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Speeding around the most famous international race tracks with the latest simulators is second best to actually being in the race card of your dreams. Technology allows us to take advantage of a life-like experience with steering wheels responding realistically and each car handling just like the real thing.

Of course, it took many years for the technology to evolve, allowing us to appreciate where car racing started. In addition to realistic driving features, the games have become a lot more advanced with graphics, the finest car details inside and out, race tracks resembling every curve and camber in with each of the international race tracks and much more.
Today we look at some of the games where racing started, allowing you to see how graphics have become more advanced.

Gran Trak 10 – 1974

If today’s kids had to play Gran Trak 10, the result would be horrible, and most wouldn’t understand how this could possibly relate to a racing game. However, back in the 1970s, this resembled some of the best driving features. Offering a bird’s eye view of the track and a small racing car, you had the ability to race around the track and beat your personal best times. The sound quality was horrible, offering a screech of sound when you crash and a car sounding like a lawn mover at best.

Turbo – 1980

Believe it or not, Turbo was one of the first games that presented the outside driving new we all enjoy to this day. You could see the track ahead and actually had real competition from other race cards. The game didn’t offer a track, but a long road with various twists and bends instead. When it came to realistic driving, it didn’t offer much as you could basically go flat out around all the curves. However, you did have to use some slipstream skills to catch up and overtake other cars.

Virtual Racing – 1992

If you were found in arcade centres during the 90s, you would know a bit about the Virtual Racing game as it was one of the most popular. With an in-car racing view, a race track and competition, this racing game had it all. It also featured impressive sounds at the time, making the F1 car resemble a similar sound and gear changes being just as fast. Still wasn’t very realistic as taking shape corners were still possible and huge speeds.

Grand Turismo – 1997

Grand Turismo remains a popular game to this day and was one of the first classics that make realistic racing a possibility. Offering a wide range or both street and race cars along with international tracks, the 3D game changed racing as we under to know it. It also became one of the first to add a new challenge to corners, braking and really driving to get ahead.

WRC: Rally Evolved – 2005

The WRC range of rally games really made driving the challenge it is in real life. The game offers brilliant graphics, actual realistic cars and a real rally experience with your co-driver telling you about the corners and obstacles ahead. Speeding through the stages was no option as each corner has to be perfect for the quickest possible stage time.

The world of PC games has always remained popular with war games. There are many different categories, each offering a unique experience revolving around history or even introducing a world we don’t know and creatures we need to fight against.

With the major improvements of graphic engines and game quality, each year we find ourselves with even betting gaming features to enjoy. Therefore, it’s only natural to look forward to some of the best games for the year ahead, whether they have been released or not. Here’s a couple of great choices for all war fans:

COD WWII

Call of Duty’s World War II was released in 2018 and has become one of the most “must play” games of 2018. As some of you would already know, the COD brand has created a WWII game in the past, which was great for its time. Now, with the latest in graphics and realistic gameplay, the new WWII is set out to impress, especially for those with graphic cards and PCs that can handle the graphics at max. The game follows the similar move through WWII as the first release, but for some of the misses a few important details, which could be caused by the fast-paced gameplay it features. However, for the most realistic and thrilling military experience, COD WWII should be among the top of your list.

Battlefield 3

This is one of the oldest games on the list, but incredibly, it remains one of the most popular and most played online games with over 5 million copies sold within the first week of its 2011 release. While campaign offers a brilliant military gameplay opportunity, the real shining aspect of Battlefield 3 is the multiplayer online world. Choose one of the four roles to join the online game and assist your team is one of the game-styles, including rushed conquest, death match and much more.

Arma 3

Arma 3 is a tactical shooter and FPS page with some co-op features to introduce a real war-like gaming experience. Released in September 2013, the game remains a brilliant choice for all military game enthusiasts, especially for those who game with lower quality computers. It offers an amazingly realistic game experience with both single and multiplayer options. The great aspect of the game is the realistic modern-day American military gameplay as it takes you through infiltrating multiple enemy bases that offer various styles and game features. The multiplayer world is highly recommended, especially with the large-scale gaming features and wide range of gaming styles to choose from.

Day of Infamy

Even though this isn’t a brand game up as it was released in March or 2017, it still offers a brilliant military shooter game that sure to have you and your team finding ways to get through each level. It’s incredibly realistic gameplay introduces a new touch to World War II, allowing you only to survive two gunshots. Therefore, Day of Infamy is considered one for the players who plan well and are always on the lookout.

Virtual reality (VR) was always an interesting topic that was widely discussed before it was eventually introduced to the world. It used to feature on television shows as something that will completely change the world. Well, it’s finally here, and after a somewhat slow start, it’s certainly taking the world by storm.
Virtual Reality in the Gaming World

One of the most significant areas where VR technology has experienced the biggest growth is undoubtedly gaming. Handhelds and consoles alike have managed to adapt their games for VR graphics and headsets for quite some time. For most people, this has been the industry where virtual reality would benefit the most. The gaming world is one of a handful of industries that truly embraces innovation and technology.

