Australian coders Immersion Technology showcase RaceAge

Developed for the Arcade PC using Quantum 3D's Quicksilver II hardware and Immersion Technology's proprietary Evolution 3D graphics engine, RaceAge was recently unveiled at the Amusement Showcase International in Las Vegas.

The game was displayed on the Lazer-Tron stand under Intel's Open Arcade banner and is essentially a PC game in an arcade cabinet. RaceAge is, not surprisingly, a driving game, but with a difference as it covers three eras of racing - the '50s, '90s and future racing of 2040. The basic idea of the game is that the player controls a team (comprising driver and mechanic) and must then build and race cars from each of the eras with only the technology and tools available from that time.

There are some 12 tracks in the game, each with three different courses and some 24 cars from the various time periods. Developed on a PII 266 with Voodoo2, RaceAge is due for release as a standalone PC title in the first half of next year.

Finding a PC game in your local arcade may sound wacky, but it's nothing new. People attempted to do the same thing with Atari ST hardware in arcade cabinets and the concept is sound. Essentially, stick a PC inside a cabinet and you can change the software easily without having to fork out tens of thousands for dedicated hardware. Unfortunately the technology of the '80s showed how woefully lacking it was compared to that dedicated arcade hardware and the punters were unwilling to put their money in the slot. But with today's accelerated graphics cards the gulf between top-of-the-range PC titles and arcade machines is much smaller. Maybe now the concept will actually have a sporting chance of commercial success.