Why PC car games?
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First of all, your computer's system is much more powerful and offers a higher performance than video games systems do. The graphics and all the game details are amazing, and they are better developed for PC platforms than for video games' platforms. Another advantage for car games would be the low price, and the console counterparts. You will be amazed when switching from console games to PC games, and you can see that the difference is obvious between these game platforms.

Online car racing has entered the Web 2.0 craze lately and game developers have developed for fans of fun racing games a lot of games, and these games were mixed with a strong online multiplayer community. This game takes auto racing to another level and this game was followed by another great online auto racing game, NFS.

NFS is a series of auto racing video games, and it was developed by EA Black Box. IT was published by Electronic Arts, and in the beginning it was developed by Distinctive Software which became EA Canada. The game debuted with "The Need For Speed" in 1994, and the series was exclusive to the fifth generation consoles but in time it was featured in all seventh generation consoles. The games is based on racing with various cars, and sometimes, they include police pursuits also in race. In Japan this game was released with the name "Over Drivin" but in time is adopted the name in the west, and since the NFS Underground release, the series included car customization and now there are four games under development.

Need for Speed, actually all the games in the series are racing games, and they are based on the same fundamental rules, and the mechanics are similar. The player controls a car, in various races, having as main purpose to win the race. In the tournament mode, the player has to win a series of races in order to unlock vehicles, track, and other elements. In this tournament mode, the player has the option to choose between automatic and manual transmission. All games in the series have multiplayer mode, which allows users to play via split screen, LAN or Internet with other users.

Need for Speed Shift, the newest version in this series will arrive in Europe on September 17 and in American stores on September 22. This game is built by racers for racers, and it delivers an authentic driving experience. It replicates the feeling of racing cars with high performances and plenty of features, and the player is immersed in an exciting adventure. It has stunning realistic first person camera view and a new crash mechanic, which provides a genuine sensation of speed and the feeling of racing a car on the extreme edge of control. Here we have some images with the classic Nissan Skyline 2000 GTS. The images are hi-res screenshots of the car, and we found them out with Dan Zlotoff's help, from RocketXL. Check them out!

Another interesting car game, which I personally like very much is Grand Theft Auto, abbreviated GTA, and action-adventure game, published by  BMG Interactive. In this game, the player takes the role of a criminal who can walk around the city and has various missions. The missions are almost always done with the help of a car, and they sound like bank robberies, assassinations and a lot of other crimes. The game's initial name was "Race N Chase" and it was succeeded by "Grand Theft Auto 2", and both versions were made available by Rockstar Games in 2004.

GTA is made of more levels, set in the main cities. In each level, you have to reach a target number of points, which you can achieve by performing crimes for the local criminal groups. Each level has its own difficulty, which rises gradually, and a number of points. Successful completion rewards the player with points and it opened the opportunity to play more difficult missions.



NASCAR Racing series was started in 1994 and ended in 2003 with the release of NASCAR RAcing 2003 Season. Later NASCAR games were launched by Electronic Arts. In 1994, NASCAR Racing games was released for MS-DOS PC's, and it featured more than 25 of the 40 drivers in the NASCAR Winston Cup of that year. The game allowed the player to race with one of the 38 cars available, and it offered multiplayer mode via direct links and via Hawaii, an online system by Papyrus.

There are a lot of racing game which offer fans the pleasure of driving a fast and cool car on the computer, and to compete with their friends or with other players from the whole world. These games are improved almost daily, and the releases bring a lot of new features, cars and player characters.

Over a decade ago, I thought Accolade's Grand Prix was the best F1 game in the whole world, and there won't ever be something better. Fortunately, things started moving pretty fast in a few years, and now most young gamers who would see the racing games available in early 1990s won't be able to understand how could ever anyone enjoy such a junk. Gold today, junk in a few years...that's how the gaming industry seems to move, but the spot for best F1 game remains free, especially since I didn't see any serious Formula 1 sim lately.

If I am wrong and there's some awesome F1 game that I've missed recently, be sure to drop a comment and let me know about it! PC games only, please, thank you, let's move on, shall we?

The story is that Codemasters, the company behind so many great racing games, like the Colin McRae franchise, Race Driver: Grid or the notorious TOCA Touring Car series, is going to hit us one more time. No, they won't have Britney Spears featured in any game, at least as far as I can tell you, but they're going to try and fill the best F1 game position, throwing two games in the battle.
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The two games were officially announced by Codemasters, and we know that the first one will be out later this year for the PSP and Wii, with the second coming in 2010 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. While the 2010 F1 game will be using the Grid engine, the 2009 one is more of a mystery, for now.

While Race Driver: Grid was (and still is) a great game, I am sure that Codemasters can come up with something better. To me, there's a pretty big gap in the PC gaming market left by Need for Speed's latest epic failures...

First of all, I think we should remember the great man who was Collin McRae for a few moments. If it wasn't for him, I am sure that virtual racers would be really poor in terms of gaming experiences, because the Collin McRae games series is simply great. Now, DIRT 2 is coming to remember us again of a great man, and a great game...

...and all I can say is O-M-F-G!!! Is that screen for real? I guess it is, but if I take a closer look, I think I also see something I don't like in it. You know what's that? It's the "upgrade your one-year old videocard, bastard" feeling! Most of us had it at least a few times, usually before having the time and/or money to actually do it, so I won't get too deep here...
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Compared to the original DIRT game, DIRT 2 is expected to feature more cars, more real-world locations, as well as enhanced graphics, thanks to the updated version of the EGO game engine, previously used in Codemaster's GRID. The improvements won't stop here, since a lot of online features are also headed this way, but I think there's also one improvement we don't want - a better "minimum required system," I can bet on that one!

On the other hand, I still have my share of Burnout Paradise left to enjoy, and since FEAR 2 is headed this way for a review...I guess I'll have my hands full for a while, don't you agree?