[PC] Sell me on a PC racing game.

[Chikahiro]

Preferences:
1) Pad support. I've got a 360 pad and I'd like to use it.
2) More arcade-y than sim-ish.
3) Light system requirements.
4) Cheap. Digital downloads are great, as the local Gamestop and Walmart doesn't have much in the way of racing.
5) Casual friendly (see #2).

Help?

[Mr. Sanity]

My go-to game for PC racing is the Trackmania Series. :) It's mostly arcadey with a bit of sim. Plus, it's all about doing insane stunts! Any game that lets you do a loop-de-loop in an F1 (or a muscle car, for that matter) has to be fun. Plus, it looks gorgeous.

Do note that this game does not have collisions between players or AIs. Just performing the courses is a challenge in and of itself. Some people are offput by this. I personally think it was one of the best decisions in a game of this nature. Nothing would suck as bad as being rubbed into a wall when you've just mastered jumping into the air, doing a 180, and landing on another ramp hundreds of yards away.

If it interests you, Trackmania Nations Forever (http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=app&AppId=11020&cc=US) is free, and includes only the Stadium (F1 racers) environment. Trackmania united Forever (http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=app&AppId=7200&cc=US) costs about $40, and includes all the environments: Stadium (F1 racers), Desert (muscle cars), Snow (jeeps), Rally (rally cars), Island (high-end sports cars), Bay (SUVs), and Coast (roadsters). N.B.: I've linked to the Steam pages about it. If Steam is poison to you, you can go to the publisher's site (http://www.trackmania.com/en/index.php) where they have other methods to purchase the game.

</pimping>

[Quasar]

Yeah. Trackmania. There's a great community of track builders for this game.

[Giant Mosquito]

I may have to check this out, myself. There's been a severe drought of good racing games for the PC the past couple of years. One of my mates has been suggesting for a while now that I get a wheel and join him in GTR2 (or whatever; I forget the name of it. Kind of old-ish game), which is too simulation-y for it to be playable with a gamepad.

[bubbles]

Race Driver: GRID (http://www.codemasters.co.uk/grid/index.php#/home/) is pretty good. It's more of a proper racing game than the Trackmania games, but arcadey enough to be fun. Lots of familiar tracks and none of the complex tuning and tweaking that makes other racing games annoying.

Anyway:

1. Check - 360 pads work fine
2. Quite arcadey, with no complex tuning requirements and AI that is flexible enough not to let you get too far behind (or ahead)
3. It's a new game so a decent-ish system is required, but it's not insane like Crysis or Age of Conan
4. Steam (http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=app&AppId=12750&cc=GB)has it, which is usually cheaper IME
5. Yes. Career mode and arcade mode means you can race as much or as little as you want.

[Chikahiro]

Sweet! Must try those out.

*wishes that a Metropolis Street Racer 2 would be made*

[Chikahiro]

Got the Trackmania game last night. I like it, and my 360 pad loves it. Going to whirl around some more, obviously, but I might well be convinced to pony up cash for it later on (maybe after DMC4). I kind of wish the solo mode had more lap-tracks (maybe I still need to unlock them), but so far so good. The first Endurance track really, really made me happy, even if I do suck at that one turn towards the end of it.

[Mr. Sanity]

Got the Trackmania game last night. I like it, and my 360 pad loves it. Going to whirl around some more, obviously, but I might well be convinced to pony up cash for it later on (maybe after DMC4). I kind of wish the solo mode had more lap-tracks (maybe I still need to unlock them), but so far so good. The first Endurance track really, really made me happy, even if I do suck at that one turn towards the end of it.

Your best bet for lap tracks is to either play online, or download some tracks (or make some). Generally, tracks with GP (Gran Prix?) in the name tend to be lap tracks, and are good competitive fun.