LONDON: While many of us have not experienced the joys of driving as much as we usually would with restrictions on travel due to the pandemic, racing games are an alternative for those who want to hit the road.
But do they improve our motoring ability? It depends where you're from. New research by UK's Pentagon Motor Group reveals which country is the best at driving video games.
This study analyses gaming data of "achievements" from over 800 of the most popular driving video games, such as "Mario Kart," "Grand Theft Auto Online" and "F1."
It takes into account metrics like high scores, fastest laps and completion times to determine which country is home to the Mario Andretti and Lewis Hamilton of the gaming community.
The results reveal that Finnish gamers have logged more high-ranking achievements per capita than any other country, followed by the people of Estonia and New Zealand.
Australian virtual drivers follow on the leaderboard, while American gamers have only managed to squeeze in at 8th. While the United Kingdom is home to real-life racing champions like Lewis Hamilton and Colin McRae, it only placed in 15th. It seems that Britons could use some driving lessons as soon as they will resume at the end of the national lockdown.
However, all is not lost for the virtual drivers of the United Kingdom.
According to the research, they rank at No. 4 for the "Gran Turismo" titles and the "F1" series. British gamers have also mastered racing in the classic "The Simpsons: Hit and Run," although they are not as accomplished as inhabitants in Finland (No. 1) and Australia (No. 2). While Japan is left out of the top 15 of the countries with the best virtual drivers, it claims gold for the popular "F1" series.
Discover the 15 countries that have the most accomplished virtual racers below:
1. Finland
2. Estonia
3. New Zealand
4. Australia
5. Switzerland
6. Sweden
7. Lithuania
8. United States of America
9. Denmark
10. Canada
11. Uruguay
12. The Netherlands
13. Bulgaria
14. Hungary
15. United Kingdom
