Virtually Real: Can Racing Sims help us when we get behind the wheel?
By Efrain Olivares
Part of the perks of being on the staff of MotoIQ.com is that we get to go to all of the cool media events and get some free food and drinks. So we found ourselves at the launch party for Forza 4, the newest version of the Forza series for XBox, which was a big party held at LA Live.
Looks like we should have went to the Forza party and left Efrain at home! |
While we enjoyed our gourmet mac and cheese and drank our Red Bull Vodkas, a few of us got on the topic of how helpful a racing game like Forza 4 could be to hone your skills for going racing. While nothing beats actual seat time, what could a realistic game teach you about racing?
Efrain says Tommy Kendall graduated from UCLA. I wonder if he went to Cal State Long Beach as well because I remember reading about him in the CSULB student paper when I was there. -mk Tommy was the host of the event. |
The host for the launch of Forza 4 was Tommy Kendall. For those of you that need a history lesson, Tommy Kendall was one of the greatest American racing talents throughout the late 80s and early 90s. A Southern California local, Kendall – a UCLA graduate – was earning his degree at the same time as he was competing in SCCA, IMSA GTU, and IMSA GTP competition. In fact, he was famously given his degree in a mock ceremony at the start/finish line before the 1991 Mardis Gras Grand Prix in New Orleans.