Games

9 Favourite Racing Games

So a recent post on BlueSky got me thinking – what are my 9 favourite racing games? Not easy and favourite does not equal best. After a bit of thinking and jogging of memories, here’s my list in no particular order. Or is it.

Sega Rally Championship – Saturn

Sega Rally Championship came to the Sega Saturn in 1995. At the time the graphics were state of the art but what shone was the gameplay especially two player split screen. Can remember one memorable 2 player session where you won by carving out a 2 or 3 second lead and it was around 60 or 70 minutes before one of us ebbed out in front enough. Glorious.

Gran Turismo 4

The fourth version of the series and probably the one I played the most despite there being no online multiplayer. Launching in 2004 the graphics on the Playstation 2 were superb as the dev’s knew how to make the most of the platform. The cars handled differently and there were over 700 of them and so much customisation was available – amazing depth for a mostly single player racing game.

While it wasn’t the first nor got the best reviews this was peak Gran Turismo. Future games may have had much better graphics but the online racing always suffered from cheating and the game grew with bloat. I’d hate to see the hours I spent on this.

Project Gotham Racing 3

PGR was a superb racing series on the Xbox with origins from Metropolis Street Racing on the Dreamcast. PGR 3 was peak for me. Released in 2005, racing around London, Tokyo, New York or Las Vegas was all the better for doing it with friends online. That what set this out from Gran Turismo – up to 8 player multiplayer and online scoreboards for various time trials.

PGR 3 also introduced me to Geometry Wars which was available to play in the arcade cabinets in your garage. Glorious – still play Geometry Wars to this day.

F-Zero

I loved this game. Super Nintendo, 1991, one of the best console pads coupled with a futuristic racing game taking advantage of the Mode 7 system on the SNES. Much simpler than today’s games but I was obsessed. Even sent some times into one of the magazines. Been playing quite a bit of F-Zero 99 on the Switch and this is my goto game for testing an emulator or new bit of retro hardware.

F355 Challenge

F355 Challenge on the Dreamcast was such a tough racing game. Small number of tracks, tough computer opponents but once you put the time in it was such a rewarding game. This came out in 2000 and it took a few years before it was bettered.

Forza Horizon 3

Offshoot of the main Forza racing series, Horizon 3 came out in 2016 and was so much fun. Online was rock solid, superb graphics and gameplay second to none. You really could race anywhere and there was so much depth. Tuning, liveries, unlocking more cars. Loved it and looking forward to Horizon 6 coming out later this year.

Driveclub

The best racing game on the PS4, Driveclub came out in 2014 and despite the mixed reviews I loved the physics, the weather and the online racing. Evolution were great at releasing updates and new modes and tracks were delivered for another two years. It’s a real shame that the original release had issues, didn’t have the weather feature and a bit like we saw in the last few years with No Man’s Sky, Driveclub was one of the first racing games to really evolve and get better with each content drop.

MotoGP

Mugello! 2002, I’ve just got broadband installed for the first time (hello green frog) and the Xbox live beta service has launched with three tracks from MotoGP. That first Friday afternoon with Xbox Live was memorable. The first race on MotoGP was with a few of the developers of MotoGP testing out the online performance – awesome – this is the future of gaming. The next race was with a wee ned from Glasgow calling everyone a fanny – oh no – this is the future of gaming. As it was the only decent beta game I put an ungodly amount of hours into this and the full release of MotoGP.

Many friends were made from that first year of Xbox Live and MotoGP itself was never really bettered as future releases changed the handling and made it maddening for me.

Wipeout

It was 1995 and Sony launched its first console, the PlayStation, in Europe with Wipeout. Like most launches you pick up a few games and Ridge Racer had got most of the press, but Wipeout was an instant win for me. Visuals such a step up compared to something like F-Zero from only 4 years prior but it was the handling of the ships, the variety of tracks, the soundtrack and the industrial visuals. What. A. Game.

