Racing Games In Decline Pt. 2: Real World Relevance

As I said in my previous post, I'm upset that my call to arms about making a racing game failed at school.  Failed miserably especially since I was misled by many people into believing I did a good job but I really didn't.

Look, one of the things I mentioned in my presentation was that many racing games are just plain "mediocre."  They try to go for realism but end up boring everyone.  Or they try to go for arcade style but in the end are too shallow, ridiculous, or have little to do with actual racing.  So let's try to take the good parts of racing games and make something great.  Something Daytona-like (without harping on that point for long).  I also aimed to make a colorful game that had cool tracks and stuff, just like in Scud Race, Daytona 2, and OutRun 2.  A truly "exciting" game.

Many racing games are completely oblivious to this.  They keep making bomb after bomb after bomb racing games.  Split/Second sucked.  Blur failed miserably.  Fuel was a joke.  Motorstorm made me want to punch a baby.  And now we have Daytona USA, Sega Rally, and OutRun 2 on XBL and they will all wither away very soon.

So why is it that so many racing games, regardless of whether or not the game is actually good, fail?  I wouldn't have posted this if my game pitch succeeded but it didn't so now here goes.  CONSIDER THIS AN OPINION PIECE.  It may be true, it may not, I don't know, you figure it out...:

Racing games are dead.  They're not in a state of inflation but instead deflation.  They were once a great genre years ago but now they are a laughing stock.  There will always be a few people who like racing games (like you, me, and 17 other people in the world) but most won't like 'em and never will.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing (I don't want racers to be whored out like MMO's or FPSes) but when you have so underwhelming support, this is bad.

So why are racing games failing?  Let us go back to the birth of video games.  Back in the Atari days.  Now games back then were incredibly simple.  Most involved moving dots around the screen.  There wasn't much to do with them.  So some wise guy got the idea to make one of those dots a car.  Driving a car was a primitive idea that perfectly fit the "move stuff around" motif.  Some of the first racing games were Space Race (1973), Speed Race (1974), and Gran Trak 10 (also 1974).  So it's like you're driving a car around the screen, cool!!!  See the Wikipedia page on racing games for more details.


And this game was in 1977...imagine how much worse it was a few years earlier than that.

Well, fast forward to the 80's and 90's.  Racing games are still around.  Arcades were able to capitalize on the racing genre by including their own unique hardware in the form of wheels, pedals, and seats.  They were somewhat "iconic" like the DDR or the Time Crisis machine.  Every arcade needed at least one driving game to get by.

But with the technology getting better, that means that more genres are popping up.  Games aren't just limited to 2-D overhead/side-scrollers anymore.  You were getting all sorts of cool 3D games.  It was nice to see racers in 3D but it wasn't really that good for the genre.  It meant that a bevy of new types of games popped up, particularly massive story-based games like we see today.  Games were more popular than ever before hence less emphasis has been placed on pure gameplay/skill and more on cinematics and production.  Anything shiny and cool sells nowadays, so visuals trump gameplay.  Also, arcades died and so the unique peripherals went with it.  Yeah sure, you can run to the store and buy a racing wheel for the 360/PS3 but who's buying them?

Racing games have hardly any legs to stand on anymore.  The only reason they are still around was because of tradition's sake (racing games were a very early genre) and because there's always a few car buffs around.  No way a racing game can stand face to face with the likes of Call of Duty, Zelda, Mass Effect, all those shiny pretty games.

Honestly, whenever I look at whatever few racing games remain, I see total desperation.  Need for Speed: The Run is basically a car game with tons of cutscenes, advertising, and gimmicks.  Split/Second, Burnout, and Motorstorm have completely given up on racing altogether, narrowing in on the crashing aspect to such an asinine level.  And arcade racers like Fast & the Furious are just so dumbed down that any schmuck with a dollar to waste will play it and leave feeling just as empty on the inside as before.  Just a bunch of mush.

