Console Gaming
Beginning from the second part of the 1980s more games were being created for personal computers, which could guarantee an easier and less expensive development. Most of these games featured racetracks, cars and driver names similar to the real ones, but all modified slightly, since they didn't have official licenses from FIA. Examples of this are Super Monaco GP (and its sequel Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II, which had a license to display only Ayrton Senna's name) or Nigel Mansell's World Championship, but many other less known games had similar features.
The first half of the 1990s saw a growing in popularity of Formula One games, and many software houses began acquiring licences and display most real names and cars, for example Formula One by Domark, which featured most real tracks, drivers and teams.
The 3D graphics revolution started by Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix didn't go unnoticed by the console market: some software houses began developing games in this style like Sega with its Virtua Racing, and later Namco with Ace Driver: Victory Lap (which featured futuristic, F1-like cars).
The first 3D game to feature a full license was Formula 1, developed by Bizarre Creations and released on PlayStation, the first game of the successful Formula One series. Despite the game being a mostly arcade game rather than a simulation, it was very well received; later the series moved towards a more realistic race approach. Other Formula One games released around the same time include EA Sports F1 Series and Nintendo's F-1 World Grand Prix and F-1 World Grand Prix II.
While Formula One games in general are strict reproductions of the sport regardless of gameplay style, Codemasters' F1 Race Stars was the first to bring Mario Kart-style gameplay to the setting, while their official license from FIA (which the company holds since 2009) allowed for the teams (complete with their respective sponsors) and drivers from that year's season to be given a cartoonish makeover.
Read more about this topic: Formula One Video Games
Famous quotes containing the words console and/or gaming:
“It is the style of idealism to console itself for the loss of something old with the ability to gape at something new.”
—Karl Kraus (1874–1936)
“Sir, I do not call a gamester a dishonest man; but I call him an unsocial man, an unprofitable man. Gaming is a mode of transferring property without producing any intermediate good.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)