Forza Motorsport 3 (Xbox 360)

Pros: Slick graphics, excellent driving physics, accurate modelling on cars' performance and looks, FUN, career mode makes you feel like you're a driver.

Cons: Replay value is limited for casual gamers.

Summary: Racing sims are the video game industry equivalent of Christian Rock music: They have a built in audience that likes to spend money; as a producer, you know what your audience expects; they have a broad enough appeal to bring in the casual consumers.

That being said, the thing that bothers me most about these games is the lack of off track innovation. One of the things that really appealed to me about the NASCAR series of games, and APEX Racing, was the off track elements such as team management, technology development, and the miscellaneous stuff that real teams have to deal with like pit crew staffing, sponsorships, etc.

Granted, in the beginning of Forza 3, the player is driving production cars and won't, like in real life, have much of a pit crew. As your career progresses, though, the player could recruit, build, or join a professional team and it would feel much more realistic.

What Forza does very, very well is give you the experience of driving some of the most expensive and highest performing automobiles in the world, as well as a variety of the average cars. It conveys the beauty and excellence of precision engineering coupled with the adrenaline of hugging the rear fender of the guy in front of you at 243 mph. It gives you the experience of being able to try out cars you've never even heard of.

What it doesn't do is convey the feeling that you are in the world of racing wholly and completely. You're just playing a video game.