It won't be compatible, no.  It was the first thing I looked for, since it's the issue that stopped me racing with Ted last year - they're recognised as two different games so it's not possible to accept an invite to play.

 

I almost feel like they're a bit too aware sometimes.  If I go up or down the track at Daytona looking for cars to draft with, sometimes a car catching me from behind will lift when it could have got away with staying on the throttle for a couple of seconds without hitting me.  When I'm passing, though, they give me enough space to make the move but not so much that they're jumping out of my way, and the passes they make on me are generally well-judged.

 

I haven't really found anything I dislike so far.  The handling with all assists off in Pro requires full attention without being impossible, which is exactly what I wanted.  The graphics are great, the engine sounds are nice and full, the career mode seems like an improvement on last year, Rusty Wallace's track guides are a nice touch...I wish I could race it online with people outside Europe, but otherwise I'm loving it.

 

Ted, I'm assuming from the way my copy is NASCAR 09 EU and yours is NASCAR 09 that there's region locking in place, and my 360 can only play PAL games.

 

The more I play this game, the more I find to love about it.  I thought I was imagining the shadows getting longer until I saw Grambo mention it, the sun in late afternoon going into the last turn at Watkins Glen or turn 4 at Daytona is dazzling, the cockpit view is wonderful and fairly easy to race with, and the driver challenges have started springing surprises on me (as an example, when you come to race Gordon at Talladega, there's a wreck avoidance section at the beginning.  They don't mention it until it happens, and you've got to go through absolutely flat-out otherwise you lose the draft and have no hope of winning).  It should be great online with a sensible bunch of players, because the controls allow for side-by-side running and the tracks have more than one workable groove.

 

One last thing - have you noticed how a car that qualifies up front doesn't necessarily stay there?  I don't remember that happening in past games, but it's another realistic touch.  I had David Gilliland start on pole at Daytona and work his way back outside the top 20 by the end, while David Reutimann (or the UPS car, at any rate - I was a bit busy going backwards through the field so it could have been Jarrett going past me) came through from 39th up to the fringes of the top 20 by the end.  There were other less dramatic examples of it all the way through the field, and I do like knowing that there'll be AI cars with a strong qualifying car who'll fall away in the race while others do the opposite; it feels much more like a proper race this way.

 

Have any of you looked into the car customisation options in the game?  I've just finished painting my first car through the EA Paint Booth (available at easportsworld.com for those who've not already looked).  I didn't have any painting programs on my PC besides Paint so I downloaded paint.net as recommended by EA.  Even though I've very little idea of what all the icons mean, I managed to knock together a Jagermeister car inspired by the famous orange-coloured Porsche sportscars and BMW touring cars of years gone by, and though it's nothing more than one colour fill with some pictures saved from websites and layered on top, it looks very nice in game.  On the same car, I suspect that I've made myself the only driver on the NASCAR circuit to carry sponsorship from Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.

 

Jason, if the road courses are your downfall, remember there's a European on these boards  Get the majority of your braking done in a straight line, let the car roll into the corner, roll gently and steadily back into the throttle, repeat, and don't do anything too abruptly because a big, heavy stock car will spit you into the fence before you can say 'Easy, tiger' if you do.  The other big thing is to practice at Watkins Glen to start with (or put WALMART EVERYDAY into the cheat code area to unlock a nice, flat road track around Chicago Pier), because Infineon's elevation changes and switchbacks will do nothing but give you fits initially.

 

Kevin