First look preview (IGN)

[pastapadre]

IGN: NASCAR 08: Shake and Bake

April 13, 2007 - There's a reason why NASCAR is one of America's most popular sports. Apparently, Americans love turning left. And saying, "Shake and bake!"

We sat down with the long-awaited NASCAR 08, making its next-generation debut on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this summer. While the franchise has been well-received by hard core fans of the sport, usually named Cletus, NASCAR has yet to grab the rest of the racing audience. Why? NASCAR is a lot more complicated than bootleggers outrunning cops on the back roads of the Carolinas. Shake and bake!

If rubbin's racin', then rubbin' is a science. Aside from the 40-plus mechanical modifications you can make to your stock car and trucks in NASCAR 08, there's drafting, bump-drafting, slingshot passing and apexing turns to worry about. We're not going to hold your hand through all this new fandangled terminology: EA's new The Chase mode will do that for you. The Chase is a new career mode that starts off with some very basic challenges, each of which teaches you a new element of NASCAR racing. When you move past these challenges, you'll not only earn a new license, but you'll know just what the heck you're doing on a racetrack. Shake and bake!


From there, you earn contract offers and cars based on your performance. If you excelled in challenges on super speedway tracks, then you may sign a contract with, say, Hendrick Motorsports and have a car specially tuned for super speedway tracks like Talladega (shake and bake).

If you're still completely lost, which you probably are if you don't use the term "y'all," EA has added a new heads-up-display called VTV, which is fancy marketing talk that basically means you can see your tire wear, damage, oil temp, banks on turns as well as the drafts being thrown up by cars ahead of you. With the VTV on, the airflow of a draft appears green, and your speed will increase if you stay within the pocket. Different cars throw up different size drafts -- traditional stock cars are more aerodynamic and throw up less draft than, say, the Car of Tomorrow, which punches a bigger hole and creates a bigger pocket, increasing passing opportunities.


The Car of Tomorrow is the awe-inspiring marketing term NASCAR created for its new safer (and slower) car. It has a higher roof and a bigger window so drivers will be able to better withstand rolls and get out of the car a bit easier. A push for a safer car was put in motion following Dale Earnhardt's death at Daytona a few years ago, and the Car of Tomorrow will be run in all NASCAR races next season as the traditional stockcar is phased out.

NASCAR is hoping the new ride will discourage pack driving and encouraging passing based on a driver's skill. The Car of Tomorrow will handle much differently in NASCAR 08 than stockcars, Busch cars and also trucks, EA told us.

We had a few minutes to get our hands on NASCAR 08, clearly a work in progress. On the default difficulty, I jumped into a quick race with coverman Tony Stewart in the Home Depot car at Daytona. NASCAR 08 handles much like previous titles: keep your foot on the gas and turn left. This is a lot more challenging than you think, and my first few laps I was taking every turn too high and scraping the walls. After a few more laps, I became accustomed to my car, slipped in behind other drivers, tried a few bump drafts and eventually plowed ahead to second. On the final lap, I performed a slingshot around Jeff Gordon and took the lead. Hey, I was starting to enjoy myself here. With one lap to go, you feel a lot of tension as you know that one wrong move and the only doughnuts you'll be spinning will be on your drive home in your Accord.

We're excited to see how the other vehicles fare on short tracks and road races, as well as dive into the massive customization options that hardcore fans have come to expect -- gear ratio, springs, shocks, splitter adjustments, wing adjustments, spoiler adjustment, air pressure, moving weight, adding wedge... the list goes on.



NASCAR 08 will feature 22 authentic tracks. We saw a few highlights, like the remodeled Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the bus stop at Watkins Glenn and the pagoda at Indy. Visually, it's early, but NASCAR is looking hot thanks to a blistering frame-rate, Days of Thunder smoke effects and dynamic lighting. You'll see day-to-night transitions, and moving from shade-to-sunlight will make it more difficult to see, like coming out of a long tunnel. Still, the textures are rough but we expect NASCAR 08 to be ready, at least visually, by release.

Along with spinning doughnuts in victory lane, next-gen NASCAR will also feature bone-chilling wrecks and dynamic car damage. For both the 360 and PS3, EA is aiming for 16-player online races, although no league support is included. EA opted for 16 players because 43 maniacs would have sucked the fun and authenticity out of a race. Still, we want to make those decisions ourselves in a little place known as "options."


NASCAR 08 will support the 360's force-feedback wheel as well as sixaxis control on the PS3, which, not surprisingly, EA is gushing about. Producer Scott Stutsman told us that he likes to drive with one hand and hold his favorite beverage in the other. And if you're a fan of NASCAR, you know that he isn't talking about milk. Unless it's Indy. Shake and bake.

[CThrash13]

I think it's looking pretty good so far. It will be nice to get Nascar on the XBox 360. That was the most important thing to me, right after gameplay issues of course. I'm looking forward to hearing how it progresses.

[SkinsFan52]

Can't wait to play this especially online.

[TeamOrange]

When will people stop acting like everyone who follows Nascar is a redneck from the deep South? Ign should no better than that. This is a legitimate sport followed by millions across the country. It would be one thing if the little jokes in this article were funny but they're just non-creative rehashing of stereotypes for a Nascar that no longer exists. Oh well...still looking forward to the game! I've been dying with no Nascar for my 360.