The Decline of Racing Games

From Need for speed to Gran Turismo, Forza to Burnout, I've felt that the games I grew up with just weren't as good as I had remembered them and I felt I should discuss it.

For those in the comments, I left out TDU:SC because I'm unsure of how far along they are in development, so I didn't want to put anything here only for them to delay until 2024.

I haven't played Ridge racer.

I hope you enjoyed the video!
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Contents:
0:00 Intro
0:41 Classic Need for Speed
2:34 Classic Gran Turismo
5:33 Classic Forza
8:07 Midnight Club
9:38 Burnout
10:53 Other Classics
14:09 The Death of Smaller Racers
14:54 Modern Need for Speed
16:56 Modern Gran Turismo
18:58 Modern Forza
23:18 Industry-wide Issues
24:06 So where does that leave us?
25:01 Sim Racing
26:26 Indie Games
26:52 Modded Games
27:44 Conclusion

[snootbooper]

This video doesn't necessarily just apply to the racing game scene, but moreso the gaming industry as a whole

[kalsvtg]

I really miss Test Drive Unlimited 2, there is something about this game that no other racing games have. The feeling of actually spending the racing money on houses and cars + being able to walk in them, inspect every car "in person" was a huge immersion-wise. Every car felt "special" and not just like a toy given to you.

[mltn]

Micro transactions is what's ruining the gaming industry, not just racing games, all games. The focus is now on money instead of quality games. The whole structure of each game now is based on how companies can further extract more money from the customers after the game is released. So, we end up with mediocre games with no soul.

[KareemEmotion]

I personally feel like the Pixar Cars games deserve an honorable mention. The THQ Cars games weren’t very arcade-like and they weren’t full blown simulations. They were more so in the middle. And for just being movie tie-ins, they do a fantastic job at standing out. The first Cars game is still my favorite video game of all time because of that.

As for Cars 2 and Cars 3: Driven to Win, they fall into the basic arcade style racing game. Not to say they’re bad. Cars 2 is a pretty solid video game. And as for Cars 3…you’ve basically played Cars 2. Just by that alone should give you an idea of the drop in quality of the Cars games.

[chadwithporsche]

I'm 39 and haven't liked gaming much in 10 years. I thought I was just getting old but I go back and play these classics and love them. I'm glad you made this.

[crimsonshadow]

One series I miss dearly is Ridge Racer, which sadly was left behind due to shift in genre focus

[Motiman]

Forza Horizon 4 and 5 focused so much on making a bigger world rather than focusing on progression system. It is so easy to get new cars that the sense of progression gets lost very early in the game

[will-todman]

NFS MW 2012 was a great racing game, if it hadn't been a NFS release, or sacrilege to the most Wanted name plate, no one would have complained

[DustinEdenYT]

Could not have summed up the last two decades of racing games better myself. Despite the dip in quality for a lot of long-running franchises, it's nice to see the classics still being kept alive on YouTube, Twitch and all over the internet pretty much. In addition to your mentions, I can also strongly recommend digging through some older "one and done" titles, such as Auto Modellista and Enthusia. The amount of great racers out there who never got a sequel is almost criminal.
Great video, liked and subbed! Also thanks for the Pepega Mod shoutout 💚

[TheXnlyGhxst]

Midnight Club is the main thing I would love to see a modern iteration of.

[Jet-Pack]

Test Drive unlimited was something else. It was really fun to drive around the map in a normal way without making a single scratch as if you actually owned that car. The map was huge and the island tour was a full one hour long race where you really had to concentrate.

[DarkMeyer]

another example is GTA San Andreas where I could spend hours exploring the map during my school holidays. It was terrafic.
I think the simpler the game is, the more fun it actually delivers.

[amyloriley]

While not "exactly" a sim game, I find Trackmania might at least be a honorable mention in the racing game genre. It was released around that time and offered some unique experiences.
- Trackmania (2003)
- Trackmania Sunrise (2005)
- Trackmania Nations (2006)
- Trackmania United (2006)
- Trackmania Nations Forever & Trackmania United Forever (2008)
For the ones who don't know, the selling features were these things:
- You can build your own tracks in the track editor
- You can race and compete on these tracks
- All single player tracks made by the creators can be completely rebuild from scratch in the track editor, the editor is that powerful
- No race car customization, so your car is equally as powerful and handles equally as well as any other car. Cosmetic car skins do exist, and some people modded their car to be a different model altogether. But even these models use the exact same car-to-wall collision, so it's purely visual.
- All races, even multiplayer ones, are glorified time trials. There is no collision between cars. Every car starts at the exact same starting point. Physics are determined. If you're in second place, it's not because of bad luck or because another player drove against you. If you're in second place, it's purely because of your skill. Now restart the race and do better!

[ItMeDusty]

my last hope is TDU: Solar Crown. I'm glad they had a delay and I really want them to take their time, blood sweat and tears making this as a passion project.

[chrisgonz]

Not only did racing games of the 2000s get me into working on cars and various motorsports, those games are the reason i became a musician. Hearing Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, Kyuss, and Bullet for my Valentine changed my 8 year old world

[GrahamTurismo]

Watching this made me feel so lucky that I grew up in the golden era of racing games in the early 2000s. I don’t really play video games much anymore, once in a while I’ll hop on Forza Horizon or whatever but it feels so boring now. It’s sad that we don’t have many options out there for great racing games now. I will say racing games motivated me towards my career as an auto technician and to get my own project car. And that’s something my inner child who stayed up all night playing Gran Turismo 4, is very proud of!

[ultramanJR]

Until today, I still yearned that one day EA realized they have Burnout in their inventory and decided to give it one more whirl. My childhood was defined by Burnout 3 and Revenge, and it influenced the music I listened to today.

[beffaa_]

Burnout Paradise was way too ahead of his time, absolutely loved that game

[RetrievingSearain]

The first Gran Turismo was a game changer. It brought licensed cars and the pursuit of realism into racing games (and environmental mapping). That alone makes it in my opinion the most influential, if not the best, racing game ever. Technology never stops improving but we wouldn't be playing modern racing simulators hadn't GT (and Geoff Crammond's F1GP, to a lesser degree) been there.

[that-pixel_guy]

Forza Motorsport 2, you had the option to not only change tire compounds, but also the manufacturer for each tire. And even if you chose a racing compound each one had their own handling characteristics. A small but noticeable detail. One I wished stayed in the series.🗿