NASCAR 07

NASCAR 07 is the tenth installment of the EA Sports' NASCAR video game series. It was developed by EA Tiburon for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and by Exient Entertainment for PlayStation Portable. This was the last NASCAR edition to be released exclusively on sixth generation consoles.

NASCAR 07
North American PlayStation 2 cover art featuring Elliott Sadler
Developer(s)	EA Tiburon Exient Entertainment (PSP)
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Engine	EAGL 3
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, mobile phone
Release	NA: September 8, 2006[1] EU: October 6, 2006 (exc. Xbox)[2][3] Mobile phone NA: February 5, 2007[4]
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

The NTSC game cover features Elliott Sadler, driver of the #38 M&M's Ford Fusion. The PAL region game cover features Matt Kenseth's #17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford Fusion. This game is the first since NASCAR 2001 not to include a subtitle in the name. The game retains the teammate features introduced in NASCAR 06: Total Team Control, but does not add any major gameplay changes. However, the graphics include a blurring effect to attempt to give a better sense of high speed, and the pace of the gameplay has been sped up considerably. This is also the second EA Sports NASCAR video game to appear on a handheld system (first NASCAR 2000 for Game Boy Color). On the PlayStation Portable, the game is simply called NASCAR. This was also the only NASCAR game on the PlayStation Portable, and the last NASCAR game on the Xbox.

New features

The game introduces Dynamic Driver Attributes and a Variable Driver Attribute System. By making certain moves while racing the player gains skill points and fills an adrenaline meter which can increase driver attributes, but other moves can decrease skill points and adrenaline. The game also introduced a RaceBreaker feature which allows players to see the holes in the track to help make their way through the pack.

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	(PS2) 70% (XBOX) 71% (PSP) 69%
Metacritic	(PS2) 68/100[5] (XBOX) 72/100[6] (PSP) 66/100[7]

Review scores

Publication	Score
GameSpot	7/10[8] (PSP) 7.5/10[9]
GameSpy	[10]
GamesRadar+	[11]
GameZone	7.3/10[12] (PSP) 7.5/10[13]
IGN	7.5/10[14] (PSP) 6.8/10[15]

Reception

NASCAR 07 received a mixed response from critics upon release. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized ratings in the 0–100 range, calculated an average score of 72 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews", based on 26 reviews for the Xbox version,^[6] 68 out of 100 based on 26 reviews for the PlayStation 2 version,^[5] and 66 out of 100 based on 13 reviews for the PSP version.^[7] GameRankings assigned it an average score of 71% based on 23 reviews for the Xbox version,^[16] 70% based on 23 reviews for the PlayStation 2 version,^[17] and 69% based on 13 reviews for the PSP version.^[18]

References

1. Seff, Micah (September 6, 2006). "NASCAR 07 Screeches Into Stores". IGN. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
2. "NASCAR 07 sur PlayStation 2". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved March 28, 2024.
3. "NASCAR sur PlayStation Portable". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved March 28, 2024.
4. "Gamers, Start Your Engines: EA SPORTS NASCAR 07 Now Available for Sprint Wireless Phones". Electronic Arts. February 5, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
5. "NASCAR 07 for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
6. "NASCAR 07 for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
7. "NASCAR for PlayStation Portable Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
8. Thomas, Aaron (7 September 2006). "NASCAR 07 Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
9. Thomas, Aaron (11 September 2006). "NASCAR Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
10. Chapman, David (7 September 2006). "NASCAR 07". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
11. Hruschak, PJ (9 October 2006). "NASCAR 07 review". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
12. jkdmedia, GameZone (4 May 2012). "NASCAR 07 - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
13. jkdmedia, GameZone (4 May 2012). "NASCAR - PSP - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
14. C Perry, Douglass (9 September 2006). "NASCAR 07 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
15. Roper, Chris (5 September 2006). "NASCAR 07 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
16. "NASCAR 07 for Xbox". GameRankings. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
17. "NASCAR 07 for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
18. "NASCAR 07 for PSP". GameRankings. Archived from the original on September 9, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.