Racing Games Too Fast, Furious For U.S.?

An anonymous reader writes "FiringSquad just posted an interesting article called 2 Fast 2 Furious For The U.S., discussing the Japanese releases of Gran Turismo Concept and World Rally Championship 2 Extreme for PS2. It's pretty interesting, since these are two games that haven't been scheduled for a U.S. release yet, despite having solid predecessors." Seems like we'll never see GT Concept in the States, despite a European release (wonder why?), and if WRC 2 Extreme can make it through the surfeit of rally titles currently clogging U.S. bargain bins, it should be a worthy buy.

Comments

Rally Games

[NeuroKoan]

As a rally game fanatic, I'll tell you why WRC 2 Extreme is desired in the States...

Its the only rally game offically licenced by the FIA and the WRC. Sure, games like CMR3 and V-Rally have licenced various cars, WRC2 is the only one with all the drivers and all the cars from the World Rally Championship.

Well, that doesn't really mean much for gameplay, now does it. It will be tough to knock CMR3 off its pedestal.

Re:It's not NASCAR!

[Otter]

Well, that's what I was thinking. I have little interest in racing or gaming (and zero in racing games) but it seems like:

1)NASCAR is wildly dominant in the US compared to open-wheel and rally racing and the emphasis on drafting and metal-bending passes doesn't translate as well into a game.

2) 16-24 year olds in the US are much more likely to own, or at least have access to a reasonably fast car than are their counterparts in Asia and much of Europe. Plus the US offers plenty of opportunities to drive fast that Japanese only get in Hokkaido at 3 am.