The history of racing games is the history of video games. That’s the history of the racing genre. They virtually keep pace with each other. Stories of innovation and progress in video games have the fiery flavor of racing games.
In the early ’70s, the actual concept of video games was still just a vague novelty enjoyed by academics, programmers, and other assorted idiots lucky enough to have access to computer systems that cost more than 40 1971 Dodge Challengers. did not. The late 1970s saw the beginning of what is now known as the Golden Age of arcade video games with the release of Taito’s 1978 blockbuster Space Invaders.
But in the meantime?
racing game. pile their.
IGN’s 20 Questions – Guess the Game!
In 1974, Taito released Speed Race, widely considered to be the first ever vertically scrolling video game. In 1975, Atari released his first eight-player arcade game, his Indy 800. Until now. In 1976, Exidy released Death Race. It was…a slightly tweaked version of the previous game, Destruction Derby. was This video game was the first to cause full-blown media hysteria over its violence. Atari’s Gran Trak 10, Super Bug, Night Driver, Hi-way, Kee Games’ Drag Race, and Sega’s Moto-Cross are some of his other racing games released in the mid-’70s. Before Space Invaders. Before Pacman. In front of Donkey Kong.
Racing games have been pushing the boundaries of technology since their inception. The first serious portable video game was a racing game, 1976’s Mattel’s Auto His Race. Namco’s Pole Position (1982) was his first 16-bit video game ever released. Namco’s Winning Run (1988) and his Atari’s Hard Drivin’ (1989) pioneered 3D polygon graphics.
So, as The Game Awards 2023, which bills itself as “gaming’s biggest night,” approaches, what exactly will racing games get for 50 years of contribution to the industry?
A common award category regardless of genre. That’s how it is.
Best sports slash racing? It’s less of a congratulations and more of a token gesture of “Oh, I almost forgot both, but there’s one trophy left.”
The racing genre itself is already wonderfully wide-ranging. They range from wonderfully tailored family kart racers to painfully deep hardcore simulators and everything in between. pitting kart racers like Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing against arcade-oriented racers like Hot Wheels Unleashed and Forza Horizon, and even cutting-edge motorsport sims like Dirt Rally and F1 is already a wild enough combination. Add sports games to this? That’s ridiculous.
In 2018, the amazing Wreckfest couldn’t even claim to be one of the best racing games of the year at The Game Awards. During FIFA 19, NBA 2K19, Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, and Mario Tennis Aces (all of which lost to Forza Horizon 4), the inn had no rooms available. Why, exactly, would something like Wreckfest need to compete for popularity with Mario Tennis His Ace? What in the real world, other than The Game Awards, could these games have in common? Is not it?
Sorry, the store didn’t have Gran Turismo 7, but I got OlliOlli World instead. It’s basically the same thing, right?
what teeth What is the relationship between Hot Wheels and football, and exactly how are they so closely related that this year’s award categories have to be separated?
But racing is a sport! Or so it will be. This is the erratic refrain I’ve heard after bringing this up in the past. Well, the same goes for battles. Combat has its own category. Of course. It deserves that respect.
But so are races and sports.
It’s a disgrace to both racing and sports game developers that their games have to cannibalize each other to earn recognition at The Game Awards. EA Sports FC 24 is the only sports game in this category at this year’s awards. The rest is a great racing game. Sorry, Sonny Santa Monica. I did my best in the baseball game. But there’s no room for more racing games here.
This is a disgrace to racing and sports game players. If you want to pay homage to your favorite racing or sports game, Tough Boobs is for you. Your tastes are too “rough”.
Seriously, this is a disgrace to The Game Awards itself. The Game Awards have already come under fire for appearing to be more interested in marketing and showcasing trailers than the awards themselves. The award salvo in the small moments between trailers looks bad enough as it is. Combining two basic genres doesn’t necessarily help.
Not moving. Just split the categories. Where is the harm?
Not enough? There are no blocks.
Is it already a 3 and a half hour event? Last year, it won the Best Sports/Racing award. 16 seconds. It’s about reading each nominee, hesitating for dramatic effect, and reading the winners. No trophies, no speeches. 16 seconds. Can’t find another 16 seconds? Get out of here.
It should be a temporary reprieve for The Game Awards, which has been almost exclusively won by racing games anyway over its nine-year history in the “Best Sports/Racing” category. What are the two exceptions? 2015’s all-conquering Rocket League, a sports game featuring racing cars, and 2020’s incredible Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, which floated slightly It’s a ripped remake of… of 2nd highest rated video game of all time). No traditional sports game has ever won this award.
No game without wheels has ever won this award.
Evidence suggests that this award is less fair in sports games than in racing games. I’m not sure if I was going to start this column by praising racing games and end it by defending sports games, but there you have it. Racing and sports shouldn’t be forced into competition, especially since the genre of sports is as broad as racing. The Game Awards existed in 1998, the best year in video gaming history, with NFL Blitz, Shane Warne/Brian Lara Cricket ’99, 1080° Snowboarding, International Superstar Soccer 98, NBA Live 99, Lynx LS 1999, Anna Imagine if there was. Kournikova’s Smash Court Tennis, and World Cup 98 saw the Ridge Racer Type 4, F-Zero It remained on the candidate list. It would be like choosing your favorite limb.
I’m not going to start a sports game. Sports games are a genre with similarly deep video game pedigree. However, it should be noted that sports gaming also dates back to the early 70’s.
In fact, in 1972.
In a little game called Pong.
Luke is a senior editor on the IGN Reviews team. You can chat with him on Twitter @LukeReilly.