WEC Le Mans, known as in Japan, is a racing simulation video game released in arcades by Konami in 1986. It was the first racing video game to depict the 24 Hours of Le Mans World Endurance Championship (WEC). The Lap of Le Mans is split up into three sections, during which the time of day changes from day to dusk, dusk to night, and night to dawn. Gameplay The game attempted to realistically simulate car driving, with the car jumping up and down, turning back and forth, and spinning up to 180 degrees, with an emphasis on acceleration, braking, and gear shifting, along with the need for counter-steering to avoid spin-outs. It also featured accurately simulated courses approved by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, and used force feedback to simulate road vibration in the form of a vibrating steering wheel that reacts to the driver's acceleration and off-road bumps. The game is known as being very difficult to complete: the track's width remains constant at three lanes of racing, and any slight contact with an opposing race car will result in either a spin, or a spectacular flip in the air. Going off the course and running wide at a corner will also end in a spin. Play continues until timer is depleted and/or four successive laps are completed, which ends the game. Arcade cabinet Konami released three different video game arcade cabinet versions of the video arcade game, an upright machine, a 'mini' spin where the driver sat in a sit-down cockpit, and the 'big' spin version, the deluxe arcade version that would actually spin the gamer around a 360° spinning base, turning left or right depending on the corner. The front of the 'big' spin arcade machine looked like a real Prototype C Race car. The arcade cabinet was expensive for its time, with a high price of £7000 in 1986, equivalent to £ or $ in . Ports The game had several ports by Imagine Software (as Imagine Studios) to Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, and ZX Spectrum. A rumored 16-bit port to the Amiga and Atari ST was mentioned, but never came to fruition. Reception The game was commercially successful in arcades. In Japan, Game Machine listed WEC Le Mans on their January 15, 1987 issue as being the most-successful upright arcade unit of the month. The spin cabinet went on to be the fourth