Follows up’s were also very good but the first version will always be the best for me.

Contenders

I’ve played a ton of racing games over the years so getting down to a favourite 9 wasn’t easy. Some runners up – Burnout Paradise, Daytona, Forza Motorsport 4, Colin McRae Rally, Stunt Car Racer and Super Mario Kart. All cracking games and while some of them may be technically better than my top 9 they don’t have the same hold on my memory.

Lot’s of arcade racers in the list and very little sim – anything obvious missing?

Wipeout is 30

I missed it by a day but yesterday was 30 years since Wipeout, and the Sony PlayStation, launched in the UK. The PlayStation had launched late in 94 so many of the UK launch titles were well known, but Wipeout was new for the UK.

It was the first game I tried and its impact was immediate. The graphics a step up from the competition, the weight and feel of each vehicle was so good but the overwhelming memory is the graphic style and the soundtrack. It looked and felt like a next generation title.

The graphic style was thanks to The Designers Republic and was a breath of fresh air compared to almost everything else but the soundtrack…it was so good. It introduced me to Leftfield, Orbital and most importantly The Chemical Brothers. I’m still convinced I was faster when Chemical Beats was playing. Further versions got bigger and faster and I’m still amazed that there isn’t a new version on the PS5 or at least a remaster featuring the best tracks from each game. Money on the table Sony, at least from me.

I was lucky to pick up a book from Volume last year celebrating Wipeout but I’d much rather have a new game. If you are in the mood for a book celebrating the original PlayStation Read Only Memory have one coming out next year which you can order now.

And yes, I fired up an emulator today and played a few games of Wipeout. So good.

Nintendo Switch 2 – First Impressions

So I picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 on launch day and I’ve been delving into Mario Kart World plus a couple of other games since Thursday. Here’s a few early thoughts.

Hardware

The Switch 2 is much bigger than the original, but feels very familiar, like it swallowed a mushroom. That bigger size feels natural pretty quick and the joy cons are more comfortable for my hands now, although the right thumbstick still feels awkward to reach. The Steamdeck is still the best for comfort. I’ve no doubt there will be some great third party joy cons like this from Mobapad in due course – it’s only day 4. A real positive is the joy cons now magnetically attach – much nicer than the original Switch with its slide mechanism.

The screen itself is clear and vibrant. It’s 1080p so higher resolution than the Steamdeck and thats welcome. However it’s LCD and it’s a real shame, but no surprise, that Nintendo didn’t ship an OLED option. There’s a noticeable difference in vibrancy between the Steamdeck and the Switch 2. We’ll look forward to 2028 and the Switch 2 OLED edition 😬

Sound from the Switch 2 is really good. Much better separation in Mario Kart World – maybe the bigger size? Whatever the reason, I was impressed. The kick stand is also well integrated and I’ve found myself using it more when I’m at the desk with the joy cons detached – much more comfortable. Not so good was the included dock. Not sure how but Nintendo have managed to make this feel cheaper and more plastically than the previous version. Good job.

I also picked up the Pro Controller and the GameCube Controller. The Pro Controller is fantastic. In total contrast to the dock, it feels solid and if you’re used the previous Pro Controller it looks familiar – but the sticks are such a step up. So smooth, I love playing Mario Kart with the controller. There’s now a couple of back buttons that don’t get in the way but are easy to use. About the only ding is the lack of analogue triggers which are standard everywhere else.

As for the GameCube controller, I couldn’t resist. USB C charging, wireless support and also has gyro controls which weren’t pre-announced. Only really works with Switch 2 GameCube games which are limited but nice to have.

