I've also been playing NASCAR Thunder 2003 (which has widescreen support) the past fews nights and can't believe how much better it controls than 2005 and according to the reviews I've read, 06 and 07 handle worse than 2005!?! I'd like to stick with NASCAR Thunder 2003 only, but the sense of speed and progressive scan output from 2005 have made that decision harder to stick with.

NASCAR 06 was the first EA Sports NASCAR release here since the 2000 edition, and my experience of 2005 is limited to two races on my mate's modded XBox so I'm not any authority on that game.  06 managed to be a lot of fun despite the handling model, apparently designed to give the cars so much understeer that even on full lock your car's path would still describe a ruler-straight line.  The only way to overcome that was to make fundamental setup changes, but in doing that you'd give yourself an armful of oversteer instead, with no window in between for a more neutral car.  In the end, you'd side with the oversteer because that at least allowed you to turn a corner, even if you'd probably be pointing the wrong way by the time you were done.  I had to play the flaming thing on Rookie, since it was impossible to even compete on any higher level.

 

Yet it was still fun.  If they've got anywhere near fixing that then 07 ought be a winner, but something tells me they haven't.

 

I never played NASCAR 06, but all of the reviews I've read (I'll look for the links) state that the car handling is MUCH better in 07. A lot of them made a point to say that the handling is only only major difference between the two versions.

 

The game doesn't drop you into the career mode upon boot up like 06,and you don't necessarily have to go through all of the developmental classes to try your hand at a cup ride.

 

Graphically,it's pretty much the same as 06,with a better sense of speed.Sound is the same,but with different Trax.

 

Overall 07 is a better game on the track than 06,and more fun.

 

 

Now I'm even more tempted to buy it. I'll probably grab it once it goes on sale somewhere.

 

Temptation is getting stronger....

 

First things first - the displays and interfaces are unchanged from 06.  This means that, as far as I'm able to work out, it's not possible to accelerate and brake with the right stick since that's always used for the team control commands.  Luckily enough, the analogue face buttons are very easy to use in racing.  In other words, they don't operate like an on/off switch - there's enough play to allow for controlled stopping and going.  The graphics are fine, especially when you consider that there are 43 cars to shift around the racetrack, but not changed greatly from 06 save for the peculiar addition of a speed blurring effect whenever a car is in what would be your driver's peripheral vision.

 

I went into the race not expecting to have fun.  Last year the cars were only driveable with all assists on, and in that state you're almost not needed, having very little impact upon what the car ultimately does.  Running without assists on any track that required you to slow the car down on corner entry, the cars handled so badly that you were never a competitive proposition.  I skipped qualifying and started mid-pack, all set to steam to the back of the field before the first lap was out.

 

The green flag was thrown, the field arrived at the first corner and when I lifted the throttle and turned in, the car obeyed.  When I wanted part throttle to maintain speed through 1 and 2, I got part throttle and not all of the power at once.  I was three-wide down the back straight and not once did I think that the AI cars would do anything other than hold their line and race hard and fair.  I'd got up to 15th at the end of lap 1, and would have ended up with a top-10 finish had I realised I'd left accelerated fuel and tyre wear on.  Since I didn't remember, and didn't pay attention to the words 'Your crew chief recommends you pit' during a caution period, I ended up as the only car to pit under green flag conditions and finished with one of the more entertaining 42nd-place finishes of my virtual racing career.

 

This game, Jason, is all sorts of fun and I'd expect it to hang around in your gaming library for a good while, should you end up taking the plunge. 

 

Adam,

 

How's the framerate on the PS2 version?

 

The framerate is generally fine, but I've noticed that when things busy up at Watkins Glen there's a noticeable drop and stutter - nothing gamebreaking but enough to catch your attention.  I've not came across any other framerate issues so far, but there are a couple of obvious candidates (Sears Point, the fantasy road courses, Bristol at night) for stuttering problems that I've yet to run any laps on.  Nothing to worry about unduly so far, but I'll keep an eye on it.

 

EDIT - the reason it isn't gamebreaking, incidentally, is that I've only had slowdown on the three main straights.  The corners, apart from a little stutter midway through the Esses, have been absolutely fine.

