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Ever since Pole Position in 1982, Formula One (F1) has always played a part of the racing genre in video games . Early Formula One games were typically arcade racing games, before Formula One Grand Prix (1991) popularized Formula One racing simulations on home computers.
The roots of Formula One games can be traced back to 1974, with arcade racing games such as Speed Race by Taito and Gran Trak 10 by Atari which depicted F1-like cars going on a race track.
Two years later, F-1 (1976) by Namco has been cited as the first truly Formula One arcade game. [1] However, it was an electro-mechanical game, rather than an arcade video game.
The first successful Formula One video game in arcade history was Pole Position (1982), by Namco. In Pole Position, the player has to complete a lap in a certain amount of time in order to qualify for a race at the Fuji racetrack. After qualifying, the player had to face other cars in a championship race. The game was very successful and it spawned an official sequel, Pole Position II , and an unofficial one, Final Lap . After the success of Pole Position, many similar games appeared in arcades (and later ported to home computers) such as TX-1 (1983).
During the late 1980s, successful arcade games included Super Sprint , which uses the top view instead of the rear view of most games, and its sequel Championship Sprint .
From the second part of the 1980s more games were being created. Most of these games featured racetracks, cars and driver names similar to the real ones, but all modified slightly, since they did not have official licenses from FIA. Examples of this are Super Monaco GP (1989) and its sequel Ayrton Senna's Super Monaco GP II (1992), which had a license to display only Ayrton Senna's name), or Nigel Mansell's World Championship , but many other less known games had similar features.
Formula One racing games made the transition to 3D computer graphics with Namco's arcade game Winning Run (1988). [2] Later arcade manufacturers began developing games in this style, like Sega with its Virtua Racing (1992), and later Namco again with Ace Driver (1994), which featured futuristic, F1-like cars.
Formula One began officially licensing video games in the early 1990s, starting with Video System's arcade game F-1 Grand Prix (1991). [1] It was ported to the SNES by Nintendo, and spawned two sequels and a Super Mario Kart -style spinoff.
The first true Formula One racing simulators on home computers were Chequered Flag (1983) and Geoff Crammond's Formula One Grand Prix (F1GP) in 1991. Chequered Flag featured fuel depletion and car damage, and a set of several real circuits. Previously, most racing games representing Formula One, such as Accolade's Grand Prix Circuit and Electronic Arts' Ferrari Formula One, had been arcade-style games, but F1GP paid more attention to the physics of the cars, in addition to innovative graphics and accurate rendering of the actual racing tracks. The game, released in 1992, was based on the 1991 season. Over the years, the game had sequels Grand Prix 2 , 3 , and 4 (based on 1994, 1998, with a 2000 update, and 2001 respectively).
The F1 official license was also held by Ubisoft and later transferred to Electronic Arts, which published seasonal simulations and also F1 Challenge '99-'02 .
A notable place on PC simulation games is held by Papyrus' Grand Prix Legends , which depicted the 1967 Formula One season instead of the then-current season, like all other contemporaries. It recreates in a very accurate way the physics of the car and the feel of driving a real 1967 Formula One racer. The game still has a vast popularity among video gamers, with many mods and original circuits being produced. [3]
The first half of the 1990s saw a growing in popularity of Formula One games, and many software houses began acquiring licences and display most real names and cars, for example Formula One by Domark, which featured most real tracks, drivers and teams.
The first 3D games to feature a full license were F1 Challenge (1995) for the Sega Saturn, [1] and Formula 1 (1996) developed by Bizarre Creations for the PlayStation, the first game of the successful Formula One series. Despite the game being a mostly arcade game rather than a simulation, it was very well received; later the series moved towards a more realistic race approach. Other Formula One games released in the late 1990s include EA Sports F1 Series (which runs from the 1999–2002 F1 season with all drivers from each season).
Sony had held an exclusive license to make Formula One games from 2003 until 2006, [4] releasing sequels to Formula 1 on its PlayStation systems roughly at an annual pace throughout that time to form its Formula One series, as well as licensing the release of Infogrames' 2003 PS2-exclusive game Grand Prix Challenge , developed by Melbourne House. Challenge was well received by critics, [5] particularly its high quality graphics for its time, [6] despite being unknown to most F1 gaming fans.
Sony concluded their Formula One series with the releases of Formula One 06 on the PS2 and PSP and Formula One Championship Edition on the PlayStation 3. In 2008, Codemasters obtained the F1 license, [7] beginning their own annual Formula One video game series. The first game of the series, F1 2009 , was released on the Wii, PlayStation Portable and iOS, with the Wii version supporting the Wii Wheel for motion-controlled steering. Subsequent annual sequels were released on non-Nintendo consoles and personal computers, with F1 2011 also being available on eighth-generation handhelds and F1 2016 also available as a paid mobile title on iOS and Android. Besides the Wii U port of the F1 Race Stars spin-off, subtitled Powered-Up Edition, no other Codemasters F1 game has been available on a Nintendo console.
