Additionally, any effects on performance can be fixed with a pit stop. The overall effects on performance, however are gradual, with heavy impacts only creating minor or moderate visual damage and performance effects. Colliding with outside walls does have the effect of damaging the chassis, altering the handling of the car. Some damage is visually realistic, with debris falling off cars having the ability to puncture tires. This model is less realistic than pure simulators, but more rigid and less forgiving than prior console games. Physics and damage model Ĭontrary to the initial promotional trailer for NTG: 2011, which features a dramatic crash scene with highly realistic damage, Nascar The Game uses a "scaled back" damage model. NASCAR race director David Hoots is also featured. Ray Evernham is featured as crew chief in NTG: Inside Line, replaced by Jeff Hammond in later games. and current Michael Waltrip Racing executive Ty Norris as spotter. In-car audio features former Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
The pre-race presentation features military aircraft flyovers, fireworks, and the 43-car grid on pit road. Later editions of the game feature commentary from NASCAR on Fox lead announcers Mike Joy and Darrell Waltrip (with Larry McReynolds absent). The series' first installment, NASCAR The Game: 2011, features pre-race commentary from Performance Racing Network radio announcers Doug Rice and Mark Garrow. This is improved over prior console games, though not as in-depth as simulators in-which the player controls the car during pace laps and pit-stops. Also in NASCAR '14, starts and restarts were upgraded, allowing the player to take control of the car within the "restart zone", as opposed to when the car crosses the start-finish line. Beginning with NASCAR '14, group qualifying was integrated.
The series features Cautions (and occasional Red Flags due to excessive wrecks), free pass and wave-arounds, double-file restarts, and Green–white–checker finishes. This lanyard was shared with NASCAR on Fox's race coverage graphics. It features a V.I.P or press pass-style lanyard showing the track specifications and the player's stats at the track. The Loading Screen is presented as a bulletin board, featuring decals of NASCAR contingency sponsors, advertisements for Sprint wireless products, and photos of in-race action from the current game and prior games, and photos the player captures during gameplay. Beginning with NTG: Inside Line, the race day menu was presented as the infield garage of each racetrack. In all iterations of the game, the Main Menu is presented as the interior of a team's home garage, with crew members working on cars, and fans observing from an upper balcony. Eutechnyx describes the series as the most realistic experience available on the consoles.
NASCAR The Game was designed to appeal to the casual video game player, as opposed to full simulators such as NASCAR Racing 2003 Season and iRacing.
Eutechnyx lost the NASCAR license to 704Games in 2015.
Likewise, NASCAR 15 was released as an update to NASCAR 14, and priced significantly lower than most video games. NASCAR The Game: 2011 features the 20 seasons, and NASCAR The Game: Inside Line features the 20 seasons. Īs opposed to annual releases, like in the EA Sports series, Eutechnyx chose to release semi-annual games and add new seasons as downloadable content. In January 2015, Dusenberry Martin Racing (formally known as DMi Games), acquired the NASCAR licence from Eutechnyx, publishing NASCAR '15 as an update to NASCAR '14. Under Deep Silver, NASCAR '14 was released on February 18, 2014. After Eutechnyx had announced plans to self-publish future NASCAR games, in October 2013, Deep Silver announced it had picked up the publishing rights for the series.
In July 2013, Eutechnyx released NASCAR The Game: 2013 (an optimized version of NTG: Inside Line) for Microsoft Windows, the first licensed NASCAR game for PC since 2005. The second title in the series, NASCAR The Game: Inside Line, was released on November 6, 2012. Developer Eutechnyx had signed a multi-year to be the new licensee for NASCAR games, with Activision acting as the publisher. In September 2010, Activision and Eutechnyx announced the development of NASCAR The Game: 2011 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii.