Real Racing In the Virtual World

zebadee writes "The BBC has a story about a company aiming to pit gamers against the professionals. iOpener Media has a patented system that sucks in real-time GPS data from racing events and pumps it out to compatible games consoles and PCs. This means you can race in real-time against the like of Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. The company also claims to have an AI that solves the problem of overtaking and crashes." It would be great to see this applied to historical events and other game domains, too -- like trying to beat Amundsen to the South Pole, using best-known weather data.

What would *really* be cool

[Anonymous Coward]

Feed the GPS data from cars stuck on the 405 in LA into the on-car computers during the Indy 500.

All kinds of games!!!

[phantomfive]

This would make The Oregon Trail new again!!

Or how about, Poll Chasing With the Best: On the Trail With Barak and Hillary.

Or Across the Ocean With Thor Heyerdahl: The Rowing Game.

Maybe from historical data we can recreate the spreading pattern of the black plague. Across Europe: A Flea's Tale.

The potential is limitless.

Revisit "historical events".

[arthurpaliden]

You could actually go to the cantina and see that Han Solo actually did shoot first.

Re:Sports entertainment on slashdot

[wagnerrp]

Sadly... you fail.

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Re:South Pole Position

[edgr]

Maybe. Just like force-feedback controllers, you could put a cooling unit in the controller so your hands get very cold.

Re:South Pole Position

[rts008]

Just remember one thing:Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow! [youtube.com]

Re:Sounds pretty pointless

[dogdick]

Like the disk breaks and you can't play anymore.
Solved, I win. THats brain power in action. Now, to just retrofit all those Ps3s, xboxes and pcs with a mechanism to break the disk and trick people into buying it...

Re:Worthless

[Psychotria]

You are right. A better idea would be to get Mythbusters to hack up a remote-controlled car or two that we can put on the real race track. And when we lose horribly, blow it up.

Race to the South Pole

[GMThomas]

"like trying to beat Amundsen to the South Pole, using best-known weather data." I've always wanted to play a game where after twelve hours of doing the exact same thing in a region that looks exactly the same no matter where you are, you still haven't gotten very far! The left arrow key will make you step with your left foot, and the right arrow key will make you step with your right. Careful not to hit one twice in a row - you will trip! Don't trip too much, or you might lose! Also, don't forget to rest and eat. Repeat this a few dozen times!

Go Speed Racist Go!

[GameboyRMH]

Hitting Speed Racist's car

Here he comes! Here comes Speed Racist!
He's a bigot on wheels, he's a bigot
and he's gonna be hatin' on someone.

He's a racist so don't let him meet your friends,
If you do they might not talk to you again,

And when people are the wrong color
Or come from the wrong place,
You bet your life Speed Racist
will get all red-faced,

Go Speed Racist
Go Speed Racist
Go Speed Racist, Go!

Re:Sounds pretty pointless

[vux984]

Although imho you would replace "killing yourself" with "destroying your employer's vehicle which costs millions of dollars and forever to repair".

One of my favorite quotes from a driving instructor/professional driver was "If the driver doesn't come back with just the steering wheel once in a while, the rest of the team thinks he's not trying hard enough."

Re:What would *really* be cool

[amRadioHed]

What's the point of live GPS updates from a parked vehicle?

Re:Sounds pretty pointless

[Slimee]

Nah man, let's make it easier, at least for the xbox. When you crash, your xbox bricks and it's game over for you.

Re:Revisit "historical events".

[Admiral Ag]

star wars is for fucking faggot dick smokers. shut the fuck up!!! shut up!!!! fuck star wars. it's a faggot movie. only faggots like it. get over your fucking youth and do something real. fuck that faggot shit. burn it and flush it down the shitter with all the faggots and their pr0n. fuck it.

Wow, I had no idea. I've just thrown out my DVD box set and signed up for hetero restoration therapy.

Thank you Anonymous Coward for saving me.

Re:In real time? Sounds awfully complicated...

[thatnerdguy]

P.S. Lewis Hamilton, please stop crashing.

More like Red light means stop, mmmkay???

*I* want to race Max Mosley

[Eternal Vigilance]

Though with one slight change to the rules - first one to finish loses. :-)

"This fantastic result was a complete team effort. We really spanked the competition today."

Re:Revisit "historical events".

[Jellybob]

Wow... I've never seen anyone quite so upset by Star Wars.

Were you raped by Jar Jar Binks as a child or something?