Welcome to Blur Lines, a periodic column I'll be writing here in my GameSpot journal devoted entirely to the world of racing games. Anyone who knows me knows that racers--specifically those of a more sim-like nature--are my weapon of choice when it comes to my gaming free time and, here, I'm aiming to share not only my anecdotes and insight into the world of racing games, but my passion for the entire genre as a whole.
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For the past few months I've been waiting and waiting (and waiting) for MotoGP 06 to come out. Even though I played the living crap out of the game while previewing it, I'm glad to be starting all over, now that I am an official owner. And no, I'm not just doing it for the points--I'm doing it because it's the latest entry in one of my all-time favorite racing series. I actually skipped MotoGP 3, if for no other reason than my Xbox went kaput on me, and I knew the 360 game was coming along sooner or later. And even though there's plenty to like about the last game in the series, I'm pleased as punch to be playing the next gen version of the game.
Yesterday was my first full day to spend with the game, and I spent it going through the first season in rookie mode. I know I can win consistently at a higher difficulty level, but I wanted to ease my way back into the game; re-acclimate myself to the controls and, of course, earn some attribute points for my created rider. The best part about starting out in rookie level is that you can make all the mistakes you want in the game, including learning the racing lines and braking points for the new tracks like Shanghai, Laguna Seca, and Istanbul, without ever being out of contention in the race itself. I even found myself experimenting a bit with some of my time-tested control setups--moving the rear brake to the X button, then the B button to see which setup felt better. It's been a long time since I played a MotoGP game intensely, why not change things up a bit before I get set in my ways...
Winning races and completing challenges in the game earns you 
attribute points for your created rider along four different characteristics--braking, cornering, acceleration, and top speed. The least useful attribute in the game is top speed; it means next to nothing in a game like this. After all, only select portions of a track give you a chance to open things up that far. Instead, speed is found by maximizing your bike through the corners, braking as little as possible and maintaining as much speed as you can in the exit of corners. Consequently, acceleration can be mostly ignored as well--the only time it's really useful is when trying to get back up to speed after mistakes. The best way to be fast on any track in MotoGP 06 (or practically any racing sim) is by getting your braking and cornering together. Personally, I put the majority of my points in braking, followed by cornering, then acceleration, and top speed. It's a formula that seems to have worked so far but, then again, I haven't put my bike up against any real competition yet.
With my attribute points plan in place and an established comfort level with the game's controls to boot, the next stage is to get back into shifting gears manually. In my experience, you simply can't win online races at the upper echelons without it. The setup I prefer in the game assigns the up and down gear shifts to the X and A buttons, respectively, though ideally I'd use the left and right triggers for that. But, no, I can't do that because I use the right trigger for gas, and left trigger for the front brake. If I had the guts to make a big switch in my control setup, I'd move the gear shifts to the left and right trigger buttons and keep the throttle and front brake on the regular triggers, but that's just a bit too much change for my tastes.
Of course all of this racing line and control setup naval gazing has its purpose: online racing. Back in the MotoGP 2 days on Xbox, I was a pretty fine racer, and could hold my own with practically anyone I went up against. Of course, back then, the game didn't use the seeding system the last two games have employed (which supposedly pairs you with racers who are closer to your skill level). I'm fairly certain I could go online tonight and have a great race agianst players of comparable skill. But there's some egotistical part of me that doesn't want to take my game back online until I've got my skills back to where they used to be, or at least as close as possible. So until I've got my bike's attributes maxed, until I've got my paint job and rider's leathers customized to a fine-tuned cool, until I've got the manual gear shifts back under my fingers, I'm holding off on online races. When I re-enter the world of MotoGP online, I want to make sure it's at full strength. Until then, it's the rookie series, and experimentation, and plenty of spills to go along with it.
One more amusing aside from yesterday. While watching me play the game yesterday, my wife casually asked me, "Why don't you play from the first-person view?" I switched over to the dizzying perspective, turned deep into the curve and said, "It's confusing to me. Plus, it's scary." She waited a few seconds and watched the bike takes its deep turns left and right before finally agreeing, "You're right. It's scary."
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Racing Game You Should Play: Colin McRae Rally 2.0
Song That Should Be in a Racing Game: Out Here All Night, Damone
Miscellaneous Racing Thing: Pinks