Launch games are pretty light but Mario Kart World makes up for that. It’s been so long since we’ve had an actual new Mario Kart game. Big change in this version is open world – the tracks are part of a wider world. I’ve mostly stuck to Grand Prix racing, solo and online. I much prefer the actual tracks vs racing point to point as some of them are a bit dull…probably because I don’t know them well enough. What is obvious is the amount of shortcut potential in this game…and you can see it during multiplayer as those that know the best routes are miles ahead. Also – turn off steer assist which is on by default 😡. I picked up the Switch 2 Mario Kart bundle. It was disappointing to get a small bit of paper with a code to type in to get the game. Gone are the days of manuals but would it have been so hard to include an actual game card?

I also picked up Fast Fusion which is WipeOut without the weapons. Plays really well for the price of £15. I’ve not mentioned game pricing yet. Nintendo have said first party games will now cost £80, and Xbox have followed their lead. I don’t have too big a problem with that as every generation has tended to increase by £10 or so which is less than inflation over the years.

Both of the recent Zelda games, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have Switch 2 upgrades for £7.99…or free if you buy Switch Online + Expansion pack. Considering the upgrades in each game that seems fair, and I’m looking forward to playing both games through.

Closing Thoughts

The Switch 2 is evolution, not revolution. Nintendo have played safe and given the sales of the Switch you can’t blame them. Apart from the lack of OLED, this meets expectations of a new console but if you didn’t pick up on launch day you aren’t missing much. Mario Kart World is a great game but the rest of the launch titles are so so. If you have any sort of back catalogue though the Switch 2 is by far the better platform to play through…just do yourself a favour and pick up the Pro Controller as its much better than the joy cons.

400

August 19th 1993 saw the launch of Edge Magazine. An adult look at the future of games and I loved it from day one. 31 years later and they’ve hit the 400th edition…406 now as I’ve been late to post this.

400 doesn’t look anything like issue 1 and is another of the multi collector covers that they’ve done more recently. All 406 covers are now updated and available in my Flickr Edge Magazine Cover album.

This is the only thing I now get in physical form – even the games are all digital now. Long may it continue even if the fonts are hard to read with my aged eyes.

Wordle Analysis

Great bit of Wordle analytics from Robert Lesser – Wordle, 15 Million Tweets Later. Wordle has shown amazing growth thanks to it’s social sharing and it’s the tweets that Lesser has analysed.

With the average score being 4.1 I’m just under that for the year at 3.9 with a pretty similar distribution.

So far, no 1’s, little 2’s and luckily no strikeouts yet. Still enjoying the daily challenge and shared experience which hopefully won’t end up behind a paywall.

Xbox Series X

It’s new console’s season. First up is Microsoft’s Xbox Series X launched on Nov 10th. I got mine the day after (thanks Amazon!) and so the following are my impressions after a few weeks. So in no particular order:

