Andy Mahood of Gamesradar.com has put together an interesting list of what he considers to be the five most influential racing simulations of all times.
His list includes Indianapolis 500, Grand Prix, Grand Prix Legends, rFactor and iRacing but misses other significant titles such as SCGT, the Papyrus NASCAR & Indycar franchise as well as ISI’s Formula One simulations.
Do you agree with his view? Does iRacing already belong in that list? And should SCGT, a simulation that draw a huge modding hype, really be left out? Read the article and tell us your personal top five :)
stabiz
November 10th, 2008 at 03:42
How can iRacing be influential? Its brand new!
maxs
November 10th, 2008 at 04:18
commercial bullshit :!:
hypertek
November 10th, 2008 at 05:18
Richard Burns Rally shall forever be the underdog and never get its deserving recognition.
I suppose these 5 games are because these are games he happened to have owned…
UncleChuckle
November 10th, 2008 at 06:01
I agree with Indy 500, F1GP and GPL. rFactor is a dubious choice.
iRacing being on the list though is garbage. All iRacing has done is taken the model of many sim leagues (rules to keep out idiots), codified it to their own universe, and applied the MMORPG business model too it.
Strikes me they needed 5 games and picked the flavour of the month.
Be a cold day in hell before I get suckered into the MMO model again.
JacobSharp
November 10th, 2008 at 07:34
For me is Richard Burns Rally (RIP Richard)….everyone knows it, but no one wants to admits it
I have nothing to critic on this article choice of sims, it has it’s merits. But i think rFactor probably have brought net racing to the masses, for better or worst :???:
Dillyracer
November 10th, 2008 at 08:23
The only reason why I probably won’t play iRacing is because of the monthly payment. That’s personal, so I don’t want this to turn into a discussion.
phil23
November 10th, 2008 at 09:12
Indy 500, F1GP, GP2, GPL, Indycar Racing and Richard Burns are all influential in the earlier days of sims as we know them now. SCGT truly defined the communities and modding that we all benefit from now. GTR started to push the boundaries to full on sims for the broader market.
iRacing has a lot to prove before it can say that it belongs with these titles. Not wanting to take anything away from iRacing but it hasn’t done anything revolutionary.
Good old Richard Burns Rally still stands head and shoulders above anything for true hardcore simulation though. Excellent physics, track surfaces and brutally realistic damage make it very rewarding.
DRat
November 10th, 2008 at 12:59
This article looks like it is just a build-up to the last paragraph about iRacing. Most likely, he was identifying four, not five, of the best historical sims. With that limit there is no way he could do justice to some of those simulations that have been standouts and proven as major advances in racing sim technologies.
tbc21
November 10th, 2008 at 13:11
I remember waiting for such a long time for GrandPrix 2 to be released. This game is my personal milestone in videogame history.
Wil
November 10th, 2008 at 14:37
The article its a fake just a build-up to the last paragraph about iRacing as DRat said. How could he left GRand Prix 3 with its first ever seen dynamic weather system? And how mention rFactor/GTR? should not to be rFactor/GTR2?
Bizarre. Lame pseudo-article. :???:
Paul Kelly
November 10th, 2008 at 15:55
NASCAR Racing 2003 Season should be on that list. It still lives today in online leagues and still has a VERY active modding community. Funny, it was released six years ago, and it’s still the de facto oval racing sim.
Also agree on Richard Burns Rally. It is the GPL of rally sims and must be on this list.
Also add me to the crowd disagreeing with iRacing. All it does is take the MMO model and bring it to racing. iRacing is not the first game with ultra-realistic physics. GPL and Richard Burns Rally already have done that in the last decade.
N0body Of The Goat
November 10th, 2008 at 19:40
The five PC racing games (not necessary sims) that most influenced me are:-
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (loved the graphics, bought my first gaming wheel)
Nascar Season 2003 (running the super speedways, often fixed setups)
TOCA Race Driver 3 (played to death until the 4000 slot hack and the completely unrealistic corner speeds opened my eyes to proper simulations)
RACE (depsite having GTR and GT Legends beforehand, this game whetted my appitite for sim racing)
Rfactor (love all the custom content, although I am often frustrated by the polarised following of Meganes of default tracks servers, when there are so many quality custom cars and tracks out there which get virtually no online loving in the public community)
stabiz
November 10th, 2008 at 21:05
The games that influenced me the most:
1. Gran Turismo (I once thought this was as good as it could get)
2. Grand Prix 4 (loved every part of it, particularly that it was very hard – at the time)
3. GTR demo (wohooooooo! this is the most shocking experience I have had, it was THAT good)
4. GTR/GTR2/Race, etc)
5. rFactor (new Simbin titles come out, and I buy them, but still go back to rFactor after a few days)
idlejimbo
November 11th, 2008 at 01:55
I’d have said IndyCar Racing instead of Indy500.
Gran Turismo belongs on there (yes, I class it as a sim) as it was very influencial and sold more little grey boxes than any other racing game.
Richard Burns Rally is the most engrossing sim experience I’ve ever had, and actually my favourite sim, but I’m not sure that it’s actually influenced any other games. Sadly. If it has, I should really find out what they are.
iRacing??? Pah! Is there even a demo to try?? The Papyrus games were all incredible titles, but does anyone else think that this subscription bullshit is just an updated version of the ‘Track Pack’ tactic of the IndyCar and NASCAR Racing days?
Arnold Carter Wong
November 11th, 2008 at 14:58
For me, it’s Indycar Racing 2, that’s my first racing game :mrgreen:
then the GPL, SCGT, ISI’s F1 and rF
Wil
November 11th, 2008 at 15:43
ISI/EA F1 2002 was the first that gave me the “feeling of racing” GPL had terrible fps in those days, only more than 5 years after its release it bacame really playable.
ForzaBarca88
November 13th, 2008 at 11:46
Ive only really played racing sims from 1997 onwards so cant really comment on the older classics but my personal list would go something like
5. Gran Turismo
4. Live for Speed
3. rFactor/GTR2
2. Richard Burns Rally
1. Grand Prix Legends
iRacing I havent played yet but obviously its a fairly revolutionary concept for sim racing that could potentially fail miserably. I do really like the idea tho. NR2003 is another one that deserves a mention.
Sensekhmet
November 18th, 2008 at 09:39
I’m a little surprised no one mentioned Live for Speed. This is the game that got me into online racing, connecting and racing is easy and quick. Not broken (GTR2) or confusing (like having exactly the same mod and track and in the same versions as the server like in rfactor) like in some other games.