Racing games are perched curiously between the fantastically fictitious, and the realism-driven, cyclical nature of more conventional 'do this, win the points' sports games. They share the goal of recreating a real-world experience with such mammoth franchises as FIFA and Madden but also aim to draw players in through other, more unique means - capitalising on the primitive but alluring idea that lovingly-sculpted hunks of metal sprinting across a landscape are pretty damn cool. There's no room for a dozen football or basketball IPs, because they would all ultimately be hitting the same notes to varying degrees of effectiveness - instead there's a quantifiably superior experience at their core. This is not true for the racing genre, which has grown as diverse as its touted cars through the subtle nuances inherent in arcade (think Burnout) and simulation (think Gran Turismo) racing. Need For Speed, Burnout, Forza, Driveclub, Ubisoft's forthcoming The Crew and dozens more all fill - or are at least working to fill - their own niche, and offer a subtly different experience for players who take up the wheel. In keeping with the latest raft of win-the-points sports games however, racing games are beginning to plateau - ironically, just as the newest console generation is truly finding its footing, a time one would expect to stoke the best of the genre. Worse still, we're seeing similar shortcomings across multiple studios and platforms, suggesting there's a fundamentally flawed approach to blame for all the flat tires rolling around.
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
