That said, it is fun spinning people’s tails out. It strikes me that in reality every driver would be trying to win, so I don’t quite understand why they would actively sabotage their chances at doing so. My issue is more to do with realism, as opposed to difficulty. I’m not overly upset about it, the sport is rather famous for its crashes and they are quite the spectacle. In one race a car drove directly in to my car’s side.

However once you get to the first or second corner the AI will go out of its way to wipe you out, leaving you somewhere near the back of the pack. You’ll qualify with a decent time, somewhere amongst the pack – maybe in pole position if you’re lucky. To add to that, almost every race starts out pretty much the same way.

Frankly if I have to go on a game’s wiki to understand the core game mechanics (rather than looking up Minecraft recipes) there is something wrong. I had to go on the game’s wiki to find out what everything meant and how it would affect me. The problem is that the menus are completely unapproachable, and do not read well. They are all about squeezing the maximum potential out of your vehicle. The problem is, like most motor sports, a lot of the sport is played off the track. The driving controls are not that complex. For starters the game is pretty much devoid of any tutorial or system that might help ease new players in. However, it is not for the reasons that you might think. Does the game help? No, I don’t think that it does. So if we’re assuming that NASCAR is actively looking to expand its audience. NASCAR, however, does not see much play outside of the United States, and even then is only played in some of the southern states. Another example is Ice Hockey (yes I know that sport is technically Canadian) which have achieved moderate success in Europe. I’m referring to the success of EA’s Madden franchise. While the rules and tracks are simple it has not gained the popularity of other sports which have hopped the pond. I think it is fair to say that we in the United Kingdom are not overly familiar with the sport. If you have not heard of it, it is infamous for its distinct lack of right turns, as well as its massive cars and redneck fanbase.

As you may well have guessed the game is set in the famous motor sport of NASCAR.

Nascar the game 2013