Racing games have been a staple part of gaming since the arcade and the DOS era, and have continued to play a strong role in the world of gaming. From cars to 18-wheelers, racing has been everything from good to bad and even quite ugly sometimes. There have been two racing series that have blossomed to become the biggest series in the racing genre, Need For Speed and Forza Motorsports. At E3, both have introduced a new edition to come out in 2012. So the question is, which of these two games will come out on top?

Need For Speed (NFS) is one of the longest running racing games of the modern generation. The one thing the Need for Speed series was known for was the introduction of police, where not only was the objective to complete the race, but escaping the police too. Or if players wanted to spice things up, they had the option of being the cop and were able to bust racers.

Starting back in 1994, NFS has had a plethora of sequels and spinoffs, one of their most popular being the Hot Pursuit series back with NFS 3 in 1998. The unique aspect of NFS Hot Pursuit was the revamped police pursuit system and the ability to play with up to one other player in split-screen mode (The original NFS game offered a multiplayer mode on PC; however, required a modem connection and could be played in DosBox). NFS Hot Pursuit eventually got a sequel in 2002 and a remake in 2010.

The NFS series had other spinoffs that included Underground, Most Wanted, Carbon, Shift, The Run, and other franchises. Many of these series ranged from hits and misses, in which Shift and The Run were considered the worst in the series. Another thing about the NFS series are the various developers attached to the series: EA Canada, EA Black Box, EA Montreal, EA Singapore, Slightly Mad Studios, and Criterion Games (known for the Burnout Series). With these different developers who have been making various NFS games through the years, it is clear why each NFS game has been different.

The new NFS game for 2012 is a remake to the Most Wanted series. Most Wanted, developed by Criterion games (who also developed the Hot Pursuit remake) looks to be a city version of what Hot Pursuit was to the country side. Features that continue to be a part of the series are police escapes, an open world environment, and autolog. As with the more recent Need for Speed games, the open world environment has begun to be a regular, as seen in NFS Underground, which lets the player freely roam around the world as they leisurely drive or practice the tracks finding the best routs and shortcuts to take.

Most Wanted looks to be a promising installment to the NFS series, it doesn’t look to be anything special or offer anything unique to the NFS series, but it still looks to be a solid game and a fun experience. Most Wanted is scheduled to be released October 30th 2012.

Another game announced at E3 was Forza Horizon. The Forza series started back in 2005 with the release of Forza Motorsport for the Xbox. The Forza series is distributed by Microsoft Game Studios and is an Xbox exclusive. The main selling point for Forza is the realistic driving mechanics. The game strives to be more like a true driving simulator and does a great job. The Forza series is highly acclaimed and rated highly among various gaming sites.

Going along with the driving realism, the Forza series also introduced Autovista. Autovista is a feature that gives the player detailed images and facts about the select 24 cars available in the game. These facts range from general details of the car to the minute facts from the brake pads to interior details. The game series strives to be the most detailed racing game to date and succeeds.

The newest installment to the series is Forza Horizon. The biggest feature that Horizon is pushing for is the open world. With various roads to travel through and fluid day to night transitions, the Forza series strives to give players a detailed driving experience in the open world as they have with their cars.

Though the new Forza game looks to be another great installment of the highly acclaimed series, the introduction of an open world seems to be drawing life away from the series. With the gameplay trailer from E3, the life on the road seemed to be sucked out, as what happens with most open world games, which usually means that with the introduction of something massive, details are usually cut short to be able to fit in the wider space. Forza is all about the little details, so with the introduction of a massive open world, the famous Forza details might be lost due to the mass open road. Still highly acclaimed and greatly anticipated, Forza Horizon is expected to be released October 23^rd 2012, a week before NFS Most Wanted.

Image Courtesy of  Need for Speed

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The best race in the world is hearsay unless people see it.  Some of the best racing in the world is not the headline race, but the support races featuring the stars of tomorrow.  Mazda has supported more road racers over the past decade than any other automaker, and for 2012 is stepping up that support to include extended TV coverage on the new Velocity network.

“Hardcore fans know that some of the most intense action can be found in the Playboy MX-5 Cup, Star Mazda and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship.  But if you weren’t at the race, you are left to take our word for it. Now, thanks to a partnership with Velocity, and Carolinas Production Group, fans can enjoy the action on a regular basis from their living room,” noted Jim Jordan, Alternative Marketing Manager, Mazda North America.

