Motor City Online

Motor City Online was a MMORG (massively multiplayer online racing game). It was developed and published by Electronic Arts and went offline on August 29, 2003. Initially the game was to be called Need for Speed: Motor City. It is now considered a Need for Speed spin-off and is based on the old Need for Speed game engine. The point of the game was to buy classic American cars (mostly muscle cars) ranging from the 1930s to the 1970s, tune them up, and race them against other players. While Motor City Online was dead, a fan developed Motor City Offline, a version of the game designed for play offline. It contains 34 converted car models from the original game. Motor City Offline was built using a modified version of the Need for Speed: High Stakes engine.

Gameplay
Drivers could have avatars playing as male or female that could also be edited. In this game players primarily buy and tune their vehicles to their likeness. Other than simply buying from a dealership, it was also possible to take part in auctions. After a race, players were allowed to to repair their cars and watch a replay. Motor City Online could be played with either a joypad or a mouse and keyboard.

Race Types

 * Circuit Racing
 * Drag Racing
 * Sanction Racing
 * Street Challenge
 * Test Drive

Customization
Customization seen in this game is very complex and comprehensive, even before the release of Need for Speed: Underground.

Performance Parts
Cars in this game could be fitted with numerous mods such as blowers, camshafts, and headers. It is said that some tuning parts could not be bought directly.

Visual Parts
Any vehicle in Motor City Online could be modified visually. By modifying a car, an additional suffix was added to describe the car's appearance. The game also offered special paint jobs that were incredibly hard to get. Other than that, some vehicles could also be turned to convertibles.

Cars
Motor City Online featured solely American performance and saloon vehicles. Before the game was shut down, two modified tuners were added. They were equipped with V8 engines and rear-wheel drive as EA was experimenting to attract a wider audience. It caused a lot of controversy among the MCO purists who believed that any car in the game should be true to its real life machanics.

1930s

 * 1932 Ford Model B Coupe

1940s

 * 1940 Ford De Luxe Coupe
 * 1947 Cadillac Series 62
 * 1948 Cadillac Fleetwood Station Wagon
 * 1949 Mercury Sport Sedan

1950s

 * 1953 Ford Crestline
 * 1955 Buick Century
 * 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air
 * 1957 Chevrolt Corvette C1
 * 1957 Ford Fairlane
 * 1957 Ford Thunderbird
 * 1957 Ford Ranchero
 * 1958 Chevrolet Impala
 * 1959 Cadillac Eldorado

1960s

 * 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray C2
 * 1963 Ford Thunderbird
 * 1964 Chevrolet Impala 2-door
 * 1964 Ford Galaxie
 * 1964 Ford Mustang Convertible
 * 1966 Pontiac GTO
 * 1966 Shelby Cobra 427
 * 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 427
 * 1969 AMC AMX
 * 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS
 * 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28/RS
 * 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C3
 * 1969 Dodge Charger Convertible
 * 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee
 * 1969 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet 429
 * 1969 Ford Torino GT Fastback
 * 1969 Oldsmobile 4-4-2
 * 1969 Plymouth GTX
 * 1969 Plymouth Road Runner

1970s

 * 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS
 * 1970 Chevrolet El Camino SS
 * 1970 Chevrolet Nova SS
 * 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429
 * 1970 Plymouth Barracuda
 * 1970 Plymouth Duster 340
 * 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

1990s

 * 1993 Toyota Supra
 * 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

End of Game
EA Games eventually took the game servers offline on August 29, 2003. The game lagged and the number of subscribers dropped to below 36,000. During times of high latency, cars acted unpredictably due to lag. EA was focusing on their other online game, The Sims Online. Users who were still playing the game were offered access to Earth & Beyond, The Sims Online, or Ultima Online. The Sims Online eventually went offline in 2008.