Automotive fans come in all shapes, sizes and ages. Gear heads often feel as if they have had an affinity to all things motoring since birth. This makes the first 17 years, pretty hard. Sure he may know everything there is to know about that brand new Jaguar F-Type, who’s poster graces the wall above his bed, but that doesn’t really qualify him to get behind the wheel. Not just yet anyway. So with the holidays coming up, what do you get for the motoring fan who may not fully reach the pedals, or the front of the DMV line, just yet? Or maybe they just want to do things in a car, that may not be totally legal. In today’s digital age, the answer is inevitably video games. More often than not, this is the closest that most kids, and adults, get to the response and visual stimulation of driving. While many kids are busy demeaning each other via voice chat while they derive sadistic pleasure in shooting at strangers, others simply want to get behind the wheel. These are the games that they want to see under the tree this holiday season.
Small Kid, Big Dreams
When it comes to little kids and motoring games, the idea isn’t really about the realism of racing. The idea is the perfect blend of a competitive experience with friends and a fantastic world of colors and occurrences that wouldn’t necessarily happen in the real world. There have been games that cater to this market for quite some time. Depending on the platform of choice, there are some pretty great options.
F1 Race stars, developed by our friends over at Codematers, is one of the much more interesting racing games available this holiday season. The game follows the 2012 F1 season, with major tracks that have been redesigned in a interesting way. The idea is pretty simple. Simply start by choosing a cartoonish version of your favorite F1 racers, including World Champion Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Now race him in a tiny kart around your favorite real world tracks. These tracks have been modified to include loops, jumps and even some short cuts. Harkening back to the now famous Mario Kart franchise, this game is much more about the entertainment value of racing friends than the realistic simulation of an F1 experience. Ideally this is a great way to entertain young children, though adults may find it just as fun, and maybe begin their love with the world of F1 racing.
Consoles: PS3, XBOX 360, Windows PC
Little Big Planet Karting (more commonly known as LBP Karting) is another karting styling game targeted at small children. While the F1 game is cartoonish, this game is a full departure from reality. Based in the LBP universe, this game relies on user generated contend, as most of the the series has. The game will not only pit children against each other in fantastic fantasy worlds of their creation, but will allow them to “fight” each other for a podium finish. This mean picking up “weapons” along to track to shoot at each other or to defend against other attackers in the battle for first place. The main attraction in this game is the track building mode. This is where children can create their own tracks full of rules that they decide. They can then share this track with friends and race each other on their own terms. This is for the more creative race games on your list. It especially helps if they are already a fan of the series and the LBP universe.
Console: PS3
Reaching The Pedals
One of the biggest groups of gamers out there are between the ages of 13 – 17. These kids are old enough to understand the world around them (sort of) but still really aren’t old enough to do much in it. A huge percentage of these young adults, when they are not doing things that we would be upset about, spend their time on their gaming consoles. If you have one such young adult on your list this year, have no fear, there are quite a few games built for them. They also tend to work for really anyone tall enough to drive in the real world but might have some pretty crazy driving fantasies to live out in the digital world.
The Need For Speed gaming franchise has been a part of digital gaming from the very early days. To count how many iterations of this game have come out would take more finger than I have on hand. That said, there was quite grumblings of the franchise losing sight of what it’s best features were in recent years. This is why new developers, Criterion, were brought on board this time to remake a 2005 Need For Speed title of the same name. Taking the game back to basics, while keeping the graphics and updates of recent years seem to be the missing recipe for recreating the joy of one of the most beloved franchises in digital racing. With stunning graphics, an amazingly usable interface and a roster of some of the world’s hottest cars, this game is a instant classic. Based in a beautiful, massive fictional city, the idea is pretty simple. Race other illegal racers, in some of the best cars in the world, and commit to some pretty serious stunts to become the “most wanted” man by the local police. Did we mention, your friends can be competed with for this title as well? While this is not really a simulation game, the graphics do a pretty great job of convincing you that you are in this fictional world. Criterion spoke to us earlier this year about the choice of cars and the nature of the game. This is a must have game no matter the age of the gamer. (Note: If you are buying this, be sure it is not the 2005 version)
Console: Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, Windows PC, iOS, Android, Kindle Fire
Forza Horizon is a huge departure from the usual beat of the Forza drum. Forza has always been about ultra real simulation driving on some of the world’s best tracks. With this “spin off” of the series, near perfect recreations of some of the world’s most exotic cars break free of the track and hit the streets of semi-rural Colorado for a the fictional “Horizon” festival. Though this game retains a majority of its renowned real world physics; the tricks, antics and race areas take place on a more “Need For Speed” style sandbox environment. This game can be far more challenging than the Need For Speed games, as the control aspects of the vehicle and real world factors (i.e: terrain, wind speed, downforce, tire grip) are much more accurately represented. This is not for the light hearted, “casual” racing gamer. The Forza series has always been for the more dedicated driver looking for a true simulation experience on the Mircosoft gaming platform XBOX.