The only racing game that is truly successful is Mario Kart and that's because it's a Nintendo title--pure and simple.  If Sega tried to make a game like Mario Kart, it would only be a one-hundredths as successful...yeah, they released Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing which had a few flaws but was really good.  But now it's toast and is not likely we'll get a sequel any time soon.  Then there's Forza and Gran Turismo which is still going strong but is only really popular among car aficiandos, not necessary among the "racing" populace that is.  There's also Grand Theft Auto which has lots of driving in it although it is not technically a "racing" game either.

If I'm wrong about the racing genre, then prove me wrong!  I don't see racing games going on this massive upswing any time soon.  That is, as long as people keep copying the failed ideas of Burnout & Split/Second.

Can racing games make a comeback?  Or are they destined to...burnout?  HAHAHAHAHA!!!



Debbie Downer.

TLDR: Racing was one of gaming's oldest genres as well as an integral part of the arcade scene.  However, the expansion of technolog, shift towards cinematics, and death of arcades have left racing behind in favor of high-production action/adventure games.  Modern racing games are reaching for absurd designs in an attempt to legitimize the genre with little success and that is sad.

How Would A New Daytona USA Fare? WTF?

This is Part 2.  Please read Part 1 first if you haven't already.  The second part appears before the first so you have to scroll around, I apologize.

Now, let's play pretend for a second.  Let's say that, in the near future, Sega announces a new "Daytona USA" game.  It'll have content from Daytona 1, Daytona 2, Scud Race, and Virtua Racing in it.  The game is released.  How will it do?

Part of the reason I say this is because games NEED to sell well to be worthwhile.  It's not just about good reviews from Gamespot, Giant Bomb, etc.  People need to like it.  Now I remember a while back how in that IGN Crazy Taxi review where he slammed the game because there exists the stark contrast between it and "ten years of real racing innovation."  I know this is IGN we're talking about, but still, I can tell that more people feel the same way about this game.  Also, look at OutRun 2.  Didn't sell well.  OOA is getting taken off XBL in 2012.  Sega Rally Revo is a bust.  Et. al...

About this new Daytona game, there is VERY LITTLE CHANCE that Sega's going "all-in" and revamping the whole entire game (much less add new cars/tracks) so it's going to look outdated.  Sega just can't exert that much energy on anything nowadays (unless it's Sonic).  Look at all the Sega ports on XBL--bare-bones or rushed.  Consider that OutRun 2006 didn't have that much more content than the original arcade cabinet and Sega rode OR2 for such a long time (many re-releases).  Like here's what Daytona 2 really looks like under the hood:

Please bear in mind that this game is 13 years old.  This isn't like taking a NFS game from 2010 and rehashing it in 2011, this is old ass crap we're talking about.  Now Daytona 2 has managed to defy modern-day graphics for a long time because of its framerate and other slick, innovative designs (thanks to the Model3 board), but you're starting to notice the difference these days.  Like compare this 13 year old game to this 1 year old game (Forza 3):

Let's compare Daytona USA to the big boys now, shall we?  Here's the good:

* FORZA 4!!!  OH MY GOD, take a look at all 400,000 polygons in each car!!!  Such realistic driving physics!!!  You can now use the Kinect to drive the car (just like that piece of crap Kinect Joy Ride)!!!  OMG THIS IS THE FUTURE OF RACING PEOPLE!!!

* MOTORSTORM: APOCALYPSE!!!  8.5 REVIEW ON GAMESPOT!!!  So awesome to drive around an earthquake-ridden city--never mind the fact that people have died in real-life earthquakes like those in Japan, Chile, Haiti, and New Zealand!!!  Run over those foot soldiers!!!  Kill, crash, and scrape your way to the finish line!!!

* NEED FOR SPEED...MY GOODNESS, CRITERION AND ELECTRONIC ARTS ARE GODS!!!  Now they're coming out with another NFS game called "The Run(s)!"



No way, I've never played a game like this before!  You run from the cops and drive cross-country, just like in Cruis'n USA or, better yet, OutRun 2: SP!!  Story mode galore as you flip over on railroad tracks and try to avoid getting killed!!!  BRILLIANT!!!  Just like Ridge Racer: Unbounded where you get to crash into stuff in exotic sports cars too!!!

