NASCAR '08 is ALMOST there....
Nice to see that EA is FINALLY "getting in gear" as far as the NASCAR brand is concerned. However...all is not perfect in "left-turn land".
The graphics and playability are smack on...almost to the point of PC sim perfect. The camera positions are there...the animated pit crew is there (BEAUTIFULLY rendered, I might add. The car setup is there...albeit a bit TOO technical for some people (is EA trying to appeal to the SIM racers with this aspect?) but one thing that is NOT there...and this is a big disappointment...is 2-or-more player OFFline ability.
Wh did EA abolish this part of the game?
Personally, I love to play head-to-head with my 12 year-old stepson (he's also a Stewart fan) so I bought the PS3 40Gb model, 2 Logitech G5 wheels and I bought NASCAR '08 hoping for some great family-oriented racing with my little guy. Needless to say...when we found out is was only 1 player offline, we were both disappointed and bewildered.
Evidently, EA Sports has completely ignored (that is...if they EVER knew in the first place) the fact that NASCAR is a FAMILY-ORIENTED sport. Parents pack up the family every Sunday and head off to one of the 26 tracks during the season in for an experience that unfortunately is one of the VERY few things that a family can do together nowadays. If the real thing is for the entire family, and apparently EA is striving for the experience of "real" racing...then WHY...oh, why...have they turned the NASCAR gaming experience from multi-player fun into that of a solitary, one-player, "you-can-drive-when-I'm-done, son" disappointment?
You were THIS close, EA...THIS close.
We'll see in June whether or not '09 rectifies this VERY large mistake.