Racing game suggestions with LAN support?

[fastbilly1]

So I am looking for any suggestions yall have of PC, or emulated Arcade/console games, that have LAN multiplayer. I have six pcs of various builds, two are moderate gaming pcs the rest are roughly highend gaming pcs from the 2006 era. Eventually they will all be moderate gaming pcs, but that will be over time. Specs aside, I am looking for fun racing games that will support atleast four players over LAN (more is better obviously).

I currently have almost every racing game on GOG, so I am branching out. My group prefers arcade styled racing but have Live for Speed and rFactor installed. I have not kept up with racing games so I am really curious to if yall know of anything new. Ive been told to look into Blur and Ridge Racer Unbounded, and a DVD of each is on its way.

I should also mention that I prefer Steam or Retail release of games. So any suggestions?

Edit:
And for the tech heads: each machine will be on gigabit with Cat6a, and a TP-Link TL-SG1016D (16 port switch). Granted the network does not need to be that powerful, but it will help alot with transferring files and ghosting (if I opt for it). I have a copy of Thinstall through work so if I dont ghost, each game will simply be a directory that is transferred (or on Steam). Though there are a couple games that dont like Thinstall, ie Live for Speed, but if I can cut down on the individual work to mostly just transferring, it makes the admin portion of the setup alot easier.

[wip3outguy7]

Two copies of Ridge Racer Type 4, two Playstation 1s, a link cable, two TVs, and 4 controllers is bliss if you are looking for arcade racing.

Bonus: If everyone has been playing for awhile and has personal garages built up on their memory cards, they can use them to race.

Edit: Ahh, I see you specified "emulated" console games. I'll leave this here anyway. It's a cheap setup now that PS1s are a dime a dozen and R4 isn't a hard title to find.

[fastbilly1]

Well wip3outguy7, apparently epsxe can support lanplay, though buggy. I will have to give RR4 a shot, Ive been told great things about it, and how the new one is more Burnout than classic gameplay. You can also apparently do Wipeout 3 aswell.

[wip3outguy7]

That's pretty awesome about Wipeout 3. I think it supports splitscreen 4 player via two TVs and a link cable. I just specifically remember R4 because we would play it pretty often back when it came out.

Oh and this might be worth checking out. Ghegs over at shmups set up an arcade racer forum awhile back: http://www.rolling-start.com/forum/

I'm sure they could give you a huge list.

[fastbilly1]

It just means I need to figure out how to split the image over two monitors for each pc.

My ultimate plan is to have several cabs in the style below with interchangable controls. Each would run a 32inch flat screen with a sound system and have mounting points for Wheel and Shifter, Flightstick/HOTAS, Keyboard/Mouse, Gamepad, etc. That way we can decide to play racing games, and I can have them setup in about an hour. Or if we decide for some Mechwarrior or Descent, that is doable aswell. I was going to build some Battletech pods for Mechwarrior 4/Online (my wife is a huge Battletech fan and loves to play Mechwarrior), but after talking to Mechcorps about their pods, we decided to go with something alittle more multifunctional.

But those cabs are atleast five years down the road. Right now, I have the space for four in my gameroom, but we do not have the time/funds to build them right now. So for now, we are going to gather some more games, run them with controllers and keyboard/mouse on mismatch pcs, and slowly build up to the cabs. I have two chairs from a SCUD racer cab and will be trying to buy two more in the near future - have a lead on some from an arcade repair place. This is just a super long term project.

Cab design:

[mrkola]

Flatout 2 is awesome on LAN. We've been playing it for years, demolition derby mode never gets old. The TrackMania games (Nations/United/Forever) are quite a bit of fun as well. I'll also suggest GRID, its more simulation-esque but you can definitely tone that down.

[wip3outguy7]

It just means I need to figure out how to split the image over two monitors for each pc.

My ultimate plan is to have several cabs in the style below with interchangable controls. Each would run a 32inch flat screen with a sound system and have mounting points for Wheel and Shifter, Flightstick/HOTAS, Keyboard/Mouse, Gamepad, etc. That way we can decide to play racing games, and I can have them setup in about an hour. Or if we decide for some Mechwarrior or Descent, that is doable aswell. I was going to build some Battletech pods for Mechwarrior 4/Online (my wife is a huge Battletech fan and loves to play Mechwarrior), but after talking to Mechcorps about their pods, we decided to go with something alittle more multifunctional.

But those cabs are atleast five years down the road. Right now, I have the space for four in my gameroom, but we do not have the time/funds to build them right now. So for now, we are going to gather some more games, run them with controllers and keyboard/mouse on mismatch pcs, and slowly build up to the cabs. I have two chairs from a SCUD racer cab and will be trying to buy two more in the near future - have a lead on some from an arcade repair place. This is just a super long term project.

Cab design:

That sounds incredible. Definitely keep us posted on how the project is coming along.

[d123456]

ps1 and ps2 can be forced to true widescreen in emulators. But only ps2-real console can be forced to true widescreen.
I would recommend Battle Gear 2. It has not lan, but firewire i.connect linkability. Only 2 players though afaik.
Ridge Racer Unbounded looks like total crap.
I'll be following your progress closely

[Pulsar_t]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjTzo5Wspyk