Funny thing life, do the choices you make form the person you are or do you make your choices based on who you are? Either way I have spent pretty much all of my adult life involved with cars.

But even before I started working with cars I have had a passion for racing games. Way back in the early 90s I use to spend most lunchtimes sat in the local arcade playing one of the first 3D driving simulation games. Viruta Racer may not have looked all that great next to the games of today, but back then it was the business.

As time went by video gaming moved out of the arcades and into the home. I worked my way through pretty much every revolution in home gaming. Over the years I have also worked my way through most driving games on the Megadrive, Playstation 1, 2 and 3 not to mention the Wii. Four player Micro machines was always a hit in our house, before I moved on to the drift-tastic Ridge Racer. Gran Turismo 3 on the Playstation was than a breath of fresh air with its realistic simulation racing.

As if that wasn't enough petrol in my life, I am also lucky enough to compete in motorsport in real life. Not only is this adrenaline soaked fun but it gives me a great perspective when trying out new games. I've even found that not only can my real life driving benefit from the games, but my performance in the games is improved by some hard and fast rubber on tarmac experience.

The biggest difference between virtual gaming and real racing is when you get it wrong you just reset and try again on a console. It's not quite so easy in real life. Therefore it's really useful to practise at home where the cost of mistakes is considerably lower! Most recently my throttle control has come on leaps and bounds from playing Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, something that has made a genuine difference in my competition car.

Joining Game People is still a little daunting, but I hope to offer some insider knowledge and insight into the best and worst driving games and peripherals available. If only my writing can keep pace with my cornering, we should be in for some fun times.

Here are my game reviews.

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