Is EA's NASCAR Sim Franchise In Trouble?

[Mo]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jeffrey99

That's the best news I've heard in awhile. As NHL and NBA has shown us, competition is the best thing for making the best games.

I disagree, as I don't think that there are many companies that would care to make a NASCAR game.

[DubTrey1]

I think that there are more "sim" racing games available that consumers are more apt to purchase than EA Nascar offering. I think a more consumer casual game would be more profitable for them as a whole. Makes sense I suppose -

[Solidice]

too bad EA already drove Papyrus out of business.


Nascar racing: 2003 season is still the best Nascar sim there is.

[Jeffrey99]

Quote: Originally Posted by miget33

I disagree, as I don't think that there are many companies that would care to make a NASCAR game.

Two companies are releasing Motocycle racing games in the US this year (MotoGP 08 and SBK World Championship). Motorcycle racing is far less of a popular sport in the US then Nascar. Will many companies want to try and make a Nascar game now? Not sure. But I'd be betting there still be a few around if EA hadn't had the exclusive license. Heck at one point and time between PC & console you had 3 different games availalbe between Nascar Racing series, Nascar Heat and EA's Nascar Game. Either way companies every year make games that I think would sell less then a Nascar title.

[lnin0]

The one thing you have to consider is NASCAR is greedy so the bottom line will be what wins with them. They could care less about having a 'sim' or competition between developers.

The cost of licensing the drivers/teams and NASCAR name probably exceeds that of the Moto GP series by ten fold. While I would love to see some competition with NASCAR games it would not come from a small company like Papyrus. If someone else entered the arena with EA it would be a large publisher like Activision or ... well, I cannot think of anyone else. Codemasters and Ubisoft are not US based so NASCAR is probably not all that attractive to them. 2K's pocket book has taken a nose dive since making a bad investment in the 'almost' exclusive MLB license. Atari is underwater so that leaves what other American publisher?

With EAs deal expiring I wouldn't doubt this is a ploy to lower the cost of licensing. Put on a big show about how poorly NASCAR games sell and then you can bargain a much cheaper license next time.

[Jeffrey99]

Quote: Originally Posted by lnin0

The one thing you have to consider is NASCAR is greedy so the bottom line will be what wins with them. They could care less about having a 'sim' or competition between developers. The cost of licensing the drivers/teams and NASCAR name probably exceeds that of the Moto GP series by ten fold. While I would love to see some competition with NASCAR games it would not come from a small company like Papyrus. If someone else entered the arena with EA it would be a large publisher like Activision or ... well, I cannot think of anyone else. Codemasters and Ubisoft are not US based so NASCAR is probably not all that attractive to them. 2K's pocket book has taken a nose dive since making a bad investment in the 'almost' exclusive MLB license. Atari is underwater so that leaves what other American publisher? With EAs deal expiring I wouldn't doubt this is a ploy to lower the cost of licensing. Put on a big show about how poorly NASCAR games sell and then you can bargain a much cheaper license next time.

I don't know the answer to this question but how did it work when there were 3 games out? I'm guessing each company had to pay a license fee but if there's more then 1 company wanting to make a game, wouldn't it be better to sell them the license for cheaper then to give EA a deal for a exclusive license?

[av7]

Quote: Originally Posted by Solidice

too bad EA already drove Papyrus out of business. Nascar racing: 2003 season is still the best Nascar sim there is.

Pretty much, sad that an exlclusive contract had to kill off any new titles for sim racing when EA now admits defeat. Luckily there's a nice community for NR2003 that build mods, updated paint schemes, etc

[RunN1st]

Quote: Originally Posted by avrbas

Pretty much, sad that an exlclusive contract had to kill off any new titles for sim racing when EA now admits defeat. Luckily there's a nice community for NR2003 that build mods, updated paint schemes, etc

Yes, sir. Here are the tracks that I've been running lately!
www.revampedreloaded.com/