ShreddieMercury

Hopeful for Azurik: Rise of Perathia.

34, to commemorate Dennis Rodman's record for rebounds in a single game.

I've put a few hours in Ridge Racer Unbounded since it's less than $3 during the Steam Sale.  I didn't know this was available on PC!  I understand it's very divisive for RR fans, but after playing this for a while, I highly recommend it.  Very, very solid arcade racing.

 

 

5 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

We should be seeing Humble’s bundle early next week as well.  So it might be worth waiting out, or not.

 

Prime gaming will have Force Unleashed and a handful of lesser known indies. 

 

Is Force Unleashed good?  I've heard conflicting things.

15 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

Oh for sure that is incredible! Unfortunately there’s no backwards compatibility on psvr2 and that setup is way too cumbersome. The way Sony hasn’t ported some of their stuff over to psvr2 is pretty rude. I’m there day one once it happens though.

 

It just makes me think of how awesome so many arcade racers could be. I’m going to have to get some Gamecube arcade racers going in 3D tonight on nreal to satisfy this itch now!

 

If you're serious about emulating old arcade racers, I highly recommend trying Supermodel, which emulates SEGA's Model 3 arcade architecture.  It's the only way to play Daytona USA 2, and the best way to play Sega Rally 2.  If you aren't familiar with it already, this is a great setup guide:

 

 

9 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

Oh for sure that is incredible! Unfortunately there’s no backwards compatibility on psvr2 and that setup is way too cumbersome. The way Sony hasn’t ported some of their stuff over to psvr2 is pretty rude. I’m there day one once it happens though.

 

It just makes me think of how awesome so many arcade racers could be. I’m going to have to get some Gamecube arcade racers going in 3D tonight on nreal to satisfy this itch now!

 

There was a rumor regarding F-Zero GX coming to Switch at some point.  I would definitely be in for that as I've never played it.

1 hour ago, stepee said:

Man I just made myself so sad because I could see myself losing an entire day just cruising if we had Outrun 3(D) in VR

 

Actually, maybe I’m missing something because cmon, does anyone know if there is a decent arcade Vr racer? Not a kart or sim but one like mentioned in the OP.

 

Wipeout Omega Collection is incredible in VR, and it definitely fits my definition of arcade racing.  Sadly it makes me pretty nauseous (like most VR).  But it's definitely in the top tier of PSVR experiences in my opinion.

7 minutes ago, DPCyric said:

 

You solved your own mystery the incompetence of publishers in 2010 ruined arcade racers. Blur was supposed to release in 2009 but Activision forced a delay because they wanted the game to add CoD leveling elements. The delay put it up against Split/Second and Mod Nation Racers all in the same 30 days and they cannibalized each other. I would love to see another Blur and Split/Second or at least some modern ports (VR Split/Second would be insane).

 

Interesting, I didn't realize Blur had been delayed.  I've always wanted to play it, and have heard great things about it!  Such a bummer that it's de-listed now.

27 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Stunt Derby on Steam

STORE.STEAMPOWERED.COM

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Stunt Derby is a throwback stunt car racer with high-fidelity physics, online play and a built in track editor. Master tracks, build your own, explore a variety of game modes and smash through stacks of boxes in this unique low-poly drive-em-up.

 

Stunt Derby is being made by noclip (the Danny O'Dwyer documentary people) and is a throwback to Hard Drivin and those types of games. It has a demo too!

 

Looks awesome!!

For the past several years, I've been on a quest to scratch a specific itch.  Up until the last generation, arcade racing games were rather ubiquitous and usually pretty successful.  But in the early 2010's, the industry started to tilt heavily in favor of simulations, and things haven't (and may never) tilt back.  Exactly why this occurred is a mystery to me; in a medium where the only limit is imagination, players have seemingly voiced their desire to only drive around boring tracks in the most tedious manor possible.  The failure of Blur and Split/Second in 2010, ironically two of the best games made in this genre, seemed like the final nail in the coffin.

 

While there have been several attempts at capturing the spirit of arcade racing in the past few years, sadly nothing has come close to the heights of this once dominant genre.  For anybody like me that loves these games, I wanted to create a thread to collect the best that I've found that are still playable on modern systems.  There are a surprising amount of older games that are still available, and some very good recent games as well.  I'll omit very obvious ones like Forza, because while it would technically qualify, I don't think it quite fits.  I'll also omit stuff like Wreckfest and Art of Rally, because while they seemingly have all the correct elements in place, they're tied to rather sim-heavy driving models.  If anybody wants to include Kart Racers, that's great, but I'll leave them off my my initial list for now.

 

 

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered

 

 

Available on PS, Xbox, Steam, Switch.

Positives: pure arcade drifting, well tuned combat, extensive and very fun campaign.  Negatives: the driving model takes time to get used to, as cars feel very heavy.  The destruction is significantly less detailed than in Burnout games.

 

 

GRIP: Combat Racing

 

 

Available on PS, Xbox, Steam.

