Hooniverse Asks: Are you still playing automotive video games?

Jeff Glucker

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The other day we learned about some interesting video game news. Michelin has teamed up with Gran Turismo to deliver an even more engaging racing sim experience. Later today, our man Kamil Kaluski will share his conversation with Gran Turismo hero Kazunori Yamauchi. He also sat down with Michelin Vice President Scott Clark.

Before we get to all of that, I’m curious to hear how many of you are still playing video games?

I myself still enjoy the digital entertainment. I haven’t been on the Gran Turismo train for a few years since I jumped ship for XBox and Forza. I do want to pickup the latest Playstation system, however, and see where Gran Turismo is at today.

I also play a handful of other games, and I’m excited for the arrival of a few more later this year (Cyberpunk 2077 and Outer Worlds, looking at you two).

Are you still playing automotive video games? Let us know, below.

About

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker

Jeff Glucker is the co-founder and Executive Editor of Hooniverse.com. He’s often seen getting passed as he hustles a 1991 Mitsubishi Montero up the 405 Freeway. IG: @HooniverseJeff

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24 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: Are you still playing automotive video games?”

  1. Zentropy Avatar
    Zentropy

    The only game I still play regularly is FH4, but at least half of the time spent holding the controller, I’m customizing paint and decals or refining tunes. I like the mechanical detail and technicality of Forza 7, but prefer the lighter nature and sheer fun of the Horizon titles. These days, I shy away from games requiring a heavy time investment, and I can enjoy FH4 in short periods.

    In non-automotive games, I used to be a regular Destiny 1/2 player, but it became too much of a time sink. I eventually lost my polish and my sons surpassed my skills, easily kicking my ass in the Crucible. My hunter became a liability on raids, so I gave it up altogether. It’s like anything else– you stop practicing, and you start to suck. I’d rather be wrenching on the car anyway.

    Now I mostly get my video game fix occasionally watching the kids play. Outer Worlds looks fun– I like alternative history stuff. What I really want is a racing game that uses Google Maps data to create free-roam areas so you can virtually drive through your own neighborhood. Even if it weren’t correct to the finest detail, it’d be fun to see how fast you could virtually “drive to the grocery” if you didn’t care so much about your license, insurance rates, or public safety.

    Reply
  2. fede Avatar
    fede

    I don’t do racing games, because I want to do it using a wheel/pedals and my budget currently doesn’t allow it, or the new computer I’d need for the new games (I haven’t gone the console route yet). Where I live, it’d be like 2000+ dollars for everything.
    But Assetto Corsa Competizione looks great…

    In the not racing world, occasionally I go to “spin tires” or “euro truck simulator 2”

    Reply
  3. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    The last automotive game I played was Burnout Paradise, for years, online. Stopped about three years ago when I fell, hard, for World of Warships. This was also when I stopped playing Age of Empires 2. So, no, not a particularly updated guy here.

    One of the first things I bought after my studies, when we got the house and moved together, was a PS2, exclusively to play Gran Turismo. Turned out, playing it alone wasn’t really entertaining.

    Reply
  4. P161911 Avatar
    P161911

    Not in years, mainly lack of time keeping up with a family and house. I want to….

    Reply
  5. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    I have access to an Xbox and some racing titles in the household, but haven’t played them.

    Occasionally, I go to arcade events where you pay an admission fee and all games are set on free play, and i do tend to spend a lot of time on those machines with steering wheels.

    Reply
  6. neight428 Avatar
    neight428

    I played one of the Forza games on an Xbox I had back in 2008 or so intermittently for about six months before the machine barfed up a lung and refused to boot up. It was an impulse buy when someone had a gigantic markdown on them, and I didn’t find the experience compelling enough to want to invest more money or time in to a replacement or repair.

    I am quite bad at video games dating back to the NES systems that were nearly universal at my friends’ houses (but notably not my own, not for lack of desire). I never seem to advance very far in any of them and can’t seem to improve, or at least I lack the patience to want to. These days, if I had an hour to burn on a game, I’d go take nap or something.

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      The strange thing about getting better in those games today is that you’re always online, and there’s always some sort of mission to achieve (go fastest/kill everything/grab that item and run). For me, getting better at my Wargaming title has increased the frustration I experience with a game I play for fun and relaxation to sometimes heartbreaking levels. The stupid stuff “potatoes” do, completely undermining the mission a team is trying to achieve, has brought out a dark side of me I didn’t know existed. I am not a ranter neither do I insult, but I get frustrated. At the same time, I am hooked to this game.

      Reply
    2. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      The strange thing about getting better in those games today is that you’re always online, and there’s always some sort of mission to achieve (go fastest/kill everything/grab that item and run). For me, getting better at my Wargaming title has increased the frustration I experience with a game I play for fun and relaxation to sometimes heartbreaking levels. The stupid stuff “potatoes” do, completely undermining the mission a team is trying to achieve, has brought out a dark side of me I didn’t know existed. I am not a ranter neither do I insult, but I get frustrated. At the same time, I am hooked to this game.

      Reply
  7. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    I have an ancient Xbox lying around (an early PSOne, too), with primarily racing titles, and I’ll play occasionally if I had the home to myself, but my wife would probably prefer I didn’t bogart the TV just for my own entertainment though.

