> These are pretty much "junk".....about like an "arcade ride".....rather than
> a simulator. I was given "unlimited" driving privileges at the Vegas
> facility last year at the SEMA show (as their for 3-days)....and spent a
> total of about three minutes in one car....got out in the middle of the run
> and never went back the entire stay in Vegas....and I could have run as much
> as I wanted for free....the entire trip (I was staying in the hotel above
> the NASCAR Cafe). It was a waste of time......IMHO.
> TP
> > I happened to be in C***te, NC this week, and happened upon something
> > called "NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway" at the Concord Mills Mall.
> > Basically, it was a NASCAR simulator with perhaps a dozen full size (or
> > almost) cars that you sit in, each equipped with large video screens in
> > front and on either side. Races are 7 minutes long and you race
> > against other drivers and the AI. The car you sit in moves in
> > accordance with what's happening on the "track". There were 4 tracks
> > to choose from - Daytona (with and without restrictor plates), Atlanta,
> > C***te and Richmond.
> > I'm sure that "non-PC simmers" find this to be a great experience.
> > While I'm no hotshot at N4 or NR2002 (I race GPL mostly), I found that
> > after 4 races (1 at each track), I wasn't real impressed with this
> > simulator. I think that N4 and NR2002 overall are a lot tougher to
> > drive well, and the FF offered in PC software was superior to what this
> > simulator offers. The only advantage to this simulator was the large
> > displays.
> > I would think that these simulators can be found in other locations, as
> > a non-simmer friend of mine raced at one in Michigan (and loved it).
> > If there are any serious NR2002, N4 (or other) simmer's here who have
> > tried this simulator, I'd be curious to hear your opinions of how it
> > compares to PC racing. I wasn't too impressed overall, but maybe I
> > missed something.
> > Bert
I used to do this at the Mall of America (Minneapolis, MN). As Tom and
others have said, it's an arcade ride. As such, it's pretty fun. As a
simulator, well, you may want to save your money. I wish they could use
a "sim" setup for leagues and competitions, and keep the arcade setup
for the drop-in players. They certainly couldn't stay in business with
strictly a sim setup. Can you imagine the average joe paying $8.50 to
get in and just spin the car in the pits? Wait, don't answer that. ;^)
Reminds me of the time I tried to play one of those shoot-em-up games at
the arcade (Donkey Kong is more my speed): there's no instructions on
how to play, first of all; I put my money in and push 'Start',
you'redead/you'redead/you'redead/game over.
I didn't play that game again.
