NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

[kennytomson]

here's hoping it's not gold exclusive.

[babythug23]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

here's hoping it's not gold exclusive.

So it should be on ps3 Thursday? I don't have gold either on the 360

[frankplastictrees]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

I'll give it a download. I haven't played a NASCAR game since 06, and from what I've read I haven't missed out on anything. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

Excellent! I'm not expecting much out of this after last year's debacle... maybe it will sneak up and surprise me. I need to be pulled out of the funk over my disappointment in GRID.

[Shockgeez04]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

just took the demo for a spin and it seems to be a definite improvement over last year

Quick thoughts

+Handling seems way more forgiving
+Challenge mode seems fun, I only played one challenge where you have to avoid a wreck and its done pretty well
+Carl Edwards is in there this year, nuff said...

-Difficulty in the demo is non-existant, I led all laps of both the daytona and lowes races even after a few minor brushes with the wall, and qualified 1st for both with unremarkable runs
-Theres a lot of clean passing and the cars always seem to be in perfect drafting position 2 wide all the way around the track, I cant recall seeing any 3 wide on any of the replays or during the race

I imagine theres a good chance both of my gripes will be fixed in the retail copy with more difficulty options and longer races will probably bring some more variety, at the least the game is back on my radar from last year now that you dont have to fight the controls

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

I didn't like NASCAR 08 at all on the 360. It just felt incomplete and in some ways - broken. The handling has potential this year, whereas last year it had a mind of its own.

The demo defaults to "Pro" driving mode (which I thought was cool), but I went into the menus and tailored the assists to where I turned everything off but traction control and anti-lock brakes, which I dialed down to low on each. I still felt the handling was a little forgiving. I then went "Legend", where all the assists are off (automatic transmission is still available in Legend though), and that helped give me a little more handling feel.

I didn't bother qualifying so I had to make my way through the field in both the Lowes and Daytona races. It was easy working my way through the back markers, but once you get in the top ten, it starts to get a bit tougher. I was a bit suprised to see the variance in driver performance, but I don't know how the demo is really set for driver AI. I was able to feel the car much better at Lowes, with the demands on braking and decceleration that track dictates. It was a knee-knocking race and I blew it by not back off an inside pass going into turn 3 when I should have. I was justifiably clipped and spun out!

I think the graphics are serviceable... nothing to write home about, but they get the job done. The cockpit looks a bit grainy to me, but the framerate flows along at an even, steady pace. I thought the sound effects were more than adequate.

I'm curious to see how this game works online. I see potential for it there. The hint is that the full game will support 14 racers online. That's better than 12, which GRID supports, but I still think that a next-gen console with a broadband connection shouldn't have any trouble supporting 20, or more for online racing.

Overall, this is one of the better crafted EA Sports demos I've seen. They usually don't allow the gamer to sample the game adequately. The 10 and 17 lap races at Daytona and Lowes (respectively) are enough for ample seat time. Being able to change the assists to the degree offered is also a nice touch for a demo, although my brief experience doesn't show me that the assists are completely off when they should be. I got away with some manuevers with all assists off that I don't think I should have.

One thing for sure, NASCAR 09's demo has helped appease some of the disappointment I'm feeling over the weightless, arcade-happy GRID demo!

[mercalnd]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

I didn't like NASCAR 08 at all on the 360. It just felt incomplete and in some ways - broken. The handling has potential this year, whereas last year it had a mind of its own.

The demo defaults to "Pro" driving mode (which I thought was cool), but I went into the menus and tailored the assists to where I turned everything off but traction control and anti-lock brakes, which I dialed down to low on each. I still felt the handling was a little forgiving. I then went "Legend", where all the assists are off (automatic transmission is still available in Legend though), and that helped give me a little more handling feel.

I didn't bother qualifying so I had to make my way through the field in both the Lowes and Daytona races. It was easy working my way through the back markers, but once you get in the top ten, it starts to get a bit tougher. I was a bit suprised to see the variance in driver performance, but I don't know how the demo is really set for driver AI. I was able to feel the car much better at Lowes, with the demands on braking and decceleration that track dictates. It was a knee-knocking race and I blew it by not back off an inside pass going into turn 3 when I should have. I was justifiably clipped and spun out!

I think the graphics are serviceable... nothing to write home about, but they get the job done. The cockpit looks a bit grainy to me, but the framerate flows along at an even, steady pace. I thought the sound effects were more than adequate.

I'm curious to see how this game works online. I see potential for it there. The hint is that the full game will support 14 racers online. That's better than 12, which GRID supports, but I still think that a next-gen console with a broadband connection shouldn't have any trouble supporting 20, or more for online racing.

Overall, this is one of the better crafted EA Sports demos I've seen. They usually don't allow the gamer to sample the game adequately. The 10 and 17 lap races at Daytona and Lowes (respectively) are enough for ample seat time. Being able to change the assists to the degree offered is also a nice touch for a demo, although my brief experience doesn't show me that the assists are completely off when they should be. I got away with some manuevers with all assists off that I don't think I should have.

