Keselowski gives insight into NASCAR Heat Evolution, available now – Nascar

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sitting down with former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski as he gets comfortable behind the controller of an Xbox One is uncannily similar to broadcasters popping into the driver’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford on a race day to inquire about his upcoming performance. He’s eager, but focused and able to maintain an engaging conversation.

For Keselowski, the difference between playing the new NASCAR Heat Evolution video game and driving in an actual race is simple.

“It’s a lot cheaper and doesn’t hurt as much when I wreck,” Keselowski told NASCAR.com.

But there are more similarities than differences between playing the Dusenberry Martin Racing-produced video game — available now for Xbox One, Playstation 4 and Windows PC — and an actual lap around a NASCAR track. For starters, NASCAR Heat Evolution features more 40 drivers and all 23 licensed NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tracks, a first in NASCAR gaming. Plus, up to 40 players can participate in the online version.

To Keselowski, playing the game evokes the same emotions as they feel on race day.

“I still get the same adrenaline (playing the video game) that I get when I’m racing,” Keselowski said. “At the end of a race, you feel your heart rate go up, you feel the adrenaline pump — that’s in the car. When I’m racing in a video game, I get the same feeling. Like, it’s coming down to the end, I’ve gotta close this out and your heart’s beating fast. It’s just a video game, but it’s more than that to you in your mind.”

It’s easy for gamers to feel as if they’re actually in the driver’s seat when playing NASCAR Heat Evolution, as the graphics are so superior to any racing game of its kind.

“I really like the graphics, Keselowski said from behind his controller. “… I’ve never seen any type of motorsports video game with these kind of graphics.”

And with graphics so advanced, if you didn’t know Keselowski was playing a video game, you might think you’re watching a rerun of last year’s Daytona 500.

“Oh, I just used up Jimmie (Johnson). Chad Knaus is not gonna be happy,” Keselowski interjects as he stays focused on piloting his No. 2 around the iconic 2.5-mile superspeedway.

In today’s rapid world of technology, video games can often take much time and skill to master, leaving a novice or causal gamer frustrated. Finding the balance between realism and fun, NASCAR Heat Evolution features an adaptive artificial intelligence (AI), which adjusts to gamers’ competence, keeping them challenged based on their skill level.

Equal to the importance of the game’s adaptive AI is the players’ ability to relate and understand the connection between racing for hours in a video game and doing the same in real life. NASCAR Heat Evolution features numerous game play modes that allow gamers to run just a few laps or up to an entire race. Along with full-length races, the game includes a career mode that gives users an understanding of acquiring sponsors and how to improve their car race after race.

“I think it’s so important in our sport and really in any sport to be able to relate to what’s going on,” Keselowski said. “When you get to do it firsthand, any sport is more relatable. And so for NASCAR I think it’s super, super critical to have a video game that anyone can try and they can say, ‘Oh, this is a lot harder than it looks. Now I understand why such-and-such happened last week or why so-and-so is so mad that they wrecked after they just raced for three hours.’ It all adds up and it makes more sense and I think you can relate to what’s going on so much more and that’s very important.

“I think that at the heart of every NASCAR fan there’s a competitor. They want to compete themselves at some level and this gives them the opportunity to do so.”