EDIT: * MARIO KART!!  It's Super Mario.  And It's Nintendo.  No debate there, folks.  Overpowered Bikes and Snaking?  No worries cause haters gonna hate.

* TRACKMANIA 2!!!  Uh, it's looks kind of cool, not gonna use my sarcasm on this one cause it reminds me of San Francisco Rush.

* SPLIT/SECOND!!!  BURNOUT!!!  FAST AND THE FURIOUS!!!  Oooooooohhh yyeeeaaahhh!!!!

And now for the bad:

* These niche racers that have come out that try to retain some sanity--oh man, these suck.  NASCAR 2011?  Crap.  F1 2010?  Crap.  Test Drive Unlimited?  Mega crap.  Days of Thunder?  No one cares.  Hey, blame it on gamer bias or the devs stinking it up, but that's just the way it is.

* DAYTONA USA...eh...what the hell is this.  Now I remember playing this in the arcades once, but damn, what the hell's going on here.  Game is too bright and the cars slip and slide too much.  Why am I driving a stock car?  NASCAR sucks cause all you do is turn left!!  The graphics suck!!  This game is too hard and you can't even die in the game!!  Boooo!!!  Don't you people at Sega know that racing games have undergone great innovation in the last ten/fifteen years?  GET OUT OF HERE!!!  Now, where's my Mountain Dew...

So here's how Sega should improve Daytona USA:

* Tone down the color saturation a few notches.  Colorful games are BAD, remember?

* You do drifts to get NITROUS boosts, just like in Ridge Racer.

* Add cool hip-hop/punk music and funky announcers.

* Make it so you can total cars (yours and others) to the point they can't drive anymore.  When you blow up, you respawn back on road.

* Increase the car's skidpad ratings so you can take every turn at full speed--no skill required.  Hey, it defeats the purpose of drifting, but who carez?!?!?

* Get rid of the race timer!!  We want to drive forever and don't want to be held back because we were sucking so bad.

* Add police cars/chases.  Add a monetary counter to display how much money's worth of damage you've dealt to yourself and your environment.  Add explosions.  Add oncoming traffic.

* Get rid of all stock cars--remember, NASCAR sucks and is redneck garbage.  Replace them with generic sports/luxury cars (not like Scud Race's ones, but over-the-top Burnout stuff).

* Add a story line.  You're a cool dude who's trying to avenge your father's death or win an underground race tournament to make some money and pick up chicks.  You must compete against snotty Europeans and witty Asian guys as they try to set up death traps to take you out.  Hire a bunch of Hollywood writers to churn out the next big Spike VGA's winner!!

* Trash the whole entire game together and just get EA/Criterion to make another Burnout.

...

...

Screw it.  I know that there's a sleeping giant out there who wants a good wholesome racer that has variety, intensity, and brings something new to the table.  Graphics be damned--look at this GameFAQs poll on 4/28/11 about graphics: 48% say story/gameplay is much more important; 38% it's somewhat important; and 14% say it makes or breaks the game.  So what is it?  You are stoked about highly-detailed environments and rich cutscenes, but when it comes to the gameplay, you can't help but grieve over every minute detail.

Hopefully, the success of Sega Rally Online Arcade will be just a start.  We can do it, guys.

Now, I said this on the OOA board, and I'll say it here.  We're getting a new Daytona USA game in 2014.  Why?  Cause it's the 20th anniversary of the original (1994).  And if Sonic can get a special release every anniversary, why not Daytona USA get at least one?  I'm going to prod Sega with a stick until they do.  The end.

Motorstorm: Apocalype, Lawyers, Lots Of Stuff, I'm Cryin'

First, I'd like to say that I feel somewhat distraught by making quite a few negative posts lately, especially one aimed at Daytona USA 2001.  I don't know if anyone's interested in this stuff--I get very little feedback.  For one thing, it's more "fun" to write negative material than positive, hence why you have people like Angry Video Game Nerd and Maddox the Pirate who constantly rip things a new a-hole.

