I'm starting to realize that we are a VERY small minority :(

[isamu]

After participating in several racing games forums over the years, I am starting to realize that those us here, at BYOAC, who love arcade racing games, are in the minority, and it's a real shame.

I have been reading a bunch of threads about GRID 2 from over at Codemasters' own forum as well as at Neo Gaf, Race Department and Iracing, and my GOD are people bashing the game because the physics are too "drifty". All I can do is shake my head and realize that most racing game fans simply want their games to lean towards the realistic side, and balk at anything resembling the likes of Daytona USA, OutRun or Ridge Racer.

In case you're wondering how I feel about GRID 2, this is what I just wrote at the Codemasters forum:


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

After playing for a few hours last night, will simply say this:

I am someone who grew up playing purely arcade racing games like OutRun, Daytona USA, Virtua Racing, etc. I am a COMPLETE drifting, powersliding arcade racing nutjob! I can now say with conviction, that I get it! GRID 2 has some incredible drifting physics. Not quite up there with the likes of Ridge Racer V or OutRun 2 or anything like that, but it's still damn good!

The thing to remember people, is that this game is paying homage to the old Japanese arcade racers of the 90s like Daytona USA, where you HAD to drift in order to be fast around the track! Same thing in OutRun 2 and Ridge Racer. This game is Codemasters giving fans of those games a nod, and saying "Here guys, we too were fans of Daytona USA and Ridge Racer, so we wanted to give you our version of a good powersliding arcade game". And you know what? That's exactly what they did!

Those of you who've never experienced the glory days of Japanese racing games in arcades in the 90's cannot relate to this style of driving, so GRID 2 therefore feels foreign to you. If you are like me however, this game is right up your alley! I love love LOVE the fact that Codemasters made GRID 2 with this much emphasis on drifting! The more I drive the cars, the more I fall in love with the physics. It's 100% pure unadulterated ARCADE POWERSLIDING GOODNESS!

Don't listen to the haters CM, you did a good job with the handling in GRID 2. If anything, I think the cars could use even MORE drift
 type behavior, akin to the likes of  Ridge Racer 6 or OutRun 2006! Take a corner perfectly and by shifting the weight of the car the proper way and it's a very satisfying experience.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>



They clearly just don't get it. For those of you here at BYOAC who love arcade racers like Daytona USA etc, want your powersliding fix, and are mildly curious about GRID 2, all I can say is BUY IT!

[Slydsho]

ive actually been wondering what grid 2 was like, and from what you've just posted i may need to build my first arcade racer cabinet, does grid 2 work with logitech g27? i happen to have this collecting dust in the shed, figured it might be the way to go with controls... anyway, i agree with you entirely about the racing community wanting to go with realistic everything, i for one, love the arcade racer feel and its a shame that its not thriving as strongly as it should.  +1 to your post

[SegaOutrun]

I gave GRID 2 a quick test run the other day and I can confirm that I spent more time sideways than straight. Not complaining (I like drifting games) but, I need to spend some time adjusting the wheel settings so I dont spend so much time in the wall.

[Fursphere]

I noticed a lot of the driving games walk a fine line between fun and frustrating.

[Howard_Casto]

I just can't stand pure sims.  I honestly never did understand the point. 

People will drop thousands upon thousands into a rig to get it to behave exactly like a car.... which is silly because last time I checked, you can step outside your door and drive a car.  Real driving, even driving a race car, is kind of tedious and boring.  Over the top arcade driving is fun because it purposefully removes the tedious bits.  Imagine playing Daytona USA if you had to spend 4 hours doing 500 laps.  Well nascar has since made sim games like that, and let me tell you, they are dull as hell.   

The same goes for flight sims.  At some point you really just need to give up and get your pilot's license, because you've certainly sunk enough money into your rig to where you could afford it.  I'm much more of an afterburner/star  fox guy myself. 

[Fursphere]

For me, flight sims always turn into "whats the most creative way I can crash this thing" games.

[Howard_Casto]

True.... in my youth I'd fire up flight sims and aim straight for the nearest building. 

[isamu]

True.... in my youth I'd fire up flight sims and aim straight for the nearest building.

^ 

[isamu]

HOLY ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- I am complete addicted to GRID 2 multiplayer!!!!!

The more I play this game the more I realize how much it feels like a cross between Daytona USA and Sega Rally on Tarmac. Y'know the second stage in Sega Rally? Well that is EXACTLY how GRID 2 feels and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! It really is rally racing on street courses and it's fun fun FUN!!!!!! I've already won several races online and the feeling of drifting through city street courses and nailing that perfect corner with a smooth drift is SUBLIME!! The FFB is fantastic as well!!!

