Popularity
NASCAR driving superstars Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. were noted players of the game, and many professional drivers used the game's online multiplayer mode to practice tracks before races. These included 2006 Rookie of the Year Denny Hamlin, who used the game to train for the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway, going on to win the race at a track notoriously tough for rookies.
In a 2010 voting session held on Eutechnyx forums, NR2003 was voted favorite NASCAR game with 40.79% of the 151 votes. A similar voting session on YouTube placed NR2003 as first. The bleacherreport.com placed NR2003 second to iRacing.
NR2003 is seen as a racing simulator rather than arcade style racing. It is widely popular due to its add-on capabilities, advanced replay editor, and realistic driving and crash physics. It has approximately 20,000 videos on YouTube consisting mostly of crash replays, re-enactments, and montages.
Motorsports Image used PCs running NR2003 as the central component of their NASCAR simulator products. These included several show-cars and race vehicles refitted as simulators, and a line of single-seat open models with pitch/roll motion bases. The Coca-Cola Company operated a set of them as mobile promotional events relating to their numerous NASCAR sponsorships; one-to-three day stops at Wal-Mart stores and some other retailers in the Midwestern United States were the most common venues.
The game's value has increased dramatically since its removal from shelves in 2004. Its value on eBay is as high as $200 with an average value of $70. Ever since Sierra Entertainment stopped hosting their NR2003 servers back in 2008, a unique CD key is no longer necessary to connect and race online, so the game can be downloaded for free via torrent, and installed using any CD key.
Today, there are still many NR2003 servers running. They are accessible via the SMS Lobby or IP address. Cars and paint schemes can also be downloaded through the SMS car file manager (CFM) for many leagues. Many of the servers are used for designated league events and races, but many servers are for open racing anytime, such as Openspeedway.
Read more about this topic: NASCAR Racing 2003 Season
Famous quotes containing the word popularity:
“There are few cases in which mere popularity should be considered a proper test of merit; but the case of song-writing is, I think, one of the few.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1845)
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—Stanley I. Greenspan (20th century)
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—David Mamet (b. 1947)