NASCAR the Game 2011 Press Event
The folks over at Eutechnyx and Activision put together a morning of festivities for some invited press out at AutoClub Speedway in Fontana, CA, and they were nice enough to invite Aeropause Games to the event. While the weather did not exactly cooperate in normally Southern California, everything did work out in the end, and the entire team made the day a memorable one for certain. While we were at the track we got a chance to talk with a host of individuals from NASCAR, Eutechnyx and even a few of the drivers as we made our way through the day. Keep reading for some of the day’s events and some insight on NASCAR the Game 2011 as well.
Our day started with me and Roberto meeting with our main point of contact, Shaun Norton. Shaun made sure that we found our way to the proper location, as I was completely lost in the grandness of the huge AutoClub Speedway. We ended up meeting up on Pit Row, in the middle of a drizzly raceway. It kind of put a damper on some of the day’s events, but it allowed us to spend more time focused on what we would find in NASCAR the Game 2011.
Talking with Simon Jones, VP of Marketing, we got to learn a bit of the history of the Eutechnyx development team. I mean, one had to question the idea of a British development team taking charge of a license for a traditionally American racing sport. The fears soon subsided as we learned about all the different racing titles that the team had worked on in the past including Ferrari Challenge and Supercar Challenge.
It was more humorous to find out that the team had actually thought about design ideas and so forth before they even knew if they had the license. Basically the team had sat down with some people early in development from NASCAR and talked about what they would do with the license. Initially they were only looking to put together something related to a specific track, but as they rolled out their ideas of what they could bring to the development table, both new and improved, the NASCAR team said to bring that up during you main meeting with NASCAR. Eutechnyx did and NASCAR decided to throw the entire license into the mix, feeling confident in the idea that Eutechnyx could do justice to a license that had become a bit too arcade-like over the last few years.
With their agreements in tow, Eutechnyx rolled into production in earnest, not really having a partner for distribution of the title. The dev team became fully involved with NASCAR techs learning the ins and outs of how the cars are set up, the adjustments that can be made, the terminology used in the shop and more. They met with the drivers to get input of how things work on the track, as it is a far different experience to watch one of these races from the stands vs. sitting in the middle of a three-wide turn at 190 miles an hour. We kind of started to get a gauge of how the drivers felt about the game, as several of them were upset that they had not received copies of the game to play, including Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
One driver that has had a chance to play the game was Trevor Bayne, the winner of the 2011 Daytona 500 race this past February. His win ended up being the first win for the Wood Brothers racing team in many years and helped the team get sponsorships for the year. Trevor talked up the game quite a bit, although he admitted that he did had not been as competitive as he would like to be, but he said practice will make things perfect in the end. It was funny to think that these drivers would be that into a video game that focuses on the sport they participate in, but most of the drivers do enjoy their video games, and they are into most of the NASCAR releases on their specific platforms.
Moving from the game world to the real, we went into the garages of the pit drivers to see some of the preparation that these 850hp race cars receive before they hit the track. While rain is normally a disappointment for the actual race, it was nice to see the procedures that are taken to make sure that these cars stay dry and safe before a race. The pit garages were an amazing sight to behold, as you expect to see ultra-high tech for these cars, but they are surprisingly simple in nature. No emission systems are present, they still run with carburetors and a hammer and duct tape becomes a team’s most important tool throughout the day. Several times, we saw teams hammering out items, or taping items up to meet the rigorous inspections to qualify a car for the track.
Qualifications include moving the car into an inspection area where templates are placed on the car to make sure that it meets minimum requirements. We got some great stories about how crew chief’s work hard to make these cars fit spec, but fudge in some little extras. For cars that have to theoretically be the same, any little edge that a team can get away with could shave off a couple tenths of a second for a possible win. Of course, post-race inspections are also done to see if some of this chicanery has been performed. As a matter of fact, NASCAR officials dissect the winner’s engine to make sure everything is on the up and up, but they don’t put it back together, leaving the crew with work to do while travelling to the next race on the schedule.
Getting back to the actual game, I had to appreciate the passion that the entire development team has for the NASCAR the Game 2011 project. Many times, a team can want to make a specific game, but they may not have enough passion to make a game live up to the expectations that fans want. And fans around the track definitely want this game. I heard mention of the title from all sorts of fans, to the point that when we were handed a copy of the game for review, we were asked to put them away, as they were in high demand on the track. Damn, I could have made a fortune on Sunday (just kidding guys!).
Eventually we got to the publishing agreement, and it was interesting, because Eutechnyx had pitched the idea to several publishers, including a few that had been involved with NASCAR titles in the past, but Activision swooped in to publish the title, which was a bit strange to me. I don’t think of Activision when I think of sports titles, but they seem to be behind the project in earnest, as they were advertising the title all over the place during the race weekend, including several commercial spots during the AutoClub 500 race on Sunday.
Our day concluded with a grandstand seat for the race, and while I did have to leave a bit early due to some issues at home (damn plumbing), I wanted to extend a big time thanks to Activision, NASCAR, Eutechnyx, Shaun and everyone else involved with getting us so much access for the day, and for all the stories behind the game and the NASCAR circuit in general. And if you are waiting for the game, Aeropause Games will have a review up for NASCAR the Game 2011 this week, so check back in for the final results.
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