Ever since people realised that looking at pixels on a screen was fun they have had racing games.
One of the 1st was Gran Trak 10 in 1974. Although it was only white pixels on a black screen its simple format was futuristic compared to pong and the other early games.
Atari expanded on the format and added an extra gear and released Le Mans in 1976
As computers became more powerful so did the games. In 1981 Sega produced ‘Turbo’. This was the 1st game to give us the traditional 3rd person view and formula 1-esque cars even if the colours were a bit on the harsh side.
A year later ‘Pole Position’ followed and with it came the 1st real life circuit at Fuji Speedway in Japan and the 1st cartoon spinoff. A sequel followed in 1983 which added additional tracks and music. An improved version of this is now available for iPhones.
Games were becoming more and more realistic. In 1984 REVS brought the gamer to Silverstone for the 1st time and introduced us to Geoff Crammond. This was the 1st to bring us 3D polygons and total freedom when driving. This meant I could never get passed Woodcote on the pre-lap warm up but I was only 7 by the time I played it but it was my 1st experience with racing.
Sega were dominating the arcade racing market with games like Outrun and Virtua Racing but for the Home gamer there was only one game of choice.
Geoff Crammonds Formula One Grand Prix.
This 1991 title gave us a full racing season and driver line up and more importantly realistic driving. I have many memories of multi-car pile ups on the 1st corner of Monza, usually with the driving aids on so while most of the opposition lost wings and wheels I came out the other side unscathed.
There were 3 sequels to F1GP;
GP2 was made under official FIA license and brought us all the circuits, drivers and sponsors from the 1994 season based on the line up at the British and German GP’s due to the number of driver changes and tragedies during the season.
GP3 in 1998 brought us wet weather for the 1st time and damage caused by debris on the circuit.
The final Microprose F1 Game was GP4 which brought us the finest simulation seen to date with updated physics and weather and network play over LAN.
While Microprose was dominating the PC market the consoles were not missing out on their piece of the racing pie.
Sony along with Pysgnosis brought us the Formula 1 series in 1996 for the playstation.
This gave us a chance to race in the 1995 season with commentary from the Legend that is Murray Walker. This proved to be a popular game series for the fans and broadcasters alike.
When ITV took over the coverage of F1 in the UK they used footage from the 1997 game with commentary from Martin Brundle to demonstrate the course before the race.
The series released titles every year up until 2002 when the PS2 version was released, This was to be Murray’s last F1 game he commentated on as James Allen had taken over the duties on ITV.
A new version of the game was released each season reflecting rule changes, new circuits and driver line ups. Jacques Villeneuve had copywrited his name and image and did not give developers permission to use him in F1 games.
In 2007 Sony released their final F1 game. This time for the Playstation 3 this was essentially the 2006 PS2 game with enhanced graphics.
For the 2 years that followed there was a no major F1 game released on any format until Codemasters brought us F1 2009 for the wii and PSP.
This was bundled along with a steering wheel and featured all the drivers and tracks from the 2009 season. It has multiple game modes from quick race up to a career mode where you start in the Toro Rosso and have to work up to a place in a faster team if you are fast enough. This title also had driver aids similar to the F1GP series as well as KERS even though all cars have this ability in the game.
The future lies with F1 2010.
This will be released for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows platforms. It will feature "the most complicated weather system ever seen in a racing game". Standing water will appear on the track and the amount of rubber on the track will also affect grip.
It will feature 24 drivers and the 12 teams in the current season although it’s not known if Yamamoto or Chandhok will be used for HRT.
This promises to be the most advanced F1 game ever released. Along with internet play I can see F1 staying a popular genre for years to come.
This concludes my brief history with the F1 video game. While the advancements in technology has brought us more accurate simulation than ever before with games like rFactor, I’ve always enjoyed the gaming side more and I’ll look forward to seeing some of you online.
One of the 1st was Gran Trak 10 in 1974. Although it was only white pixels on a black screen its simple format was futuristic compared to pong and the other early games.
Atari expanded on the format and added an extra gear and released Le Mans in 1976
As computers became more powerful so did the games. In 1981 Sega produced ‘Turbo’. This was the 1st game to give us the traditional 3rd person view and formula 1-esque cars even if the colours were a bit on the harsh side.
A year later ‘Pole Position’ followed and with it came the 1st real life circuit at Fuji Speedway in Japan and the 1st cartoon spinoff. A sequel followed in 1983 which added additional tracks and music. An improved version of this is now available for iPhones.
Games were becoming more and more realistic. In 1984 REVS brought the gamer to Silverstone for the 1st time and introduced us to Geoff Crammond. This was the 1st to bring us 3D polygons and total freedom when driving. This meant I could never get passed Woodcote on the pre-lap warm up but I was only 7 by the time I played it but it was my 1st experience with racing.
Sega were dominating the arcade racing market with games like Outrun and Virtua Racing but for the Home gamer there was only one game of choice.
Geoff Crammonds Formula One Grand Prix.
This 1991 title gave us a full racing season and driver line up and more importantly realistic driving. I have many memories of multi-car pile ups on the 1st corner of Monza, usually with the driving aids on so while most of the opposition lost wings and wheels I came out the other side unscathed.
There were 3 sequels to F1GP;
GP2 was made under official FIA license and brought us all the circuits, drivers and sponsors from the 1994 season based on the line up at the British and German GP’s due to the number of driver changes and tragedies during the season.
GP3 in 1998 brought us wet weather for the 1st time and damage caused by debris on the circuit.
The final Microprose F1 Game was GP4 which brought us the finest simulation seen to date with updated physics and weather and network play over LAN.
While Microprose was dominating the PC market the consoles were not missing out on their piece of the racing pie.
Sony along with Pysgnosis brought us the Formula 1 series in 1996 for the playstation.
This gave us a chance to race in the 1995 season with commentary from the Legend that is Murray Walker. This proved to be a popular game series for the fans and broadcasters alike.
When ITV took over the coverage of F1 in the UK they used footage from the 1997 game with commentary from Martin Brundle to demonstrate the course before the race.
The series released titles every year up until 2002 when the PS2 version was released, This was to be Murray’s last F1 game he commentated on as James Allen had taken over the duties on ITV.
A new version of the game was released each season reflecting rule changes, new circuits and driver line ups. Jacques Villeneuve had copywrited his name and image and did not give developers permission to use him in F1 games.
In 2007 Sony released their final F1 game. This time for the Playstation 3 this was essentially the 2006 PS2 game with enhanced graphics.
For the 2 years that followed there was a no major F1 game released on any format until Codemasters brought us F1 2009 for the wii and PSP.
This was bundled along with a steering wheel and featured all the drivers and tracks from the 2009 season. It has multiple game modes from quick race up to a career mode where you start in the Toro Rosso and have to work up to a place in a faster team if you are fast enough. This title also had driver aids similar to the F1GP series as well as KERS even though all cars have this ability in the game.
The future lies with F1 2010.
This will be released for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows platforms. It will feature "the most complicated weather system ever seen in a racing game". Standing water will appear on the track and the amount of rubber on the track will also affect grip.
It will feature 24 drivers and the 12 teams in the current season although it’s not known if Yamamoto or Chandhok will be used for HRT.
This promises to be the most advanced F1 game ever released. Along with internet play I can see F1 staying a popular genre for years to come.
This concludes my brief history with the F1 video game. While the advancements in technology has brought us more accurate simulation than ever before with games like rFactor, I’ve always enjoyed the gaming side more and I’ll look forward to seeing some of you online.
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