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[Komo]

It seems that any gaming oriented forum you visit, threads dedicated to arcade racing games barely seem to get any air, and are often quickly drowned out by threads for games of other genres.

Arcade racers often sell quite well when released, as shown by Burnout, Midnight Club, WipEout, Ridge Racer and Need For Speed. There was quite an abundance of these kind of games throughout the mid 90s to the late 2000s, yet they all suddenly disappeared, and along with that, most discussion of them disappeared too.

What is actually up with this? There's a small revival going on currently, with games such as Drift Stage, Grip, Formula Fusion and 90s Arcade Racer and yet despite this, you'll barely ever hear anything about any of these games anywhere. Maybe I'm just expecting too much, but it's always disappointing to see threads for these games barely receive the attention they deserve. The games listed have all utilized crowd-funding, and have all met their funding goals but most have only just scraped by to meet them.

Where's all the love for this great genre?

Spoiler

Do people just not like fun anymore?

 

[Oneself]

I guess it died last gen, sadly. I'm hoping more indies and mid budget will try to reinvigorate the genre.
I still play Motorstorm PR ...

 

[DidntKnowJack]

Everything has to be realistic and a sim now. Didn't you get the memo?

I agree with you, but sadly we seem to be a dying breed. But more than that i think people buy maybe 1 racing game a year and when they do they want the most realistic one available. Arcade racers don't usually enter the equation. Or fall between the cracks.

 

[Ferrio]

 

[entremet]

No one bought them, hence the situation now. We had some high profile ones last gen that tanked.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Because no one played Maximum Tune.

 

[Brian_FETO]

The only thing I could think of is the thirst for "open world" probably didn't help. Obviously the formula can still work, but open world means a bigger game with bigger budgets. If the sales aren't there, they won't bother. It pains me to think it, but I wouldn't be surprised if people see games with only set courses and think it has less value.

 

[Komo]

Gosh, I'd knew I'd forgotten a series <-<; One of my favorites too.

The only thing I could think of is the thirst for "open world" probably didn't help. Obviously the formula can still work, but open world means a bigger game with bigger budgets. If the sales aren't there, they won't bother. It pains me to think it, but I wouldn't be surprised if people see games with only set courses and think it has less value.

I'm generally quite on-board with the idea of open-world racing games with the exception of Burnout Paradise. (the amount of times I got lost during a race and had to restart was phenomenal, and really wasn't fun at all) The Midnight Club games post Midnight Club II seem to do this very well, and I've always enjoyed cruising around the city in my favorite car, but I can understand why people wouldn't like it. It seems to be more driving around looking for races than actual racing itself.

Because no one played Maximum Tune.

Arcades are rare, and I can't read Japanese so importing the PS3 release isn't really that much of an option

 

[Tetraeon]

Motorstorm and Trackmania are about as arcade-y as it gets nowadays.

 

[Americanmushroom]

Yup very sad. The new trailer for Rollcage's successor was barrly discussed on Gaf

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

We just had a thread about the old-school arcade racer, I believe. Fan demand isn't reflected in most corporate decisions regarding this style of racer. There's a reason the money's going to crowdfunding for games in the vein of Wipeout and Ridge Racer.

Retro talk, y'all:

How has Yu Suzuki's Virtua Racer aged ? I was just talking about this with a friend last night.

Great racer. It runs well on both MAME and the SEGA AGES PS2 remake (the latter has three new courses that feel like the originals but on steroids!). I like that it's stiffer than usual for AM2's racers but still focuses on racing line and accessible physics + landmarks for learning the course.

 

[Grikker]

Gonna get beat to death here by some but I strongly feel Driveclub is very arcade. I see people say it has sim qualities but I haven't experienced any.

There is no damage that impairs the car, no fuel, no tires, no modifications, no setup tweaking, can flip your car and keep driving, can magically warp back on track.

Great game though for an arcade-like experience. It is my most played PS4 game.

 

[nkarafo]

I guess it died last gen, sadly.

I agree.

Most games of that genre being only 30fps during 7nth gen didn't help either. Arcade racers in arcades and 6th gen consoles were benefited so much from the smooth frame rate, i mean play a 1994-95 60fps arcade version of Daytona or Sega Rally 1/2 and then switch to Dirt Rally or Sega Rally Revo on 360/PS3...

It sucks.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Arcades are rare, and I can't read Japanese so importing the PS3 release isn't really that much of an option

It's a racing game!

