Hi all. Well I have to admit it. As much as I'd like to pretend there's simracer blood running through my veins I too give the occasional arcade racer a go. More than once just to see what they are like and be able to have nice conversations about them at work. The first one that really gripped me was Gran Turismo 3 (and please don't give me that 'hey hey hey, this is a true sim' kind of remarks okay? The thing is not called a 'play' station for nothing ...) which kept me occupied for months on a row. I've even almost completely finished it and that means a lot for a game in my hands. Then there was nothing much worth mentioning until last year all of a sudden EA Games presented Need for Speed Underground. As was the case with GT3 in Underground you race, you win money, you tune your car, you win more money, etc. The basics of what I liked so much from GT3. Add to that the possibility to completely re-build your car with spoilers, fenders, nice rims, etc and you can guess the fun we're having with it. It's a bit like having GT3 crossed with the Fast and the Furious, only this time with a story-line :-) The biggest down side of this arcade racing is that you get AI without the 'I' ... man they are stupid, and I mean really, really stupid. I'll get back to that later. Well we're now in 2004 (only just, but still ...) and for a few weeks now we've been having the pleasure of playing with Need for Speed Underground II, the successor so to speak. What they've added is a couple of hundred miles of road which is very nicely done. They have added more customizable cars, and customizable with more options, like car audio for example. For me personally the most appreciated add-on is that they are no longer sticking with those crying for RPM's Japanese cars, but they have added a couple of solid American muscle cars: the Pontiac GTO 2004 and the new 2005 Ford Mustang GT, no less. Now I don't know about you but for me the sound of a big V8 is just about the best sound in the world. I mean really, just think about it. The deep restless rumble when the beast is running idle which quickly turns into a violent roar of thunder when someone steppes the beast on it's tail ... You can't beat that. So now in Underground II there are those two V8 monsters and I have to give EA credits for the sound of them. Never, ever, before have I heard such good V8 sounds in a game. And believe me they've tried to make it work on numerous occasions. This is close to perfection, I can't see anyone topping that anytime soon. Yesterday evening I finally unlocked that Mustang so from now on all my price money goes into that beast in an attempt to make it unbeatable :-) V8's rule, simple as that.