The console was really easy to setup. Plugged it in and used the iOS app to setup and transfer settings from the One X. Within a few minutes I was logged in and downloading games.
Front end is fast but exactly the same as the dash released in October for the One X. Takes away some of the new when it looks and feels the same.
I had games on an external hard drive ready to transfer so copied a couple over to test the console. Sea of Thieves was much much quicker to load. It was also much smoother – 60fps and in 4K.
Foran Horizon 4 was a bit more complex as it needed an 80GB update – new textures clearly leads to a download of the whole game? Like Thieves the game loaded more quickly and throughout the game you saw the speed of the Series X SSD. The game now runs at 60fps at 4K and looks really good. Sharp and much better textures…but when you are racing around the countryside some of the improvements are hard to pick out.
Downloaded Dirt 5 as I wanted to play an actual new game. Certainly a great looker and some nice touches in single player but…pop up in surprising places and the multiplayer is really weak. Hopefully updates will rescue this from mediocracy.
The Series X is whisper quiet – really impressive. Under load you can hear it slightly but compared to other consoles it’s nothing. However it’s a great room heater…this will be interesting in the summer.
The internal SSD really does deliver on 2 fronts – quick loading of games and quick resume. The loading isn’t really a surprise if you’ve upgraded your Mac or PC from HDD to SDD but the quick resume is surprisingly good. Across old and new games it only takes a few seconds to resume a game, no loading menus – straight back to where you left off.
I really like the design of the Series X. I have it standing next to the TV rather than underneath on it’s side. Yes it’s big…until you stand a PS5 next to it which makes it look svelte.
I also loved the packaging from Microsoft. Easy open stickers, a premium box and it added to the new console experience. However I’ll never see that box again until I replace/sell it.
The controller has seen little change. A share/capture button and a slight sculpting here and there. It was always preferred over the DualShock but I use an Elite now so nothing really lost….but Microsoft played safe with the controller and it’s now behind the Sony counterpart.
I’ve had no lock-ups or crashes but I did get a strange load once where it booted in 640×480. It said my TV didn’t support anything higher too…which was weird as I’m using a new LG CX Oled which supports all the new consoles features. No matter what I did I couldn’t get it to work…until I switched it to a different HDMI port and all was well. Swapped back and again all was well so I’ll put it down to a weird HDMI handshaking issue.
Back to the dash – again it feels like Microsoft have played safe compared to PS5. There’s nothing much new in the dash, just a tweak to how games and apps are listed. PS5 has a concept of shortcuts which is an interesting way of getting to game content more quickly.
Much has been made of the power of the Series X but some of the initial third party games have seen stutter and frame drops. Rumours of tooling getting to dev’s late and a rush to meet console release but I’ve seen none of it as the TV I have has VRR – Variable Refresh Rate – which masks/hides the issues. I wonder how many dev’s are going to assume that users have VRR as standard going forward?
In low power mode (console’s off but will do updates and downloads) the fan is always on. You can’t hear it until you put your ear to the console but put your hand over the top of the console and you’ll feel a constant cool flow of air. Wonder if the noise will increase over time due to dust/wear?
New first party games are an issue. Halo being put back to Fall 2021 has meant there is little new from Microsoft on the Series X. However Game Pass is such good value for money that there is plenty to play on the console including Destiny 2 which has just been updated for the Series X.
Old games really do fly though – Halo 5 is silky smooth and I’m loving diving back into multiplayer.

Overall I’m really happy with the Series X. Hardware, power and design are all top notch and easily beat the old console. However stock seems to be an issue and as there’s no must play Series X game I’d say wait for stock levels to get better and don’t pay over the odds for it. When you do pick one up though you’ll be rewarded with a cracking console, a Game Pass stocked with games and a pretty full looking first party games list coming out over the next 2 years. However those first party games really need to deliver and show there’s more outside of Forza, Halo and Gears of War.

Apple Arcade

Apple Arcade launched with iOS 13 and I’ve come to the end of my free trial month. It’s been much talked about…will it change mobile gaming? Will the quality of games encourage sign-ups? Is it just Apple trying to grab another slice of service revenue?

100 Games

Apple Arcade promised 100 games at launch but like many products Apple launch now the details were opaque. On day one there were around 70 titles and after a couple of days they added another 3-4. Since then they’ve dropped around 5 new titles every week and on Friday 8th Nov they’ve hit 100. Impressive considering the variety of titles available.

Play Anywhere

While cloud saving meant an easy shared gaming experience on iPhone and iPad Pad, Arcade extends that to Apple TV and the Mac. For some games this works well and means you can continue that favourite game wherever you are.

However the platforms can offer really different experiences. iOS is driven by touch unlike the other two. There are games like Mini Motorways that while you can play them on the Mac or Apple TV just aren’t as good and that’s purely down to the interface. Conversely Sayonara Wild Hearts shines on the Apple TV when used with a controller while on iOS it feels a different game as the touch controls are lacking.

Of course you can pair a controller with iOS and with 13 now supporting Xbox and PS4 gamepads Apple are finally taking gaming + controllers seriously, but you are more likely to pair a pad on the Apple TV and Mac.

Value

Apple Arcade costs £4.99 a month. £60 a year. One full priced digital title on Xbox or PS4 costs £60 so do you get value for money? Yes. Will I have the same opinion in 6 months time? Not so sure.

