I was thinking this might actually be an interesting idea.  Have a racing game that uses something like Google Maps or Mapquest or Yahoo maps as the basis for the roads.  It would also track weather and traffic conditions also.  You could do something like The Great American Cross-Country Road Race (Activision did this in 8 bit days), or like the movies Gumball Rally or Cannoball Run. 

If roads or bridges are out or added, the game would update.  Of course, trying to render buildings right would be a challenge, but maybe with enough storage, you can have enough.  You could, for giggles drive by your own house in the game.

Anyone think this might be a cool idea?  The thread of Fuel put this in my mind.

So how many hundreds of dollars are you willing to pay for a copy?

how about a house blowing up game that takes everyone's house off of google maps and u can go blow it up?

ha yea, this game would costs billions to make, and take longer to come out than Too Human

It is merely a matter of getting road, weather and traffic data off the Internet and having the game use it to generate what the player plays in.

I would be nice but with computer generated streets and bridges kind of like GTA games but with driving similar to the GT series. putting actual street and landmarks would take alot of research and money.

Good Idea though call M$/Sony.

To render them and have them ready, would take a lot of effort, and time, and storage.  It could be done if the pile of scenery was large enough.  What one could do is have main things rendered, and then use the Internet for tech updates and refresh for game status.  Maybe have it so you do a Rally method, and then pick your path.  The game then checks on the internet for weather and road conditions, and you do it real time.  There is a risk that it would look recycled and cookie-cutter though. 

This might be a case for Sony to push the need for Blu-Ray for some games, the same way announcing could benefit from Blu-Ray.

So you want to play a racing game on top of pictures? Google maps isn't exactly filled with renders of buildings and streets, and copying the real world detail provided by those maps would be ridiculously expensive. Again, how many hundreds, nay, thousands are you willing to pay for a single copy? Keep in mind, it took Sega $70 million dollars for a much less detailed representation of what is essentially a single neighborhood in Japan in video game form (Shenmue). To have any semblance of the real world would take way more money than you can imagine to develop, and that's what you're asking for here. Unless you want every building and street to look the same, of course, at which point you stop having an audience. No one wants to drive on very ugly, inaccurate road that sorta reminds them of home. They could, you know, go drive a real car. Really, everything you're asking for can be done without using real maps, so why not just do it with courses designed by professionals to be fun? Heck, if you didn't base it on real life then you could practice any course in any weather when you want to, not when it happens by chance.

It's a clever idea. Problem is, most roads weren't designed with people racing in mind, there'll be too many narrow roads and corners would be too sharp, etc.