Best game console to race on that won't suck for my teen to play sports games on?

Is there one thats better than the other between Playstation and XBOX?  Is there something similar but better?  Wouldn't get a wheel and pedals at first but id like that to be an option

Really whether you want Gran Turismo (Playstation) or Forza (XBOX). 

All the generic sports games will be the same between either console. 

As noted, I think the sports game availability should be similar.  There will be a new version of GT and I suspect Forza for the new consoles.  Not a lot of info on either yet but you can look into the current versions (reviews etc) to see what you like.  Both of which lean a lot towards "game" then "sim".

For current offerings (I am on PS4) there are also Project Cars 2 and Assetto Corsa.  Both of which are more sim based (more challenging to drive) then GT or Forza and are (and will) be available at a rather large discount from the original price (current GT also of course).  Both of these "should" run on PS5 (most games will).  The new XBOX also claims high compatibility with previous gen games (Forza being a big game for them, I am sure will work). Of (sad) note:  Project Cars will almost certainly not appear on PS5, but there will likely eventually be a new version of Assetto Corsa.

If you are looking to race actual people online, it's generally a pretty big s-show in any case.  If you are into that, I would look for a trusted group to run with in the game you choose (there are some here of course).

All things equal, pswhatever has better integration for sports games. Madden, ncaa, etc. Realistically, they're about the same, but for whatever reason, all the competition is on playstation, same with fighting games. 

Counterpoint- xbox has scored a massive coup with the Forza series. I'd argue it is the best platform racer out there.  So it's a matter of what's more important. Racing, or sports. 

As an aside, the racing community for ps, at least here, is much deeper. Most of us filthy casuals are on xbox, and the guys that would kick my ass are on playstation. 

We have an Xbox, not the 1 the 360 i think, and before that I had a modded PS2 that I played gt2 (I think) to completion.  Asetto Corsa sounds like something I'd be interested in, and Grand Turismo calls to me but I can't say why except maybe nostalgia.

Thanks for all the info yall

Oh, I definitely do NOT want to get my ass kicked by a bunch of kids online

Just to add a bit more info:

GT was originally focused on street cars that you could modify.  It has morphed (in GT Sport) to more race cars, and essentially no modifying of cars (you can change performance and tune, but very basically).  There are some signs that GT may be returning more to its roots (e.g. one of the trailers showed the used car market, which would not make sense for the the GT Sport currently works).  There "may" even be a course maker in the new version (they did have an OK on in a previous version)

Assetto Corsa is, as noted, more sim based.  Graphics are not up to par of PC or GT but the driving dynamics are more like PC but with simpler tuning options.  Assetto Corsa Competition (new version) has updated graphics, but only has GT3 (I think GT4 cars are coming), I am sure there are more to come in the future.  Both will likely involve buying car packs to get all the cars.  AC seems to be more European focused, track wise.

Project Cars 2 (at noted unlikely to have any new versions) has similar sim like dynamics to AC, but has some very involved tuning options (e.g. you can set the brake duct openings on some cars).  There is even a suspension calculator out there to help you with the specifics.  It has a good variation of cars available (classics etc) with all the extension packs added, and has a very good selection of tracks.

Forza (someone else can fill in more info here) appears to be more modified street car based (similar to the old GT) and is more game / casual based like GT.

Something like GT of Forza are more fun to "play", to make achievements, collect cars etc.  Something like PC or Assetto Corsa are more fun to do laps at a course and try to improve you time and experience the challenges of different types of cars (cars are far more dynamic in how they drive).

GTPlanet is a good site to keep track of what is going on in the Consol Sim land:

https://www.gtplanet.net/

Sounds like I might be a Forza guy.  I have always liked the street cars, I know how to set them up (to be clear,, games not necessarily real life) and the race cars are too hard to drive to me, I just look like an Aussie at Summernats in them but thats Forza on the original XBOX so it may be different now.

You're likely a Forza guy. It's 99% street cars. There's even a honda minivan. 

To be clear, there are definitely a lot of street cars in GT, but the trend (in most racing games / sims actually) seems to be toward GT3 type cars (I suspect it's because they still look a bit like street car, but are fast and are, by rules, rather similar in performance).  As noted, it looks like, and hopefully will be true, that GT is moving back towards street cars (at least making them more fun/interesting to race).

That was always what I liked about GT also, the street cars.  The new GT is bringing back Performance Points, which is critical to making racing interesting with street cars, so you can modify / handicap cars so they are more equal.  We used to have great fun setting up races with a bunch of street cars that normally would not be competitive with each other.

If you are not in a hurry (I suspect there is a date later in the year you are working towards though) you might look for initial reviews / releases on GT, it is a very well done game, even if it has lost it's way a bit in the most recent release.  I have even been very excited to see some ports of classic GT tracks (Trial Mountain, Deep Forest) to the PC version of Assetto Corsa, which is a wildly expanded version (by way of user created content) of the PS version.

I am not sure what the status of a new Forza is.  Anyone hear about any future / next gen release?  They seem to be focused on Forza Horizon, which I believe is a slightly different take on traditional Forza (more open world type driving / challenges I think?)  It does seem like both Forza and GT have wandered a bit from what their initial focus was (when they were super popular BTW).

Or go with the master race...you can get most games from box on pc and you can also play BNbeam which is great for crashing and driving things of all kinds of cars.

I don't own a computer other than my smartphone 

I saw a video last night on YouTube that is claiming another Assetto Corsa is coming. 

X-box and playstation are basically the same at this point. There are very few exclusive games. The big piece of advise most people overlook is this: Get what your friends have. If you want to play games with your friends, and you do, you have to have the same console. Find out what your friends have and get that.

AClockworkGarage said:

X-box and playstation are basically the same at this point. There are very few exclusive games. The big piece of advise most people overlook is this: Get what your friends have. If you want to play games with your friends, and you do, you have to have the same console. Find out what your friends have and get that.

Yeah, Xbox vs. Playstation is the Ford vs. Chevy of today. Complete with the tribalism.

I'm way late here but xbox has game pass which has had the 2 most recent NBA and MLB games as well as Forza Horizon for "free". It's $15 a month which includes the online service as well.