Are there any good non-PC racing sims?

[CardcaptorYoshi]

Heyo GTP,

I'm a long time gamer and racing fan that's been looking for The Next Big Thing in racing games for quite a bit now ... I've played a lot of fun racing games and a lot of fun driving sims for the consoles but haven't really found a great simulator of racing.

What I mean is I'm looking for something not with a million cars to drive or a thousand setup options to tweak, but for something that offers a great racing experience, going head-to-head against a large group of cars on the track.

I'm hoping for something that offers realistic damage, so that there's that real sense of danger (not like F1 games I play where I can clout a wall and take no damage), and competitive AI that can make mistakes. After all, it's no fun if I'm the only one that can retire from the race.

I've heard a lot of great things about the PC racing games like rFactor and GTR and the like, but you see ... I have a laptop. A $500 one. With an integrated graphics card. I tried the GTR2 demo and couldn't top 15 fps with anything that allowed me to see the road in front of me.

So unless I win the lottery - wait, I'm underage, make that "find a briefcase of cash on the street" - or find a game with really low requirements, I'm probably going to have to stick to console sims until I get out of college. The problem is that I don't know many good console racing sims ... which is why I come to you. Work your GTP magic, GTP. Thanks.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Ever try the TOCA series?

 

[WallRunner]

What console(s) do you have?

If you've got a 360 or PS3, I'd recommend trying the Race Driver: GRiD demo (which is made by Codemasters, the same people who made the TOCA series), everything seems faster paced than something like Gran Turismo, although it's more of a "Simcade," not a Simulation, but not completely Arcade.

From,
Chris.

 

[kikie]

GTR is going to be released on the Xbox 360. I'm going to search for the link and EDIT this post if I find it again.

EDIT:

* http://www.simbin.se/games/gtr360.htm

* http://games.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1458/GTR/

Then again: Blimey! games (whom created GTR, GTR2, GT legends while they where still working with Simbin) are making two hardcore racing sims, namely project Ferrari and project Falcon These are not the definite game titles.

Blimey! games is making these games for all platforms. It will all be up to the publicer on which platform these sims will be released.

But if they're going to be released on the PS3 and Xbox 360, you just have to choose between these two.

 

[CAMikaze]

Then again: Blimey! games (whom created GTR, GTR2, GT legends while they where still working with Simbin) are making two hardcore racing sims, namely project Ferrari and project Falcon These are not the definite game titles.

Project Falcon, eh? Will this involve the same Ford Falcon raced in the V8 Supercars series?

 

[CardcaptorYoshi]

Unfortunately I don't have a 360 or a PS3, which might be why my options are looking slim with the quickly-getting-outdated PS2. >_>

The TOCA series was good fun, I own the third game in that, but I found that the AI for me is either too weak or too strong usually; either they drive away or I blow them away in the opening laps, and I don't think they're much for making mistakes either, outside of one or two courses where everybody messes up at one corner! So usually it's just me versus the track.

With Indy 500 fever approaching, I've heard a lot of things about an old game called "IndyCar Series" by Codemasters for the PS2. I've also seen it in a store for under $10, which makes it interesting for sure. Anyone played this game? It seems to be uncommon for some reason.

 

[TheCracker]

Your options are fairly limited if you don't rate the ToCA/Racedriver series of games. Have you tried Enthusia for the PS2? Although it's very similar in concept to Gran Turismo - a 'driving' sim with a low amount of A.I. opponents, the handling physics are closer to PC sim quality and the A.I. give you more of a challenge. I've not played it for a while but i seem to remember having some close dices against the computer where as in GT(1-4) the computer A.I. cars tend to just be an anoyance.

 

[kikie]

Project Falcon, eh? Will this involve the same Ford Falcon raced in the V8 Supercars series?

I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine