Become a virtual NASCAR driver

From...

by Kenneth Li

(IDG) -- Imagine NASCAR racer Jeff Gordon speeding into a teeth-clenching 140-mph pass at the Daytona 500. As he squeezes by trophy contender Rusty Wallace at turn three, the two swap metal before Gordon surges past the leader to the checkered flag.

Now three technology companies want to take the spectating out of America's fastest-growing spectator sport. AniVision, Kalisto Entertainment and Sportvision are vying to deliver what's known in the industry as real-time, race-car driving over the Internet. Their games will simulate a race as it is actually happening and put home gamers on a virtual track competing against the pros. (At least one of the companies will archive the races so players can also participate anytime after the real event is over.) Short of breaking a limb as you hit the wall, this is as real as videogames get.

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE

IDG.net home page

The Standard.com

TechInformer: The Thinking Internaut's Guide to the Tech Industry

Top 10 graphics boards for gamers

WCW Mayhem: Cheats

Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net

E-BusinessWorld

Industry Standard email newsletters

Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you

Industry Standard daily Media Grok

Search IDG.net in 12 languages

News Radio

Fusion audio primers

Computerworld Minute

For years, videogame publishers have sold CD-ROM titles based on sports events like the Indianapolis 500. The Web added a new twist by letting players compete head-to-head. Real-time games take the premise one step further, bringing together live televised events with online gaming in what is arguably the most advanced example to date of convergence in electronic entertainment.

While racing-related videogames are only a narrow slice of the $7 billion electronic entertainment market, the technology companies view real-time racing as the key to tapping the huge number of NASCAR fans, a market estimated to be worth $3 billion. "It's a new way for a large audience to get interested," says Henri Magalon, director of online operations at Kalisto.

The first over the starting line is Net Race Live, developed by AniVision of Huntsville, Ala. It is the only company currently offering a PC-based real-time game service. AniVision started out developing real-time simulation technology for the U.S. Army and Marines. Last November it spun off a telemetry tracking software business with $3 million in funding from Hickory Venture Capital Organization.

Through a contract with the Indy Racing League, AniVision launched Net Race Live in May during the Indianapolis 500. The game attracted about 400,000 trial subscribers; about 1,000 of them have elected to pay from $10 to $15 a month for a subscription for the rest of the Indy racing season. AniVision plans to generate revenues primarily from subscriptions and advertising.

AniVision tracks a car's movements using sensors that record the vehicle's speed and movement along a track. Kalisto works differently: Its technology tracks cars using an enhanced version of the global positioning system commonly found in luxury cars. Sportvision's technology combines features of both.

Of the three companies, Kalisto, a French company developing the software behind real-time games, is the farthest back in the business race; Kalisto has a prototype game but is still looking for a publisher. Earlier this year, its executives signed a deal securing the rights to create an Internet game based on Europe's popular FIA GT Championship racing. Kalisto says it plans to license its game to distributors by 2002.

Sportvision, a New York company that provides sports coverage technology to broadcast television, is the only one with no plans to develop games on its own. Instead, the private company will license the data it collects to other media companies. This month the company, which is backed by Intel, signed a deal with NASCAR. That's where Jeff Gordon, NASCAR's leading money-winner, comes in.

Real-time games are emerging just as the major console gamemakers - Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega and Sony - are pinning their hopes on the Internet. These companies will soon be starving for online content. Kalisto, for one, is already looking into other sports, including sailing, bicycling, golf and horse-racing.

Larry Ellison backs Internet game sites
September 11, 2000
Tennis fans go wireless at the U.S. Open
September 8, 2000
Internet brings horse racing back to life
August 22, 2000
Video games go open source
August 15, 2000
Review: Chat between online players with Game Voice
August 28, 2000

WCW Mayhem: Cheats
(GameProWorld)
Hands-On: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
(GameProWorld)
Amazon.com adds online store for computer games
(ComputerWorld)
Sega isn't playing around with SegaNet
(The Industry Standard)
Nintendo's next generation arrives
(GameProWorld)
Top 10 graphics boards for gamers
(PC World)
Sega aims high with SegaNet
(PC World)

AniVision providing cutting-edge online entertainment
Kalisto

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.