Living Fast

I’m 27 years old, I don’t own a car, I don’t even have my license. I have a permit, which pretty much just serves as my picture ID when I go to bars. Don’t get me wrong; I know how to drive, I like to drive and I’ll even go so far as to say that I am not terrible at it. I just don't do it every day, unlike all my friends, which may be the reason I love video games that involve driving and racing, and none of them do. (One buddy of mine, a gearhead in real life, tends to buy every single crappy racing game that comes out, just see what cars are in it. He's the exception, though.)

As with so much else, my affinity for racing games can be traced back to early childhood. Back when I was seven and had no real career path picked out, I had it in my head that I was going to be a racecar driver. My reasons for this are much the same today as they were then: racing a car down a track really fast is awesome. Oddly, as an adult I don’t watch racing on TV, even though I have always admired it. Maybe I'm just reluctant to consider myself a "racing fan," given the image that immediately comes to mind when you hear that phrase. Or maybe it's just that, let's face it, the sport is a bit boring at times. If the cars had guns on them, it would be a different story -- I'd tune in every day. 

Where was I? Okay, right. I love a good racing game. There's just something about an in-depth racing game that I find really mother-lovin' cool. One evening, I went out of my way after work to pick up "Forza Motorsport 2," and I couldn’t be bothered with anything else for a solid three weeks. My friends would be all, "Why are you playing that!?" And I'd be like, "Because there’s something about them and I like them."

The arcade games of my youth (and maybe yours too) went all-out for verisimilitude: a lot of them actually had steering wheels and gas pedals down by your feet. Somewhere in the late '80s, we started seeing arcade cabinets that you could actually sit inside, and the body of the game moved around as you drove. Today, at your larger arcades, these games are often played in a full-sized car with a giant screen in front of you, and they simulate real driving on a course.

Personally, I was always more of a console racing-game guy. Home consoles are where you see the really innovative stuff, like Nintendo's "F-Zero," which is set in the future, or Sony's "Gran Turismo" series, which lets you customize your car with an amazing degree of detail. "Forza 2," from Microsoft Game Studios, was also great in that respect, and actually ended up being less stiff and more fun than the last couple of Turismo titles. It also featured a great soundtrack.

The appeal of racing in general is hard to pin down, and just as hard to ignore. I grew up in Queens, where street racing was always around, though it was never legal. Even in video game form, you still get a rush from beating the guy next to you, just by virtue of having the better car and more skills behind the wheel. Graphics have come such a long way from 1987's seminal "Rad Racer," and so has gameplay (thank God).

So what's good these days? Microsoft's "Project Gotham Racing" series hit it big with a lot of racing fans, but I never got too into them, although "PGR4" was very good and featured the welcome addition of weather to the tracks. Acclaim's "Burnout" series is also pretty good, especially if you want a fun, lighthearted racer that lets you do stunts and things like that. Even if you're not a racing fan, you should check out at least one of these games; I think you’d be pleasantly surprised. Racing games tend to bring out a bit of competitive nature, and you end of having way more fun than you planned for. I can't wait for the 2009 titles.

Hey, I'm curious about y'all! If you are a race fan, why do you buy the games? Tell me your thoughts in the comments, and we can get a dialogue going.