Today’s mobile games are full of in-app purchases, adverts or a grind of some sort to get more coins to unlock some special move or worse multiple in-app currencies to unlock various things. I’m looking at you Mario Kart which is so unlike a Nintendo game it hurts. Apple Arcade games guarantee no in-app purchasing. No adverts. No grinding either – just a clean experience which is far from what we see in mobile gaming today.

Value would also be questionable if Arcade was all full of the one type of game but the initial launch is packed with a variety of genres and each type has one or two hits in their category. There’s no doubt there’s a few stinkers in there. Sonic Racing is surprisingly poor and there’s a couple of other games that have been written with microtransations in mind and had them quickly stripped for Arcade.

The main challenge around value is how many titles keep coming to Apple Arcade? How long do existing titles stay in Arcade? Arcade’s value would diminish if Mini Motorways or Grindstone which have a lot of repeatability disappeared from the service after 9 months. While thats an unknown we are seeing great new titles like Guildlings appear more than 6 weeks after Arcade launched so I’ve a good feeling that we’ll see more enjoyable titles into the new year.

One other aspect of value is to the developers. There’s not been much said on how developers are rewarded for titles in the Arcade store. Does it depend on number of downloads? Number of plays? Paid up front? Hopefully the first developers and studios making games for Arcade are being rewarded by Apple – they’ve certainly got the money to ensure developers get what’s due but the App Store shows it’s often a race to the bottom.

The Games

All the above doesn’t matter a jot if there aren’t games worth playing. Some of my favourites so far:

What the Golf – You think you are getting a golf game set in weird places, instead you are getting a more anarchic version of golf that’s so much fun. Love this.
Assemble with Care – A short but beautiful game in which you fix objects. Reminds me of The Reassembler with James May.
Grindstone – First class puzzle game. Simple at first but the more you play the more complex it gets where you have to apply more strategy to get through the round. First Apple Arcade title to get an Edge 9.
Super Impossible Road – I loved Impossible Road and this is a deeper version of the original that first came out on the PS4 a few years ago. It’s now on iOS and it’s very good. Has a career more and multiplayer too so a lot more depth.
Mini Motorways – Follow up to Mini Metro swapping trains for cars. It’s got a bit more complexity and while good, I’m not enjoying it as much as Mini Metro.
Where Cards Fall – It’s a puzzle game but relaxing at the same time. You play a character looking back on his life so far and it does make you think about events in your life too.
Guildlings – Only just out but a really enjoyable RPG/puzzle game. Seemingly short again but this is Chapter One so more planned in the future.

There are so many that I’ve yet to try out of the 100, but also worth a shout are Sayonara Wild Hearts and Frogger in Toy Town. Frogger was previewed at an earlier Apple event and looked a bit rough but the gameplay gets quite tricky at times and the graphics are really well done.

Should you subscribe?

For me Apple Arcade is well worth the £4.99 a month it currently costs. Should there be a dearth of new titles or favourites disappear then I might have second thoughts but so far it delivers a great gaming experience thats free of adverts, in app purchases and the grinds that have killed much of the good in mobile games.

There’s a definite focus on smaller more unique games compared to AAA titles seen elsewhere but it also introduces, for me anyway, games that I might not have bought had they appeared in the normal App Store especially if the developers were forced to cram in adverts or IAP’s. I’m looking forward to seeing what other titles land over the coming months and whether Apple can keep up this strong start. The games so far have been a nice contrast to what we usually see on the App Store or on the major consoles. Well played Apple.

25 Years of Edge

August 1993 and the UK saw a new type of gaming magazine. Edge was a serious look at the gaming industry and focussed on technology, the studios and in depth stories on the development of games themselves. I loved it and have blogged about Edge a few times over the years.

