Anyone Can Get In the Driver Seat with a Racing Simulator

Posted by albertareid on August 29th, 2012

The typical racing gamer appears to be changing. The earlier perception of a racing simulator user was thought, perhaps to be a teenage male, but in fact the demographic of those behind game simulators has shifted to an older age.

Racing simulator or game simulators are being used not by those who like playing games but those who love motorsport and take their racing seriously. After all game simulators are now that realistic that you are no longer playing games, you are actually racing on competition is fierce with drivers from around the globe. The beauty of technology now means that you can race drivers from around the world in the comfort of your own living room.

A relatively large body of participants appear to be at least 60 years old. There is also a report on racing leagues for example, of a man in his 30’s complaining of being beaten by a man who was more than  80 years old.

The first commercial racing simulator game “Pole Position”, was released by Atari in 1982. By todays' standards, it perhaps would be considered as inferior, or crude, as neither the computing power nor capabilities were available at that time. Improvements started appearing in the 90's when the simulation of the Indianapolis 500 that was designed by renowned game designer David Kaemmer was released.

David was also the founder of the Papyrus Design Group, that was responsible for other successful early racing simulator games such Nascar and Legends of the Gran Prix. These Sims reproduced the Nascar racing series, and the 1967 Formula One Grand Prix sessions. Many early racing gamers may recall using and racing these games for some time.

In 1997 Sony released the immensely popular console game “Gran Turismo” that became a phenomenon commercial success. Although gaming purists would not consider it a real racing simulator, it still remains as the most commercially successful driving game. The popular game played on the Sony Playstation, may still be largely responsible for the present improvements of racing game simulators, as new releases, with improved features, are always much-anticipated.

With the easier availability and lower cost of computing power, along with the lower cost, and improved capability of graphic cards, this makes your racing simulator more realistic and consequently more popular. Designers are now given a wider berth, where more features can be added, and the stunningly amazing graphics and equally impressive sound reproductions, contribute to the simulation arena becoming even more appealing. The technology is advancing at such a rapid rate that it will soon be at a point where it will no longer be a simple procedure to differentiate the virtual from the real.

Racing simulator can recreate and enhance the exhilarating feeling than is often experienced in real world activities. The demographic of those behind game simulators has shifted to an older age.