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NASCAR Kart Racing goes after GameStop superfans
Sure, we all had a laugh when EA announced NASCAR Kart Racing. We all knew intuitively what was wrong with this idea -- not enough GameStop logos, right? A cutesy kart racing game based on real people and real cars: ridiculous. But with added GameStop marketing, in the form of Joey Logano and (a karty version of) his GameStop-sponsored car: awesome. That's all we were waiting for, EA -- a game in which we could look at the GameStop logo all the time and be reminded of their large selection of pre-owned products. This is great news for both Joey Logano fans and GameStop fans!This car will be unlockable via a code obtained either a) by purchasing the game from GameStop or b) visiting GameFAQs fifteen minutes after the game comes out.%Gallery-38567%
First footage of NASCAR Kart Racing
If you thought NASCAR Kart Racing was bad in still images, wait until you see it in motion. For us, it doesn't look like the worst thing ever. The biggest problem we have is if, well, if we're going to play a Mario Kart clone, we might as well just play Mario Kart. What about you? Has the trailer changed your mind at all?%Gallery-38567%[Via NWii]
EA reveals NASCAR Kart Racing for Wii
EA is finally bringing NASCAR to Wii, but not in the way you might hope. Instead, the game will be a kart racer full of "cartoon mischief." Titled NASCAR Kart Racing, the game will feature 14 licensed NASCAR drivers, as well as 10 original drivers that EA came up with on their own. There will be a total of 24 different tracks to race on, some based on real tracks and some totally made up.The game will feature multiplayer, although it's only 4-player split-screen, and ship on February 10th, 2009. Head past the break for the list of licensed drivers that will be included in the game and check out our gallery below for some screens.%Gallery-38567%
EA makes NASCAR-T cute for Wii in February
Awwe, will you look at that? Little Kasey Kahne went and got himself a booboo. Electronic Arts announced that when it brings its long-held NASCAR license to the Wii early next year, it will be shorter, cuter and full of "cartoon mischief." Billed as a family-friendly take on motorsports, the Wii-exclusive NASCAR Kart Racing ("NASKART!") will feature a roster of 14 licensed NASCAR drivers (listed after the break) and 10 others that EA dreamed up, each with different capabilities to help them and a teammate reach the checkered flag first. Up to four racers will be able to compete head-to-head, though players will have to be satisfied with sharing the screen. Wacky races will be spread out across 24 different tracks, from real world courses to junkyards and freeways. NASCAR Kart Racing will pull up to the retail starting line on February 10th, in time for the Daytona 500 and the official start of the 2009 NASCAR season. Until then ... gentlemen, start your engines! No, wait, it's that cord on the back there. Yea, just give it a good tug. There, you got it.%Gallery-38546%
NASCAR driver tries video game move, fails
We thought no one would be able to supplant Dick Trickle in our hearts as our favorite NASCAR driver, but we'd like to announce that the top slot now belongs to Carl Edwards, who just discovered that things don't always work out the way they do in games. The driver attempted a move called the "slide job" during Sunday's Camping World RV 400 that would have had him sliding behind leader Jimmie Johnson, glancing off the wall and taking first place.It didn't pan out that way. Sliding into the wall slowed him down more than he thought, leading him to comment after the race, "I always wanted to try to do that. Now I know it doesn't quite work the same as video games." Oh, well, add it to the list with grenade tagging and riding miniature dinosaurs.You can check out an interview with our new hero about the stunt right after the break.