Console: XBOX 360
The F1 series is in it’s third year and is only getting better. This is for the true racing fan in your home. We are not talking about watching street races, or supercharger domestic boats make left turns, this is true racing. As the name would imply it follows the F1 racing season at all of its venues. You chose a team and a racer and get him through the season. This game in many way is similar to the other sports simulation games, like NBA2K12 or Madden 12. Receiving a high score from metacritic and other game forums, this game is a sure fire winner. It also has a smaller audience than many of the games on this list. Despite the amazingly entertaining nature of F1 racing, it unfortunately does not have a very strong U.S. following. If you have a real racing fan at home, this latest generation of the Codemaster masterpiece is sure to please.
Console: XBOX 360, PS3, Mac OSX, Windows PC, iOS
Aging With Grace
While video games make a pretty great gift idea, if you are simply looking for a stocking stuffer, they can get a little pricy. This is when old games can come in pretty handy. The price goes down but the entertainment rarely does. If you know that your gamer has not played these games yet, these are a great way to add a little extra something to this holiday.
Gran Turismo 5
The Gran Turismo name is another classic in the automotive racing game world. It has been entertaining gamers since 1997 with thrilling graphics, great tracks and some of the most precise racing simulation in the industry. This 5th iteration of a classic Playstation title is no different. Since its introduction 15 years ago, on the first Playstation, over 250 million copies of this franchise have been sold and enjoyed. Manage your garage of beautiful and exotic cars. Modify your cars and race them against others on challenging and well built tracks. Though this game came out a few months ago, chances are if your racing fan still doesn’t have it, he will enjoying completely.
Console: PS3
Twisted Metal (2012)
This game is another remake. Like Hollywood, the gaming industry is always trying to cash in on a name with some clout. That said, where Hollywood fails, video games tend to succeed. They capture what made the original great, while still giving you a whole new experience. Twisted Metal is in that category. The original game was released back in 1995. The idea is pretty simple. Drive your beat up car, collect weapons, blow up other cars. Last man standing wins. This game is great for the nostalgia gamer. If you know your gamer was playing games like this back in the mid-90’s, spending a few hours reliving the fun days is always worth it. The “twisted” clown logo is hard to miss when in stores, so if you pass it by, might be worth picking it up.
Things To Know
There are couple things to look out for when picking the right game for your racing fan this holiday season. Most important is platform. What system does your gamer use? Knowing this will save you and them the hassle of returning to the mall on Boxing Day for an exchange. It is also important that you know your gamer’s likes and dislikes. The old adage about different strokes for different folks still counts. It helps if you know what you gamer already owns. Once again, these all make the difference between spending Christmas day in your shorts playing games and spending the next Monday at the mall trying to fight lines to return and exchange.
Toys For Toys
While you consider what toys and games to get your auto-fan in your life, there are quite a few children here at home that don’t have anything at all to play with. Weather it is poverty or the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy, there are kids out there that can use your help. There is an amazing organization that spends its time helping millions of children get the most basic joy of a new toy. Toys For Tots has been helping children for over 50 years now. As an official charity of the United States Marine Corp, you can help support your nation, your troops and most importantly children in need. Help out this holiday by clicking the picture above and donating to a great cause.