New horse racing game

[jonesz]

Looks like it is only for Playstation and XBox and no PC, but looks fairly interesting..

hxxp://store.yahoo.com/ntrastore/breedcupwort3.html

Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships
PlayStation2 and Xbox Console Video Game
Available Now

Experience the most realistic horse racing simulation ever created and the only game officially licensed by the NTRA and Breeders' Cup Limited, featuring the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships (Breeders' Cup). With thousands of horses, the ability to race your own Thoroughbred, wager and even build your own stable, Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships is the horse racing game with something for everyone. Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships will be available this Fall, wherever video games are sold.

Experience the thrill of the tracks by competing in four separate
gameplay modes:

Quick Race: This play type allows you to quickly jump into racing one of thousands randomly generated horses. You are in complete control of the jockey and Thoroughbred. You may select your racetrack from one of the 10 real-world North American racetracks world tracks or five fantasy tracks. You may also choose the type of ground surface, the number of horses you will be racing against and even the weather.

Day at the Races: Grab a buddy and head to the track of your choice for a day at the races as seen through the eyes of a spectator. You can see history of all the horses, the type of track they prefer to run on and their racing style. Before making a wager, you can head down to the paddock and take a closer look at the horses. With true-to-life wagering menus, you can bet just like you would at any real world horse track and try to outdo your friends!

Challenge a Champion: Unlock past champions and race against them, head to head, in this game mode. Have you ever wanted to run against Seabiscuit or Man o' War? If so, this is the game for you.

Career Mode: Become a stable owner and steer the course of your prized Thoroughbreds towards the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, the season-ending Championship event in horseracing. You are in control of everything from the name of your stable, the colors and patterns of your silks, the training and breeding of your horses and the stable's participation in different racing events. As a stable owner, you will be present at each event where you have the option to place bets on a wagering menu and purchase new Thoroughbreds to increase the size of your stable. Enter and win events to accumulate more trophies, getting you that much closer to the Breeders' Cup!

No matter which gameplay mode you select, you'll also enjoy:

Competing at top racetracks from all over North America, including Del Mar, Belmont Park, Keeneland and many more.

Experiencing varying climates with Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships' dynamic weather system including rain, wind, and heat, that can drastically change the track conditions and the outcome of a race.

TV-style coverage of all the racing action including race calling by the official Breeders' Cup announcer, Tom Durkin.

A sophisticated wagering system with realistic wagering menus

[Bee]

Originally Posted by jonesz

Experience the most realistic horse racing simulation ever created

I wonder if this is true if it will push Quiksand into buying a console...

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by Bee

I wonder if this is true if it will push Quiksand into buying a console...

I believe that would bring us ever closer to the 7th Sign.

[dacman]

Not surprisingly, it's a dud.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/658/658063p1.html

http://www.gameshark.com/index.asp?a=reviews&id=2137

[rkmsuf]

I'll go out on a limb here and say it's going to stink.



*edit, didn't even look at reviews.

[Lathum]

if there isn't a breeding mode I wouldn't even rent it

[bbor]

I had high hopes for this game

[QuikSand]

That could have been close.

*whew*

[Cards4ever]

I lost my original response

Anyway, I've been playing the game and it's a pretty basic game. Not a lot of depth. There is breeding, but, for some reason the horses you get are 3yo. You can't just watch the races your horse is in, you have to be the jockey. You have a stable of up to 6 horses and you can only enter the horses into the next weeks races.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by Lathum

if there isn't a breeding mode I wouldn't even rent it

I bet the gals love to hear you use that line...

[kingnebwsu]

I'm bummed...looks like it'll be an occassional bout of Gallop Racer and a rare trip to Dave&Busters to play Derby Owner's Club

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by kingnebwsu

I'm bummed...looks like it'll be an occassional bout of Gallop Racer and a rare trip to Dave&Busters to play Derby Owner's Club

How is Gallop Racer? I've thought about getting the latest one just to give me something to do. I'm also going to Dave & Buster's for the first time this weekend, but I can't do that all the time since it's about 35 miles away.

[Schmidty]

I don't care what anyone says, the Gallop Racer series is extremely fun.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

I don't care what anyone says, the Gallop Racer series is extremely fun.

I play the Japanese versions of the game and they rock. I've heard the English versions are watered down a bit in places, but I have loved every version of the game I have played.

Horse development, jockey development, and breeding are all very well done. I have a bitch of a time on the hardest level.

The racing itself is maddeningly addictive and far from the "twitch fest" that I feared it would be. With the various types of horses and events, I find it extremely difficult to race well. Even with the strategy guide, I am at best a mediocre racer. In order to race to your horse's potential, you've got to start well (good timing out of the gate), get in your horse's comfort zone (front, near front, near back, or back), judge the overall pace of the race (fast, slow, medium), be aware of your horse's stamina level (varies greatly by horse), be aware of race length, make sure you don't get boxed in, keep a smooth pace, don't bump another horse, and kick at just the right time. With the exception of the start (which is more timing than reflexes), all of these things are cerebral, and all are critical to racing a solid race. I LOVE the thinking that goes on in races. On top of all this, in the latest versions there are at least 50 unique traits that a horse may either have or pick up, things like liking to be on the outside on the last corner to hating to ride right behind another horse.

Not only that, but the horses perform realistically (at least it seems that way to me): if you race a perfect race with a horse is outclassed, you might finish in the middle of the pack. Race a horse at the wrong distance for that particular horse and you've already most likely doomed yourself to at best a mediocre run. Race a horse that hasn't raced for too long and the horse will be flat. Race a tired horse and you'll invariably get a crappy effort from the thing. Entering races is always a balancing effort for me, trying to find the right distance, competition, and horse fitness.

I just have the hardest time getting all of these things right, but the amount and complexity of the decisions I get to make are a blast. Every once in a while I'll get on a run where I win, show, or place in four or five races in a row and it's a rush. For every run like that, though, I seem to have two or three stretches where I can't buy a top-half finish for a month or more. But every time I lose, I usually have an idea where I screwed up, and that makes me think I can do better the next time.

Humm...kind of got carried away there, but yes, I like Gallop Racer a ton. Highly recommended if you like text sims and horse racing. For me, I'd say Gallop Racer is one of my top-ten all-time "fun" games.

[Izulde]

Derby Owner's Club is the best arcade game ever.

[daedalus]

DOC is amazingly fun and addictive.