ESPN breaks into the Blu with 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story
Apparently ESPN was not only pleased with the 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story DVD sales, but it reckons that NASCAR fans are ready and willing to pick it up on Blu, too. The sports giant has just revealed that its first Blu-ray title will be the Collector's Edition of the aforementioned title, and it's slated to land on November 11th. There are no definite extras or specifications to speak of, but we'd expect ESPN to bring the heat on its first foray into BD. MSRP for the title is set at $34.95, but as always, you'll be able to find it for much less without too much effort.[Via High-Def Digest]
Photos of a losing Guitar Hero: Aerosmith racecar
A few weeks back, we mentioned that a Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (and Target) sponsored racecar would be tearing up the NASCAR track. Well, that race went down this past weekend where the GH:Aerosmith car finished in a very sad 38th place. Bummer. But thanks to loyal fanboy SToNeP2277 who attended the racing festivities, we received a few pictures of not only the racecar prior to its losing finish, but also the promotional trailer and RV they had setup on the race grounds. Check out all the NASCAR pictures below and be sure to note the very glam red rope they had setup.%Gallery-26521%[Thanks, SToNeP2277]
NHRA to test ButtKicker remote-butt-shaking device this weekend
We played around with the home version of the ButtKicker rumpwoofer at CES back in January, but this weekend the NHRA is going to test out the other part of the signal chain: driver Jeg Coughlin Jr. will have a special Bluetooth vibration sensor installed in his car that will eventually allow the home viewer to feel like they're riding shotgun while planted firmly on the couch. NASA is already using ButtKicker tech as part of the Shuttle launch experience ride at the Kennedy Space Center, so it's clearly capable of doing the job, and the plan is to eventually sell subscriptions to the ButtKicker feed as an add-on to NHRA and NASCAR races. That should make weekend afternoons a lot more, uh, vibratey -- but we're not going to be happy until our couch is pummeling us during NFL games with full-speed tackles.
Guitar Hero Aerosmith sponsors NASCAR ... car
Our favorite part of professional stock car racing (and there are so many to choose from) is how through the magic of branding, cars become meeting places for totally rad, totally American iconography that really has no business being meshed. Take, for example, the above car, sponsored by Activision's Guitar Hero Aerosmith and ... Target. Finally, America's love for Steven Tyler's seething, Ben-Gay-slathered pseudo-sexuality can be melded with its love of value and flown on one giant fossil fuel-burning flag. God bless you marketing drones, you're the whole reason we're still getting out of bed.
'Man up' with new NASCAR 09 screenshots
Straying a little from our traditional fanboy comfort zone, we bring new screenshot love of some fast, some quick and some Jeff Gordon filled NASCAR 09 goodness. Viewable in the nifty gallery below are six new NASCAR 09 screenshots and the game's official box art to drip carburetor fluids over, even though you've probably already seen the game in action if you played the demo. But screenshots are more, uh ... artsy. So drop that frappuccino, cut off those tshirt sleeves, mess up your hair and rub dirt on your face, because it's time to man up with NASCAR 09.%Gallery-25096%
NASCAR 09 demo puts the pedal down
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. A demo for NASCAR 09 has landed on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Weighing in at 598MB, the demo promises to let gamers "take on NASCAR's biggest stars" on two of the game's 22 tracks. NASCAR fans should check it out. Those out there who aren't NASCAR should note that driving in excess of 100 miles per hour can get you arrested in real life, so you might as well give the demo a shot. Also, you can pretend you're Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights.
Gamestop sponsors driver in NASCAR Nationwide Series
Fans of high speed circular driving and pre-owned video games will be pleased to see a familiar sight at the NASCAR Nationwide Series at the Dover International Speedway on May 31 -- a Gamestop sponsored stock car, driven by the fresh faced Joey Logano. Gamestop debuted the young driver to the racing world today by celebrating Logano's eighteenth birthday (the required age for NASCAR drivers), and presented the new adult with an Xbox 360 and an advance copy of NASCAR '09 (for training purposes, we assume).We don't anticipate Logano to set any records at his debut race -- apparently, his pit crew has been instructed to ask if he'd like to exchange his old tires for trade-in credit at every stop, then ask if he wants the one-year warranties on his new tires, and finally, if he'd like to reserve additional tires for any upcoming pit stops.
