After moleing for online air combat sims in the MMOG sections, I figured I could do the same for more niche stuff that usually goes under the radar and make a few converts.
So here they are, online racing simulations:
Live For Speed :
http://www.liveforspeed.net/rFactor:
http://www.rfactor.net/I own both and love them to no end. Both are downloadable and on the cheap side. LFS is an indie product by a small team, rFactor comes from a bigger dev house. LFS has a bigger community and better pick-up races, rFactor has better graphics and infinite mod posibilities.
They are for die-hard racing enthusiasts that look down on the likes of GT4 or Forza with contempt, and the competition is fierce. Of course a decent wheel controller is a must, the Logitech Driving Force Pro for the PS2 works wonderfully on the PC.
I logged about 20k miles last summer racing in LFS, from 5 minute races in Minis to day long team endurance races in GT cars. Lately I run a weekly 50 min race in rFactor with a group of 14 or 15 evenly matched friends. Most weeks is the high point of all my gaming, even if I rarely win.
In central and northern Europe online racing simulations are getting already some semi-pro status, with teams and races finding sponsorship and even some interest showing up for TV broadcasting. There's also a monthly pdf free mag convering the "sport":
http://www.autosimsport.com/So if you have a wheel around, there are demos for both of those. If you haven't you can have a look, but I find them barely controllable with mouse or keyboard.
As a bonus... here's mitsufumi-san engrish rfactor review... I love engrish.
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=247661
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