For instance, with the release of the latest 4K consoles, including the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X, games have improved quite significantly when it comes to how they feel and look more than ever before. However, virtual reality can take this raised bar and improve it even further. Virtual reality has the power to provide players with a more improved gaming experience in every single aspect of the game. When players use the VR headset, which will either be the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift, they will completely immerse themselves into the gaming world. The difference between playing the game and actually being in the game offers the opportunity to no longer sit in front of a television while using controls to navigate a character. You will have a far greater connection with the game, providing a more fluid approach.

Virtual Reality in the Casino World

Virtual reality gaming aside, there’s also loads of other gaming and mobile related businesses that are looking at unique ways to incorporate this new technology. Casino brands that specialize in developing their own exclusive casino and slot games, such as the world-renowned mFortune casino brand, will likely look to develop their own VR games in the near future, while industry leading software developers, such as Playtech and Microgaming, will undoubtedly include this new technology into their blockbuster slot titles as well.

Current Virtual Reality Games

There’s already a host of incredibly immersive game titles on the Oculus Rift, including Crytek’s The Climb which perfectly demonstrates what VR gaming can produce and gaming developers are already piggybacking on its enormous success and are rushing to develop even more improved content. Most of the VR games seem to be rushed and on the basic side of things, but that’s only to be expected in the infancy of virtual reality. Most companies are still taking the time to get used to this new technology and will explore the possibilities when it comes to game development.

Video games that provide total immersion are what players are looking for, but it also needs to be perfect in every sense of the word. Players want to be gripped by its content and blown away by its graphics which will soon be provided thanks to virtual reality technology.

The video game Monster Hunter World has been pulled from stores in China shortly after becoming for sale by China’s censors. The publisher, Tenent, said the actions of China’s sensors was the result of multiple complaints from the public but Tencent did not provide details about those complaints.

The company has stated that over 1 million copies of the game had been pre-sold before its release. The actions from the sensors comes on the heels of China blocking Redit in the country. Redit provided no statement officially by the more but it is common to see China temporarily block websites, but for some human rights activists, they felt the blocking of Redit was only a matter of time based on the country’s history.

Monster Hunter

The Monster Hunter World game has players battling and stalking various fantasy beasts and eliminating them in a violent manner. It is far from being the most violent games that Capcom released, and is another release in a series of Monster Hunter games

In Europe the game is rated it 16 for bad language deemed mild and moderate gore. Tencent said they enacted changes to its title so that it is more appropriate for the Chinese market, and that has resulted in regulators allowing the latest edition to be on available for sale however those wishing a refund on pre-sales can do so via the Tencent website. Those who downloaded the game but have yet to play it have been issued warnings that due to the ban that the game may no longer work until updates are released.

China has history of banning video games

China has a well-documented history of banning video games it deems violent or inappropriate, especially those with extreme violence or those that feature sex or drug content.

Battlefield 4 was one of those that seen as smearing the image of China’s flag as it featured a Chinese military leader who was trying to overthrow the Chinese government. While it is unusual to have a video game outlawed after initially approved, it is not unheard of.

The South China Morning Post newspaper ran an article that highlighted the authorities’ efforts not to approve any new video games since March of this year. That has had a large impact on companies such as Tencent and their stock market value.

The effects that playing video games has been hotly debated for years. This is similar to the debates that took place when television first began to take hold and when rock’n’roll was first playing on airwaves, much to the delight of teenagers the world over.

Health consequences

While some argued that rock’n’roll created a change in society and respect for its rules, there is little doubt that the obsession with video games has had an impact. This includes addiction issues, obesity and an increase in aggression. Addiction is a real concern for many parents as the younger generation become glued to video game screens and lose social interaction skills.

While this is a reality, video game research has shown that there is good that can come from video games in relation to therapeutic uses, educational uses as well as helping improve hand-eye coordination. One recent study showed that those playing video games have an increased ability with spatial visualization. This involves manipulating and rotating two or three-dimensional objects.

Adding to this, the study showed that there are positives to video game playing more than there are negatives. The negative could be balanced by a reduction in violent themed games, but those games also help to improve cognition, attention and perception performance.

Recently, researchers undertook experiments with a small number of people who played video games extensively to test and determine if they had an increased perception of pattern discrimination than those that played less often. Another experiment saw researchers training gamers with less experience on action games. They then had fifty hours of game time and researchers than tested participants on their perceptional skills. The results showed that playing regularly improves the mechanism in which governs cognition, attention and perception.

Video Games are cross-generational

What is known is that video games are cross-generational, meaning that they are irrelevant to age, race, gender or education. The use of video games can be used as a tool to achieve goals, increase self-esteem and even impact behavioural changes.

Video games furthermore have been shown to stimulate learning and allow those playing to develop skills that are transferable. An example of that is flight simulation games as it promotes learning, accepting challenges and learning how to overcome obstacles or the unexpected.