Survey finds 37% of Gen Y-ers text while driving
Oh sure, Americans are adamantly against texting while driving (in theory), but that's not stopping those mischievous Gen Y-ers from getting their SMS on while behind the wheel. According to a new survey of 1,200 people conducted by Nationwide Mutual Insurance (we know, we know), a third of the Gen Y-ers admitted to "always multitasking while driving," and while the "always" bit does indeed frighten us a tad, the real juice was in the next statistic: 37-percent said they sent text messages while driving. Before you start belaboring the imprudent youth, think long and hard about your own in-car cellphone usage -- remember that time you just had to reply "y w pep plz" in order to salvage your friend's pizza order? Tsk tsk.[Via About]
Ford Racing Mustang Challenge coming to Discovery HD Theater
If NASCAR and Indy aren't giving you enough HD racing this season, there's always the Ford Mustang Challenge. Discovery HD Theater is planning a three-part series to follow the eight race series, beginning with testing this month to its conclusion in September. The now standard in-car HD cameras will be a part of the action as professional racers ranging from rookies to vets hit the track in their identically-spec'd Ford Mustang FR500S. An air date is still TBD, but pony car fans can check after the jump for more details.[Via Autoblog]
DirecTV's NASCAR Hotpass, now in HD
DirecTV's NASCAR HotPass service just got better, since it will be available in high definition for the 2008 season. Subscribers get four dedicated driver channels with multiple camera angles and chatter from the driver to their pit crew, plus a fifth race channel that offers 13 different in-car driver audio feeds. The service kicks off with the Daytona 500 (free for all!), featuring drivers Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick, and will be available throughout the Winston Nextel Sprint Cup Series season for $109, or $19.99 per-week.
Canada's Star Choice, Shaw launch Speed HD and NASCAR HotPass
Ready for the Daytona 500? No, seriously -- are you ready? For Canucks subscribed to Star Choice or Shaw, you can harmoniously nod your head up and down right about now, as your provider just launched Speed HD and NASCAR HotPass. Effectively immediately, said customers can tune in and catch the latest on Speed HD, while two HD channels will open up on February 17th as the debut of HotPass coincides with the 50th running of the famed race. If you're interested, you can upgrade to Star Choice's HD SPORTS bundle in order to secure Speed HD, while NASCAR HotPass will be available for $9.99 per month. Better still, the former is free for everyone for the first month, while the latter will be beamed out gratis for Sunday's event.Read - Star Choice adds Speed HD and NASCAR HotPassRead - Shaw adds Speed HD and NASCAR HotPass
More details emerge on SPEED HD
Those who can already smell the rubber burning are probably antsy to see SPEED finally go HD in February, and while there's still a few weeks left until the channel serves up 100 hours of NASCAR coverage in high-definition, here's a few more details to tide you over. Starting on the 7th of next month, the channel will be covering the Gatorade Duel 150s, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, NASCAR RaceDay and loads more surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500. Additionally, it's aiming to bring other (read: non-live events) programming to high-definition as well, and according to SPEED's senior VP of production and network operations Rick Miner, the channel will be "transitioning all of its event programming to HD" over the course of the 2008 season. Oh, and just in case that wasn't enough for you gearheads, expect an all new interactive website to launch alongside the HD network, too.
WRUP: Squad-based vehicles edition
This week, the new releases pretty much deal with squad-based combat or vehicles exclusively. So, if you aren't down with that, you're likely to not be picking up a new game. But, have no fear, as the holidays come next week and you're likely to receive some kind of gaming gift, if you were a good boy or girl. There's that to look forward to as you spend the weekend without a new game.So, what are you playing?
AT&T to quit Nascar if it loses appeal?
Well, this just gets messier and messier it seems. AT&T is now likely to withdraw from NASCAR sponsorship if things don't go its way during the appeal of this drawn out affair. Or will it? With AT&T's recent nod to Cingular in regards to the new orange look for its earth logo, could all this mess go away? We doubt it, though, you have to admit, an orange AT&T logo would look pretty slick on the once Cingular-branded car. We''ll be back with an update as soon as somebody coughs one up. Vroom, Vroom, we're sure.
Halo 3 burns rubber and goes NASCAR
On Sunday, September 23rd Halo fanboys may have a reason to watch NASCAR (the sport in which vehicles race around in circles for hours and hours) with the announcement that a Halo 3 themed car will make an appearance. Target and Halo 3 are partnering up to race a special Target / Halo 3 branded race car that'll be driven by #40 David Stremme in the September 23rd Dover 400 race. A picture of the race car can be seen above in all its Halo 3 glory and it's more than apparent that the paint job's inspiration came from the Halo 3 Starry Night commercial. We just hope Mr. Stremme doesn't crash next Sunday, because we aren't sure we can handle seeing Master Chief mangled and broken. God speed Stremme, god speed.
