The History of Racing Games

As specified in my Annotated Bibliography, I wanted to go back in time and explore some of the earliest and most influential racing games.

I kick-started my investigation by reading Chapter 14 - Pole Position (1982): Where the Raster Meets the Road (pages 195-206 of Vintage Games by Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton) and was extremely surprised to read that in actual fact, arcade racing games existed much MUCH earlier than I thought. The 1940's spawned the very first primitive 'electromechanical' predecessors that went on to inspire driving simulators right through the 50's, 60's and 70's. The history of this genre (as described in this book) suggests that the games we have known and played since then, all evolved from software originally developed specifically for practical, educational use. Surprising really, when today I tend to think of the design process typically happening in reverse.

To best cover the gradual progression and refinement of racing games from their humble beginnings, I have listed an overview of noteworthy titles mentioned, in order of release: -

• 1941 - Drive Mobile: A very primitive electromechanical penny machine that had no video display but used components such as belts and bells to recreate the driving experience.
• 1959 - Auto Test: Film projected driving (teaching) simulator. It was intended to help teach student drivers rather than entertain children.
• 1974 - Atari's Gran Trak 10: The first true racing videogame to debut in arcades. The cabinet featured a steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedals AND a gear shift! The screen only offered a fixed, top-down perspective with extremely basic graphics showing only a single, solitary player car, so it can only be classed as a 'race against time' rather than an actual 'race'.
• 1974 - Atari's Gran Trak 20: A later, more impressive version of Gran Trak 10 that allowed two players to race simultaneously around the same track.
• 1974 - Taito's (Released in the US via Midway as 'Racer') Speed Race: Claims to fame were vertical scrolling and great collision detection (a model which proved influential to the genre).
• 1975 - Atari's Highway: This was the first VIDEO (had an actual video display) game to feature a sit-in cabinet.
• 1975 - Atari's Indy 800: Ambitious project that enabled eight players to race simultaneously! The controller wheels surrounded a central 25" display screen 'pit', boasting the first use of full colour in a video game. Onlookers could watch the race unfold through the use of angled mirrors!
• 1976 - Exidy's Death Race: A top-down game that incited mass media controversy due to the fact that it involved running over people (similar level of hysteria to that seen more recently with releases such as GTA.)
• 1976 - Atari's Night Driver: Featured the brilliant design idea of setting the game at night, which overcame limited technological capabilities whilst justifying the sparse graphics. Played on a  '1st-person perspective' scrolling road (an integral aspect of racing games nowadays) instead of seeing a fixed view.
• 1977 - Namco's F-1: Manufactured a deluxe cabinet shaped like an actual race car.
• 1981 - Sega's Turbo: Offered 3rd and 1st-person perspective viewpoints, along with colour visuals and scaling roadside objects. The game also had a different kind of win condition, which demanded that players kept to the road and passed 30 cars before the time limit ran out.
• 1982 - Namco's (Released in the US by Atari) Pole Position: Arguably the most imitated, successful and important racing game ever made thanks to its realistic audiovisuals and physics (far superior to any of its rivals). It featured a real-world racetrack (Fuji Speedway) and new, novel gameplay that incorporated a qualifying lap prior to the actual race (also a clever money-making ploy that forced disqualified players to insert more coins). Ported to almost every platform of it's generation, Pole Position was the best-selling arcade game that year.
• 1982 - Pole Position II: Improved graphics compared to the original and featured 2 new tracks (the franchise model had begun!).
• 1983 - Epyx's Pitstop: One of many Pole Position clones. Noteworthy for the fact that players took control of a pitcrew to refuel and change tyres at intervals during the race.
• 1983 - Midway's Spy Hunter: Marked the beginning of 'hybrid' driving games, which aspired to combine elements from other genres. Spy Hunter successfully incorporated shoot-em-up style gameplay into a vertical scrolling racing game.
• 1985 - Rick Koening's Racing Destruction Set: Customisable racing game that let players modify vehicles, plus design and race on their own tracks.
• 1986 - Atari's Super Sprint: A spiritual successor to Indy 800, it carried on the popular top-down craze at the time where the entire track was on screen and visible at all times during play.
• 1986 - Sega's Out Run: A less-serious take on Pole Position. Players could drive a Ferrari Testarossa convertible and even select a music track to listen to as they raced. Another unique feature was the choice of route the player could choose to take in order to reach the finish line. Out Run holds many fond memories for me. My dad would always let me have  a pound coin to go into the arcade next to the cinema on a movie night. Back then, there were very few games offering such an immersive, interactive experience and the Out Run cabinet took centre stage in that place for a long, long time.  Sitting in a giant, bright red hydraulic car slowly rumbling, shifting and moving left and right as I turned the steering wheel, while loud music blasted out of two speakers either side of my head was an incredibly magical and empowering feeling for me as a child.
• 1987 - Rare's R.C. Pro-Am: Released on the NES, this game gave players the impression of manipulating a remote control instead of the common steering wheel. Gameplay was not just focused on the race mechanic but also on collecting powerups. Like Spy Hunter, it approached race game design from an alternative angle.
• 1988 - Atari's Hard Drivin: Billed as "the world's first authentic driving simulation game." Players navigated their car within a 3D environment, viewed from a 1st-person "windshield" perspective by using a gear stick and force feedback steering wheel. Despite the grand arrival of polygons and prospect of a stunt track,  this game failed miserably to lure me away from Out Run because from a kid's point of view, it was too damn hard and incredibly dull in comparison. I learnt early in life that greater realism definitely didn't guarantee more fun!
• 1989 - Papyrus' Indianapolis 500 - The Simulation: Carried on the latest realism trend by making a game specifically for release on up-and-coming home computers - the PC, Apple Mackintosh and Commodore Amiga. What set it apart was its 'car setup' options, which allowed a variety of adjustments to be made (e.g. gear ratios  and tire pressure). It also offered players a comprehensive replay mode from 6 different perspectives!
• 1992 - Nintendo's Super Mario Kart: This title needs no introduction. It has inspired a multitude of clones and built upon the concept of collecting powerups and using them to battle against multiple opponents. These games unashamedly moved away from the authentic racing experience that appeals so much to hardcore racing fans, but in doing so they opened up a world of fun possibilities for casual players and provided a platform where gamers of all ages could play together.
• 1992 - Sega's Virtua Racing: Featured fully rendered 3D cars and environments, along with the ability to switch viewpoints during the race.
• 1993 - Namco's Ridge Racer: Although Virtua Racing appeared to be such a leap forward when it first hit the arcades, it was nothing compared to the impact of Ridge Racer. It took 3D graphics to a whole new level and Sega's attempt was totally overshadowed.
• 1995 - Reflection's Destruction Derby: As the name suggests, this game took the premise of driving a car but with the primary intention of player's revelling in the thrill of smashing it up. Unlike most racing games, players were not punished for crashing into other vehicles, instead they are actively encouraged to do so!
• 1999 - Sega's Crazy Taxi: A concept so far removed from the norm that it defied classification when it first appeared. Nowadays, vehicle-based games which focus more on whacky stunts and over-the-top carnage raises few quizzical eyebrows, yet at the time it felt incredibly fresh and like nothing ever seen before that people could not help but be intrigued.

