There’s a reason why I tend to tell people I’m not big into simulation racing — those two words instantly make me think of harsh, realistic gameplay that requires me to know a hell of a lot about cars to perform well. When I want to play a videogame to have fun, which is the case 95% of the time, sim racing doesn’t come to mind.
Forza Motorsport 3 director Dan Greenawalt, while much more of a simulation fan than myself, tends to agree. In an interview with Gamasutra, he gave his thoughts on the matter.
“The hardcore fans of the racing sim genre,” according to Greenawalt, “in particular, are constantly calling to be punished more. It sounds weird. It sounds like we’re in some strange sadomasochistic relationship.” On the subject of being able to rewind upon crashing or simply making a bad move, he says he “can’t go back to games that don’t have it now.”
“It doesn’t hurt the tension,” explains Greenawalt. “I think part of this is just embracing modern game design and realizing that people are different and what they’re looking for is great entertainment, and entertainment does not have to be punishing. It can be, and it has been, but it doesn’t have to be.”
Since the man practically took the words right out of my mouth, I don’t really have anything to add. Do any of you ever find yourself enjoying the unforgiving nature or some racing games?