Rick Benjamin, award-winning motorsports broadcaster, will host “The Mazda Motorsports Hour”.  Benjamin’s Carolinas Production Group will handle production and distribution of the Hour. Benjamin said, “It’s an honor for our company to be selected once again to produce and place coverage of the Playboy MX-5 Cup, Star Mazda, and USF2000 championships.

Our partnership with Velocity gives us a tremendous platform to showcase the incredible talents of young drivers and veterans alike who are taking full advantage of Mazda’s ladder system.” Joining Rick Benjamin in the booth will be racers Randy Pobst for the MX 5 Cup, and James Hinchcliffe on Star and USF2000. Todd Lewis will be the pit reporter.

The broadcasts will be a regularly-scheduled hour-long weekend show on Velocity – “The Mazda Motorsports Hour”.  24 shows will be broadcast on a tape-delay basis from April through November.  The content will be a variety of Mazda centric series, with an emphasis on the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup, the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear, and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda.

All three series are a part of the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Ladder, while the Star and USF2000 Championships are also a part of the Mazda Road to Indy. To find Velocity on your local cable system, go to Velocity.com

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/12272789@N07/

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Team Race Bikes is a relatively new racing management company based out of Mondragon, France.  The goal of companies like these is to provide racers with financial and technical stability while they race, at a small cost. With a background in business, team managers deal with speedway and racetrack operations, venue logistics, team management, sponsorship, product promotions, managing race team personnel, media and event management, public relations, and revenue enhancements and branding.

Within one year, Team Race Bikes has become a force to be reckoned with in the French Top-Twin and Superbike racing categories thanks to Ann Gire and Jean-Luc Defour, the owner and team manager, respectively, have poured their hearts and souls into this team. Ann Gire studied Global Communications at the American University of Paris, where she learned market development, worldwide distribution and export sales growth.Meanwhile, Jean-Luc Defour developed extensive experience in financial management and mechanical operations after years of work in the field. Team Race Bikes brings this racing experience to their racers by offering “a job done well, at a fair price.”

Despite their youthfulness, Team Race Bikes has assembled a fine team to support their drivers. They have Peter Clark, the Ducati engineer from New Zealand, and Eric Delcamp of Delcamp Energies, who keep shock absorbers up and running, to name a few. It is absolutely necessary to have a strong camp in order to be successful. Without a constantly functioning bike, drivers cannot hope to be a force to be reckoned with in such a tight competition. On the track, bikes often break down, whether due to tire wear or weather disruptions, and a good team mechanic must be prepared. These road side aides must race against the clock to get the driver going without losing too much time. If the driver cannot get back on the track, he must forfeit.

Team Race Bikes currently has three regulars on the track: Alain Rimbaud (#), Lionel Ancelin (#30), and Stephan Cancela (#). At 29 years old, Rimbaud is their youngest driver, and began competing merely 3 years ago. Regardless, in 2009 his talent put him on the map, when he finished 10^th overall in the O3Z race. This season, at the first race in Le Mans, France, he went from 34^th to 19^th to 12^th place within one weekend, an incredible improvement. His improvement is greatly anticipated this season.

Since his debut in 2002, Lionel Ancelin, 35, has grown exponentially. In 2009 he won The Golden Bowl in the Open category and achieved excellent results in the Top Twin Challenge in 2010. This year, after a devastating mechanical and financial failure last year, he has returned to competition under the Team Race Bikes banner, placing podium at every race he has completed. On the Nogaro race track in May, Ancelin won his second Cup victory in France. Ancelin takes great pride in his motorcycle, which he depends wholly on for his continued success.

“I am very satisfied with the second victory and the great performance of my Ducati 1198S. The bike has excellent handling, grip, and traction. It is an incisive, aggressive, and elitist motorcycle which demands a lot to drive it. It is a real racing machine and fabulous to ride. I am currently second in the championship and will continue to give my utmost to win the title.”

