According to 3DO, its goal with SRS: Street Racing Syndicate is an accurate re-creation of the street racing culture in a game. While other games include licensed cars, parts, and perhaps interaction with the police, no game has included the likenesses of real-life models, which you'll find in SRS: Street Racing Syndicate. The game will include 18 models, including Sasha Singleton, Francine Dee, Natasha Yi, Cheri Roberts, Flo Jalin, Kaila Yu, Aiko Tanaka, and other well-known models from events like Hot Import Nights and Import Revolution.

　　Our first question was, other than serving as eye candy, what purpose do the models serve in the game? As you earn street credibility in the game through winning races, you'll be able to gain the attention of the various models. Eventually you'll be able to get one of them to be your girlfriend. Once you've earned their trust, your girlfriends will give you useful information, such as the times and locations of illegal street racing events you may not have otherwise known about, or secret information about other racers, like special parts they might have under the hood that you wouldn't have known about before entering a race with them. If you participate in legally sanctioned races, you'll be able to enter your girlfriend(s) into side events like the bikini dancing contest. The happier they are with you, the better they'll dance, and the more likely they'll be to earn you extra money. You can even use your girlfriends in a less politically correct manner--as collateral in an illegal race. If you're short on cash, it's possible to use any of your girlfriends as the ante to enter a race. You'll even be able to win more girlfriends in this manner.

　　Street Racing Syndicate isn't just about the women. You'll be able to race in a variety of licensed cars and outfit them with hundreds of parts from more than 40 real-life aftermarket manufacturers. Currently the game includes only Toyotas and Mazdas, but 3DO is in talks with a number of other car manufacturers to get more variety in the game. The parts include well-known items like APC headers and Veilside body kits, all of which are reflected in the appearance of your car and your 3D-modeled engine. Want a superfast car that looks stock? Or something that's all show and no go? You'll be able to build your cars however you prefer.

　　Surprisingly, the game's graphics engine will visually represent any damage your car sustains. Usually car manufacturers are loathe to seeing their cars sustaining collision damage in games, but because 3DO is making damage repair such a big monetary drain, players have no incentive to rough up their cars. Street Racing Syndicate's physics engine also takes damage into account when calculating speed and handling characteristics. For example, you'll immediately notice a rear-wheel drive car losing significant acceleration if your rear wing gets torn off, as the engine will take into account the loss of downforce on the drive wheels.

　　The game includes three cities in which to race: LA, Miami, and Philadelphia. Each city was accurately modeled using 10,000 photo references for each. In every city, you'll be able to enter legally sanctioned events and illegal street racing meetings. In the legal events, the potential for big money and sponsorships is available, while the illegal street racing events give you more fame, street credibility, and flexibility with your bets (put up money, cars, or your girlfriend as collateral). The illegal events also introduce the danger of police action. The longer you race, and the more damage done to the cars, the more likely the police will show up and break up the races. Once the cops show up, you can pay a fine and leave, or attempt to ditch them, at which point the entire city opens up to you and you'll have to open up enough space between the police and yourself so you can escape. Fail to do so, and your car will be impounded, your aftermarket parts will bestripped, and you'll face even heavier fines.

　　SRS: Street Racing Syndicate is slated for release this summer on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. We'll have more information on the game as it becomes available.