Horse Racing Video Games
 

I don't know how many of you guys are into video games, but I just thought I'd pass along a fun title.

I recently rediscovered my copy of Gallop Racer 2006 for the PlayStation 2. To my knowledge it is the most recent offering for horse racing titles for the PlayStation 2 (in the USA).

Fun to play and might be a good way for people who know nothing of the real game to get an interest. Racing, betting and even breeding are included.

Anyone who has seen or played "Derby Owners Club" in the arcades and bars would have an idea of what it's like.

Unfortunately, though these games are extremely popular in Europe and Japan, recently Tecmo, producer of "Gallop Racer", and Koei, producer of "G1 Jockey" have chosen to avoid marketing and releasing in the USA. "G1 Jockey 3" and "Gallop Racer 2006" for the PS2 and backward compatible PS3's are the best available. Supposedly "G1 Jockey 4" is available for the Wii as well.

It has to be the last version. Playstation 2 is almost dead (no new titles are being made for it...at all)

Maybe there is a PS3 version you are overlooking.

Maybe. I saw rumors of a "Gallop Racer Online" but it might be Japan-only. There is a "G1 Jockey 4 2008" released for the UK, for use on the PS3. Depending on which PS3 system you have, it would run since the PS3 is not region specific. I've tried to get a copy and have not been successful yet.

One side note: The "Gallop Racer" series of games have betting, but the "G1 Jockey" games do not. They still allow progress through the game and the winning of titles and purses, but the betting thing for Gallop Racer adds even more dimension to their game.

I play Gallop Racer too, quite a bit, but I never liked the 2006 version for PS2 and still have it just sitting around. The gameplay seems choppier to me and I don't really like the progression plan they have. Gallop Racer 2004 "A New Breed" is what I'm still playing, and that's more jockey-focused where you earn skills and then get better horses that you can eventually "own" and then breed them yourself and so on and so on.

Looking forward to something cool on 360 someday, but Gallop Racer is awesome (though the '04 one doesn't have betting) and has eaten up way too many days of my life.

And I've got a copy of 2006 sitting around somewhere if someone wants to basically take it off my hands, I won't ever play it.

They had that Breeders Cup Championship game that came out in like 2005...I own it, not a big fan, just always played real awkwardly.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/sports/b...cup/index.html

Game is so unrealistic. I used to spot the field about 30 lengths and come back to win. My stable won every major race in its division.

I'm actually trying to find another copy of Gallop Racer 2006 for a friend of mine and I'm having trouble, so yeah, if you want to get rid of it let me know.

I was big into Derby Owners Club, they had one at Dave and Buster's in Cleveland. It was a great game until people starting cheating by buying juiced horses. It also got rather expensive...from the time you foaled a horse til you raced and retired it, it was at least $30 per horse.
Even still it was very addicting and worthwhile, much better then gallop racer.

G1 jockey 3 is by far the better simulation, but no breeding or betting. There is an english version of G1 Jockey for wii, and is possible to play on North American systems. The trick is you can never update your system, and there is a mod Cd that you will need to play Pal games on NTSC platform.

amazon.com might have it

Gallop racer 2006 here it is on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/GALLOP-RACER-200...eo_Games_Games

I agree with SB. Jockey is definitely a better riding simulation. Plus the little things such as there are different tracks that all play different. All the horses have their own running styles and you could see who should be where. I always thought the betting in GR was useless. In jockey you can see where they think you horse should finish. I always thought it was cool when you could bring in a horse that was picked to be 16th. The only thing better about GR is that have a quasi like Triple Crown and Breeders Cup. But overall I like the Jockey game better and have wasted many hours of my life playing it. Actually my son likes to ride his rockin horse with his whip and goggles as I play the game.

omg worst game of all time. they kept pushing back the release date, and it was nearly impossible to get once it came out right away, and then i finally brought it home and it was the biggest piece of crap

Gallop racer was the s*it. We used to play the three race ramdom where they would pick the three horses for you in each race. Luck of the draw and they would tab the points at the end of the 3 rounds and the winner moved on. Hell Billy was the horse we always rooted to get...monster.

