In the world of video games, NASCAR is back on track.  Two seasons without an official licensed game, the sport hits the accelerator with NASCAR The Game 2011, released last week ($60, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360).  More on NASCAR The Game 2011:-- Celebrity gamer profile: Joey Logano.-- Tips from iRacing champ Richard Towler.  That's good for the sport and its fans, says NASCAR driver Joey Logano, among those in the game.  "To have a new NASCAR game out, that's huge. It's a big deal," says Logano, who drives the No. 20 GameStop/Sport Clips Toyota in Nationwide races for Joe Gibbs Racing. "It's definitely really cool to be in a video game in itself, (and) I think all the drivers think the same thing. It keeps our sport going. It's all video games now."  The last full game based on the racing circuit, EA Sports' NASCAR 09, came out nearly three years ago. Since then, U.K.-based developer Eutechnyx (SuperCar Challenge) secured the NASCAR license and signed on Activision as a publisher for a new game.  Eutechnyx "had been looking for a big franchise to get into the U.S. market. They had some really cool ideas of what to do with the NASCAR franchise," says Ed Martin, who joined the studio last year after working on past NASCAR games at EA Sports, Hasbro Interactive and Papyrus, creators of early computer-based racing sims.  The main strategy driving the game's development, he says, was to make the player feel as if they are racing in a pack of cars. "Other big motor sports franchises out there, it's five to eight cars on the track driving through beautiful scenery," Martin says. "NASCAR is 43 cars like a swarm of angry bees working their way around a licensed track. It's not like you are driving through these fantasy lands. Ours is about racing the pack, and those are about racing the track."  Once behind the wheel, players get the feel of what each of the individual drivers' car interior looks like because each was re-created down to the details. "The good thing about it is how realistic it is from inside a race car," Logano says. "That's pretty impressive how they are able to do all of that."  As players bump competitors' cars, realistic damage builds up. "If you watch anything from Days of Thunder to last weekend's NASCAR race, the cars get beat up. They are bumping fenders, they are rubbing each other and they are spinning out," Martin says. "We wanted to build an amazing damage model under this thing."  The developers also wanted to make a game that would be playable by casual and hard-core gamers. Newcomers can get the feel of the cars and the tracks in a practice mode. Those looking for a deep dive can tinker with the car's appearance and mechanics in the garage. "It's not only for NASCAR fans," he says. "If you want to race against a whole bunch of cars, this is what it's all about."  When players go online the first time, a patch will update some multiplayer features. And as early as next month, a software update will add the current 2011 cars and the new Daytona track. "Some of (the car changes) are small, just cosmetic things," Martin says. "The FedEx car is still the FedEx car, but Budweiser, for example, went from the No. 9 car at Richard Petty Motorsports to the No. 29 car at Richard Childress Racing, so we follow all of that, too, and give you the 2011 primary sponsors."  The developers have produced perhaps the best NASCAR game so far, says Bob Kollars of sports video game website OperationSports.com. "A person can make it a fun arcade-type of racer (or) but also has the ability to make the game very sim-oriented, that will closely replicate what you see on Sunday. No other NASCAR video game has ever given the user this much control and flexibility, when it comes to the style of which you play a game."  For more on NASCAR The Game 2011, visit the official site.  See photos of: Nascar, Joey Logano
'NASCAR The Game 2011' brings racing back to video games   - Game Hunters: In search of video games and interactive awesomeness - USATODAY.com - Game Hunters: In search of video games and interactive awesomeness