I love racing games, but my favorite kind are the ones that take you off the road and into the elements. Rally racing has always been my preference. Actually (cue harps and clouds), my money-no-object dream is to actually rally race across Africa. I'd probably roll and kill myself, though. For now, videogames will have to do the trick. DiRT 3 certainly does the trick. 

These past few days I've been blissfully lost in the outback, drifting through corners on dusty roads. I've been splashing through shallow puddles and sloshing thick mud. I've been plowing through snow storms, guided through the low visibility only by headlight beams. Every one of my off-the-road fantasies has been fulfilled with DiRT 3.