F1 PC games and Sony

[Sodemo]

What is the situation with F1 games?

I heard some time ago that Sony had purchased the exclusive rights to F1 games, making it impossible to release F1 games on any format other than the PS2.

I find this a incredibly short sighted and selfish gesture by Sony. I mean, why go for exclusive rights in the first place, I can't imagine the F1 games that sell on the PS2 are THAT bigger sellers.

I would love to see another contempory PC F1 sim, and I feel that Sony are unfairly cornering the market in a way that doesn't make sense, as all the games released on the PS2 are arcadey rubbish. PC F1 "simulation" gamers are not going to "be forced" buy the PS2 F1 games as they are not sims, making the exclusivity deal a nonsense.

[Gil Abobeleira]

Except that if you're looking for a Formula1 simulator (and not a game!), you won't find it at the sony consoles...

rFactor is an upcoming simulator, made by ISI (the guys that did the F1 games for EA), that hopefully will have an F1 mod (it's in the works right now), which will work in the PCs and very much much better than those console thingys....

[Down F0rce]

A licence sells, regardless of how good the game is. Sony know that very well.

F1 Challenge 99-02 was the last F1 game made for the PC, and the mod community have kept it alive. A 2005 mod will be out soon, so theres no need to get Sony's offering.

[ASCII Man]

Well, that's business for ya, monster...

[Sodemo]

Its just frustrating, I own a PS2 and a PC, and the PS2 is crap for realistic racing games, the only half decent one is GT4.

[Gil Abobeleira]

Try Enthusia Professional Racing Monster (I heard it was very realistic and much better than GT4).

[TheNewBob]

Maybe we should revive the old GP2 scene instead

[Hazza]

I still maintain that the best 4 PC racing games are GP2, GPL, Nascar 2003 and Gp500. Interesting, half thoose games are made by Papyrus...

Anyway, that's buisness I guess. The only really frustrating thing is that Sony don't make great F1 games, they own the liscence to the NFL and (I feel) they do infact make great Football games (They've been doing it for years so...).

[Knowlesy]

Mr Yamauchi, the guy who makes the Gran Turismo series, has often stated he'd love to have a go at making an F1 game. Imagine that, an F1 game with GT graphics, classic cars and tracks......

It'll probably never happen of course.

I must say, I don't mind the Sony F1 games. Yes, they are arcadey, but they are fun which is all that matters. Although it is annoying that Sony own the rights to the license exclusively, I know.

[Gil Abobeleira]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

Mr Yamauchi, the guy who makes the Gran Turismo series, has often stated he'd love to have a go at making an F1 game. Imagine that, an F1 game with GT graphics, classic cars and tracks......

It'll probably never happen of course.

I must say, I don't mind the Sony F1 games. Yes, they are arcadey, but they are fun which is all that matters. Although it is annoying that Sony own the rights to the license exclusively, I know.

And you'd get a GPL with arcade physics... Great!

[Knowlesy]

Does it matter?

GT is largely realistic, but has elements of arcadiness. It is still fun though.

And I doubt GPL or wahtever is totally accurate anyways.....no game can be.

So theoretically, all games are arcadey.

[ASCII Man]

Unless you strap yourself into one of those simulators...

[Knowlesy]

I bet they are awesome!

[Gil Abobeleira]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

Does it matter?

GT is largely realistic, but has elements of arcadiness. It is still fun though.

And I doubt GPL or wahtever is totally accurate anyways.....no game can be.

So theoretically, all games are arcadey.

Having RWD and FWD that don't steer "realistically" is not fun imho. Then there's the problem with the tyre physics (completely off, destroys the all "realism" of the game)...
No game is completely realistic, that's why we call them simulators... But labelling it realistic (as opposed to fun) when they're not. Hey, Wipeout is also fun

But let's agree to disagree... I hate simple and stupid games that you play 10 hours and then you're fed up (Quake, Half-Life, GT4), but I respect who have less time and want a simple adrenalin rush (I have it at a 40 minute GPL or a 1hour GTP race).

[Knowlesy]

For the record, I'm more of a fan of GPL, GTR type games.

But flying round the Nurburgring in an BMW V12 LMR on GT4 is still pretty hard to beat. And there are more realistic tyre options available anyways, plus the game is optimised for a steering wheel which takes it forward a big step.

[Gil Abobeleira]

Originally Posted by knowlesy

For the record, I'm more of a fan of GPL, GTR type games.

But flying round the Nurburgring in an BMW V12 LMR on GT4 is still pretty hard to beat. And there are more realistic tyre options available anyways, plus the game is optimised for a steering wheel which takes it forward a big step.

Super Hard tyres that go after 60 kilometres? Now, I call that real (sorry for the sarcasm, but the tire model is way way off.....).
And yes, I do play GT4 with the DFP... Over 50% completed (lattely much B-Spec mode, going round on A-Spec is no much fun anymore...).