Ahoy, me hearties! As the FNG (F@#$% New Guy) I just wanted to introduce myself, extend wishes for good seasons and give thanks for such a site.
I went to my local short track for the first time when I was still in the womb, and been a race fan ever since. Short tracks and NASCAR are what I grew up on, but once SAT TV became normal, I got heavy into ALMS, SCCA, Trans-AM, F1....hell, if I found a lawn mower race televised, you can bet I'd be watching it. (Those things are bloody fast!)
Sega Genesis' 1992 title "Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP" hooked me on racing games, but it wasn't until Papyrus/Sierra's NASCAR 1993 did I find what I was looking for. The graphics were bad, and the PC I was using worse, but the realism I found was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I needed more.
Sadly, it was not to be. I had neither the money or the know-how to get into good PC gaming, so I fought through a decade of "Super Mario Kart", "Outrun", had a good bit of fun with "Hard Drivin'", and then a gift from the heaven's, "Grand Turismo 1". That game flunked me out of college. Pity. :tongue:
"GT 1" gave way to "GT 2", and as Xbox took over my PS2, "Forza" took the spotlight and has somewhat satisfied my speed needs up until present day and "Forza 3". But still that PC sim urge festered. NASCAR2003 dreams danced in my head as I always found some obstacle keeping me from it, and my only hope of good sim racing.
A week ago, a longtime friend and co-worker came to me and uttered 2 words...."iRacing, dood". "Bah" says I. I don't have $10,000 laying around for an Alienware setup, what good could come from it? I begrudgingly did some research, and hey! only need a relatively new, normal PC. Hmmm. A little more research, and my eyes grow bigger. No dance to get the game set-up. No thousand mods to get it just right. A dev team that actually works on and keeps up on the game. 24/7 online racing. A system that rewards GOOD, CLEAN driving. Hey, hey! Real tracks. No skillion cars on a bajillion circuits, just the basics, done right, with more to come. Stats, leaderboards.... I passed out. :tongue:
I've just now come to. :wink: I've purchased the 1 for 3 base content, have everything installed, and have been spectating mostly Legends races for the past 4 days. Most of my free time has been spent gorging on information (mostly from here, thank you!) and I think I'm ready for what iRacing has to offer. Perhaps, just maybe, I've found what I've been looking for since those pimple-faced weeks back in 1993. Here's hoping. (I'd have been on sooner, but my Momo hasn't come in yet and I'm not Jedi enough to pull a "Mr Hubbard" and use my Saitek flight stick.:wink It'll be here in 5 days. 5 days and counting until I start my journey from the FNG to The Stig. I hope to see you guys on the track. I'll be the guy with the throttle pinned, most likely rubber-side-up in the infield. Onward!
I went to my local short track for the first time when I was still in the womb, and been a race fan ever since. Short tracks and NASCAR are what I grew up on, but once SAT TV became normal, I got heavy into ALMS, SCCA, Trans-AM, F1....hell, if I found a lawn mower race televised, you can bet I'd be watching it. (Those things are bloody fast!)
Sega Genesis' 1992 title "Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP" hooked me on racing games, but it wasn't until Papyrus/Sierra's NASCAR 1993 did I find what I was looking for. The graphics were bad, and the PC I was using worse, but the realism I found was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I needed more.
Sadly, it was not to be. I had neither the money or the know-how to get into good PC gaming, so I fought through a decade of "Super Mario Kart", "Outrun", had a good bit of fun with "Hard Drivin'", and then a gift from the heaven's, "Grand Turismo 1". That game flunked me out of college. Pity. :tongue:
"GT 1" gave way to "GT 2", and as Xbox took over my PS2, "Forza" took the spotlight and has somewhat satisfied my speed needs up until present day and "Forza 3". But still that PC sim urge festered. NASCAR2003 dreams danced in my head as I always found some obstacle keeping me from it, and my only hope of good sim racing.
A week ago, a longtime friend and co-worker came to me and uttered 2 words...."iRacing, dood". "Bah" says I. I don't have $10,000 laying around for an Alienware setup, what good could come from it? I begrudgingly did some research, and hey! only need a relatively new, normal PC. Hmmm. A little more research, and my eyes grow bigger. No dance to get the game set-up. No thousand mods to get it just right. A dev team that actually works on and keeps up on the game. 24/7 online racing. A system that rewards GOOD, CLEAN driving. Hey, hey! Real tracks. No skillion cars on a bajillion circuits, just the basics, done right, with more to come. Stats, leaderboards.... I passed out. :tongue:
I've just now come to. :wink: I've purchased the 1 for 3 base content, have everything installed, and have been spectating mostly Legends races for the past 4 days. Most of my free time has been spent gorging on information (mostly from here, thank you!) and I think I'm ready for what iRacing has to offer. Perhaps, just maybe, I've found what I've been looking for since those pimple-faced weeks back in 1993. Here's hoping. (I'd have been on sooner, but my Momo hasn't come in yet and I'm not Jedi enough to pull a "Mr Hubbard" and use my Saitek flight stick.:wink
It'll be here in 5 days. 5 days and counting until I start my journey from the FNG to The Stig. I hope to see you guys on the track. I'll be the guy with the throttle pinned, most likely rubber-side-up in the infield. Onward!
