OK so I'm an old fart who knows nothing about home video games. I do enjoy AX'ing but find that my eyes can't keep up with the car and the course at times. I was thinking that if I spent some time over the winter playing some fast action video games that maybe my visual abilities would improve and my driving would get better.

I would like some recommendations for a cheap video game system PS2, Xbox ????and maybe some games to try. I have a good sized HDTV so something designed for that format would be nice.


I appreciate all your thoughts.

Thanks,
Bill

XBOX 360 is pretty cheap now. Forza is alot of fun and is a race game. When you get bored of that the games now are pretty dam sophisticated.

Gears of War 2 is coming out and it's a real popular game.

I always liked Assassins Creed(but i was mostly interested in the story).

Currently playing a game called Mercenaries 2.

An Atari console and "Pong"...

Maybe I'm an old fart that's too old to really help here.










Never mind.

Eric Read

If you go the PC way

1 - buy a good wheel like the Momo or the Logitech G25 http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/gaming/p...s/&cl=us,en
2 - Download the demo version of " Live for speed " http://www.lfs.net/
In my opinion (and many other) this is the best car simulation available.
If you like the demo buy the (cheap licence) and get the other cars and tracks.
3 - Download the demo of "Rfactor" http://www.rfactor.net/
Not as good as "live for speed" but more fun.
If you like the demo, buy the licence and get all the cars and tracks.
Rfactor has an open architecture. So there is a huge community behind the software to improve it. For instance, you can find hundreds of (free) addon cars and tracks for Rfactor at http://www.rfactorcentral.com

Again, PC centered.

SIMBIN makes the games with the best feel, IMHO.
GT Legends is awesome, even though it is now 3 years old. And, it has a 914-6. But, the net code blows, and SIMBIN has done nothing to support the game. for a while there was an active GT Legends race league on this board.

rFactor is probably the next best thing. LOTS of mods and tracks. some are better the others. Some seem to have no bearing on reality. But that is what you get in an open system.

I have no clues on console based games. PC games are usually head and shoulders above Console.

And, yeah, get a decent wheel. G25 is maybe overkill, but it is very nice.

Not bad!

I just got my Collectors Edition of Fallout 3 in the mail ...
Andy

PS: I don't have any of them consoles, i'm still a good old PC player. Got my nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX (Overclocked!) and i can run F3 in 1920 x 1200 at highest quality settings (as long as i keep the huge household fan pointed right at the GFX Card )

I own GT Legends too, but despite the 914 I prefer the feeling in Live for speed. And Live for speed is still in (slow) developpement.
The last patch changes a lot of things. And no other software gives you such realistic car physics

Watch this video . See the physics on tyres ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAh3fQ1d1Ek

WOW !

Did you follow the STCC championship ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSe89zBvs3g

Not to steal the topic but anyone have any recommendations for PS3 driving games and wheels/pedals? Santa is getting one for the kids this year.

Not really driving games at all, but valve has put a couple really good games out recently based on the HL2 engine, I'd suggest buying the orange box. Portal is an amazing puzzle game with some really cool dynamics stuff in it. Team Fortress 2 is a good online Co-op shooter. Over the summer a friend and I were having lots of fun getting the 1 and 2 spots as Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde.

X-box ...is the way togo rent games from local stores tell you find what you like then purchase.(there expensive) wait for a bit longer and the new forza motorsports game will be out from Microsoft...Once it hits the markit i can reviel my secret ive been holding onto for about a year if they were telling the truth and i think they were...stay tuned for detail ......good luck with your hand eye cordination skills

Anybody tried iRacing? Looks promising to me.

For the PC, Simbin's GTR 2 is brilliant. It's based on FIA GT racing in '03 and '04, you can make custom championships, and it has RAIN!

There are tons of cars and tracks available for download, and best of all, if you already have GT Legends, there is a mod called "Power and the Glory" that lets you import all the GTL cars and tracks, so you could run a 914/6 at the Nurburgring in the rain in a 24 hr race, if you wanted to...

Or recreate LeMans 1970...

Don't forget the old favourite... Grand Prix Legends! Formula 1 from 1967. No wings, skinny tyres, big engines.

It's 10 years old, but people have been updating it. Just look at the new Monaco...

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

And the cars have been updated too..

Click to view attachment

Since the topic of video games games came up, thought I´de might mention that I work for my Dad´s company, and we build simulators. When we build racing sim´s, we use Rfactor. No, here´s the bomb, ready? We´re building a 914 GT with full motion to match the GT Legends game.

So are you using the Simbin code, or rFactor?
Do you know if Simbin ever intends to fix some of the glitches that have plagued GTL online?

Zach

rFactor. I'll start a thread as soon as we start work. We have a car already. Should be starting in about 3-4 weeks.

I have never tried any computer racing games since I was a kid. I just downloaded LFS and tried to make a single lap using my keyboard I didnt do so well, but it was fun. I am now downloading Rfactor and GT Legends...

I will practice

There are some Nintendo DS games that do exactly what you need, they're designed to make your brain recognize things faster and improve your memory. They're called something like brain power or brain booster or something like that. There are quite a few, my wife has a couple.
Also you can look at cnet.com in the downloads section, there are games there that do what you need too, for free. There are 108 free games for windows that include the word "brain" but i didn't look through them all.

I've got an Xbox 360 and picked up a game called Grid. Good racing game IMO. Very life like. Bill, if I were in your shoes; pickup an Xbox 360 and go rent some reacing games and try them out; buy the ones you like.
Happy

You need a wheel. Using the keyboard works well for some games, but all of the racing sims will be all but impossible to control w/o a wheel. Logitec makes a good one for moderate dollars, and a great one (g25) for mega dollars. I have the cheaper one and am very happy with it.

If people want to race on line again, let me know. Last time I got a league together was more then a year ago.

Zach

I will give you my sales pitch that I had to use at TOY R US as a manager there. Buy the PS3 if your a home theater buff, getting a online upgradeable blu ray player for that price is a good deal. Get a 360 if your going to be a gamer, has the best online gaming community of the three. Get the Wii if there will also be children playing. Just a basic overview.

I love my 360 even though I have burnt up four of them but thanks to great microsoft customer service I am still a fan. My 914 in the Forza game is a rocket and Fallout 3 has been eating all my free time, even the girlfriend is getting jealous.

Good Luck,
Phill