 

The other thing that made me go 'ooooh' was the rear view mirror.  It's off by default, you can toggle it on and off in-game with a button press and when you do switch it on, the mirror must run at something daft like 10 fps.  The action looking forward is completely unaffected, but the mirror jerks and lacks detail.  I'm assuming that's a conscious design decision, and it doesn't affect gameplay, but it does look a bit odd.

 

Thanks for all the info. NASCAR 07 will most likely be my next game.

 

I was really hoping to replace NASCAR 2005. What worries me is that most people feel that the cars control well in 2005 and I don't seem seem to think so at all. If 07 is worse, I'd hate to see how hard of a time I'd have controlling the cars in that version. Looks like it's back to 2003 for me.

 

You still ruined my birthday . You'll pay for it tonight on the ice.

 

Edit: That probably needs a bit more explanation.  I don't own that many PS2 racing games that don't have some sort of deadzone in the analogue steering, so I'm used to that - I assume it's my pad, which came with a second-hand PS2 that I've owned for three years.  That it's there in NASCAR 07 is an annoyance but it doesn't affect the gameplay, since once I'm past the zone I can still use the full range of steering inputs.

 

In a roundabout sort of way, I think I'm agreeing with you to an extent, in that I could at least imagine the XBox version not having any kind of deadzone.  I don't personally feel, though, that the gameplay suffers through it.

After spending a little more time with NASCAR 07, I feel safe in saying that it's a much better game than NASCAR 2005. Also, Gamespot was completely WRONG when they stated that the PS2 version didn't support progressive scan (see first post in this thread). Widescreen support and progressive scan are BOTH available in the PS2 version.

 

Ted, I see what you're talking about with the dead zone in the controls but don't think it's any different from other non-arcade racers like GT3 & 4 or earlier NASCAR titles. While I'll admit that I'm pretty bad at NASCAR games, it was pretty frustrating to never win a race in 2005 and usually have a hard time finishing at all. In '07, I'm able to stay on the track and actually won a quick race (in rookie mode ) tonight. I even recovered without crashing after getting clipped in the back from a rival. Actually, the controls feel very similar to NASCAR 2003.

 

I never played the Xbox version so I can't compare the graphics or frame rates, but this year's version is no worse than any previous version on the PS2. If anything, it may be a little better. Now I can finally sell my copy of NASCAR 2005 without hesitation.

 

It's a fun little game, NASCAR 07.  What I really liked about it, and this was something I felt had developed since the 06 edition, was the racecraft of the AI cars.  They know their stuff - pretty much everything they do is believable, which not only helps the immersion factor but gives you at least a fighting chance of employing proper driving techniques to combat them.

 

There are some games that display a willingness to let the AI drive around or through you in ridiculous ways (indeed, EA published 3 F1 titles with exactly that trait, and a distressing tendency to run you off the road should you dare to defend your line), and that this series has avoided that for a while pleases and surprises me in equal measure.

 

Adam, you can follow my progress in the http://www.sportsgamingnation.com/sgnlocker/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=806 - Dynasty Thread

 

Originally posted by GB_Simo It's a fun little game, NASCAR 07.  What I really liked about it, and this was something I felt had developed since the 06 edition, was the racecraft of the AI cars.  They know their stuff - pretty much everything they do is believable, which not only helps the immersion factor but gives you at least a fighting chance of employing proper driving techniques to combat them.

 

I could not agree more. My biggest problem is that I tend to do a lot of bumping and banging when I race. The problem is that I usually have about 30 cars trying to run me off the road by time the end of the race is near.

 

I finally figured out what the Speed FOV (first noticed in NASCAR 2005) option does. It changes the angle of the camera on your car (Field Of View/Vision), which in turn affects your sense of speed and your viewing distance.

 

Now I just need to find out how to view the details of your past races in season mode.

 

I can understand not enjoying a game due to its control scheme. After all, I got rid of Madden 2005, which I thought was a great game, because I couldn't switch the functions of the X and O buttons on defense (Madden always allowed you to do it in the past). Fortunately, EA changed the default scheme in Madden since then.

 

What's annoying about that NASCAR 07 is that the right-analog gas/brake function was replaced by a useless (IMO) feature in the game - Total Team Control. I've always favored a button for gas and brake but liked using the right-analog stick once in a while too (espcially in the ATV ORF series).