Last year, we took a look at the history of Le Mans in racing games. Now the official 24 Hours of Le Mans Twitter account is doing the same thing.
It kicks off with a short clip of where Le Mans and gaming started. All the way back in 1976, Atari released the black and white racer called, well, LeMans. As you can imagine, it’s pretty simplistic and the only real connection between the two is the name. But for the time, it was no doubt a big step forward for racing games.
Several years later in 1982, another entry called LeMans landed on the Commodore system. This time around it featured color, and more impressively, a day-night cycle of sorts.
A few years later in 1986, Konami released its video game version of the famous race. Sporting the name WEC LeMans, it moved from the top down view to a chase cam. It also used a unique arcade cabinet as well to enhance the experience.
From then on, several other Le Mans games found their way into the market. Perhaps one of the biggest of the ’90s was Le Mans 24 Hours — or for US audiences, Test Drive: Le Mans. Developed by Eutechnyx, it’s probably the first Le Mans game experience many of us had.
In 2004, Circuit de la Sarthe then joined a little game that we know as Gran Turismo 4. It continues to be a part of the GT series from then on, even joining today’s GT Sport last year.
Finally, the short video shows off Forza Motorsport 7’s La Sarthe track. While the track first found its way into the series back in 2009 with Forza Motorsport 3, FM7 is one of the most important Le Mans games.
Back in August of last year, the Le Mans Esport Series kicked off with the 6H of Silverstone. Now, with the real 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans just a month away, attention is turning to the Le Mans Esport Series Super Final. There, sim racer will compete for $100,000 in prizes. The series takes place in, you guessed it, Motorsport 7.
If you want to check out the clip for yourself, you can do so below. Also, be sure to tune into the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 18-19.
🎮 Le Mans & Video Games 🕹
Like the auto industry, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has grown with the technological evolution of video games. From the arcades of the 1970s to Esport, here is a look at the virtual history of the endurance classic.
@LeMansEsports #WEC #LeMans24 pic.twitter.com/w4F4H9WpIk
— 24 Hours of Le Mans (@24hoursoflemans) May 17, 2019
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