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No, it doesn't have my track car.

http://www.iracing.com/cars/

If you do track days, playing I-racing with a VR setup and force feedback is a life changing gaming event. You get the perception of depth that you don't get on a screen which lets you judge speed better. You can look through corners, and practice all the same skills you can do in real life. I did a round of i-racing on my home track and it felt pretty much the same as being in the car (i-racing laser maps the tracks so it feels the same). http://www.iracing.com/track-t...

The best use of VR right now is for sims.

iracing does multiple distinct render windows into the world along with bevel compensation.

They probably have the best support out there for this kind of thing.

See this badass setup

Currently limited to 3, though.

A better way to do this other than violating copyright is to link to something that already has the full text in a single document, such as this PDF on the same website

Actually NASCAR are going the other way FYI.

They've taken the physical car out of the loop and are using technology to replace it.

Together with iRacing they've endorsed the first official NASCAR series champion for virtual racing:

http://www.iracing.com/partners/

Richard Towler has become the first non-resident crowned champion of their online world drivers championship:

http://www.nascar.com/news/headlines/official/iracing.standings/ .-)

Another example of a game using real names is iRacing, though real names are used throughout the game, instead of just on the forums. Again, the idea is to discourage anti-social behavior (intentional wrecking, profanity, etc), and this is part of their aggressive policing against griefers. In this case, such a prevention is especially necessary for a racing game of this type. I don't frequent the Blizzard forums, so I'm not sure if there are enough douchebags there to justify such measures.

It's true that iRacing uses real names (I play both iRacing and WoW), but one significant difference here is that you know that going in to iRacing - you never have had a pseudonym for it. For Starcraft 2, the same is true - the game isn't out yet, and you're being made aware that the official forums will not be anonymous. But World of Warcraft is a different story; if they do in fact apply these changes to the official forums, it's changing how they've worked for the past five years.

I think the reactions here are overblown, however. RealID is 100% opt-in in the game itself, where it replaces an avatar's name on your friends list with their real name. You have to accept an invitation from someone to exchange RealID information.

As for the forums, I think posting under your real name might just have the effect they're after - people being a little more thoughtful about the words they're using to discuss what happens in a game. It certainly works for iRacing.

Why shouldn't I seperate my online persona(s) from my real life identity? What problem is Blizzard trying to solve here?

The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. People are less likely to act like an asshole if they don't have anonymity to hide behind. The only people who will be idiots any more are those who are idiots already.

Another example of a game using real names is iRacing, though real names are used throughout the game, instead of just on the forums. Again, the idea is to discourage anti-social behavior (intentional wrecking, profanity, etc), and this is part of their aggressive policing against griefers. In this case, such a prevention is especially necessary for a racing game of this type. I don't frequent the Blizzard forums, so I'm not sure if there are enough douchebags there to justify such measures.

I make it a point to avoid any forum identity that could be easliy traced back to my real name, because stuff comes back to haunt you. Do you really want somehting you said 20 years ago in some gaming forum to come up in a job interview?

In that case, either:
1) Don't be a jack-ass on the Blizzard forums.
2) Don't use the Blizzard forums.

That said, I've given my screen name which I've used for the last decade as part of a background check for an interview, so I'm well aware of the issue. However, nothing I said in the past (I've said a lot of stupid stuff) was an issue. If it is a concern to you, don't use the forums (it's an optional part of an optional game you play, you can deal with it), or simply police your behavior before it is recorded for all posterity on the Intertubes.

You seem like a chap who likes his racing games. Can I ask if you have considered or tried iRacing?.

There is such a lot of casual racers out there that might enjoy iRacing but they don't seem to cross over.

Is it the cost?
The need to setup a proper wheel / cockpit?
Don't want to lose the "casual" aspect of pick up racing?

I'm genuinely curious as of course I'd love to have more people in the service .-)

(I don't work for iRacing, I'm just a racer there and love it.)

"This has redefined the realistic racing-sim genre."

Whilst I agree that they are getting better - both Forza and the coming GT5 are not really what I would call "sims" - and certainly not redefining realism.

They are still video games.

Why would I say this? Well there are closer "simulations" on the market that:

* Laser scan tracks
* Laser scan cars
* Measure, weigh and produce physically correct structural models of the cars
* Correctly model the "setup" of the car such as toe, camber caster bump rebound etc
* Properly capture handling as a result of the above

If you've looked into the racing sim genre, you already know I'm talking about iRacing.

I'm a racer there and I can say after trying all the various other things on the market, they are the current leader and in a different class to something like Forza or GT5.

Mr Thinly Sliced

It is actually a very expensive version of rFactor.

You can buy rFactor from here: http://www.rfactor.net/

IndyCar and Nascar drivers use http://www.iracing.com/

You can play both in your PC, not in a playstation.

There are a number of racing simulators out there that (if the promo copy id to be believed) are supposed to help you with your skills.
I have thought about giving http://www.iracing.com/ a try, but just haven't had the time off lately to justify getting a membership.

iracing is doing something similar to this http://iracing.com/contact/faq.php?lc=4 [iracing.com]

iracing is doing something simular to this http://iracing.com/contact/faq.php?lc=4