Our Racing Game Dream Team Has Been Assembled. Let's Design The Ultimate Racer!

Racing games take many delicious forms. Whether it's the white-knuckled intensity of a night drive in Tokyo (Project Gotham Racing), the over-the-top enjoyment of Burnout Paradise, or the pure realism provided by sims like Gran Turismo, racing games - when done right - have a way of capturing our attention and making our heart race with adrenalin.

Welcome to a new feature called Dream Collaborations, where we create the perfect game - with our imagination anyway - using the strengths and signature specialties of developers worldwide.

For our first edition, we dream about the perfect racing game with contributions from Codemasters, Nintendo and...Infinity Ward?

Nintendo: Rubber Band Theory
Ah, Mario Kart. I've never been exceptionally skilled at the series, and thank goodness! See, Nintendo's patented rubber band design theory gives anyone sporting last place the opportunity to speed into first place in mere seconds. Curiously, Mario Kart has never been the cornerstone of brilliant game design, but it has the power to cause angry rivalries like no other, the perfect addition to any racing game!

Here's an image that explains perfectly:

Polyphony Digital: Sound Design
The oft-delayed Gran Turismo series may or may not have something to do with lead designer Kazunori Yamauchi's addiction to driving real-world supercars, but there's one thing beyond contention: Polyphony's sound design is perfection, and they'll be onboard with recording equipment more expensive than your house. Note that Polyphony would not be responsible for setting any release dates.

Codemasters: Menus & Rally Racing
When lavish detail gets poured into something as basic as a game's menu system, you get spoiled. And shouldn't we be spoiled? After all, we spend a healthy amount of time poring over menus in video games. Ever since Codemasters' released the original Dirt, menus have never been the same. In fact, Dirt 2's "menu" was a living breathing organic 3D space, and its surroundings and details changed as your progressed through the game. (I actually spent 3 paragraphs of my review on it.)

The Codies have double duty designing our dream racer, because they'll be handling anything in the dirt. The company knows how instill that wonderfully chaotic feeling of barely being in control.

Nadeo: Track Design
If you've ever played TrackMania, you know the team at Nadeo can design some wicked, imaginative, and just plain fun tracks, which would be a must in addition to practically every real-world racing location on Earth. (via DLC, of course...)

Slightly Mad Studios: Cockpit Camera Design
I've played the majority of racing titles, and I've always been a 'chase cam' man. Even when the immersion of something like Dirt 2's dashboard view enters the equation, I still just perform better with peripheral vision. I've always wanted to be the cockpit camera guy, but I couldn't bring myself to commit. That is, until Slightly Mad Studios developed Need For Speed Shift. Say what you want about the broken drift mechanics or the completely detached British announcer. Shift is the first racing game to take the cockpit view seriously and realistically, making it a compelling way to experience the game.

Black Rock Studios: ATV's & Destructible Cities
The Disney-owned studio gave us the shockingly good Pure, and is working on a promising racing title called Split/Second. Instead of powerups or vehicular weapons, the city around you becomes your weapon as you speed past triggers and traps to bury, blow up, and otherwise obliterate your opponents. Black Rock supplies customizable ATV's and fully destructible cities in our dream racer.

Criterion: City Design & "Evil" DJ Atomica
Speaking of cities, Criterion would be the architectural masterminds, making the wanton destruction supplied by Black Rock Studios even more of a spectacle. Despite their departure from the purity of the Burnout series, the sandbox nature and interactivity of Paradise City raised the quality bar obscenely high. And the loads of free DLC didn't hurt, either. The last contribution from Criterion? DJ Atomica. But instead of providing helpful narrative, he would berate your opponents.

Bizarre Creations: Kudos Points System
Before Blur, Geometry Wars, and Project Gotham Racing, there was 2001's Metropolis Street Racer  for the SEGA Dreamcast. MSR introduced the concept of "Kudos" points, a system of rewards based not just on driving skill but also driving style. It's a system Bizarre Creations has improved upon and several other developers have just begun to mimic. Our dream racer will reward you for your driving, not just your podium finish.

SingleTrac: Sweet Tooth ala Twisted Metal 2
The Twisted Metal developer just needs to contribute a single thing: Sweet Tooth. Yep, Needles Kane would be an unlockable character in our dream racing game. What's sweeter than tearing ass around Brands Hatch in a demonic ice cream truck blowing unsuspecting racers to smithereens? Nothing, that's what.

Honorable Mention: Loose Ends, PR, and Music

Of course, we'd hire the gang at Infinity Ward to come up with at least one viral scandal to begin an avalanche of unprecedented exposure for our ultimate racing game. DICE (of Battlefield fame) would provide code for up to 64 online racers on a single track. Jonathon Coulton would handle theme song duties, and we'd hire Gabe Newell of Valve to just show up and talk about it, since everyone seems to worship that guy.

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