3 Need For Speed Titles for 2009-

First “untouched” Screen shot

by XboxOZ360:

©2009 Grant Smythe:

Cockpit view in Pagani Zonda VF from Need For Speed: Shift (console version)

Update: 4-2-2009 11:02 AEST:

To give you some idea of the work that will be going into the new style of Need For Speed: Shift, it is important to understand the background of some of the people working on it and the level of desire to produce something really different for the console market.

NFS: Shift will be unlike its other two racers in the new series, Nitro and Online World, or any of its predecessors for that matter. NFS: Shift is aimed at a more advanced racer, a Racing-sim for racers in the gaming industry.

As part of the team of NFS: Shift is DICE head designer Patrick Soderlund who was one of the 4 drivers at the recent DUBAI 24 hour race in the Undercover 911 vehicle #100. For full details of the event you can slip over to here and check it out. Other drivers for the Dubai 24hr event were Magnus Ohman, Johan Stursson and Hubert.

But here a few pics of the event to whet your appetite for the upcoming game. Expect a ‘different’ game in NFS: Shift from the other Need For Speed titles.

“Imagine a racing game built by racers for racers and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect with Need for Speed SHIFT. It’ll introduce gamers into a level of realism never before seen in a Need for Speed title, offering an incredible authentic and immersive driving experience.

Need for Speed SHIFT has been designed to replicate the true feeling of racing high-end performance cars and features a stunningly realistic first-person cockpit viewpoint and an all-new crash engine which offers an unrivaled sensation of racing at high speed.

The game is being developed using a collaborative model with some of the best racing game talent from around the world. Some key names behind the game are Michael Mann (executive producer at Black Box), Patrick Soderlund (senior vp of EA Games) and Slightly Mad Studios in London. SMS, or to give them their former name, Blimey, should be well-known to the racing crowd as the developers behind such classic racing games as GT Legends and GTR 2.

In addition to his credentials as the head of DICE, Patrick Soderlund is also part of a racing team that recently competed in the fourth edition of the TOYO TIRES 24H Dubai 2009, the first major race event of the year where his team ranked fifth. Soderlund and the SHIFT development team is committed to bringing the on-the-track experience to players across the world. You can read more about this event here.”

It seems Electronic Arts have been listening to its Need For Speed supporters and has decided to completely re-vamp the franchise. It will launch 3 new games in 2009, followed by a further expansion of one of  the games in 2010 to a worldwide game.

There will be 3 titles, 1 for the consoles called Need For Speed:Shift, 1 for the Wii and DS called, Need For Speed: Nitro and finally a Play 4 Free series for the PC (Asia only in 2009) called Need For Speed: World Online.

They have released the first untouched screen shot of a Pagani Zonda VF which looks remarkably like those in GRID, which is probably the best arcade racer on the console at the moment. If they follow the same line as GRID, then it will definitely be the right step.

Working on the game will be members of the now defunct EA Black Box, plus members of the Slightly Mad Studios, makers of the GT Legends and GT2 franchises. This means that the console and PC game will definitely have a proper “racing feel” to it, which is what is needed now. This ‘could’ be the first Need For Speed  game I’m actually looking forward to in a long time.

Allowing 3 different approaches to the game covers the casual gamers on the Wii and DS, the hardcore online world via PC and the hardened arcade racer with the consoles.

This is a great thing for the franchise, as it was in definite need of a revamp. This new approach could help push other so-called racing genre games to open up their franchise and look at their situations differently too.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Need for Speed: Shift will be made by Slightly Mad Studios of GT Legends and GTR 2 fame, with help from EA Black Box producer Michael Mann and EA Games Europe bigwig Patrick Soderlund.

Shift focuses on simulation racing – not just the realistic movement of cars, but also driver behaviour. This, EA marketing boss Keith Munro told Eurogamer, is what will set the game apart. Also, less baggy jeans and hip-hop.

“The urban underground was a manifestation of style in some past Need for Speed games for sure, but Shift focuses less on these style cues and more on mirroring the driver experience, that athleticism of being in a wickedly-intense race, and what it really feels like to be behind the wheel,” Munro told us.

A flashy 3D HUD that mimics driver head movement, inertia and G-force will help achieve this. There’s a cockpit view that lets players freely look around using the right thumbstick, too.

Munro reckons serious car enthusiasts will “love” Shift, and that mainstream racers will also get on board. He’s quite excited.

“Need for Speed Shift is amazing and I think it will blow people away,” said Munro. “The tech behind that game, the details that only a team with such racing pedigree could accomplish, and the ability to make you feel the intensity of a race is unprecedented. I can’t wait for our fans to begin experiencing it!”

And, he added: “Regarding any new Need for Speed girls I can’t comment, but I’ll definitely mark down one enthusiastic vote for Josie Maran.” Steady on.

Source: Eurogamer.

©2009 Grant Smythe:

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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, New Game Information, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | EA, EA Black Box, Electronic Arts, Grid, GT Legends, GT2, Need for speed nitro, Need For Speed online, Need for speed shift, need for speed world online, NFS, pagani zonda v, Pagani Zonda VF, Slightly Mad Studios, Zonda