While Formula One games in general are strict reproductions of the sport regardless of gameplay style, Codemasters' F1 Race Stars was the first to bring Mario Kart -style gameplay to the setting, while their official license from FIA (which the company has held since 2009) allowed for the teams (complete with their respective sponsors) and drivers from that year's season to be given a cartoonish makeover.
In late 2020, Electronic Arts acquired Codemasters after outbidding Take-Two Interactive's offer to buy the company. As a result, all subsequent installments of Codemasters' ongoing F1 video game series, starting with the 2021 season's game, are published by Electronic Arts, making this the first F1 game to be published by the company in nearly two decades, after F1 Career Challenge and F1 Challenge '99-'02 .
While Electronic Arts publishes the main F1 racing games, Frontier Developments developed and published the management simulator F1 Manager 2022 , which holds the official license for the 2022 season. Frontier currently develops and publishes future installments of the F1 Manager franchise.
Owing to the popularity of the sport, the technical and legal limitations of earlier titles (such as the omission of alcohol and tobacco branding) and lack of representation of particular seasons, the act of modding video games to feature specific seasons of Formula 1 has been popular since the 1990s, particularly following the releases of Grand Prix 2 in 1996 and Grand Prix Legends in 1998. Later on, ISIMotor-derived titles such as F1 Challenge '99-'02 and rFactor would continue the trend, with cars reaching ever higher levels of accuracy, down to race-specific configurations in regards to sponsorship and aero packages. rFactor's development studio, Image Space Incorporated, would later work with the BMW Sauber F1 team to feature the team's cars as standalone downloadable content. More recently, one of the more popular titles for modded Formula 1 seasons is the title Assetto Corsa , released in 2014. [8]
In addition to simulation-based titles and even outside the racing genre, Formula 1 cars have been made available as mods in many different video games over the years, either through models ported from pre-existing titles (such as EA Sports' F1 Championship Season 2000 ), or scratchbuilt. Due to their prevalence and real-world performance, these cars are popular choices to mod into games such as the Need for Speed and Grand Theft Auto franchises. The 2002 freeware title GeneRally also features a large range of Formula 1 seasons available for download, each car rendered in just 40 polygons.
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A list of Formula One video games that lists only those uses the F1 name, whether it is licensed by the Formula One Group or just F1 in name; is licensed by racing drivers and teams involved within the series otherwise featuring sprites that resemble a Formula One car in a way to get around licensing, featuring deliberately misspelt driver and team names; is named after a Grand Prix race that appear in the F1 calendar or those that features races that appear in the F1 calendar.
Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a driver must understand all aspects of car handling that make real-world racing so difficult, such as threshold braking, how to maintain control of a car as the tires lose traction, and how properly to enter and exit a turn without sacrificing speed. It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from arcade racing-style driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism.
Formula One is a series of computer and video games originally created by Psygnosis, who were eventually renamed to Studio Liverpool. It takes its name from the popular car racing series of the same name. Since 2001, the Formula One series had been made by Studio Liverpool formed from the restructuring of several studios including Psygnosis, which soon followed with the obtaining of an exclusive FOA Official Licence, which barred any other company to produce a Formula One game for any other platform for 5 years. Sony used this exclusive licence to make Formula One games from 2003 until 2007, releasing a new title every year which included improvements to the graphics engine as well as an updated and complete F1 grid showing the latest liveries, chassis and drivers. The series covered every year from 1995 to 2006, with the exception of the 1996 season. By February 2007, Sony lost the license to produce Formula One video games, and Formula One Championship Edition, released at the very end of the previous year, was the last game in a series that lasted more than a decade. In May 2008, Codemasters picked up the license, with Sumo Digital, producing F1 2009 for the PSP and Nintendo Wii a year and a half later. Codemasters took over the license proper in 2010, and as of 2020, currently maintains the rights to exclusively produce Formula One games.
Formula 1 97 is a racing video game developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Psygnosis for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to the 1996 video game Formula 1 and was based on the 1997 Formula One World Championship. This was the last Formula One game to be made by the Bizarre Creations team, who moved on to create the successful Metropolis Street Racer for the Dreamcast and Project Gotham Racing for the Xbox.
Formula One 2003 is a racing video game developed by Studio Liverpool and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for PlayStation 2. It is a sequel to the 2002 video game Formula One 2002 and was based on the 2003 Formula One World Championship.
Grand Prix 2, released in North America as "Grand Prix II", is a racing simulator released by MicroProse in 1996. It is a sequel to Formula One Grand Prix. It was made under an official FIA license that featured the Formula One 1994 season, with all of the circuits, teams, drivers and cars. The cars were painted with liveries reflecting the races that did not allow tobacco and alcohol sponsors.
F1 Career Challenge is a racing game based on four Formula One seasons: the 1999 season, the 2000 season, the 2001 season, and the 2002 season. It was the last Formula One video game to be published by EA Sports until F1 2021, when EA purchased Codemasters.