Breeders Cup game was garbage although they did have all the real tracks you could race on, even Saratoga.

I've owned every Gallop Racer in the series for the PS2 and I have to agree with the earlier caller, Gallop Racer 2003: A New Breed is champion! I also have a copy of 2006 I'd be happy to give away.

Note: There is a horse racing nut out there that took all the fictional S and A graded horses and made a list of their real-life counterparts. It can easily be found on the Internet with a simple Google search.

Nevermind. I found it for you:

http://finalturn.com/database/gr2003.php

I have had the same experience, the 04 much better than the 06.

I was so excited before this release but was so dissapointed witht the gameplay. You can only whip the horse when instructed to do so.

There is a very good PC game called Horse Racing Fantasy 2

lol that's funny. So basically the game tells you when to make your move? That's not horse racing! I mean...if I want to set 21 and 44 fractions in a route race while playing a racing video game, I should have the freedom to make that choice.

Starters Orders 3 is by far the most realistic simulation of racing I've found. You can have a look at it here - http://www.startersorders.com

But it's really UK-oriented. The US and Australian parts of the game are far less accurately done.

How many U.S. tracks does Gallop Racer 06 have?

This is by far the best simulation/game out there:

http://www.horseracegame.com/


Has real horse files. You can race/set up races with just about every decent horse that has run. The game is free....but the horse files are like 10 bucks each (each file contains a group of horses from each year). Everything is downloaded from their website. You can bet and also be the jockey. Is very similar to Gallop Racer as far as the jockey part of the game. You can choose different camera angles while riding. The horses run EXACTLY like they do in real life. I ran a sprint with Bordanaro,Fabulous Strike,Commentator,Atilla's Storm,Bonapaw,Orientate,Caller One,Shake You Down, and Swept overboard. They destroyed each other up front and Swept Overboard blew by em all in the stretch.


In my opinion by far the best game out there.

Want to email me the famous horse files?? ;)

I would.....but they are only like 9.95 a for a group. These guys put together a great game...they deserve the money.

Seriously though, is worth downloading the free version with the fantasy/made up horses to try out. Then buy the real horses. The game also comes with a file of like 400 races already set up...you just have to pick which horses to run in em (everything from The Kentucky Derby to The Long Acres Mile at EMD). You can also create your own races at any track out there.

Like I said....is the best game out there...

Looks AWESOME!

there was a game out years ago for pc for horse racing. you didn't actually get to be the jock, but you had a 'draft' where you picked horses (the computer stables picked as well) and then you had to figure them out, train them, and enter the horses in the right races. i remember one horse only ran well at 7 furlongs on dirt....
anyway, i enjoyed it, but that was so long ago. haven't found anything like it since.
i have the bc game, but it's waaay too easy.

Are there any U.S. tracks on Gallop Racer 06 ?

I'm not sure if they are real american tracks (in how they are actually modeled in the software), but they do list Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Miami and a few other cities. Whether these are actually like Atlantic City Race Course (doubtful), Philadelphia Park (maybe), or one of the Florida tracks is unknown.

That guy who really found the real life counterparts might know though. The distances given are in furlongs like the real distances would be.

Telling KOEI to make another G1 Jockey for the US...
 

Guys,

I'm at risk of going into full activist mode on this one, but I have a post in koei's forum, asking for a release of G1 Jockey 4 or the next version for the PS3. Here's the link if any of you guys want to follow suit:

http://www.koei.com/community/index....8368#msg268368

TECMO's site looks like it is not updated often and I could not find a similar ability to post to a community bulletinboard. Rumor is that KOEI and Tecmo are in talks for KOEI to buy TECMO. So it is likely that only one of the two: G1 Jockey or Gallop Racer, will survive. Of course that could mean that they will merge the best elements of both games and make one really awesome one. Let's get them to release it here too and not just in the UK and Japan.

Joe

Just an update, my post on the KOEI bulletin board got absolutely no response, from their community or from the company. I'm not getting a warm feeling about the potential for an American release of their newest horse racing game.

