The history of racing games is the history of video games. That’s how far the racing genre goes back. They’re virtually in lockstep with one another. The story of video game innovation and progress is scented with the burning rubber of racing games.
In the very early ’70s, the actual notion of a video game was still little more than an obscure novelty enjoyed by academics, programmers, and other assorted dorks lucky enough to have access to computer systems that cost more than forty 1971 Dodge Challengers. The late ’70s saw the dawn of what’s now dubbed the golden age of arcade video games, with the arrival of Taito’s seismic smash hit Space Invaders in 1978.
But between that?
Racing games. Piles of ’em.
In 1974 Taito released Speed Race, which is widely considered the first vertically scrolling video game, ever. In 1975, Atari released Indy 800, the first eight-player arcade game. Ever. In 1976, Exidy released Death Race. It was… just a tweaked version of its earlier game Destruction Derby, but it was the first-ever video game to trigger full-blown media hysteria over its violence. Gran Trak 10, Super Bug, Night Driver, and Hi-way by Atari, Drag Race by Kee Games, and Sega’s Moto-Cross are a few of the other racing games released in the mid ’70s. Before Space Invaders. Before Pac-Man. Before Donkey Kong.
Racing games have pushed the technological envelope since their inception. The first proper handheld video game was a racing game: Mattel’s Auto Race in 1976. Namco’s Pole Position (1982) was the first 16-bit video game ever released. Namco’s Winning Run (1988) and Atari’s Hard Drivin’ (1989) are pioneers of 3D polygonal graphics.
So, as we approach The Game Awards 2023 – self-described as “gaming’s biggest night” – what exactly do racing games get for their 50-year contribution to the industry?
A shared award category with an unrelated genre. That’s what.
Best sports slash racing? It’s a token gesture that doesn’t so much as convey congratulations as it says, “Oops, we nearly forgot both of those but we do have one trophy left.”
The racing genre itself is already wonderfully wide. From terrifically-tuned family kart racers to achingly in-depth hardcore simulators – and everything in between – it’s a broad spectrum. Pitching kart racers like Mario Kart and Crash Team Racing against arcade-oriented racers like Hot Wheels Unleashed and Forza Horizon, as well as sharp-edged motorsports sims like Dirt Rally and F1 is already a wild enough mix. Adding sports games to that, though? That’s ludicrous.
In 2018, the incredible Wreckfest couldn’t even wrangle itself a nod as one of the best racing games of the year at The Game Awards. Between FIFA 19, NBA 2K19, Pro Evolution Soccer 2019, and Mario Tennis Aces (all of which lost to Forza Horizon 4) there was no room at the inn. Exactly why should something like Wreckfest need to compete with Mario Tennis Aces for recognition? What possible thing do those games have in common in the real world, outside of The Game Awards?
Sorry mate, the store was out of Gran Turismo 7, but I got you OlliOlli World instead. It’s basically the same thing, right?
What is the relationship between Hot Wheels and football, and precisely how are they close enough to each other that they need to split an award category between them this year?
But racing is a sport! Or so it goes. That’s the irregular refrain I’ve heard after bringing this up in the past. Yeah, so is fighting, though. Fighting gets its own category. As it should. It deserves that respect.
But so does racing, and so does sport.
It’s a disservice to the developers of both racing and sports games that their games must cannibalise each other for recognition at The Game Awards. At this year’s awards, the only sports game in the category is EA Sports FC 24. The rest are great racing games. Sorry, Sony Santa Monica. Nice work on that baseball game. No more room in here with all these racing games, though.
It’s a disservice to the players of racing games and sports games. Tough titties if you want to give a nod to your favourite racing game and your favourite sports game. Your taste is too “miscellaneous.”
Hell, it’s a disservice to The Game Awards itself. The Game Awards already faces criticism for appearing more concerned with marketing and showcasing trailers than it is with the awards themselves. Ploughing through rapid salvoes of awards in brief windows between trailers is a bad enough look as it is. Combining two foundation genres doesn’t exactly help.
It’s not working. Just split the category. Where’s the harm?
There aren’t enough of them? Bollocks there aren’t.
It’s already a three-and-a-half-hour event? Last year, awarding Best Sports / Racing took 16 seconds. That’s reading each nominee, hesitating for dramatic effect, and reading the winner. No trophy, no speech. 16 seconds. They can’t find another 16 seconds? Get out of here.
It should give The Game Awards pause that, in the nine-year history of the “Best Sports / Racing” category, it’s been won almost exclusively by racing games anyway. The two exceptions? The all-conquering Rocket League in 2015, which is a sports game with racing cars in it, and the tremendous Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 in 2020 (which, let’s note, may have been slightly buoyed by being a ripping remake of… the second highest-rated video game of all time). No traditional sports game has ever won this award.
Hell, no game without wheels has ever won this award.
The evidence suggests this award is less fair on sports games than it is on racing games. I don’t know that I intended to start this column singing the praises of racing games and conclude it by defending sports games, but here we are. Racing and sports shouldn’t be forced to compete, especially since the sports genre is easily as wide-ranging as racing. Imagine if The Game Awards were around in 1998 – the greatest year of video games, ever – and NFL Blitz, Shane Warne/Brian Lara Cricket ’99, 1080° Snowboarding, International Superstar Soccer 98, NBA Live 99, Links LS 1999, Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis, and World Cup 98 had to go head-to-head with Ridge Racer Type 4, F-Zero X, Grand Prix Legends, Colin McRae Rally, Motocross Madness, Powerslide, Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, and TOCA 2 Touring Cars just to even make the shortlist. It’d be like picking a favourite limb.
I’m not even going to start on sports games, which is a genre equally steeped in video game pedigree, but I will note that it too started way back in the early ’70s
In 1972, in fact.
With a little game called Pong.
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.
