Photos: Video games at the 2008 New York auto show

Saleen gave Rockstar Games space in its booth at the 2008 New York auto show to demo its upcoming race game, Midnight Club: Los Angeles. The prospect of racing a Dub edition Saleen Mustang through the streets of Los Angeles with no consequences proved too much temptation for our automotive editor.

Car Tech editor Wayne Cunningham, xBox controller in hand, is watched over by the Rockstar crew, who judge his video game driving skills with a skeptical eye.

The game ends with a spectacular crash, but Rockstar promises the game will come out later this year, offering more driving fun. Midnight Club focuses less on realism and more on a fun racing experience, although all of its cars are drawn from the real world. The game lets you rove the streets of Los Angeles, recreated with much attention to detail, and engage in impromptu races.

We've seen demos of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at many car shows recently, with elaborate controllers featuring real racing seats. This game attempts to recreate the driving experience in detail with a variety of photo-realistic rendered cars.

For less than sizzling fun, editor Wayne Cunningham gets distracted by the Toyota Tundra game, the object of which is to drive around looking for a construction site.

Subaru had its own controller set up for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, letting you race the new STI on a rally track. The pod bounces around, simulating the way your car bounces around the track in the game.