NASCAR The Game 2011 News Post

NASCAR The Game 2011 Q&A and Impressions

12:47 PM - March 24, 2011 by bluengold34_OS

I received the game this morning at 9 AM. Please keep in mind, I have only raced 4 times so far and practiced at another.

I am going to answer as many questions as I can that have already been asked, then will keep posting impressions and answer as many questions as I can. I have my PS3 in my office hooked up to the same monitor as my PC, so I have to switch over, so If I don't immediately respond to something, it's because I am on the PS3.

On to the questions, from the other topic.

I wanna know how are the Graphics compared to NASCAR 09? I really can't get a good grasp from the videos. Thanks.

IMO the graphics are a bit better than NASCAR 09. NASCAR 09 was a nice looking game, but I think NTG11 does a better job here. There is a very natural, organic look to it, almost like MLB The Show has. The color palate is there, but it's not too crisp, or overdone.

The car models are nicely executed, and tracks look beautiful.

1. I think we are all wondering about the difficulty of the game and if what we saw in the videos was on some easier level. Is the game more realistic than what the videos may have lead us to believe?

2. Is there a true career mode, or is it just a season, and how does that work?

3. Do you get the sense that you are at 30+ different tracks, or does it feel like most of the tracks run about the same?

1. I set the difficulty for the AI on the highest at Tally, Daytona, and Texas. They were very competitive at Tally and Daytona, and Texas were just better than me....flat out! What I really like so far about the AI, is that they are aggressive, but not cheap. They understand that you are also on the track, and try to be cautious of their surroundings. They did bump draft with me at Tally and Daytona, and I could do the same with them...and there was no sign of them being disturbed by it.

2. Have not jumped into career mode as of yet, but will give it a run as the day progresses.

3. There was a nice difference in the feel from Atlanta, Texas, Daytona and Tally. They didn't feel that same at all, and based off early impressions, they did a nice job trying to individualize and realistically replicate each track.

Pre-race presentation-Is there a full pace lap with the driver/grid position rundown like EA did a few years back? Very tv-style touch that was very nice. Also, any featured drivers pre-race?

Wreck/caution-how long is it between the wreck, caution and going into the pace lap? Time enough to 'go thru' the wreck if it happened up in front and you're in the back of the pack, or just 'there's a wreck' and then two seconds later in the caution lap?

Keep in mind, I have not done season or career, but in "race now" option, there was no pre-race or any presentation. It literally took you to the race about 100 yards away from the start finish line.

In regards to wrecking, you get to watch the whole wreck. It doesn't take you away to a cut scene instantly. I was in one at Tally, and it seemed like it lasted 20 seconds, and I was in one at Texas, and it only lasted about 10 seconds. Then it gives you the option to pit under caution...if you choose no, it takes to a few seconds before the green flag drops again.

I am very curious about the realism of the track surface. For example, Are there bumps in on the lowside of turns 1 and 2 at Las Vegas? Do the bumps upset the car and make you create a setup that can handle those bumps?

That leads to my other question. How much does messing with the setup actually change the feel of the car? When the track rubbers up, does the car get tighter?

From what I have seen, the bumps feel like they are barely noticeable. I felt a little bit at Daytona in turns 3 going into 4(keep in mind its still Daytona 10 on my copy) but nothing that really forced me to white knuckle the wheel at all. When an AI car gets into you, you notice that a lot more than any bumps on the track surface. If you're hoping to really feel the surface bumps and have it effect the car....probably not going to be real happy.

I will say the the driving model is really well done though, and you truly feel connected to the track surface.

Ok, going to go test some more, and try to get some photos, but videos may be very difficult. I am trying to find a way to do it right now. I will be back in a few to answer some more questions and give some solid impressions.

Game: NASCAR The Game 2011Reader Score: 4/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 15 - View All

NASCAR The Game 2011 Videos

Member Comments

# 1381 Brew @ 04/04/11 04:32 PM

Very good writeup there, Senor Nascar!

I agree with everything you said.. I failed to mention it in my previous post but when I first hooked up my G27 I had it freeze twice at Auto Club in Track Testing. It hasnt happened since though.

# 1382 thekodinator @ 04/04/11 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lVlAtlZiX


	CGR has been around for a long time and his reviews are always pretty good. He learns how to have fun with video games and always shows that. Also he doesnt sound like an 8 year old, and just because heh as fun wrecking the CPU off the road means he sucks? Its how he likes to play his game. So why do you care? You guys need to remember that this is called NASCAR 2011: THE GAME not NASCAR 2011: THE REAL LIFE DRIVING SIMULATOR

Whether the game is sim or not, the dude is right- that review sucked. The dude may be very smart, but in that video, he comes across as incredibly juvenile. I realize we're talking about video games here, so perhaps it's ridiculous to say this (lol), but it's hard for me to listen to anyone like that or take them seriously. (Especially when you compare him to other reviewers like Blue).

Oh well. I won't read his site or any of his reviews in the future, so it's a non-issue going forward.

