The CJ Racing Sim Prize

With the recent announcement of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit redone for today's consoles, I was inspired to offer a prize to whichever game studio could release a NASCAR racing game to my exacting specs.

Need for Speed HP2 was one of my favorite racing games and has moved with me through several PC upgrades. Recently, however, the game has not been able to keep up with advancing technology and it has become almost impossible to get to run with my current setup and hardware.

That is why I was so excited to hear about the latest NFS-HP and read interviews with the developers. It sounds like it will be a fantastic game and will play on the Wii.

I CAN'T WAIT!

Now all I need is for the NASCAR Racing franchise to launch a program that I would be willing to play again. Here's what I am looking for:

*I don't have a degree in car setup. I don't want to need one to play the game. In fact, that whole segment of the game means less to me than the over-designed packaging it would inevitably come in.

*I want all the NASCAR sanctioned tracks and perhaps some legacy tracks in fantastic detail. No gimmicky kiddy tracks. (NASCAR Cart Racing?! - Seriously)

*I want to be able to hop in the car and race against my heroes. (And of course the licensing rights for Big E must be part!)

*I don't care who my teammate is or how my career is progressing. Racing on the track is my goal

*A functional paintshop would be nice but not necessary.

*And let me race as long as I want. 10 lap sprint or 600 mile marathon.

*Leave the power-ups and rockets where they belong and just make it look good.

Keep in mind, I am a busy person so any game that I have to spend hours learning how to play is not going to keep my attention. Besides, my ability to retain what I learned the previous session often fades after only a few hours. Something I can race right away goes a long way toward keeping my attention. (Do you see a pattern here?)

I used to love Papyrus's NASCAR Racing games and I bought all of them. It was how I chose to unwind. But the hours spent tweaking setups tempered that fun and seriously cut into the time I spent actually RACING. In the end I preferred the Need for Speed series because I could race right away. I didn't have to prepare and study just to have a little racing fun.

So here's my challenge. (Are you listening EA?) Make a NASCAR game where I can simply race. No gimmicky teammates, no setup degree, no hours of preparation. Just race on my favorite tracks. I want it to look cool and make me feel like I am Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, and Jeff Gordon all rolled into one. Make it as fun as Need for Speed and just as immediate.

Did I mention that I just want to race?

If you can do this you will win the fantastic amount of $59.99.