| Statistics have shown that there is a rapidly growing | | | | with the likes of Out Run, a game that put you in |
| trend towards the demand of free online driving | | | | the seat of some of the worlds best sports cars |
| games to play today. Driving games are nothing new | | | | whilst combing great graphics with realistic, albeit |
| and they have indeed been around for many years, | | | | arcade style, adrenalin fueled game play. |
| the first of which was widely regarded as Gran Trak | | | | Free online driving games were, however, were a |
| 10, originally released by Atari way back 1974. Gran | | | | much later addition to the gaming family tree. Early |
| Track 10 was based around an overhead driving view | | | | online racing games were playable but cumbersome, |
| of the race track and due to the computing | | | | not pleasing to eye and slow to load, a real step |
| limitations of the time it ran on very low resolution, | | | | backwards. It was not until the creation of a |
| chunky with white on black graphics. The object of | | | | complete new web application, namely Flash, |
| this pioneering driving game was simple and | | | | introduced by Macromedia in 1996 that things really |
| straightforward, you had to beat the clock. The next | | | | started to get interesting again. Flash was a ground |
| driving game to become a hit was Night Racer, which | | | | breaking tool which allowed for much higher end |
| was developed by Micronectics a few years later. | | | | graphics, animation and interactivity to be added to |
| Night Racer pushed the gaming envelope of the time | | | | web pages, elements that lend themselves |
| by offering a 3 dimensional driving style, though as | | | | particularly well to online driving games. |
| the technology was still very limited the actual course | | | | The rest we should say at this time is history and |
| was marked out by simple small columns alone and | | | | free online driving games rapidly became what they |
| the graphics again were provided in basic black and | | | | are today, faster loading, quick playing with visual |
| white format. As with Gran Track the object of the | | | | graphics becoming in some instances inseparable from |
| driving game was to improve your lap times and beat | | | | the more expensive PC or console based games. A |
| the clock. | | | | great number of driving game styles can now be |
| Five or six years later driving games began to enter | | | | found and be played on the internet, with common |
| a more competitive dimension and this was thanks in | | | | titles that include car racing, truck driving games, 4x4 |
| part to Namco with the launch of the well known | | | | rallying, parking test games, boat skippering, on and |
| driving game, Pole Position. Pole Position allowed | | | | off road motorbike racing and monster truck games |
| players to race against other track cars for the first | | | | and due to the advent and recent development of |
| time and it took driving games to a new level by | | | | online advertising it looks like free driving games will |
| improving the graphics, scrolling and the ability to | | | | be hear in many shapes and forms for many years |
| drive real circuit layouts, in color! A few years later, | | | | to come. |
| around 1986, driving games really starting to hot up | | | | |