# 1383 olefivetime48 @ 04/04/11 06:19 PM

Everyone I've talked to who has both platforms has told me the "patch" (which isn't likely to ever be released) isn't worth waiting for and they are trading it in for other sports games. I don't think Eutechnyx realizes how badly they dropped the ball. I regret buying NASCAR: THE EA REMAKE 2011. They refuse to answer what the first patch helped. I cannot image how bad it would have been being released on Feb. 15.

# 1384 bigdoc85 @ 04/04/11 06:47 PM

I think the ball was dropped but I think it's way too soon to know whether they will pick it back up. Dave keeps updating the status of problems / fixes on his blog. The reason the patch WILL be released is that the future of NASCAR by Eutechnyx / Activision depends on it. Sometimes you gamers forget that it's all about money. I guarantee that the first week's worth of sales wasn't enough -- they are looking at this project as an annual stream of income. Further, the Wii version hasn't even been released. They have an incentive to fix this. Will it be fixed perfectly -- I don't know but your comment is pretty presumptive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by olefivetime48


	Everyone I've talked to who has both platforms has told me the "patch" (which isn't likely to ever be released) isn't worth waiting for and they are trading it in for other sports games. I don't think Eutechnyx realizes how badly they dropped the ball. I regret buying NASCAR: THE EA REMAKE 2011. They refuse to answer what the first patch helped. I cannot image how bad it would have been being released on Feb. 15.

# 1385 franko3219 @ 04/04/11 06:48 PM

I disagree, if the patch fixes what it is supposed to fix, then I believe this will be a strong game. Now I am speaking in terms of online more than offline. My biggest problem with offline is the lack of depth and that cannot be patched.

# 1386 Romain El 82 @ 04/04/11 08:10 PM

I mean, there's just so many things wrong with this game. Obviously the lists upon lists which have been presented before, but I mean there's serious issues like:

When I can't get into Turn 1 at Darlington without smacking the wall, or likewise let off the gas while also racing at Darlington without the car darting right and usually into the wall/the car outside me.
I can't drive in a straight line (using the MS WW, FF turned off) at Daytona and Talladega.
The spotter is essentially useless. I just tried Bristol before giving up and trying Dover, and at both tracks I ran out of retries because the spotter said "clear" either in the middle of coming off a corner, so I'd cut to not pound the wall/so I could get underneath another car and I'd get spun. "I almost choked on a shrimp cocktail!" "I dropped a hotdog on a fan!" "The birds are something all over my fries!" I DON'T CARE, THIS IS NEVER SAID, LET ME KNOW WHEN AND WHERE THE OTHER CARS ARE AROUND ME.
It's impossible to adjust on these cars. The menu's are clunky and changes which are guessed at don't give the desired result and thus make the car worse. I mean, I could deal with all the other crap if I could actually wrench on my car, because that IS part of the fun, not having to resort to the out-of-the-box set-up.
I reluctantly tried to start career mode, but gave up on that because (a) I can't set-up a car anyway, apparently lowering the car at Daytona makes it slower from the default set-up, and (b) because during the 3 times I tried to start one, it has frozen before I even took the green flag each and every time. This is incredibly unacceptable.

I really wish I hadn't thrown $60 down the crapper when I bought this game. Is the single racing fun? Hell yeah it is, 15 laps at a time, because I can't even do races long enough to pit because the cautions are messed up and the AI crashes itself when getting onto pit road.

RAGE. Love/hate to the max. What a crap game. 08 was better than this trash.

# 1387 nascarthegame @ 04/04/11 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Candymandagreat


	Thx for the info. Sometimes people make something so easy hard.

Yeah, I was really getting frustrated with this at first too. I guess I see why they did it this way though, you can place it exactly where you want and the size you want.

# 1388 nascarthegame @ 04/04/11 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMD


	According to this guy you can turn all the crap on screen off. Is that correct? I can't play a game with all those names on screen and would never buy one that does not allow them to be turned off.

Yes, you can actually turn off quite a bit on the HUD and screen. They are also patching it where you can turn off everything on the HUD. Even with what they have now to turn off is good enough for me.

# 1389 Stormyhog @ 04/04/11 09:28 PM

I know their is gas and tire wear in season mode where you can set it up for the amount of laps you do so you have to pit but wish this was in single player mode as well. In single player mode which is basically exhibition all it has is on or off so if you play short laps you don't pit.

# 1390 NightmareEvolution @ 04/04/11 10:49 PM

I have a question. How do you download the first patch? I can't find it anywhere and I looked everywhere. I'm 99% sure it's out, and I'm just to stupid to find it. So, how do you download it?

# 1391 BurghFan @ 04/04/11 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightmareEvolution


	I have a question. How do you download the first patch? I can't find it anywhere and I looked everywhere. I'm 99% sure it's out, and I'm just to stupid to find it. So, how do you download it?

Should've downloaded automatically when you started the game.

