We love racing games. Thankfully, there’s always plenty of new ones coming out, too. It feels like every month we have at least one racing game to talk to you about and usually plenty more. In a few pages you’ll discover we have three for you this month. There’s lots of reasons to love racing games, but one of the coolest is that it gives us a chance to drive a car years before we have our license.
But when you get your license, will you be a better diver because you’ve played racing games? Absolutely!!
Not so much if you play pretend experiences like car combat games and kart racers. But if you are playing proper racing games with real car physics then you’ll learn a lot about driving. Games like Gran Turismo, Forza, GRID and DIRT, and even titles like Need for Speed, offer that kind of experience.
That’s because the cars, the handling and the speeds in these games are a lot like the real thing. If you want to nail the perfect lap, you need to master braking and acceleration. Learn how to turn in and out of a corner, nailing the apex. How to manage the weight of a car and the grip in the tyres to make sure you don’t come in too fast or turn too hard.
Modern games even have things like tyre wear, damage, and weather effects, each of which change the way your car moves and behaves on the track. All this knowledge you gain while playing games does transfer into the real world. In fact, there’s Gran Turismo players that have gone on to become professional race drivers. It’s true! There’s plenty more to learn when you do get your license in terms of road rules. And lots of experience to gain dealing with other cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and other obstacles. But yes, you’ll be a better driver than someone who has never played a racing game!
