I was driving around a lot over the holiday season, especially at night. As someone who rarely drives and was therefore a passenger the whole time, night is my favourite time to drive. Or rather, be𝓀 driven. And because my life is less of❀ a highway and more of a content farm, driving at night got me thinking about video games - specifically racing games.

I used to love racing games when I was a kid. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Burnout 3: Takedown, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Need for Speed: Underground, Project Gotham Racing 3, and Midnight Club 3: Dub Editioꦯn were among my most replayed games between the ages of 10-15. Now, I rarely touch racers.

I could say the reason I’ve fallen out with the genre because it has shifted away from arcade fun into technical realism and has suffered for embracing scale♏. I could point out that the former two series are shadows of their former selves and the latter two no longer exist. I could. I’m not sure it’s the real reason.

From Racer To Gamer

Lime Green Car Drifting in Need For Speed Underground 2.

This is where we head back to my life being a content farm. My favourite genre of game these days might be broadly described as ‘narrative’. Whether 🌠that’sಌ a sprawling RPG, a linear action-adventure, or even a short visual novel, if I like the story, I like the game. Again, part of that is just because I do. It’s what I look for in movies, television, books, even music. But (also again) that’s not the full story.

Part of the reason I play narrative-heavy games is because there’s a lot to say about them. You remember t🤡hat whole content farm thing, right? If there’s a lot to say about a game, there’s a lot to write about a game. And if there’s a lot to writ🦩e about a game, I get to keep this job. I like this job.

It’s hard to do that with racing games. I never play them in enough depth to be able to offer much guide assistance, and there’s never enough of a hook for anything else. I’ve written a couple of things about racing games down♏ the y☂ears, but I’ve never felt like t🤪hey’ve been all that interesting. Some might say that about anything I’ve ever written, but I digress. That’s not going to ꦚchange, but hopefully I am.

Games Are Meant To Be Fun

A crash in Burnout

Most of the games I play I choose in part because I know I can write about them here at TheGamer. In a way, this is a good thing. I repeat, I like this job. I keep up with a lot of new releases each year because I know I’ll always find a way to cover them. I even 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:manage to find ways to write about games like EA FC, despite them not lending themselves heavily to commentary, avoiding Ultimat𓄧e Team, and knowing the deeper instructional coverage will be handled by mཧore learned writers than I.

It’s not that I aim to up my racing🌸 game coverage in 2025, but to﷽ care less about whether every second spent gaming can be converted into column inches. And it’s not just a question of genres either.

I pride myself on being highly up to date with games, dipping my toes into most new releases even if I suspect I won’t like them. Even at TheGamer, a workplace with a much higher percentage of gamers than a regular office,ꦛ I’m in the upper percentile for new games played each year. Conversely, I find it harder to dig out time to replay old games, or cut down on the backlog. While others here replay entire series or continue to make discoveries from yesteryear,

I’m lucky if I play more than a couple of games♏ nღot from The Current Year.

So my plan for 2025 is to be a bit more open with what I play. I don’t want to lose my grip on fresh launches too much, but playing a few more games without the inꦬtent to write about them would be healthy, and racing games feel like the way in. Maybe I can kill two Bugattis with one swerve and just replay Burnout 3: Takedown.

mixcollage-25-dec-2024-11-38-am-132.jpg

Your Rating

Need for Speed: Underground
Racing
Systems
Released
November 17, 2003
ESRB
🍸 E For Everyone // Mild Language, Suggestive Themes 🦹
Developer(s)
ꦬ E🧜A Black Box
Engine
EAGL
Multiplayer
๊ Local Multiplayer

WHERE TO PLAY

PHYSICAL
Developer
♕ 🅘 EA Black Box
How Long To Beat
15 Hours