    I do want to try out any of the Forza Horizons though, I like sandbox driving games (Midtown Madness was my jam in high school).

    Reply
    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      Whoa, Microsoft’s Midtown Madness? This was like GTA light…odd cars, only driving, all pedestrians always jumping out of the way. I remember playing it a bit, too. Plymouth Prowler ftw!

      Reply
      1. Maymar Avatar
        Maymar

        View post on imgur.com

        That was the even more rare Panoz AIV Roadster, but yup, that was the game. It was a fun, goofy arcade game, and as a bonus, had a huge modifying scene. Within a few years, there were hundreds of downloadable cars (in a variety just as eclectic as the original selection), new tracks and worlds, and other little things.

        Unfortunately, I lost the disc to the first one, and although I have the second, no computer with a CD drive. At least the third is still an option.

        Reply
  8. Tiller188 Avatar
    Tiller188

    I don’t play video games in general hardly at all anymore…but on the rare occasion that I do, there’s a decent chance it’ll be a racing game of some stripe. My brother and I both have steering wheel and pedal setups, and a couple of games that know how to talk to them, so when one of us is visiting the other it’s likely that we’ll turn some laps at some point. That’s at least partly because we use the sims (mostly Assetto Corsa in my case) to learn and practice track layouts. Of course, it’s far from a perfect substitute for the reality of a track day, but at least learning the sequence of turns, which ones are over crest/blind, etc. is helpful in preparing for the real deal. I actually just downloaded a trackmap of Buttonwillow the other day, so I can learn the course (never driven it before, real or virtually) ahead of a trackday there this weekend…

    Reply
  9. Hatchtopia Avatar
    Hatchtopia

    My old PS2 is still in a box in the garage somewhere, but I played old versions of Gran Turismo fairly frequently. Nowadays, I occasionally play Real Racing 3 on my iPhone and it’s pretty good considering the significant limitations of the format.

    Reply
  10. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    I wonder if a Tomy Turnin’ Turbo is too new/high tech for mdharrell?

    Reply
    1. theskig Avatar
      theskig

      I had it!!!

      Reply
  11. roguetoaster Avatar
    roguetoaster

    In college I spent days playing Colin McRae Rally, GT, various NFS titles, and Burnout something or other.

    These days I’d get back in to a rally sim if I still had a wheel setup, so instead I limit myself to Spintires Mudrunner and Rainbow Six when I can find friends playing online.

    Hard to say if the online aspect has spolied me or if I now use games as more of a social activity, but I play almlst nothing when I can’t find a good group of people, or a few friends who are online.

    Reply
  12. Troggy Avatar
    Troggy

    I’ve always had at least one racing game on the go. Currently I own Forza 7, but haven’t played it in a while. I didn’t mind the Horizons series for the cars and customisation but I prefer racing on tracks.

    Right now I’m doing most of my driving in Euro Truck Simulator 2. I was getting a but bored with it until I discovered a few mods including ProMods, so I can now explore from Svalbard to Egypt and everywhere in between.

    Reply
  13. crank_case Avatar
    crank_case

    I still play video games regularly, and not just driving ones. Great way to relax after a tiring day. Unfortunately it means the more demanding ones like Dirt Rally often get sidelined due to the concentration required. Forza 7 is still a mainstay, it just has a nice alround balance of approachability, realism and different cars to try out. I mostly just do hotlaps in Rivals mode. Also playing Wreckfest on Xbox – it’s like the Gran Turismo of banger racing. 😀

    Reply
    1. Zentropy Avatar
      Zentropy

      Holy crap, Wreckfest looks fun! Why had I never heard of this?

      Reply
      1. crank_case Avatar
        crank_case

        Probably because it’s a small developer/publisher. It’s still a quality game with a realistic feeling physics model. I wish all the Forza rammers would play this instead. You wanna ram people? Here’s your game!

        Reply
        1. Zentropy Avatar
          Zentropy

          Ha! The Forza “rammers” are why I despise live online races (the drivatars are sometimes aggressive, but not reckless). I try to take a clean racing line, and they just want to floor it and pinball off of me in the turns. Wreckfest looks like a fun way to blow off steam.

          Reply
          1. crank_case Avatar
            crank_case

            Yep, I mostly compete in rivals like I said, but I think even if online races were sensible, that’s still where I’d spend most my time. I’ve always loved watching single car disciplines like hillclimb and rally because it’s about driving as fast as possible, not psyching out your opponents. It’s about the cars for me, never right at the top of the leagues because I never do that boring route of just copying the identical tunes of the cars in the top 10, I like starting stock, pushing the car as hard as I can, then doing a mild incremental upgrade. There’s something very satisfying about getting into say the to 20% in a car that 100 performance point below the leaders.

  14. ptschett Avatar
    ptschett

    For certain values of automotive video game, I suppose… not high on the realism though.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2255850b1a7f1c07a3f09e235c573a20028c6eca458744bb88a55029512d29d3.png

    Reply
  15. theskig Avatar
    theskig

    I stopped with FM4. I hate that you have to use so many different cars for different races, while I used to have 3 or 4 preferred cars to race in most of the game with previous versions.

    PS: But i have BeamNG on my PC, it’s the future of driving games.

    Reply