One thing for sure, NASCAR 09's demo has helped appease some of the disappointment I'm feeling over the weightless, arcade-happy GRID demo!

This sounds promising to me. I'm not a hardcore sim guy when it comes to these games. NASCAR 2005 was by far my favorite and it wasn't really a sim. It just had a good balance and was quite addictive. Every year since then I tried the new version only to be disappointed. Maybe this is finally the year where I can enjoy this series again.

[RunN1st]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

Nice job with the impressions, guys!

[kennytomson]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

it is gold exclusive. anyone know how long usually until the 'silver blockade' is lifted? i'm hoping only a day or 2.

[mwjr]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

Haven't owned a NASCAR game since Thunder 2002 for the PS2. Everyone I've rented and have been less than thrilled by. So much so that I've been sticking with 02 whenever I need a quick NASCAR fix. Hopefully this game changes that.

[RunN1st]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

it is gold exclusive. anyone know how long usually until the 'silver blockade' is lifted? i'm hoping only a day or 2.

You're looking at 1 week.

[JRod]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

Last year's was unplayable if you just had a controller. I guess it was better with the wheel.

I'm downloading, I just hope they get rid of how hard it is to hold your car on a line. It should be harder to move 3 lanes and easier to hold a line. Last year, a little twitch and you were inside. One more twitch and you were outside.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

Guys, I've just learned something very important in terms of getting much more out of this demo. When you're at the screen where you're either going to select Daytona or Lowes speedway, make sure you hit the "X" button for "Race Details". It takes you to another menu that has all sorts of race and difficulty settings to adjust!

Once you get to the "Race Details" menu, you can up the race distances from the default 5%, up to 10%, or as low as 3%. Most importantly, you can increase the opponent difficulty up from "rookie", to "normal" or "pro". Going to "normal" here has transformed this game into an entirely new experience for me. I'm qualifying in mid-pack for these races, and it's all I can do to hold my position through the race.... there's lots of give and take here!

Furthermore, you can change the flag rules from full to none, turn damage to on/off or cosmetic only (it defaults to cosmetic). You can also increase the wear and fuel use factors to force a pit to occur (maybe even more than one... I stopped once I got one forced) in a 10% race.

I can't say enough about how tweaking these settings has uncovered what now appears to be the console racing game I've dreamed of for some time. I said earlier that I thought the handling was a bit too forgiving... that applies for the rookie mode where you can get away with default setups. I'm finding that it's easy to make the car difficulty to handle when you make the wrong move with the setups, at least in Legend mode! EA Sports has finally gotten it into their head how to present a demo that sells fence sitters on a game, IMO. The only thing missing in this demo is a provision for online multipayer, but even without that, they've sold me on this game... the debacle that was NASCAR 08 is now but a fleeting memory in my gray matter

[mercalnd]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

Last year, a little twitch and you were inside. One more twitch and you were outside.

You forgot the third twitch which usually made the back end swing around. At times it seemed very realistic and then all of a sudden the grip quit on you in most unpredictable ways.

Seriously I hope this works well with a controller. I've dabbled with a wheel on the PC with some of the better sims available and that's pretty much when I learned that even though I'm a big real life race fan, I'm just not good when it comes to racing sims so I'm more of a casual racer. And I have too little free time and too many sports games I like to play to actually dedicate myself to the learning curve of a true racing sim with a wheel.

[mercalnd]

Re: NASCAR 09 Demo May 29

Guys, I've just learned something very important in terms of getting much more out of this demo. When you're at the screen where you're either going to select Daytona or Lowes speedway, make sure you hit the "X" button for "Race Details". It takes you to another menu that has all sorts of race and difficulty settings to adjust!

Once you get to the "Race Details" menu, you can up the race distances from the default 5%, up to 10%, or as low as 3%. Most importantly, you can increase the opponent difficulty up from "rookie", to "normal" or "pro". Going to "normal" here has transformed this game into an entirely new experience for me. I'm qualifying in mid-pack for these races, and it's all I can do to hold my position through the race.... there's lots of give and take here!

Furthermore, you can change the flag rules from full to none, turn damage to on/off or cosmetic only (it defaults to cosmetic). You can also increase the wear and fuel use factors to force a pit to occur (maybe even more than one... I stopped once I got one forced) in a 10% race.

I can't say enough about how tweaking these settings has uncovered what now appears to be the console racing game I've dreamed of for some time. I said earlier that I thought the handling was a bit too forgiving... that applies for the rookie mode where you can get away with default setups. I'm finding that it's easy to make the car difficulty to handle when you make the wrong move with the setups, at least in Legend mode! EA Sports has finally gotten it into their head how to present a demo that sells fence sitters on a game, IMO. The only thing missing in this demo is a provision for online multipayer, but even without that, they've sold me on this game... the debacle that was NASCAR 08 is now but a fleeting memory in my gray matter

Now I just can't wait to try this out. I hope it comes out on PS3 today.