As I wrote these notes, I realised how many of the ideas I've been considering for my Box of Neutrals game have been directly influenced by my exposure throughout childhood to a variety of racing features discussed here. I'm lucky enough to remember how some of the titles really did seem so innovative and exciting to play when they first came out, whereas nowadays I seem to have become very nonchalant about the latest driving games on offer. We are spoilt for choice when it comes to superb franchises - Test Drive, The Need for Speed and Gran Turismo to name but a few -  none of which seem to show signs of slowing down any time soon either. Like most people, I have grown accustomed to seeing and expecting certain features and numerous options available to me, all packaged up and neatly presented with flawless high-quality audiovisuals, that I sometimes forget to question whether or not they actually offer anything better then the original 'classics' or even earlier iterations within the same series. Either way, I think it's fair to say that most gamers have a preferred driver style of gameplay or more specifically a big budget title they trust and will stay loyal to again and again. We don't mind extra features being added and more tracks to race on but fundamentally, we expect the overall 'feel' of the game and how cars behave to stay relatively unchanged.

The chapter ends with a round-up of why this genre has survived the test of time. Loguidice and Barton observe that it is perhaps the most familiar of all the genres, since most people drive, or in the very least know what a car is! Automobiles are a passion for some and can ignite fantasies of what it would be like to drive the supercar of our dreams on a road where the laws of society or physics don't apply anymore. We can do what we want and suffer no consequences. Racing games invite us to take an everyday activity that would be dangerous, even fatal if not kept under strict control and provides a world in which we can safely push the boundaries of reality and mix it up a little - closet racing drivers can unleash their true potential!

I've found this exercise a really interesting reminder that even the most high-profile of racing games around today all emerged from a diverse pool of little ideas that have been iterated, polished and re-iterated over many decades YET I can still clearly identify many of the same traits and features that were present way back at the very start of its extraordinary history.