What I would like to see in a NASCAR video game

Hello friends. I know this may be a twenty-five percent-er, but there are some of us regulars at this site who play video games and this is my two cents about NASCAR video games; what we’ve gotten so far from Video Game developers is a mixed bag.

Papyrus gave us the NASCAR Racing Series games. The games featured great driving mechanics, an awesome paint booth, and an all around great interface. The games were only released on PC though. Many of us wonder what a console game from Papyrus would have looked like. The NASCAR Racing code was then transferred to iRacing.com. IRacing.com is a game I haven’t had the joy of playing. I just don’t have the money to spend a monthly fee on something that I will not use that often.

Then there is Electronic Arts. EA was making great console NASCAR games for a few years before they became the sole NASCAR making team. Just like many who watched Madden NFL fall into mediocrity, so did they watch the EA NASCAR brand do the same. EA decided to not make a game for 2010, and it left a void for us NASCAR gamers.

Enter Eutechnyx. Eutechnyx is a UK developer that has tackled racing before. The only problem is, it was with games such as Big Mutha Truckers, Fast and the Furious and Hot Wheels: Beat That!. Eutechnyx also suffered from trying to push a game too fast. Most of us would have rather waited another year before getting NASCAR The Game 2011. Saiyavenger has already given us a great review of the game, so I won’t step on his post but if you read it you'll know where we're at as far as quality NASCAR gaming goes.

This now that brings us to the future ...

I’m going to lay out exactly what I would like to see in a NASCAR Game. I’m not going to focus on the racing, because most games capture that pretty well. I’m going to focus on the modes and other options in the game.

Here’s Troy J’s NASCAR Dynasty 2011:

• First off, let’s tackle the paint booth. Paint Booth’s offer DLC options like nobodies business. Yet, we still don’t see many options here. How cool would it be if whatever store you bought your game at gave you a code to unlock their logos in the game? Buy your game at GameStop and get a free set of 10 different GameStop logos including cross game promotions! It’s a must to allow your gamer fans to have full customization of a car. Nascar 2011 did give us a great paint booth, even if it is a little difficult to figure out, but it’s missing car manufacturer logos, as well as headlights, taillights, and grills. Have you taken a look at the front of a Toyota lately? Most drivers have different colors in the little grill openings. The nice thing that NASCAR Racing Series had was the option to hit a manufacturer’s logo and it would slap all the appropriate decals on the car. You should also be able to see different color tape on the front of the car, in different amounts depending on the track. How cool would it be, when you're heading into pit lane to be able to hit a button to have the front tire carrier rip off a strip of tape to get more air into the car?
• Next, you just can’t have a game without having the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series fully available. Let’s throw in the ARCA Series as well. This brings me to the Franchise mode. This is not the Career mode - I’ll get to that next, I'm talking Franchise. Any good sports game will have a Franchise mode. You start off as an owner of a ARCA team. You’re sponsor-less, and you only have a limited amount of money. You are going to have to hire a crew, a driver, a crew chief, and shop guys to build your race cars. You should be given the option to race the car as your own created driver as well. After your first race, depending on how you do, you should expect to hear from some sponsors. After signing a few sponsors, it’s time to hit the paint booth. Each primary sponsor should have at least 4 different preset paint schemes, as well as an option to create your own paint scheme. Obviously your goal would be to build your own Racing Dynasty. Having four teams in each of the top four series. You should be able to sign Carl Edwards away from Roush Fenway, sign Stanley Tools as his sponsor, and sign deals with other teams to share info, just like Stewart Haas Racing does with Hendrick Motorsports. You should also be able to sign Sergio Pena to a developmental deal to run the ARCA Series for you while setting him up with six Truck Series races. Think of all the lesser known guys they could put in the game for you. You’d be able to sign Paulie Harraka or Steve Park.
• Now for the Career mode. You’re a rookie. You’ve just gotten a new deal to run the full season with Venturini Motorsports. Now it’s your time to shine. After a few great runs you get your first win. That’s when Rick Hendrick himself comes up to you and offers you a contract. You turn him down saying "No way am I going to be on the same team as Jimmie Johnson." After a few more wins, Jack Roush comes up to you and offers you a chance to go Truck Racing in 2012. You accept and you are on your way to the top. There is plenty of room for extras in this mode but I’m not talking about charity races. Hold on a second - when was the last time you even heard about one charity race featuring 20 NASCAR Superstars, let alone three a month? This always took me out of NASCAR 09. Anyway, I’m talking about doing autograph sessions, going to driver meetings, sponsor events, filming commercials and doing interviews. You’ll have to do everything you can do to get fans, and sell merchandise. If you start to run bad or you’re not connecting with fans, expect to see your contract in the trash. If you start to do really well, you should be moved up the ranks. If we can make MLB The Show, we can make this game. MLB The Show has one of the best Career Modes around. Road To The Show is one of the best Career Modes ever. It’s so in-depth. MLB The Show also has a great Franchise mode. It seems like it should be such an easy connection to make. If we can be this in-depth with other sport titles, why can’t we make the Full NASCAR Experience a possibility?

I want all you NASCAR Gamers to let me know what you want to see in a NASCAR Video Game. Hit up the comments and we can get a great conversation going!