Q: Where do you think the racing genre is heading?
Rich: "I think that games that feature 'just racing' aren't enough for a lot
of people in this era of gnat-like attention spans, and that's particularly
true when it comes to the console crowd. That's why I think that you're
going to see more and more games like Driver and Grand Theft Auto - where
driving and racing is a part of the game, but not the whole experience.
"That's why I think that as time goes on you're going to see fewer and fewer
'pure' racing titles; and as someone who would be quite happy spending the
rest of his days working on sequels to Grand Prix Legends, I think that's a
shame, but the bottom line is that you need to be willing to change with the
market or else you're done. It takes an enormous amount of money to make a
game these days, and quite understandably game publishers want to make games
that appeal to the broadest part of the market so that they can maximize the
return on their investment.
"So although I don't necessarily see a bright future in terms of where the
'racing sim' market is headed, I think the sky's the limit as far as the
mainstream 'racing game' area goes. I think that Grand Theft Auto 3 is one
of the best games ever made, and I also enjoyed the Driver games quite a
bit. There is certainly no lack of creativity in the genre these days and I
don't see it growing stagnant any time soon."
MadDAWG