That said, the PS3 game isn't Maximum Tune. MT never got a console release. It's vanilla Wangan Midnight.

 

[Komo]

It's a racing game!

That said, the PS3 game isn't Maximum Tune. MT never got a console release. It's vanilla Wangan Midnight.

But isn't that game quite story heavy? There seems to be a lot of dialogue throughout the game. Wangan Midnight -is- based on a manga after all. I've watched a few different videos of it, and it looks like a lot of fun, but I feel like I'd be missing a lot by not understanding what's fully going on ... Nonetheless, I suppose I can try importing it sometime

I agree.

Most games of that genre being only 30fps during 7nth gen didn't help either. Arcade racers in arcades and 6th gen consoles were benefited so much from the smooth frame rate, i mean play a 1994-95 60fps arcade version of Daytona or Sega Rally 1/2 and then switch to Dirt Rally or Sega Rally Revo on 360/PS3...

It sucks.

I've actually been wanting to grab Sega Rally Revo for a while, but I haven't been able to find for a decent price. But you implied it runs at 30fps? That'd be incredibly disappointing, and pretty unacceptable for a game like that

 

[nkarafo]

I've actually been wanting to grab Sega Rally Revo for a while, but I haven't been able to find for a decent price. But you implied it runs at 30fps? That'd be incredibly disappointing, and pretty unacceptable for a game like that

Yeah, its 30 fps on consoles... and i agree, its unacceptable for a game like that

And even on the PC it runs like shit (on my setup) and i heard many people having the same problem, i never managed to get it run at a smooth frame rate, it always runs like in 20-25 fps even though the hardware is able to run it at 500+. And i tried everything before i gave up and uninstalled it...

 

[Kyolux]

I managed to get Outrun 2006 lately on PS2. I'm not much into racing games, but Magical Sound Shower man... I always look for a cabinet in the rare occasions I get to go to an arcade. It's not the same thing on console, would have to get a steering wheel and pedals and the shift stick for it to feel as good, but it's still a lot of fun. And I finally managed to beat the standard race. Finally!

So yeah, after Shenmue 3, I want Yu on Outrun 3.

 

[cj_iwakura]

But isn't that game quite story heavy? There seems to be a lot of dialogue throughout the game. Wangan Midnight -is- based on a manga after all. I've watched a few different videos of it, and it looks like a lot of fun, but I feel like I'd be missing a lot by not understanding what's fully going on ... Nonetheless, I suppose I can try importing it sometime

I can summarize Maximum Tune's story in two lines.

"It's the Devil Z... I gotta catch it!"

And I'm pretty sure the WM PS3 game doesn't have Yuzo Koshiro beats.

 

[kubricks]

It died off about the same time big gaming arcade started to disappear.

 

[ReBurn]

No one bought them, hence the situation now. We had some high profile ones last gen that tanked.

I bought them. As many as I could hold. I'm sad the genre is in decline.

 

[ST3K3LLY]

Drive club and the new need for Speed should have you covered.

 

[Jerry Orbach]

I've actually been wanting to grab Sega Rally Revo for a while, but I haven't been able to find for a decent price. But you implied it runs at 30fps? That'd be incredibly disappointing, and pretty unacceptable for a game like that

I can't speak to the PC port, but the 360 version of Sega Rally Revo is an amazing game, despite the 30 FPS cap (apparently that terrain deformation gimmick ate a lot of polys). It's up there with Midnight Club: LA (also 30 FPS, though more understandably) and Ridge Racer 6 as one of the funnest arcade racers of that console generation. Try the trial version, see if you can live with it!

 

[DonMigs85]

Here's hoping the 90's Arcade Racer finally makes it out this year

 

[Komo]

I can summarize Maximum Tune's story in two lines.

"It's the Devil Z... I gotta catch it!"

And I'm pretty sure the WM PS3 game doesn't have Yuzo Koshiro beats.

Just ordered my copy. <-< Hope this turns out good

Drive club and the new need for Speed should have you covered.

Need for Speed is alright, but not quite what I'm looking for. Drive Club's quite similar. The realistic visuals are a bit off putting, to be honest. They feel a bit soulless compared to other arcade racers

 

[Jigorath]

They died last generation. Sim racers and kart racers are all we have now. And outside of Gran Turismo and Mario Kart those genres aren't all that successful either. The entire racing genre is in a pretty sad state.

 

[Pophead]

Blur is still a pretty good arcade racer imo