Seriously there are a LOT of haters of this game because they simply don't get it. People are even demanding a refund    But for those of us with a keen eye for what makes an arcade racer special, and have a passion for that Japanese style Daytona/Sega Rally-esque drift mechanic, then GRID 2 is right up our alley. Hell, you can even 4-1-4 shift to initiate a drift in this game just like Daytona I kid you not! 

[BadMouth]

There are enough sims out there.
Tell the haters to go play Desert Bus if they want realism.

I'd like to see CM move even farther away from the sim look and brighten up the environment with brighter blue skies and lush green vegetation.
Everything looks drab in most modern games.  Perhaps that would keep the sim people from thinking it should "play" like a simulator.
("play" in quotes because is participating in a simulation really even playing?)

90's Arcade Racer can't get here fast enough.
I do think about how small of a group those of us with cabs are when bugging the author about things like 4 speed shifters and low resolutions.
Can't expect the guy to go to too much trouble for a couple dozen of the users, if that. 

[Vigo]

Well nascar has since made sim games like that, and let me tell you, they are dull as hell.   

I got one of those NASCAR games a few years back. I realized right away that they sucked when I found I could not stand going more than three laps without purposely smashing my car into anyone who trys to pass me. The most fun I had in the game was turning around, and trying to head on collide with the leader. "Enjoy the head trauma, Jeff Gordon!" 

[twistedsymphony]

I just can't stand pure sims.  I honestly never did understand the point. 

People will drop thousands upon thousands into a rig to get it to behave exactly like a car.... which is silly because last time I checked, you can step outside your door and drive a car.  Real driving, even driving a race car, is kind of tedious and boring.  Over the top arcade driving is fun because it purposefully removes the tedious bits.  Imagine playing Daytona USA if you had to spend 4 hours doing 500 laps.  Well nascar has since made sim games like that, and let me tell you, they are dull as hell.   

The same goes for flight sims.  At some point you really just need to give up and get your pilot's license, because you've certainly sunk enough money into your rig to where you could afford it.  I'm much more of an afterburner/star  fox guy myself. 

I love classic arcade racers but I also love Sim racers... I also own some mean automobiles that I can drive whenever...

The sim games give you access to cars and tracks and ultimately experiences that you just can't have in real life... I will never get the chance to drive a million dollar Ferrrai on the Nurbergring but with the game and a good wheel I can get a taste of what it's like... and a lot closer taste than driving my Nissan to Walmart and back.

Sim games are getting good enough that we actually have real racers that train on them, some of which have never driven a real car, and they do remarkably well once they hit the real race track.

I think gamers just need to realize that not every racing game needs to be a sim... Ridge Racer 6 sits happily next to Forza 4 on my game shelf and I love them both for their own merits. Both games are super challenging and give me a great sense of satisfaction when I beat a difficult challenge.

It's like comparing an Action film to a Documentary... RR6 is exciting, it's bright, explosive and fun... Forza is a lot more down to earth but opens my eyes to things in the world that I never knew about and lets me experience things I'd otherwise never get to see or do.

Some people only like Action films and think Documentaries are boring, others think that Documentaries are fantastic and Action films are a waste of time... but both have their merits and nether one should be replaced by the other.

[isamu]

RR6 is exciting, it's bright, explosive and fun...

Hey an RR6 fan, awesome! I've played the game to death, especially online.

Have you by any chance played RRV? If so, how far did you get?

[lcmgadgets]

I'm not a huge racing fan, but I agree that there's a place for both sims & arcade type racing. & I like a lack of complete realism--that's why I play arcade games. It's too bad there isn't a lot of support for this class of gaming--I can identify with loving something & watching it die bcause I'm 1 of only a few who do. Long live racing games!

[Desdinova]

Ya'all knows you want to build an environmental cab around this sim....



I be digging ditches, yo! 

Mum would be so proud.

[05SRT4]

A buddy of mine just received a NASCAR racing simulator setup and he wants me to look at it for him.He thinks were going to slap a PC in there and call it good. I just laughed at him for about 3 days before I explained to him the possible outcomes of this. As soon as I take a look and snap some shots ill post some questions for you guys. Ive been reading through all the Driving Cab post's and absorbed as much info as I can.

[BadMouth]

Ya'all knows you want to build an environmental cab around this sim....



I be digging ditches, yo! 

Mum would be so proud.

I might actually go for that if it weren't so crappy.  The bucket doesn't even tilt when it scoops up dirt and then it just appears full.
I always wondered what the sim games from that company were like, but never bothered looking up a video.  I thought they were crap and that has been confirmed.

Euro Truck Simulator 2 supposed to be pretty good.  I'll probably pick it up in a year when the price goes down.
I'm not anti-sim.  I have a half dozen sim racers on my cab that I don't have time to get proficient at.
The idea is that someday I'll stop working on projects and use all my spare time to play.
Until then, the instant gratification of arcade games is where it's at.