Positives: very fast, very fun modern take on classic PS racer Rollcage.  Track design is excellent, soundtrack is awesome.  Negatives: fun but fairly bare campaign.

 

 

Hydro Thunder Hurricane

 

 

Available on PC/Xbox

Positives: excellent and fun water simulation.  Great track design.  Underrated and worthy successor to the original game.  Negatives: no online presence.  Very weak and bland soundtrack.

 

 

Slipstream

 

 

Available on PS, Xbox, Steam, Switch.

Positives: Fun take on Outrun, great soundtrack, good driving/drifting model.  Negatives: Tracks are a bit bland, and the game is pretty bare overall.

 

 

Burnout Paradise Remastered

 

 

Available on PS, Xbox, Steam, Switch.

Positives: The best driving and looking Burnout game.  Negatives: the open world makes for the worst Burnout racing.

 

 

Inertial Drift

 

 

Available on PS, Xbox, Steam, Switch.

Positives: unique twin-stick drifting model, fantastic visuals and soundtrack.  Negatives: racing is only against ghosts, so it's a series of time trials only.

 

 

Cruis'n Blast

 

 

Available on Switch.

Positives: feels great to play, immediately fun.  Negatives:  zero depth, aesthetic is hit-or-miss.

 

 

Split/Second

 

 

Available on Steam and Xbox.

Positives: unique take on combat racing, very fun driving model, extensive and varied campaign.  Negatives: severe rubber banding.

 

 

 

There are lots more that I don't have time to add, but I'll include some others at some point later.  Please share any that you'd like! 

OG Xbox was definitely their creative peak in my opinion, but the 360 library is among the best of any console.  But it did miss awesome stuff like SEGA's output and MS's push into sports games with stuff like Rallisport Challenge and Amped.  The 360 is also where you saw the over reliance on only a few franchises, which has had severely diminishing returns.

7 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

It will be on that game pass you haven't touched yet by that time.

 

I'm all-in on Game Pass at this point.  I resisted as long as I could but it's too good to pass up.  Likely won't be able to wait long enough for Jedi Survivor to hit GP though.  But EA stuff seems to be nicely discounted a few months after release from what I can tell.

Just now, SaysWho? said:

 

No.

 

If we don't elect conservative morons to the White House who bring the worst people to the FTC.

 

Well, you're much more optimistic than I am! 

Will massive corporate consolidation help the industry?  No.  But isn't it inevitable?

 

The Disney comparison in that email is very apt.  Sooner or later, one of these corporations will absolutely own the lion's share of premium IP and content.  Have a gaas everyone!

3 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

I can buy jedi survivor for you. 

 

Naw dude!  You're too kind.  Save your money, or buy something nice for yourself that brings you joy.  I can wait.

Here's how it could go though.  MS buys SEGA and we get:

 

- Cleaned up, HDR enabled Jet Set Radio Future

- SEGA Arcade Racing collection with Daytona USA 2, SCUD Race, Sega Rally Championship 1 + 2

 

Would that happen?  Probably not, but it's our best shot.

1 minute ago, Remarkableriots said:

Sony should buy SEGA!

 

Please no.

1 minute ago, best3444 said:

 

Oh God it not boring in the slightest. The game is spectacular and the combat is more diverse than a souls game. Absolutely play this game. 

 

I've heard great things!  I'm just waiting for somebody to tell me that it's as good as Jedi Outcast.  Fallen Order did not really seem fun from what I can tell, but I've been hoping for a great Star Wars game for literal decades at this point.  The universe lends itself perfectly to games, and yet we haven't had anything that struck the same chord as the classics since probably the mid-2000s.

 

Probably can't afford it right away, but am excited to grab this on Xbox at some point down the road.

Damn.  I could feel the SEGA acquisition brewing and am sad that it didn't happen.

So

 

Is this really fun like the Star Wars games from 20 years ago?  Or is it boring because it has Dark Souls combat?

I'm surprised to see people say that the library isn't that great.  It's probably in the top three or so best console libraries of all time, and it has a few of the best games in Nintendo's entire catalog.

On 6/13/2023 at 7:25 PM, Greatoneshere said:

 

It's already confirmed it's being made, directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition, The Road). Cormac McCarthy was going to write and produce, and Hillcoat is probably one of the few directors who can pull it off. 

 

I'll believe it when I see it.  Hillcoat is a solid choice, but they've tried for decades to get a film version of the story off the ground to no avail.  From my understanding, it's been very close multiple times.  I know that the difference now is that McCarthy was working on a script, but who knows how much was complete or what stage it was at when he passed.

RIP.  Blood Meridian remains the most indelible and resonant novel I've experienced.  I've read it three times and I find it more fascinating and brilliant as time wears on.  I hope they never attempt a film version; its abstraction is what makes it so powerful, and it's almost like McCarthy was channeling some cosmic truth known only to him.

Wow you can block users?  I can't believe that the blatant oppression of conservatives continues.

Fuck each and every one of these people.  You don't like abortion?  Great, you can choose to not have one.  That's the end of the discussion you fucking misogynist, fascist scum.