Those football videogame fans upset with the EA/NFL deal, can take small comfort in the fact that NASCAR gamers know exactly how they feel. After all, it was just a over a year ago that EA announced an exclusive licensing deal with NASCAR to develop stock car racing games for the console and PC, a move that raised the hackles of the PC racing crowd. Previous NASCAR titles such as NASCAR Racing 4, developed by dearly departed Papyrus Studios, set a high bar for sim racers on the PC and, because EA's focus seemed trained solely on the console market, many PC gear heads cried foul.
With the upcoming release of NASCAR SimRacer, EA has essentially split its NASCAR license in two: the same approachable semi-sim titles will continue to be released on consoles while, with the PC version of the game, the company has thrown its hat full-tilt into the sim bin. Whether the game will appease the notoriously fickle and demanding PC racing crowd remains to be seen.