My question was what most people here consider as arcade. Either one of what I wrote could be taken as arcade depending on the person view/opinion, but nowadays younger generation often have different view as to what arcade is than back in the 80's and 90's. My Sega F355 example was to show that even in actual coin op arcade machine, it is possible to have much closer to simulation ( accuracy ) than most PC game of that era ( late 90's ), with only few are more complex in physics like GPL.
For me, the arcade simply means arcade machines. The concept of play and the physics themselves are independent of the term arcade. Sega has an arcade machine with simple concept that made it more like a hardcore simulation, a boxing simulation complete with gloves that you can wear and you have to move physically like a boxer to beat the AI boxer. It uses motion capture as input and all you can do in the game is to beat up the the other boxer and not to get KO'd. No unlocking, no progress tracking ( points, XP ) no rewards other than pride of beating up AI boxer with your own body.
What I would call games like NFS ( after the original ), Burnout, Shift, etc are
casual racing games with highly/moderately simplified physics. The term racing is a simple one too, meaning the gameplay revolves around a set number of cars and laps, a start line and finish line with the focus more on the drop in, drop out gameplay, sort of quick races. Some are littered with obstacles like cops and traffic.
Many people who called arcade usually refers to the style of play that are often similar to what found in arcade machines, but that doesn't make these games ( either on PC or console ) arcade games.
When I refer to
racing simulation, the complex/realistic ones would be like Pcars, where we have full regulations, weekend sessions, championship table etc simulated ( similar to football manager games ) The
driving simulation is a different aspect

where in Pcars, it has
highly advanced physics that simulated more aspects than most other games and in high accuracy and details, from vehicle, tire, track ( layout/surface ), weather/time of day, damage, collision and aerodynamics.
I would classify Pcars as
realistic racing simulation with highly advanced physics, while the usual GT/Forza stuff would be
simple/casual racing simulation with advanced physics. Maybe this is why PD chose driving simulator as their slogan. They never intended the GT series as full blown realistic racing simulation, more like basic simulation, which requires the players to coordinate and do the leg work to organize a race series. Simple format with track, laps, and cars for online, where all the little details are on the players burden ( championship/league ) The general scope of the setup in race resembles track day single race.
What about the race cars in GT ?, they are there to cater those who wanted race cars, a driving sim is not limited to certain vehicles, and PD sort of making GT like a mini catalogue, which is why Kaz gave us Tank Car, Samba Bus, or VGTs or even extreme one like Moon rover and Moon surface. A step that many find ridiculous to do as they expect GT to provide what they wanted and Kaz seems to be doing his own vision of what GT is. This reminded me of how inaccurate are the cars in GT6, except for the visual modelling accuracy which are okay but still needs work too ( Master of None

)
Notice I don't use the term realistic or simcade. I don't know who invented simcade, but it sounds silly to me ( more like immature stereotypes )
Realistic is very relative and also vague in measuring a simulation, every car driving physics software have different levels of details being simulated and how accurate they are simulating each aspect/details. Then we have the input/output + feedback hardware that can elevate the experience even more. From Oculus display, thousands dollars motion rig with elaborate feedback system ( vibrations ), top dollar steering wheel/pedals, big curved panoramic screens etc.
In one end we have 80's driving simulation played with keyboard and 2d graphics, and the other end, the latest F1 pro simulator rig used by actual F1 team that costs tons of money to own and run. Both end are simulation but have very different level of realism and accuracy.
Every few years, big improvements are made in vehicle simulation used in games ( PC and console ) and they usually claimed to be realistic or the most realistic, there must so many levels of realistic from 90's to 2010's
The success of Pcars might change other game makers to follow suit the direction in terms of driving simulation level, but racing simulation from casual to realistic style would still have their own crowds/followers, regardless of how advanced the driving simulation is. Imagine a Burnout, NFS games or even GT/Forza with Pcars driving simulation level, it might just work and sells well, but someone has to make an example, SMS with Pcars will be the benchmark for years to come. Will PD and Turn 10 step up ?
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