Nürburgring 1

In 1976 there were 3 other first-person driving games released: Night Driver (Atari), Night Racer (Micronetics) and Datsun 280 Zzzap (Midway). All of them were inspired by Nürburgring 1. It was Ted Michon, working at the time for Digital Games, who witnessed the Nürburgring game in a bowling alley when visiting one of their customers in Düsseldorf (Germany). Michon met the game's designer, Reiner Foerst.

Foerst was working with American companies to license his game. There was a problem, however. The game design was very complex (it included a rack with 28 pc boards). Michon tried to explain to Foerst that his company might be interested in the game but the design was not economically feasible. Foerst, however, was convinced he would be able to sell it as it is.

After Michon returned state-side, he set to work on a more practical all-digital version of the game called Night Racer. When Digital's Bill Prast saw the game, he was so impressed he showed it to Midway cofounder Hank Ross and the two struck a deal in which both would produce a version of the game with Midway paying royalties to Digital.

At the time, Digital was experiencing financial difficulties. In June of 1976 it shut its doors. A company named US Medical Industries bought its inventory at auction and the following Monday Digital reopened its doors as Micronetics.

Micronetics didn't last long, but they did show Night Racer at the AMOA show (reportedly because, if they didn't, Midway wouldn't have to pay them royalties).

While this eventually led to Midway and Atari releasing their first-person driving game, Foerst designed another 2 versions of Nürburgring years later.