John-ShepardEA Sports may have abandoned their NASCAR game franchise but that doesn't mean fans of the sport are without options.
NASCAR will be included in Gran Turismo for the first time in the upcoming fifth installment and if you think Polyphony can only handle road racing and Rally, think again. There's a new video featuring the developer at Texas Motor Speedway over at the PlayStation Blog , and it's awfully encouraging for NASCAR aficionados. Managing director of licensed products at NASCAR, Blake Davidson, says quite simply that Polyphony is "going to do it better than anybody's ever done it before," and "it's the best depiction of what NASCAR cars are in any driving game to date." If you think that's cool, check this out: Davidson says that one of the reasons NASCAR teamed up with Polyphony is because of the sport's most prominent stars – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – flat out said:
"You really need to look at Polyphony Digital. They're a great developer, the best in the world at what they do."
We've known for a while that professional and amateur racers the world over have said the Gran Turismo driving simulator is the most realistic available, and it's the closest most of us will get to driving a real race car on a real racetrack. Simply logging on to Gran Turismo TV will show you multiple interviews with some of the world's most accomplished drivers, all of whom are behind Polyphony 100%. But it's even more impressive when we hear such praise for a brand new racing feature in the established franchise in question…just imagine how unbelievably realistic GT5 will be on the road courses!
Related Game(s): Gran Turismo 5
I recently acquired my first ever steering wheel + GT5P and it's the greatest racing game I've ever played, not only that but it's the best gaming experience I've had in years. I'm like a kid again who can't wait to get home and fire up his PS3.
I must admit I'm not the biggest NASCAR fan either but its inclusion will give the game a wider appeal and shouldn't deter existing fans. Adding WRC and NASCAR is the PS3 way, we should be proud of our massive unfillable blu-rays.
Im not sure i get any of the NASCAR haters. To me any guy that doesn't want to drive an 800+hp car even in the virtual world seems kind of weak to me. With the power and torque NASCARs put out is essentially unmatched by any other sport.
Also to all you ignorant, pompous tools that hate NASCAR and talk about turning left. Watkins glen is run every year by NASCAR series, its not an oval. Infineon Raceway is raced every year as wel…it is not an Oval.
Gilles Villeneuve is raced the Nationwide series and its not on oval…it IS used by F1 cars until last year.
So while most tracks are ovals in the series, a few of them are quite technical road course and given the usual environment of GT it would be flat out stupid for anybody to think they'll be forced to drive stock cars on just Ovals.
Thugh it would also be pretty stupid for anyone to think that completion of the NASCAR tourney in GT5Full won't equal completion % and the usual prize car.
I am not a NASCAR fan. But I respect the skills the drivers have. I will watch a few races now and then, but the same applies to all motorsports.
Anyways, I honestly believe the majority of hate for NASCAR comes from lack of education of the motorsport.
Driving a very powerful machine at speeds of 150-200 mph all the while dealing with dozens of competitors is tough business.
I share your ideas as to why they hate the sport.
Ive never done a real stock car race but i don't see anything easy about driving at those speeds for 3-4 hours(if you're lucky).
Of course it's hard. How many technical drivers have come into NASCAR and dominated?
None to my knowledge. Funny thing is, NASCAR drivers PROVE that they can run road courses as well with the events/tracks you mentioned.
Plus, if the dislike for the sport is over left hand turns only, all I am going to do is laugh at the ignorance in the matter.
Last edited by maxpontiac on 3/7/2010 4:16:58 PM
I don't get why you guys are complaining. The Nascar portion of the game is for the Nascar fans. You don't have to play it if you don't want. Heck, you don't even have to highlight it with your controller XD. Basically Nascar ended the deal with EA and asked Polyphony so that the franchise could continue and move on to better quality. Plus its more money for Poly. Think about it, if Nascar fans want a game, they have to pick up GT5, which means more sales for Poly, though I'm sure everyone knows Poly doesn't need Nascar for extra sales. Can't wait, btw, can anybody recommend a steering wheel controller, like a good a for GT5, or that they used for prolouge?
I've only tried one steering wheel, the Logitch Driving Force Pro, quite low cost and I'm really happy with it. I think that, to a certain extent, it was designed specifically for Gran Turismo.
I hope you're right about not having to race the NASCAR events if you don't want to, but I don't see too much reason to assume that would be the case. Normally you have to complete every race in a class before you're allowed to race in the next class. And that will most likely include NASCAR events. And I imagine there will be plenty of NASCAR stuff in the license tests, which are required in order to gain access to large portions of the game. But who knows.
As far as steering wheels, I've got the Logitech Driving Force GT. I'm really happy with it, and it's made specifically for the Gran Turismo games (though it works fine with most others that I've tried: Grid, NFS Shift, and GT4 on the PS2). It even has a special control that will allow you to adjust various tuning settings in real-time as you drive.
I don't have this wheel yet but the G27 or G25 are amazing wheels by all accounts. If money is a bit tighter the DF GT wheel is rock solid too, works great, well built.
@Brklynty1
Just an FYI,
If you want to read them, Arnold has done reviews for a couple of Logitech's wheels too, right here ….
Logitech G25
https://temp.psxextreme.com/ps3-hardware-reviews/2.html
Logitech G27
https://temp.psxextreme.com/ps3-hardware-reviews/3.html
Hope this helps you out.
If you have the money get a G25. I've had one for about a year and it's by far the best wheel I've ever used.