But the main reason I brought up Daytona USA is because I genuinely care about the franchise...I could treat it like Blur or Split/Second and just gash it and go away, but I really want it to be good so I tell whoever what can be done to make it better.  Like if you ever have children, you want to correct and discipline them because you care and want them to be good.  I guess I criticize the state of racing games for that very reason.  I just hate how so much energy is put into so much junk and whatnot...

That concludes this message.

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I talked about Motorstorm: Apocalypse a while back in my violent/depressing video game rant and well, it rears its ugly head again.  You want me to come on here and criticize it--well, let's take a look at this six minute video:



Found the video from this Joystiq article.

Ok, so you can drive monster trucks, dune buggies, muscle cars, sports cars, ATVs, chopper bikes, whatever.  You and your gang has fun driving around an abandoned city as you dodge falling buildings, derailed trains, and pits of boiling lava (I made up that last one).  So it's like the last Motorstorm--just drive around, don't die, take multiple paths to the exit.  Oh yeah, and there's a few military contractors in the city trying to mow you down.  So not only do you get to crash and burn but you also get to run over people.  Sounds great!

I can't help but think I'm watching Michael Bay: The Racing Game.  It's Split/Second's bastard child.  Yes, it's obvious that these people put a lot of time and effort into making sure the game's good, but I think they missed the point...

See, most every racing game is on some extreme.  You got games that are "boring old sim racers," like Gran Turismo, Forza, Test Drive Unlimited, iRacing, etc.  Then on the other spectrum, you've got "OCD-blow-up stuff-in-your-face-crap" like Burnout, Split/Second, Motorstorm...  It's like there's very few games in that medium.  That's where the good Sega racers are--not too over the top, but not boring.  They're professionally-made games.  I think Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit may fit in this category too, but since that was made by Criterion, I'm not too certain it what's I'm looking for.

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When in doubt, sue someone:

Harmonix (Rock Band dev) sues Viacom (ex-Rock Band publisher).
Infinity Ward sues Activision who sues Electronic Arts over Medal of Honor/Call of Duty.

I don't know about you, but I sure as hell wouldn't touch a big company like Activision or Viacom and expect to come out alive.  Hey, check this out.  New Call of Duty for 2011 announced.  This one's not by Infinity Ward (they're dead, remember?), it's by this new studio called Sledgehammer Games.  Who the hell is that?  Anyway, I really like Call of Duty, but it's going to get run into the ground eventually (if it hasn't already).  I'm really worried.  That and between Activision's habit of gashing game studios like that, I'd be afraid to work at Treyarch.  BTW, Black Ops just made $1 billion, so no, I don't think Activision will cut back in the slightest.  At leat the $15 DLC map packs will have four MP maps as opposed to three (including the obligatory zombie map).

Speaking of Activision, look at Guitar Hero (I'm jumping around a lot here).  Guess what--Guitar Hero is officially dead.  So while Rock Band gets gobs of DLC on a weekly basis, Guitar Hero gets like two or three songs a month.  And this month, Guitar Hero gets three Kiss songs, two that are playable in Rock Band (Detroit Rock City and Calling Dr. Love) and one in GH: Smash Hits (Rock and Roll All Nite).  So what's the point?  Combine that this year's GH: Warriors of Rock abysmal first month sales of 86,000 and there, it's dead.  Once again, Guitar Hero fanboys should thank Activision very much.

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I want to end this now, so I'm going to throw in three more quick links:

Gran Tursimo 5 Gets a 600mb Patch  - Adds some new features for online play such as stat tracking among others.  Hey, sounds great...waited all that time and they still need to fix it...doesn't sound good for Polyphony Digital.

Gears of War 3 Maps Will Be "Brighter" - Article goes on to say that the most popular GoW2 maps were the brightest and most colorful.  Hmm?  So people are getting tired of the grey, brown, and crimson red?  Now there is no 100% way to confirm that the color is the sole reason those maps are the most popular (it could be because those maps have better layouts, etc.) but still...cut the crap people.  We don't want to play this depressing garbage anymore.

Some Guy Talking About Sega Racing Classic - Old and nothing really new, but if you know little about this, read it.  Old Daytona USA cabinets needed to be repaired, some needing parts that aren't made anymore.  Daytona license costs too much.

The end.