As video games are engaging, they also have the ability to be therapeutical. Uses include physiotherapy and increased hand-eye coordination for the elderly. Video games have also been shown to reduce the pain medication in children suffering from treatments for various illness as video games occupy their minds instead of focusing on the pain they are feeling.

Towards education, they are known to add to the allure of learning as a result of the entertainment aspect, and those games designed specifically to help teach those with specific learning disabilities have been proven to provide tools towards learning.

eSports has taken the world by storm in recent years where millions of fans tune in to witness their favourite teams battle it out online while playing their favourite games. The gaming events for eSports are increasing in popularity, with thousands of spectators from across the globe making their way to several events to witness the fierce competition. With so many fans flooding to these spectacular tournaments, game events have recently been hosted in popular football stadiums, while millions of fans also tune in online.

What Exactly Is eSports?

eSports is essentially a broad term that describes organised, competitive online computer gaming. It’s often played by professionals or world-class teams with a decent fan following. eSports has existed as early as 1970 where a group of young individuals sat around an Atari console. It managed to explode in popularity since then with larger events taking place every year as the crowds just keep in growing. The eSports phenomenon now caters to 40,000 fans within a football stadium along with millions more that stream it online. The most popular games include Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, League of Legends, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and Half-Life 3.

How Big Is eSports?

The eSports events scale can easily be matched with traditional sports like basketball, cricket, and football. Each eSport event is sold out in a matter of days or hours and those that are unable to make it to the event simply stream it online. Its estimated that by 2020 there will be over 70 million people watching the eSports final.

Sponsors

It should come as no surprise that these massive eSports events bring in quite a few sponsorships too. Coke Zero started a partnership with Riot Games in 2014 with their Challenger series. The Challenger series is basically designed for amateurs to try and get a spot in the professional league. Nissan has partnered up with League of Legends, Red Bull has joined forces with Dota 2, and there are many other sports betting companies that are joining the honeypot when it comes to eSports

What About Money?

The winners of these competitions don’t just walk away with a shiny metal cup or an esteemed title. They also manage to rake in enormous paychecks as each event will feature a large prize pool that is up for grabs for the best gamers in the world. During The International Dota event of 2015, the Evil Geniuses managed to walk away with a staggering $6.6 million in prize money. Syed Sumail Hassan, a 16-year-old team member of the Evil Geniuses, managed to make himself #1.33 million richer from one single event.

The tournament based out of Seattle was initially launched as early as 2011 and is considered a major worldwide event for Dota fans across the globe. The Dota tournament provides a total prize pool of more than $18 million for the winners. That’s mightily impressive for playing video games.

2018 is already an extremely strong year for gaming as many highly-anticipated games have made an impact in the industry, while there’s still loads to come before the year comes to an end. Below, you will find the best games for 2018 along with a handful of upcoming releases that is still to come.

Octopath Traveller

Most RPG’s only feature one protagonist, but the latest production from Acquire/Square Enix will come with a total of 8. Each of them will have different talents and skills along with their own interconnected and unique storyline. It’s up to you to create a party and enjoy the adventure with the game’s HD-2D style graphics, mixing 3D graphics with mixing pixel sprites for a truly unique blend of modern and retro styles. As a traditional Japanese RPG, you can enjoy detailed storytelling and turn-based combat.

Warhammer: Vermintide II

After three long years, the sequel is set to arrive to improve and polish what was already a marvellous 4-player cooperative game where players fought against a horde of rat-men featuring various abilities and weapons. The environment that draws from the Warhammer universe will produce an atmospheric world which will be set during the last days on moody and dark maps.

Vampyr

Life is Strange is what made Dontnod Entertainment with their version of a supernatural story, but since then, the company took a sharp turn to develop an action-packed RPG that is based on vampires during the early 20th century. You’ll take the role of a doctor that has been infected with the weaknesses and powers of a vampire. You will need to fight your way through several undead enemies and decide if you will embrace or suppress your new identity.

Mario Tennis Aces

The series first made its appearance on Switch, with Aces adding loads of brand-new features to this incredible arcade sports game which makes it a far more compelling and interesting experience both online and offline. The game will feature new special moves like a super meter for ultimate techniques and a way to defend tricky shots. If you want a story mode, you will be pleased to know that you’ll also find one in this game.

God of War

There’s been an arsenal of improvements and changes made to the latest God of War release when you compare it to the previous games from Santa Monica Studio. More inspiration has been incorporated from RPG’s along with side quests in an open world. You will also find more weapons and more upgrades as you are joined by Kratos’ son who will fight with his own unique abilities. The Greek setting has also been replaced by Norse mythology to keep things fresh.

Minit

With a mere 60 seconds to take action every day before being sent back to the start, this game can be extremely frustrating. However, Minit from Devolver Digital is, in fact, an extremely fun and exciting puzzle game with a retro RPG atmosphere. Thankfully, the most important events will remain permanent, and you’ll find loads of alternative routes and shortcuts to save time and pursue your goals.