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NintendoWare Weekly: Need for Speed: Nitro-X
A strange pairing of themes emerged from today's DSiWare and WiiWare selections: racing and dogs. Need for Speed Nitro-X is out just in time to promote Hot Pursuit, accompanied by two other racing games of various disciplines. Meanwhile, two games about training dogs are also available this week. And yes, there is crossover between the two motifs, in the form of WiiWare's Derby Dogs. Even Go Fetch! on DSiWare is kind of a racing game, now that we think about it -- it involves dogs running at top speed to get ahead of their opponent, a ball.%Gallery-107446%
Need for Speed: Nitro's Class A cars revealed
Click image to vroom into our gallery Despite being an arcade racer, Need for Speed: Nitro will boast some very real rides when it releases next month. The latest update from EA focuses on some of the higher-end automobiles you'll be able to get behind the virtual wheel of -- including a Mustang, Charger and a Corvette. There are even a couple of Audis and the Lamborghini above, if you prefer to zip around in something you could probably never afford in real life. Hit up the gallery below to check 'em all out.%Gallery-43523%
Need for Speed: Nitro trailer heads down to Rio
We always thought Rio was only good as a backdrop for gritty crime dramas or a place to shop for gigantic Jesus statues. Alas, the tropical climate is also very suitable for street racing -- at least, according to this new trailer for EA's arcade racer, Need for Speed: Nitro. The racing looks intense enough and it seems EA did a good job getting the sense of speed aspect down. However, even though EA is willing to take a risk on the platform, we hope the company is prepared should Nitro suffer the same fate as our beloved Dead Space Girl.
Need for Speed series sells 100m copies, earns $2.7b life-to-date
Yep, EA has announced the Need for Speed series has raced past the 100 million sold mark -- thanks to recent sales of Need for Speed: Shift -- and earned $2.7 billion in life-to-date sales, cementing its status as the best-selling racing brand in gaming. Just because it's sold the most doesn't necessarily mean it's the best franchise in terms of quality, however -- so we cooked up the graph you see above! There are a couple of things to keep in mind as you follow the red line's progress: First of all, we didn't include cell phone entries and tried to focus on the main entries in the franchise The general quality of the series seems to be high, yet starts to dip after the release of Underground 2 in 2004; Shift seems to have brought the series back from the brink of critical mediocrity EA's focus now is on rebooting the franchise -- the first step was to release a new hardcore sim racer in Need for Speed: Shift. The next move is to release Need for Speed Nitro, an arcade racer for the Wii and DS market, and follow that with Need for Speed World Online, a free-to-play PC racer for the casual audience.
Need for Speed Nitro rushes to retail in early November
Need for Speed Nitro, the graffiti-laced second entry in EA's "fresh" Need for Speed trio, has pulled out of the garage sooner than expected. Promising a mixture of "the franchise's trademark attitude, sense of speed and addictive gameplay," the colorful Nitro has gone gold, with both Wii and DS versions now set to ship on November 3 in North America and November 6 in Europe.Capitalizing on its Unique Art Style, the game will drape in-game vehicles with skins designed by popular "lifestyle brands," including Upper Playground, tokidoki, and i am 8-bit. You'd be right in calling it a product of marketing, but it's preferable to the alternative conjured up by the Dante's Inferno promotional team: in-game vehicles draped in human skins. %Gallery-43523%
Designers give Need for Speed Nitro cars a fresh coat of paint
EA has partnered with three "lifestyle brands" to create art assets for the Wii/DS racer Need for Speed Nitro. Upper Playground, tokidoki, and i am 8-bit will contribute custom skins for in-game vehicles, as well as a set of over 140 "brushes" that players can use to customize their cars. After the break, see a video demonstrating some of the customization options! Examples of the art groups' skins can be seen in the gallery below. i am 8-bit's cars don't look terribly ... 8-bit, but we love tokidoki's Lamborghini Gallardo, which is now some kind of Day-Glo land shark.Using creative texture work to offer a distinctive look is one of the smartest things EA could do for a Wii or DS game in a genre that is so often used as a graphical showcase.%Gallery-69973%
