There doesn't need to be such a divide between sim and arcade racers. Just give the players the option of playing with arcade or sim physics. All they need to do is tweak the AI a little.

Another problem is that half of the racers never get released in the U.S. or only get released a few years after they came out elsewhere and the buzz has died down.

The other problem is that many of the top racing titles simply aren't very good. Either that or they don't really add anything to the previous release in the series. I'm appalled at how poorly the AI and physics are handled in many of the current games. This goes for both the sims and the arcade racers.

Sim racers also face the problem that most sales these days are for consoles and developers are forced to dumb down the physics if they want to get their game licensed for the consoles. I've even heard of the console makers going so far as to list the specific stupidity they want added for titles to get the ok for license.

The reason that the Flatout games did so well is that they are among the few exceptions. They were first rate in nearly every way and I'm glad to see true quality and innovation be rewarded. However,I didn't much like their decision to switch to the rubber-band catch up mode the AI used in Flatout2).

Another problem with some of the racers is their apparent hatred of old muscle cars. Things are slowly changing though. Many just flatly refuse to put them in. Others only put a few token ones in. Others include some but make the performance so bad that they are almost guaranteed to lose. Either that or the upgrades or bonus cars for the muscles aren't nearly up to par with the other classes. Half of the racers in the American market more or less demand old muscle cars be included before they will buy a game.

This comment was edited on Feb 27, 17:48.