F1 Racing Championship is a video game developed by Ubi Soft. Starring people and locations from the 1999 Formula One World Championship, it was released for several platforms during 2000 and 2001. At the time, it was facing steep competition by the ever-popular Grand Prix 3 and the rising F1-series by ISI. The sales were behind expectations. Reasons were a poor artificial intelligence and damage model and the bug-prone initial release. A patch to fix the reported issues was announced, but never released.
F-1 World Grand Prix, developed by Paradigm Entertainment, is a Formula One racing game/sim first released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 game console and to later platforms including the Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Sony PlayStation, and Game Boy Color. The Nintendo 64 version is based on the 1997 Formula One season, featuring each of the 17 circuits from the season and all 22 drivers, with the exceptions of Jacques Villeneuve and the MasterCard Lola team.
Formula One Championship Edition is a racing video game developed by Studio Liverpool and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for PlayStation 3.
F1 Pole Position is a 1992 racing video game for the SNES, developed by Human Entertainment and published by them in Japan, while the other versions were handled by Ubisoft. It is the first game in the Human Grand Prix/F1 Pole Position series, which features Formula One licensing.
F1 2009 is a video game based on the 2009 season of the Formula One motor racing series. It was released on the Wii and PlayStation Portable in 2009 on 16 November in North America, 19 November in the PAL region and 20 November in the United Kingdom. The game was also released on iOS on 14 December for £6.99. The PlayStation Portable version was also available as a download from the PlayStation Store from 16 November.
F-1 Grand Prix (エフワングランプリ) is a series of Formula One video games developed and published by Video System, primarily known for developing the Aero Fighters series. Prior to obtaining the FOCA license, the company previously released an arcade game in 1989 called Tail to Nose: Great Championship. Video System began releasing officially licensed titles in 1991 as an arcade game and for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, initially featuring content from the 1991 season; the company later followed up by releasing games based on the 1992 and 1993 seasons, although the 1993 season game had no arcade release. The arcade and SNES games are played with a top-down view centered on the players chosen vehicles. These titles feature the song "Truth" by T-Square, featured branding from Fuji Television's Formula One coverage, and the SNES versions were only released in Japan. Video System also developed SD F-1 Grand Prix, a Super Mario Kart style game featuring animal caricatures of selected 1994 drivers.
F1 2011 is a video game developed by Codemasters based on the 2011 Formula One season. The game was released in 2011 on Microsoft Windows, the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, with a 2012 release on the PlayStation Vita as a launch title for the system. The game engine is based on EGO 2.0 engine.
F1 World Grand Prix 2000 is a racing video game developed by Eutechnyx. It is based on the 2000 season of the Formula One World Championship. It is the sequel to the F-1 World Grand Prix II, both published by Eidos Interactive and Video System. As an officially licensed title, it includes all the teams, drivers and tracks from the 2000 Formula One season. The game features two distinct racing modes, arcade and simulation; the arcade mode follows the style of an actual arcade machine, with loud music and commentary, while the simulation mode takes a more relaxed and realistic take on the genre. Music was composed by Jonathan Colling.
F1 2012 is a video game developed by Codemasters based on the 2012 Formula One season. The game was announced on 18 March 2012, co-inciding with the first race of the 2012 season. The game was released in September. It uses the EGO Engine. This was also the first game by Codemasters released under their "Codemasters Racing" label, which was used until 2016.
F1 2013 is a video game developed by Codemasters based on the 2013 Formula One season. It uses the EGO Engine. F1 2013 was released in Europe in 2013 on PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox 360 on October 4. A digital version was released worldwide on the Steam Store, as well as on 8 October for the PlayStation Store and 15 October for Xbox Games on Demand, with a further release on Mac OS X by Feral Interactive in March 2014. The game was taken down from the stores due to probable license expiration in 2017.
F1 2001 is a racing video game developed by Image Space Incorporated for the Microsoft Windows version and EA UK for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox version and published by EA Sports for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is based on the 2001 Formula One season. A port for GameCube was planned, but cancelled for unknown reasons, and eventually released with minor changes as F1 2002. A Game Boy Color version was also cancelled during development.
F1 2017 is the official video game of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship, released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows on 25 August. The game includes all of the twenty circuits, twenty drivers and ten teams competing in the season. The macOS version, developed by Feral Interactive, was released simultaneously with the other versions, a first in the series' history. The Linux version, also by Feral Interactive, was released on 2 November.
F1 2020 is the official video game of the 2020 Formula 1 and Formula 2 Championships developed and published by Codemasters. It is the thirteenth title in the Formula 1 series developed by the studio and was released on 7 July for pre-orders of the Michael Schumacher Edition and 10 July for the Seventy Edition on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and, for the first time, Stadia. The game is the twelfth main series installment in the franchise, and it features the twenty-two circuits, twenty drivers and ten teams proposed in the provisional 2020 Formula 1 World Championship.
F1 is a racing video game series by Codemasters under the EA Sports banner since 2021. The series holds the official license of the FIA Formula One World Championship, with the FIA Formula 2 Championship available since the 2019 game. A total of twenty-one games have been released to date, with the series' latest installment, F1 23, released in June 2023.