[Shotimes] (OT) Racing Videogames................. was Re: NASCAR numbnuts

[Noah South III]

Wow, that yoke is something I considered buying many years ago, specifically
for racing games on my computer.  It was the best one out at the time.  Now
they've got all these ultra expensive force feedback wheels that come with
pedals and some even have shifters, and since I don't play videogames 24/7
like I used to I couldn't see spending $200 on something like that.

You can't get the same kind of adrenelin rush from a videogame that you can
get in real life (although I've definitely gotten a rush out of
Counterstrike before).  The feelings of physical movement just aren't there
with a videogame.

I was just discussing this was some of my gamer buddies the other day.  How
the end all be all of videogames will be when you can clip a plug into your
brain that will simulate all the inertial feelings of real life.  This could
result in some hillarious situation with someone falling off their couch
while playing a very intense race and crashing.

Still, real life can be boring in some aspects, and this is where videogames
take over.  I love driving my car fast in the twisties, but I really wish I
had the money to get into some quality amatuer racing.  I just don't have
the time nor money right now to do something like that.  I always fancied
myself as a professional racer some day.  You know, having a job where your
work is more like play.

-Noah South III

P.S.....This sure has been one hell of a day of OT.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Donald Mallinson
> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 6:05 PM
> To: SHOTimes-Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] (OT) Racing Videogames................. was Re:
> NASCAR numbnuts
> 
> Noah,
> 
> REad my typing....I said I don't play THAT MANY video games.
>   Not that I am totally lacking that area of my life.
> 
> I have a Porsche game, a few Indy games (the ones from a few
> years ago that included road courses) and a couple NASCAR
> games, one of my favorites is road racing big rig trucks,
> bobtail style.  I have a Virtual Pilot Pro steering yoke
> that works pretty good with these, but I don't have a
> gas/brake pedal setup.
> 
> I do play some games, just not many.  As much as some people
> went off the deep end saying WRC is so far above NASCAR, I
> say that there is NO substitute for actually getting out and
> driving the real thing.
> 
> Autocross, driving schools, convention events/drags, etc.
> No video game is even 5% the thrill of any of these in
> person.  For the cost of keeping up with the latest video
> games, anyone with a drivers license and a car can race
> several times a year.
> 
> Now don't go all off on me and say I am proposing you give
> up video games for the real thing.  You can have both!
> 
> I have played good flying simulators, moon landers, lots of
> racing games, even shot up a few thousand bad guys, but NO
> video game gives me ANYTHING that comes anywhere close to
> real life.  It is short term entertainment, but a substitute
> for anything real?  No way.
> 
> Ask the guys that train on tanks in a video game room.  even
> with hydraulics and good sound, it just isn't ANYTHING like
> the real thing, for sure nothing like being shot at!  Good
> training for learning the controls?  Sure.
> 
> Do some pro race car drivers use video games to get a start
> at learning a new track?  sure.  Will they admit it was
> anywhere close to the real thing?  Nope.
> 
> Reality,........... a concept you can invest in!  :)
> 
> Don Mallinson
> Your turn to twist the argument in strange ways!  ;)
> P.S. as a gamer geek, you probably flinched when I mentioned
> the Virtual Pilot yoke...old tech by now?  Probably museum tech?
> 
> Noah South III wrote:
> 
> > Everyone should play videogames Don.  Part of what makes videogames so
> great
> > is you get to do all the things you couldn't in real life, even if that
> > means defying the laws of reality.  Even if you've never picked up a
> > videogame in your life, you should at least give it a try.  You might
> like
> > it a lot, and racing in a videogame is a LOT cheaper than racing in real
> > life.  You don't have to buy things like a car, or a pit crew, or spend
> all
> > the time trying to find sponsors.
> >
> > Yet, not many games can simulate reality and be entertaining, that kind
> of
> > goes against what videogames are all about.  A prime example of a
> failure in
> > gameplay but a success in simulation was the entire Madden series of
> > football games.  As far as a videogame went, they SUCKED.  When you
> played
> > it, it felt like that really old football game from the 70's that had Xs
> and
> > Os, was black and white, and you controlled with a trackball (that game
> was
> > hours of fun by the way, because the faster you spun the trackball the
> > faster you ran, I had bruised palms from play that in the arcade).
> However,
> > as far as a "sports simulation" went, it was the best there has ever
> been.
> > If you wanted to play the role of a coach, the Madden games were THE
> > football games to play.  In a way, they were like the perfect Fantasy
> > Football games.
> >
> > Rallisport is like Madden in the simulation department, except it has
> one
> > major advantage, the gameplay is like nothing ever seen before.  It
> drives
> > like a simulation game, but it plays like an arcade game.
> >
> > If you like Rally, then you owe it to yourself to at least check out
> some
> > video clips of this game.  I remember how my jaw dropped when I saw the
> in
> > game footage of Gran Turismo 3 for the PS2.  My jaw did the same thing
> when
> > I first saw Rallisport.
> >
> > -Noah South III
> >
> > P.S.....And yes, if anyone was wondering, I'm also classified as a gamer
> > geek.
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