way they stay dead. Much more fun.

ORIGINAL: emofag

And the point of videogames is to escape the boringness of real life, theres no pokemon in real life.

What!? That' s why you play videogames? Haha, you are pathetic
Racing games are very accessible because everyone understands the basics of racing.
They are quick to learn which means everyone can play them instantly, but they' re sometimes hard to master which means you can spend lots of time on them.
The feeling of competition and perfection that exists in the racing genre is above all other genres. I' ve never had such a rush of competitiveness (is that a word? )in any genre as in racing games. And the ability to constantly learn each car and each track gives you a very good idea of how good you are and what you need to work on.

So why am I not racing in real life? It takes waaaay more time, money, effort and risk.
And with racing GAMES I can play with lots of friends, online, off-line, in the arcades, with some chips, beer (or soda whatever you drink) and just have a relaxed time feeling the rush of speed and competition without being as serious as you have to be when doing real life races.
Why don' t you ask all the MILLION people who play soccer games why they don' t play soccer in real life instead of doing it on a TV-screen?!?!? That would be a much more interesting question.

Their answer would probably be similar to mine.

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I don' t care about tweeking the cars, nor do i care about NOS, motion blur is stupid and I don' t like shifting gears. A good racing game is one with well designed levels and good sense of speed, excellent physics and controls and of course a high frame rate. And hey if I can blow something up at the same time it makes the game that much more interesting.

F-Zero

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