Tecmo has also been unreachable -- e-mailed them a few weeks ago -- nothing.

I purchased the G1 Jockey 4 game for the PS3. It is the UK version, but it works on American PS3's. Graphics are good, but the game as a whole is not as good as prior G1 games. Riding the horse is awkward and extremely difficult as it is rhythm based (and it is exteremly hard to keep the rhythm). The old versions were based on using the bit and "keeping your horse happy" so to speak. www.orlworld.com is a good video game horse racing website with a lot of great info and they have online racing leagues you can join.

Welcome to DT

Welcome to the forums! I had no idea about the rhythmic nature of the controls. That would get on my nerves. I have a copy of G1 Jockey 3 for the PS2 and I also prefer that control setup. The Gallop Racer 2006 is even a little better I think.

Thanks for the welcomes! I have lurked for a long time and just wanted to post to help out regarding the games you guys mentioned. I'll try to post more, although my knowledge of racing is half of many other posters here. I am pretty good at win betting, but average at best with exotic betting. I have been following the sport closely for about 13 years (Cigar brought me into the sport). I have attended the Derby every year since Monarchos' in 2001 and love the fall meet at Keeneland (I go every year). My interest in racing has taken a hit lately with the deaths of Wanderin Boy and Go Between (they both hit hard for some reason), but I will always love the sport. As for the video games, Gallop Racer 06's racing mechanic is my favorite, but I like 04's and 01's set ups much better - more horses in a stable, don't have to win every race, etc.

Does it matter whether or not you save ground in Gallop Racer? It seems that if you draw an outside post in a race that begins close to a turn, you end up spotting the inside horses a big lead even if you come gunning from the gate. However, if doesn't seem like you are at a huge disadvantage if you swing wide on the far turn.

There does seem to be some relationship between how wide one takes the turn, but since it's a video game more than a simulation, I'm not sure that it's as huge of an impact as in real life. Your position in the grouping of horses does affect the mood of your horse, so in that sense trying to make it a good trip does make a big difference.

Koei and Tecmo merged on 1/26/09
 

Looks like the manufacturers of G1 Jockey and Gallop Racer have merged. Whether either of these games survive or themselves merge is anybody's guess.

---------------------------

http://kotaku.com/5139085/tecmo-koei...tecmo-holdings

It's official. Tecmo and Koei announced today that the two companies have merged, giving birth through stock transfer to a joint holding company called Koei Tecmo Holdings as of April 1.

Last fall, Tecmo rejected Square Enix's offer of a friendly takeover. Instead, Tecmo commenced merger talks with Koei, stating that both "companies have excellent financial positions, strengths and the ability to take advantage of each other in order to improve profitability and solidified the foundation of a worldwide leader."

G1 Jockey for Wii
 

I own G1 Jockey for Wii and have played it using the Wii controls and the balance board. The gameplay is straightforward when it comes to racing, as the controls and graphics make it an enjoyable experience. To some extent you can get the feel of what jockey's go through in races while trying to weave traffic or how to deal with trouble. The play is very realistic.

The game has its biggest problem in the simulator/storyline portion of the game where the game looks more like Leisure Suit Larry circa 1988 where the jockeys beg from work from trainers using annoying text-based messages that require input from the user at each sentence. It takes forever to move the game along, which adds nothing to the overall experience of gameplay. It needs to be eliminated or seriously updated. I won't play the game because of it.

G1 Jockey has a great racing engine, and with the Wii controls, a seriously realistic game, its just the storyline that makes Monkey Ball look more attractive every time I play it.

Yes, American Wii users can creatively find a way to play out-of-region games, but I'm sure if you have the "skill" to accomplish that, you will know where to find the details on "how" to do that.

This might be the dumbest question I've ever written on the internet. But probably not.

Does anyone know if race record affects breeding success in Gallop Racer? Or is a well-bred horse going to be a great sire if I retire him early instead of after winning 30 Grade I races and same with the mares?

:o

Gotta race.

That was actually the smartest question I have read on a message board in a long time.