[twistedsymphony]

RR6 is exciting, it's bright, explosive and fun...

Hey an RR6 fan, awesome! I've played the game to death, especially online.

Have you by any chance played RRV? If so, how far did you get?

I never played RRV sorry, I do like the series but I've only really played a few of them. I've always been more of a Sega/Microsoft guy when it came to consoles so that limited my access to the RR series quite a bit.

[MTPPC]

75 grand will get you one of these and it's still a heckuva a lot cheaper than driving the real thing:

http://www.cxcsimulations.com/purchase/configurator/north_america/3/

[jennifer]

    You guys should try being a woman who collects racing cabs  ... I do love the older ones however,There are 2 Night drivers out back awaiting some of Jennifers love, As soon as the Enduro racer gets put back together (And a couple of pins) I may just go take them into the shop.

[isamu]

75 grand will get you one of these and it's still a heckuva a lot cheaper than driving the real thing:

http://www.cxcsimulations.com/purchase/configurator/north_america/3/

I can't believe CXCsimulations are still charging 75K for their rigs  SimXperince has the exact same rig for literally 90% cheaper

[DaredevilDave]

That SimXperience doesn't look like it does nearly as much as another system I've seen. That other one lifts you up, tilts you back to simulate accelaration. It's pretty violent actually, and it's about $60k. This SimXperience doesn't move a lot considering how rugged it is.

I watched a few videos and all I could think is "that's it"?

There's a vid online of a guy using this other system playing a formula 1 game and it looks like he'd be thrown from the seat if it wasn't for the harness he was wearing.

For $60k I can go to a track, take racing lessons and drive a real race car on a real track many times. I sound like my Dad!

I'd build a cockpit, maybe have the monitors outside it for more of a 3D effect (and use the no-cockpit camera view if there is one), rip off the monitor bezels or get super thin ones (I never see people do this), go for the whole experience. I mean if you want a simulator you gotta build the car too

[isamu]

Yeah but when you compare $6,000 to $60,000, well , then, what do you expect 

Anyway I'm back to playing GRID 2 again for the first time in THREE years. Been playing it for the past week actually. It's just as incredible as I remember it. You guys should really buy the game. I believe G2A has it for like $5 or something.

3 more events and I'll be done with career mode 

[SailorSat]

    You guys should try being a woman who collects racing cabs  ... I do love the older ones however,There are 2 Night drivers out back awaiting some of Jennifers love, As soon as the Enduro racer gets put back together (And a couple of pins) I may just go take them into the shop.

Spice it up with color overlays

[Barry Barcrest]

    You guys should try being a woman who collects racing cabs  ... I do love the older ones however,There are 2 Night drivers out back awaiting some of Jennifers love, As soon as the Enduro racer gets put back together (And a couple of pins) I may just go take them into the shop.

Spice it up with color overlays

That actually looks quite good.

[buttersoft]

I'd like to see CM move even farther away from the sim look and brighten up the environment with brighter blue skies and lush green vegetation.
Everything looks drab in most modern games.  Perhaps that would keep the sim people from thinking it should "play" like a simulator.

90's Arcade Racer can't get here fast enough.
I do think about how small of a group those of us with cabs are when bugging the author about things like 4 speed shifters and low resolutions.
Can't expect the guy to go to too much trouble for a couple dozen of the users, if that. 

OMFG yes to the first point. Run Daytona and it's so clear and colourful. Run Grid and it's drab and shadowy. Still a great game, but something brighter might be nice.

Also, Drift Stage Alpha looks promising, but I imagine we've all heard of that

I hadn't heard of 90's Arcade Racer, must go check it out.

EDIT: Yeah, so that looks awesome, and should be coming out soon. Hopefully my old emu boxes will run it, it has lan, and a 640x480 mode so my SD CRTs can show it. Any way to contact the devs, Badmouth, to help make this happen?

And on the other hand we have a game like Racing Apex that just looks... weird. Why all the modes? Why the machine guns? Why make low-poly virtua-fighter characters at all - what do they have to do with flat-shaded polygon racing games from the 90's? Why do they all look more frightening than the mad god mainframe from the original Tron? What are the devs going for, like a Team Fortress 2 cartoony vibe? There wasn't any game like this back in the day, so why go for a the strange look? The advertised concept makes little sense to me, the driving looks wack, and TBH i'm not surprised it failed to meet its kickstarter funding.

[charliew]

...and should be coming out soon.

Don't hold your breath, buddy 

[buttersoft]

...and should be coming out soon.

Don't hold your breath, buddy 

Yeah, i see the development delays. Latest material seems to indicate "Fall," as the Yanks call it, 2016. I hope it doesn't get pushed back (again).