Need for Speed Nitro boosts into stores Nov. 17
EA is ready to take Need for Speed Nitro out of the garage and onto the road on November 17th. The Wii- and DS-exclusive title is designed to offer "fun and intense competition for every type of gamer." This wouldn't be the first time a more casual approach reinvigorated a franchise.Nitro, like upcoming scarefest Dead Space Extraction, is part of EA's ongoing effort to establish some big hits on Nintendo's console. Other titles from the test lab, like EA Sports Active and the Tiger Woods 10, have already proven to be quite successful. Let's see if EA can keep up the Wii streak!%Gallery-43523%
EA wants to 'take some risks' on Wii
According to EA's Joe Booth, plans for the Nintendo Wii are "long-term" at EA, as the company tries to strike a good balance of titles for the popular platform in 2009. In an interview with the Official Nintendo Magazine, the senior producer for Electronic Arts' Nintendo group said the company wants to "take some risks" with Nintendo's home console."The industry has woken up to the Wii," Booth told the mag. In his own estimation, Booth -- who is overseeing Need for Speed Nitro for Wii -- feels the Wii has a lot of "new energy," which drives his group's passion. Perhaps Nintendo's energy stems from sailing high above the competition in hardware sales. Electronic Arts has a slew of Wii exclusive software planned for 2009, including EA Sports Active and Dead Space: Extraction, along with special Wii versions of its annual sports franchises. [Via Edge]
Joystiq hands-on: Need for Speed Nitro
Just one note: there's no actual Need for Speed Nitro gameplay featured in the above video. If EA Montreal managed to make the game look that good, the Wii would be untouchable in sales. Oh wait, it already is. The fact of the matter is, Nintendo's darling is actually getting a Need for Speed title, and the sales numbers of that console are one big reason the franchise is leaping consoles with nitrous-assisted boosts.But if that doesn't represent gameplay, then what does Nitro look like on the WIi? We're glad you asked, because there are some images waiting for you in the gallery below. Images that actually came from the game. Read on to learn how it plays!%Gallery-43523%
EA Montreal to announce new game on March 12
EA has notified press that it intends to demonstrate a new game from its Montreal studio (along with other forthcoming projects) next Monday, March 9. The Canadian studio, currently hard (we hope) at work on one third of EA's new Need For Speed trio, namely the Wii-bound Need For Speed: Nitro, is expected to formally announce the project on March 12. Extending this post would only lead to rampant and inevitably spurious speculation, so we'll just let you take a guess at what this mystery title could be.%Poll-26968%
EA unveils new Need for Speed trio
It seems EA's long-idling racing franchise isn't destined for the scrap heap at all, as the publisher has unveiled three new Need for Speed titles across several platforms. In an interview with Gamespot, EA's veep of marketing, Kevin Munro, insists that "the new brand strategy around three specific genres will keep the game fresh and players entertained." This refreshing and oh-so-entertaining trio of titles includes: Need for Speed: Shift (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP) -- A "hardcore racing simulation" overseen by Black Box executive producer Michael Mann, and Patrick Soderlund, the co-founder of DICE and current senior vice president of EA Games Europe. External developer Slightly Mad Studios will be responsible for putting a realistic spin on the franchise. Need for Speed: Nitro (Wii, DS) -- As you might expect, this one will feature a "unique visual style," courtesy of EA Montreal. Nitro promises to take full advantage of the unique controls on offer for both platforms, but without sacrificing depth. According to Munro, "We do not want to fall into the trap of creating a 'Need for Speed Lite.'" Need for Speed: World Online (PC) -- Jointly developed by Black Box and EA Shanghai Singapore, this free-to-play online racer is set to launch in Asia this Summer, with a North American release slated for next Winter. You can look for Shift and Nitro on North American shelves sometime during Fall 2009. Update: Uploaded three screens (Shift, Nitro and World Online) and added source link to press release. Corrected development information for World Online.