I’m still a subscriber and enjoy getting a physical copy each month. It’s read cover to cover and joins the full collection of Edge magazines that I’ve been close to ditching a couple of times but glad I held on to them even if the shelves storing them collapsed recently. They do weigh quite a bit.

Edge launched at a key time. The first PlayStation came out a year after launch in 1994 and a few years later saw the launch of the PS2, Gamecube and the first Xbox. It was a golden age with lots of hardware and game studio changes and Edge was often the first to break stories, have exclusive game previews and conduct interviews with developers that no one else could get.

The internet quickly changed the magazine market but Edge has survived mainly thanks to it’s original content. In the past I’d decide game purchases based on Edge reviews but not anymore. Games are often out for 4 or 5 weeks before a review will drop through the post. They are still a great read and the rare Edge 10’s still something to covet but they don’t make or break a game anymore. Looking back at issue 1 feels like ancient history – they had 2 pages dedicated to format charts and Syndicate was number 1. Rise of the Robots was previewed, just one of the many games that looked amazing but was actually terrible. Issue 3 was previewing VR which took some 23 years to land in anger – you can’t say Edge wasn’t ahead of it’s time. It was also when import games were king and paying £80 – £120 for a game wasn’t unheard of as it would take 6-9 months to land in the UK.

One last noteworthy aspect about Edge is the covers. Some of them have been amazing featuring exclusive art, use of different finishes and in pre-internet days and sometimes still today would reveal a new piece of hardware or preview of a game. Don’t get me wrong, some of them have been awful but they give a great visual history of the last 25 years of gaming. Click on the image to the right to see all 323 covers or visit my Edge Magazine Covers Flickr album to see them in detail.

Hard to believe that 25 years have passed since that first issue. I’ll also confess that I didn’t buy the first one and had to order a back issue after a few months. So glad I did! It seems unlikely with the pace of change, but here’s to another 25 years of the worlds best gaming magazine.

300

August 19th 1993 saw the launch of Edge Magazine. An adult look at the future of games and I loved it from day one. 23 years later and they’ve just launched the 300th edition…and I still have all of them. I almost ditched the collection when I moved house over 10 years ago but I’m glad I held on to them. I scanned the covers a few years ago and every year update it with the latest covers. All 300 Edge Magazine covers can be found in this Flickr album.

Issue 300’s cover pays homage to issue 1 but is fairly dull compared to some of their better covers. Edge over the years focussed on design and substance unlike so many of their competitors. Arrogant, controversial but always pretty bang on from my perspective.

What’s caused most debate is the game reviews. Edge score out of 10 and over the years there have been precious few 10’s awarded.

[table id=1 /]

Edge have also awarded some retrospective 10’s over the years as well.

[table id=2 /]

One of the repeated debates has been on publishing a score. How many people don’t buy a game because it got a 7 but it was still a great game? I’ll hold my hand up and say a 6 or 7 has put me off a game or three despite reading the review and thinking thats sounds great. I’ve also played and really enjoyed lots of games that got a 6 or 7 proving the text is more important than the score. Despite Edge talking about removing the scores they still publish them while other gaming sites now no longer put a score on a game and the reviews are better for it.

Despite online being the place to get up to date info and paper magazines always being behind, Edge interviews, features and their unique perspective on the industry still make for a must read. Hopefully they can maintain an audience going forward and they are around for a few more years…I need my monthly Edge fix.

Playstation VR

It’s been over a week since the Playstation VR came out. I picked one up on day one thanks to a very early pre-order on Amazon along with a couple of move controllers, a camera and a copy of Rigs. I’d been really looking forward to this as the Oculus and Vive were just too big a purchase alongside a gaming PC and VR is of real interest to me. The Playstation VR is the affordable way to get into VR…but how good is it?

Unboxing
Opening the kit is the first surprise. Sony really have pulled out the stops and made it a treat to unbox. You lift open the main lid and there’s a box inside. Inside that box there are smaller boxes holding cables. Lift those off and you finally get to the headset itself.

