Racing Rivals Brings Realistic Drag Racing to iOS

September 6, 2013
Story By
Kristin Cline

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Racing Rivals, an iOS game which features live, real time multiplayer drag racing, was recently released to the App Store and can be downloaded for free. Created by Cie Games with Nitto Tire as the title sponsor, Racing Rivals brings console quality graphics and realistic elements never before integrated into a drag racing game for smart devices. To help celebrate the launch, Nitto invited automotive and gaming press to the Irwindale Dragstrip for a VIP event followed by a public night of live action on the raceway.

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Beyond the glossy 3D graphics throughout the game, realism is integrated through high-stakes betting, authentic vehicle modifications and a human component never before seen in smart-device drag racing games. Cie Games is a company with a legacy of being in the drag racing environment - from their foundation of automotive enthusiasm to former games created such as Legends 1320 and Car Town.

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Chong Ahn, Executive Producer for Racing Rivals, says, "Understanding what the implications were in the real world of drag racing and applying that to our game was of utmost importance to us." Chong goes on to say that, "We took a look at some of the front runners in the console space - Grand Turismo, Forza - they really pushed the envelope as far as the living room experience goes. Cie Games wondered, 'Why can't we do that on a mobile device?' And that's what we tried to do, and I think succeeded in doing."

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For the VIP press event at Irwindale, both worlds of drag racing were combined - with attendees competing against one another within Racing Rivals but then also getting behind the wheel of an Edelbrock-supercharged Mustang down the real-life drag strip. Mark Manansala, oddly enough a contributor here at Driving Line, was the winner of the day. Choosing a 370Z within the game to compete with because it "had the best horsepower to weight ratio," Mark became the first official Racing Rivals Champion - the title was formally bestowed, along with a championship ring and set of Nitto tires, by professional NMRA drag racing driver John Urist.

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When asked how it feels to be the first Racing Rivals Champion Mark said, "It feels great! It's truly an honor to be a part of such a great game that has so much history behind it. I used to play Nitto Legends 1320 back in middle school, and seeing this game now is an awesome feeling!"

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Mark was most impressed by "the amount of modifications you could do in the video game. Most games out there have the racing part down, but not the modifications side. It's a great asset for an enthusiast to really make their car how they want and express themselves."

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Somehow the geniuses at Cie Games figured out how to integrate realistic stats for modifications into how they would affect the power and performance of each particular vehicle they're applied to. Rather than simply upgrading through various levels of modifications, Racing Rivals makes it realistic by offering specific parts that are associated with that particular car model by real-life aftermarket companies, and feature an virtual dyno graph to illustrate each part's overall effect.

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But adding the human element, both with the physicality of drag racing and the competitiveness of it, was one of the most important features in the game. As Chong puts it, "The example I like to give to people when they first try out our game is real-life sports. It's person-to-person or team-to-team, it’s human. In basketball for example, if you take the stats of Michael Jordon or Kobe Bryant, when you look at them on paper they have amazing stats! But do they play like that every single day throughout the year? They don’t, because they’re human beings. There’s days when they’re amazing and they follow their stats, but there’s days when they’re sick, or having an off day. That’s what we’re bringing to the racing game, which no other game does - we bring that human element. You may be the top player one day, but that next day, for whatever reason you fail - maybe you got too anxious, or too cocky, or too confident and you messed up the launch or hit the NOS too quickly. THAT element of competition, that human to human element, that’s what separates us from everybody else."

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I've become hooked. Download Racing Rivals for yourself and check out the action (did I mention it's free!) Once you get started, challenge me to a race... I can be found under the gaming alias "pupsterina". -Kristin Cline

Racing Rivals Brings Realistic Drag Racing to iOS

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