The final racer, Stephane Cancela, 43, considers the bike a passion, a lifestyle, and a childhood dream come true. Since his competitive debut in 1999, Stephane has participated in the Ducati Club de France, internships with the BMC, and Pro-Twin and Top-Twin competitions. Cancela consistently holds his own in the competition, and recently reaced 8^th place on his Ducati 1098R.

Team Race Bikes took the smart but risky move of entering directly into the highest level of French motorcycle racing championships. Hence, should they succeed, they only stand to move further within the realm of championship, gaining higher status nationally and eventually moving into the international arena.

Want to know more? Please visit the sites below:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Race-Bikes/150896861620989?sk=wall

http://www.teamracebikes.com/

Image Courtesy: Team Race Bikes

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The deafening roar of engines silenced the arena. All eyes were on the on the starting line, and heartbeats stretched into infinity. Without warning, chills rolled down my spine, and a gust of wind encircled me as the motorists sped past.

This was one of many similar experiences of the past weekend, as I enjoyed the hospitality of Team Race Bikes trackside at the Championnat Superbike (that’s French for Superbike Championship) in Le Mans, France. It may have been my first time on a race course, but I felt more than at home with the mechanics and team hands that know the sport well.

With a fine team of celebrated engineers and talented drivers, Team Race Bikes has recently entered into the great pool that comprises motorcycle racing. The team boasts four seasoned drivers who dominate their fields, competing in Top Twin and Superbike fields alike. Superbike, for which the championship is named, is the monster of its kind, dominating the track, with Top Twin its formidable brother.

For those not acquainted with the sport, Superbike racing is a class of motorcycle racing that features modified, or “super”, road bikes. Essentially, the manufacturer produces a specific number of roadgoing machines, which can then be tailored into two-wheeled beasts. Modified elements can include brakes, suspension, and wheel size and diameter. Four cyclinder superbikes have 750 to 1000 cc machines, while their Top Twin counterparts have 850 to 1200 cc engines. Take note, however, that Superbikes are not MotoGP’s, prototype machines that do not have to follow the strict guidelines that keep Superbikes so similar to street safe vehicles. For car lovers, this comparison reflects the difference between touring cars and Formula One racing. International and national competitions can be commonly found in countries like the United States, Canada, and Japan, where the sport is quite popular.

To put things in perspective, a comparison of the sport as it is held in France and the parallel competition in the United States is truly one of two cultures, and a biased one at that. Hailing from the United States but having lived in Paris for some time now, I have had the opportunity of experiencing the many elements that compose these differences. For one, the French feel as though sports should be entirely separate from, and thus not interfering with, the academic sphere. Sports should be treated as they are: merely an extracurricular activity that cannot be considered an excuse to miss class or turn in homework late. Not to say the French do not enjoy sports immensely; rather, it is not a priority. In great contrast, Americans pump money by the bucket load into sports and afterschool programs in order to create “well-rounded leaders”, a common saying in public schools.

These differences have resounding effects. The French have a far more closed and anti-social society. This is to be taken lightly, as the French are indeed personable and love talking in cafes for hours on end. They do, however, inhabit a far more conservative and therefore guarded society. Americans, on the other hand, are known for being amiable, albeit in a shallow manner. Many foreigners have remarked to me how welcome they feel in the United States, which I suppose can be considered American’s best marketing capability.

Additionally, this mannerism puts a heavy weight on sports teams themselves. Because of the lack of confidence in sports and the unwillingness to expand the activity, sports teams often find themselves greatly lacking the funds they need to succeed. This lands kids (and adults) with the most money into sports teams. This may be a common practice in the United States as well, and any other country for the matter, but at least the American public education system gives all students a chance.

One great example brings me back to Team Race Bikes, the French motoracing team I referenced earlier on. This company is an entrepreneurial wonder, doing its best to break into a tough field during an even tougher cycle of the economy. After talking with the Team’s head of communications, Ann Gire, it became clear that even the French do not believe in their country’s acceptance of sports. She said, “I don’t look for sponsors in France. We’re too new; they don’t believe in us.” Rather, she seeks sponsors globally, like the Spanish helmet company LS2.

As Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee, once said, “All sports for all people.” Sports have a way of unifying the globe, nowhere of which was more obvious than the 2010 South African world cup. Without the glorious aid of sponsors, none of that would be possible, and we can only hope to look forward to a future where good leadership, peace, and sports rule.

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