It felt like opening a Russian doll crossed with tetris. What was also slightly surprising was the amount of cables. A bit unexpected but Sony had done a good job of numbering them all to make installation pretty straightforward.

Design
The headset itself looks fantastic. It looks like something from the future in contrast to the Vive/Oculus headsets which are a bit more utilitarian. More importantly they’ve made it the most comfortable of the VR headsets to wear.

The band on top of your head supports most of the weight and hence for me feels more comfortable than the other headsets. It also works better for glasses wearers like me. You press a button on the front of the headset to move the screens forward and press in a button on the back of the headset and then pull forward to extend the headband. You then place the headset on and press in the front button to bring the screens over your eyes/glasses and then use an adjustment screw to tighten the headband.

It sounds harder than it is but it’s very comfortable to wear.

The cables are unavoidable really as it’s an add-on to the PS4 and the bandwidth required to get data to and from the headset is more than wireless can cope with right now but there’s no getting away from the mess it makes. There is a audio out and some controls close to the headset so you can easily control volume and plug in some buds of your choice.

The camera and headset tracking leaves a little to be desired. The camera and move controllers are 6 year old tech and it definitely shows in comparison with the Vive. I found during use that the tracking would lose alignment especially during daytime so curtains closed/lights out are the way to go to try and improve reliability.

The most important factor of any VR headset is screen quality and performance/framerate. The screens are pretty good given the price. Not up there with the Vive but good enough. I’ve found watching a video on the Playstation VR pretty jarring but gaming is generally OK. Coupled with the comfort of wearing the headset then most folk should be OK when gaming with the Playstation VR.

Games
Despite some worries a couple of months ago I thought the launch lineup of games was really strong coupled with every headset having a demo disk so you can try a variety of games easily on day one. One tip – download the demo disk from the PS store as it’s the American version so has double the amount of demo’s compared to the UK disk. Anyway, some thoughts on my pre-orders:

Rigs – 3 vs 3 sports game in an arena where you are in a mechanised rig. Graphics are clean and detailed enough and frame rates excellent. I really enjoyed the game and reminded me of a VR version of Speedball.

Thumper – This is a fast paced rhythm game with great graphics and looks stunning in VR. Probably my favourite game of the launch titles.

Rez Infinite – A great looking and sounding game, if you liked Rez from 10-15 years ago you’ll love this in VR.

Driveclub – I loved Driveclub and was looking forward to playing this in VR but for me it was unplayable. Choppy and poor graphics and some real frame rate issues for me. Left me spinning!

I also enjoyed Battlezone and felt the graphics were well realised and fitted the style of game but that £50 was a bit steep for the game. In fact if there was one criticism of the launch titles it that some had a demo like feel to them so the pricing was a bit steep.

Reality
On my first nights play I ended up being physically sick. This was unexpected as I’d had no issues with the Oculus or Vive or with any motion sickness with games previously. Third corner on Driveclub left me feeling terrible so I instantly switched off, grabbed a sugary drink and waited for the feeling to wear off. It didn’t and 15 minutes later I waved goodbye to my dinner. I do suffer from migraines from time to time and do have some other health issues at the moment so wasn’t too put off.

The next day went a lot better, probably because I stayed away from Driveclub, but after just an hour I was left with a sore head and pain in my eye similar to a migraine kicking in. I tried one more session the following day with similar results.

Clearly the Playstation VR didn’t work with me.

I had checked the calibration, ensured it was setup properly but there’s just something about either the headset or me that was causing issues. After three attempts and having similar results each time without much sign of improvement I decided to return the Playstation VR to Amazon for a refund. I wasn’t prepared to train my brain or persevere to get to a point where it worked and in the meantime be repeatedly sick.

Overall
The Playstation VR is a great VR platform. Not as good as the Vive, comfier than the Oculus but importantly has a great launch lineup with the hardware available at an affordable price. Despite it not being for me I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending it to other PS4 owners.