E3 2001 Preshow Report: NASCAR Heat

The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup season will be complete by the time Infogrames' NASCAR Heat hits the Xbox, but the wait may just be worth it.

NASCAR Heat is an officially licensed NASCAR product that will feature 25 big-name drivers, 19 official Winston Cup tracks, and a smattering of diverse gameplay modes. Single race, season, beat the heat, and pro challenge make up the game's single-player repertoire, while a two-player versus mode will give you the chance to challenge your friends one-on-one in hardtop competition.

Like the PS2 version, NASCAR Heat on the Xbox will feature a normal mode for fun arcade-style racing and an expert mode for true-to-life physics and control. Not only will the game's visuals portray the effects of realistic car damage, collisions, track impairments, and weather conditions, but the car handling will also reflect such changes as well.

The Xbox version of the game will feature full Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Lucky folks with DD 5.1 decoders will be able to enjoy races where the roar of the engine actually pans across the room and hard-hitting crashes crunch from the front channels in tandem with the deep bass of a subwoofer. Capping things off, Richard Petty is slated to perform crew chief and spotter-radio duties.

As for how the game actually fares on the track, we'll have to let you know from the E3 show floor, where Infogrames will have its PS2 and Xbox NASCAR titles in full effect.