# 1392 BIG CAROLINA @ 04/04/11 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senor Nascar


	Have the people experiencing these freezes (on XBOX 360 at least) tried installing the game to the hard drive? I have not had one single freeze on XBOX 360 but installed the game to the hard drive on day 1. I wonder if that has anything to do with it? The only time I froze up on PS3 was during a test session, I paused the game clicked game settings and it froze. This actually happened twice. No issues since then.

Yes I had my game installed on the 360 HD and it froze at Cali during the AI caution pitstop mess, so not installing to the HD has nothing to do with it.

Traded in my 360 version for the PS3 version and my 1st online race..... BAM frozen on the last lap. So I decided to give it another go and what do you know, game freezes on the last lap once again.

This game has a good driving model and is fun when it works right, but in it's current state this game is not worth $60 plus tax.

# 1393 bluengold34_OS @ 04/05/11 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIG CAROLINA


	Yes I had my game installed on the 360 HD and it froze at Cali during the AI caution pitstop mess, so not installing to the HD has nothing to do with it. Traded in my 360 version for the PS3 version and my 1st online race..... BAM frozen on the last lap. So I decided to give it another go and what do you know, game freezes on the last lap once again. This game has a good driving model and is fun when it works right, but in it's current state this game is not worth $60 plus tax.

That sucks Kenny.....

Man, there has to be something going on here with these freezes. I have both versions, and neither one has froze yet. I played on the 360 last night for about 3 hours.....and not one issue. I have logged in probably 25-30 hours on the PS3, and once again, not a single freeze.

I am talking, offline, online, race now, career mode, create-a-car....not one freeze. My ps3 is the 80 gig fatty, and my 360 is the new slim 250gig.

# 1394 BIG CAROLINA @ 04/05/11 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluengold34_OS


	That sucks Kenny..... Man, there has to be something going on here with these freezes. I have both versions, and neither one has froze yet. I played on the 360 last night for about 3 hours.....and not one issue. I have logged in probably 25-30 hours on the PS3, and once again, not a single freeze. I am talking, offline, online, race now, career mode, create-a-car....not one freeze. My ps3 is the 80 gig fatty, and my 360 is the new slim 250gig.

Yeah it does.... I will give it another go off & online tomorrow, but if I still get freezes due to the AI pitstops (I do not like to run sprint races) or online freezes then I will just take my lumps and trade it in.

Atleast you and others are not having issues so there is some hope once the patch is released.

# 1395 skydog71 @ 04/05/11 12:50 AM

Amazon is offering $35.00 trade-in on this one for anybody who might be ready to throw in the towel. If you also got the $25.00 preorder credit from Amazon, this is a great opportunity to get your money back.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do personally. As much as I enjoy putting Kyle Busch into the wall, I might just stick with GT5 for now.

# 1396 Romain El 82 @ 04/05/11 01:01 AM

I've had it freeze probably 4 or 5 times in paint booth, 2 or 3 times in a race, and another 1 or 2 times randomly attempting to navigate the terrible menus. It's for 360, and I have the game installed to my HDD.

# 1397 Senor Nascar @ 04/05/11 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluengold34_OS


	That sucks Kenny..... Man, there has to be something going on here with these freezes. I have both versions, and neither one has froze yet. I played on the 360 last night for about 3 hours.....and not one issue. I have logged in probably 25-30 hours on the PS3, and once again, not a single freeze. I am talking, offline, online, race now, career mode, create-a-car....not one freeze. My ps3 is the 80 gig fatty, and my 360 is the new slim 250gig.

I am with you on the 360 version. I have not had any freezes. I wonder what it could be tied to. On the PS3, only two freezes and it happened when I did something specific.

This is definitely something really odd that I hope someone at Eutechnyx can figure out and include a fix for in the upcoming patch.

# 1398 Papi34 @ 04/05/11 07:39 AM

I still haven't got my copy of the game and am getting a teeny bit concerned with the issues discussed and general negative vibe.
However, and I know I've said this before, the feedback from the devs really is second to none. Not only are they keeping the patch development thread updated on a daily basis, but what I'm really impressed with is the way they're posting in nearly every complaint thread on the Eutechnyx forums (including the "Hey Dave" ones!) and addressing the issues instead of running away and hiding.
I've never seen devs being so open about a game after release, including admitting mistakes. I'm not defending the game blindly as there's no doubt it should not have been released in the state it was, but they've as good as admitted that and I do believe them when they say they can fix most of the issues. There's nothing to be gained from lying now as I'm sure the potential sales have taken an absolute battering already.

# 1399 leger433 @ 04/05/11 08:08 AM

What is the final consensus on Xbox 360 vs. PS3 version? I'm probably going to wait for a patch either way, but is one version better or more stable than the other?

# 1400 nflman2033 @ 04/05/11 08:59 AM

I have ps3 played everyday since Tuesday, never froze til Sunday, first was when I ended practice session, second was after split screen race with step son, third was after career mode race. Now that I have thought about it all three times were at Texas. However I had ran three or four races there before it happened.

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