nascar posts

This week it was revealed that game consoles will once again be be getting an official NASCAR racing game. Developer Eutechnyx and publisher Activision officially announced NASCAR The Game 2011 which will be released for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii in February 2011. But is Eutechnyx planning to release a PC version via digital download?

That possiblity is stronly hinted at in a new interview at VG247.com with the game's executive producer Dave Thompson. He stated that there is a lack of retail space for PC games that makes it hard to recoup the money needed to ship a PC version to stores. However he added, " ... we have something up our sleeves that should satisfy the legions of dedicated PC racers – watch this space."

Earlier this year, PC gamers were able to enter official NASCAR sanctioned online racing leagues via iRacing.com. However that online-only service is for hardcore racing sim players while Eutechnyx's NASCAR The Game 2011 is being designed for a more mainstream game audience.

After displaying games like BioShock 2, God Of War 3 and others on GameStop's NASCAR ride, the number 20 Toyota driven by Joey Logano got an actual racing game for Friday night's race at the Richmond Motor Speedway placed on the vehicle. It was Split/Second, the upcoming action-racing game from developer Black Rock Studios and publisher Disney Interactive.

While Friday night's Bubba Burger 250 race in the Nationwide series didn't have things like gas stations exploding or airplanes falling out of the sky, it looks like having Split/Second on the car didn't hurt Logano too much; he finished sixth in the race.

Danica Patrick is one of the most well know female figures in sports and now she will add something else to her resume. USA Today reports that the IndyCar driver will lend her voice to a character in Blur, the upcoming racing-action game from developer Bizarre Creations and publisher Activision.

Patrick, who admits in an interview that she is not much of a gamer herself, is keeping the specifics of her character role in Blur a secret for now. While Patrick is a solid IndyCar racer (this year she's also racing part time in NASCAR), she is perhaps better known for her modeling pictorials in the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and other magazines. She's also a spokesperson for GoDaddy.com which have put her in some rather sexy TV and internet commercials.

2K Games has done a number of innovative things to promote the just released first person shooter BioShock 2. That included making a phyiscal office that travels to conventions, and having viral events that led people to specific locations. Later today BioShock 2 get a new promotion but this one is a bit more mainstream in design.

During NASCAR's Nationwide Series opener at Daytona Florida later today (that's the series just below the main Sprint Cup series), driver Joey Logano will be driving the GameStop sponsored number 20 car. That car will get a new art design for nearly every race this season and it so happens the first one for 2010 is for BioShock 2. Yep, you will be seeing the Big Daddy on the hood of the car when the race begins at 1 pm Eastern time today on ESPN 2.

Tomorrow is the last race of the season for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and in the pack trying to win at the Homestead-Miami Speedway will be driver Joey Logano. His number 20 car will be outfitted with a special Modern Warfare 2-GameStop design that was made specifcially for this race.

Logano will be going for his sixth win in the Nationwide Series this year (which is one step below the main NASCAR Sprint series) during the Ford 300 race event. The race itself is being broadcast on ESPN2 at 4:30 pm Saturday. Too bad there's not a Left 4 Dead 2 race car to go against it.

[Via email press release]

Last August we reported on the launch of iRacing, a multiplayer online PC racing sim company that was co-founded by Dave Kaemmer, a co-founder of the now defunct Papyrus Racing developer that created the acclaimed NASCAR Racing sims for the also now defunct Sierra. Well, it seems what comes around goes around (an apt NASCAR metaphor) as iRacing has just announced a new agreement with NASCAR to run a fully sactioned NASCAR online racing series.

The online series will begin in early 2010 and will allow NASCAR fans to drive in multiplayer online races against each other and even against real NASCAR drivers, including Dale Earnhardt, Jr. This will be the first NASCAR licened PC game since Electronic Arts released the horrible NASCAR SimRacing game in 2005. iRacing charges $19 a month for its services with annual subscriptions lowering the amount to $13 a month.

The legendary NASCAR Racing sim games from the now defunct Papyrus Software and Sierra were some of the best racing games ever made. But when Electronic Arts got hold of the exclusive NASCAR game rights a few years ago they pretty much game the PC platform the cold shoulder. They ported a couple of their console NASCAR games to the PC but the last PC specific game they made was the disastrous NASCAR SimRacing, released four years ago this month (that's the box cover on the right).

Now it seems EA's NASCAR exclusive deal could be on the ropes. The Sporting News is reporting that NASCAR is considering that instead if just renewing EA's deal it is "considering a nonexclusive approach that might open the category to other game makers." If such a move happens it could pave the way for a true NASCAR PC racing sim title to be released.