Reality in racing

"Burnout" for XBox360 has a side game where you have to drive your car up a ramp at high speeds and plunge it into oncoming traffic in order to create the biggest explosion. You rack up more points if the explosion causes other cars to crash and explode. This is like an elaborate, player-controlled, cut-scene which, if done properly, can last for several minutes.
Watching the massive pile-up grow in size as other cars on the road plowed into the huge wreck, I felt a sense of pride in my accomplishment because in the bottom of the screen the points kept adding up like arbitrary dollar amounts awarded to pinball players whenever the ball happens to hit anything on the board. This side game of "Burnout" is like a cause and effect experiment in chaos. The cut-scene of exploding cars and trucks is quite spectacular, and it reminds me of the quote, again, from "White Noise" where Murray exclaims that the car crash in the entertainment business is a form of art, beauty in destruction, and all that.
It's undeniable that there is a huge emphasis on the crash, not only in racing games like "Burnout" but within all forms of entertainment as well, at least within America.
There was also another side race in "Burnout" that pits you against a fellow player, or you can play it alone. The object is to cause other (specially designated) cars on the road to flip over and crash/explode. The first to destroy 10 cars wins. Recklessness is the only skill you need for these games, and an enthusiasm for destruction. You gotta really want it in order to win!
The racing game itself relies heavilly on minor crashes to gain boost points that will eventually get you over the finish line. It's a catch 22. You have to waste time crashing in order to get the power of a boost so that you can go faster and take first place. "But why should you waste time crashing into other cars?" you say. Well, it's just so much fun. Plus, you get to watch you car's paint chip a little more every time you crash and if you get into a big enough accident, your bumper will fall off. The realism that the creators of "Burnout" attempt is significant, but realism in the game and actual reality are still very much separated in the players mind. Although it is a sim game, it's not at all realistic...but it is... I think that Burnout's realism has more to do with the fakeness of its ancestral racing games than any actual physical realities to racing.
Part of its realism comes from the background art of the race tracks. They mostly take place in real cities, for example, one of the race tracks is titled "The Eternal City" which is Rome. When Betty and I played Burnout for the first time we chose this track without really thinking about it, but when the game loaded we were very surprised to feel a sense of nostalgia, because last semester Betty and I studied in the eternal city, and the game was very true to the look and feel of those crazy bendy Roman streets and alleyways.
Just a fun fact: before I left for Rome there was a news report about a high-speed chase and gun fight (by the passengers) of two sports cars in the streets of Rome. The Italian government wanted a apology from the U.S. stating that it was our fault because the Italians had reason to believe that one of the shooters was an agent for the CIA. The U.S. denied any involvement.
SO, as for the believability of Burnout, it kind of depends on how often you read the news?

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/399354