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Wii U audience not big enough for Need For Speed: Rivals devs
Ghost Games' upcoming racer Need for Speed: Rivals will not be released on the Wii U due to low platform sales, Creative Director Craig Sullivan claims in an interview with The Sixth Axis this week. "[Rivals] is going onto new hardware, and you have to work out where you focus your efforts," Sullivan said. "The 200 people working on this game are only capable of making so much, and doing so many different versions of the game, so we had to go with where we think the biggest audience will be for the game, and that's where we are." Need for Speed: Rivals runs on the Frostbite 3 engine, which lacks Wii U support. Battlefield series developer DICE attempted to get the engine up and running on the platform earlier this year, but abandoned its efforts after tests yielded "not too promising" results. EA previously revealed that it had no games in development for Nintendo's console, citing poor sales of the launch games Madden NFL 13, FIFA Soccer 13 and Mass Effect 3: Special Edition. Sales for this year's Need for Speed: Most Wanted U also proved insufficient, due to the console's low install base. "[Need for Speed: Most Wanted U] was a good game," Electronic Arts Labels President Frank Gibeau said. "It wasn't a schlocky port, we actually put extra effort into getting everything to work. And it's just not selling because there's no boxes."
Everyone has the Need for Speed in this Rivals 'AllDrive' video
Need for Speed: Rivals represents the culmination of crucial lessons learned throughout the franchise's lengthy history: Fast cars are awesome and playing online is rad. Watch as both points are expressed to an unfortunately selected 30 Seconds to Mars song in the video above.
Xbox One's modular racing accessories exposed
Accessories have been upgraded on the Xbox One to be more modular, Microsoft's Director of Strategic Alliance Brandan Powell explains in the video segment above. This modularity allows players to add components to their initial investment over time: You can buy a racing wheel for Need for Speed Rivals or Forza Motorsport 5, Powell says, then add gauges or custom pedal types for a more personalized set-up. Powell also says hardware now has more nuanced force feedback options. Developers, using new feedback equations within the game code, can create a more dynamic range of feedback as opposed to the sort of "canned" responses that felt so uniform in previous hardware iterations. Controller pairing, which uses Kinect to determine who a player is, is another feature hardware accessories should be able to utilize. When playing with friends on the same couch, each of whom may prefer different control schemes, Kinect will seamlessly match the appropriate profile and controls to that player, mitigating the need to dive into the settings menu. We imagine this will be a big help when sharing a racing wheel with 80 buttons on it between a couch crowded with friends.
Need for Speed: Rivals Xbox One and PS4 launch details
Need for Speed: Rivals will approach the starting line next month. We've known current-generation versions will launch on November 19, but today EA has announced next-generation ports for Xbox One and PS4 won't make their debut until November 22 in North America. In Europe, the Xbox One version will also launch on November 22, while the PS4 port will arrive a week later, on November 29. The Xbox One will be available in 13 different markets on November 22, while the PS4 will make its entrance a week earlier in North America on November 15. Europe will receive the PS4 on November 29. Players assume the role of both cops and lawbreakers in Need for Speed: Rivals, which is the inaugural outing of Ghost Games – the rebranded EA Gothenburg studio in Sweden. Ghost Games is made up of talent moved over from UK-based Criterion Games, best known for its work on the Burnout series and shooter Black, along with former DICE staff.
Take down rivals in Need for Speed progression trailer and screens
The latest trailer and screens for Need for Speed: Rivals show the progression of goals players face as both cops and racers in the game. Some tasks have players drifting for 500 yards while others challenge players to take down at least six racers. Need for Speed: Rivals will launch November 19.
Criterion: Downsizing was a studio decision, not EA's
Criterion Games' studio director Fiona Sperry revealed in an interview with PCgamesN that the company's recent downsizing was an internal decision, and not the result of a demand by studio owner Electronic Arts. "We lent some people (artists and engineers primarily) to [Need for Speed: Rivals developer Ghost Games], as when you're making something new you don't need a whole team of people -- we didn't need them, Ghost did -- so it all just made sense," Sperry told PCgamesN. "[It] wasn't something EA 'asked' us to do." Sperry clarified, explaining that Criterion made the decision in order to shift its focus away from EA's Need for Speed series. "Criterion has always been about doing our own games so it was never the long term plan for us to stay doing Need for Speed," Sperry said. "That's not our game." Sperry continued: "My management team at Criterion sorted it out with the management team at Ghost. That's how things work at EA these days. Teams work together, coordinate sharing of people as it suits where projects are at." Criterion's current project is not yet announced, though the company has confirmed that it's not a racing game.
Criterion staff reduced to 16 as EA shuffles studio talent
Burnout series developer Criterion Games has been reduced to a staff of 16 employees following a recent Electronic Arts studio reallocation. Criterion creative director Alex Ward outlined the studio's current status via Twitter, confirming that Criterion is now "a small team." Between 60 and 65 Criterion employees were reassigned to Sweden-based EA subsidiary Ghost Games in order to assist in developing the upcoming multiplatform racer Need for Speed: Rivals. Ward explains that the departing staff has since joined a new team, Ghost UK. Prior to its staff reduction, Criterion developed recent Need for Speed series entries Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted. Criterion confirmed earlier this year that its current project is not a racing game. Joystiq has contacted Electronic Arts for clarification.
Upgrade cars, ditch the cops in Need for Speed: Rivals trailer
Sure, you could drive right out of the dealership in your stock Volkswagen Passat and get into a thrilling cop chase, but your odds of getting away are going to be a lot better if you've upgraded the car first.
Need for Speed franchise strives to feel more cohesive
EA executive producer Marcus Nilsson told Joystiq he wants the Need for Speed franchise to have more continuity, and for its various games to feel more connected to one another. Looking back on the uneven history of Need for Speed games (remember that one where you took down an international crime syndicate?), Nilsson said the brand has "potentially" lacked some clear strategy for where it's going. "That's something that we, as we get new ownership into it, can react to and try to establish," Nilsson said at Gamescom, referring to Need for Speed: Rivals developer Ghost Games, which has taken on the racer franchise from Criterion Games. That goal becomes complicated when there's a movie in the mix, though Nilsson said there is "inspiration going back and forth" between Hollywood and EA. "But what I'm saying in the future is that there'll be probably be a much more handheld approach between where you see each product of Need for Speed going, like you can understand what's happening. "Why does it have to be: okay, Need for Speed this series is black, Need for Speed that year is white. Whatever I do, I want to know [what I'm getting]."
Gamescom trailers and screenshots giga-post
Psst, hey kid. You want some ... trailers? How about some Gamescom trailers? C'mere for a second. Yeah that's right, we got all kinds of trailers. Murasaki Baby, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Resogun, Infamous: Second Son, Watch Dogs, pretty much any kind of trailer you wanna put in your eyeballs, we can hook it up. Hey, and you know what? Since you seem like a nice kid, we're gonna throw in some screenshots too. Oh no, put your wallet away – the first one's free.
Amazon also offering Xbox 360 to Xbox One game upgrades
GameStop isn't the only establishment offering Xbox One upgrades. Amazon has announced it too will allow users to upgrade from their Xbox 360 game to the same version on Xbox One, for a $10 fee. Each eligible Xbox 360 game traded in to Amazon prior to December 31 will be valued at $25 and, as part of this promotion, Amazon will tack on another $25. That leaves you to make up the $10 in-between. Amazon will support eight games over GameStop's five: Battlefield 4, Need for Speed: Rivals, Madden NFL 25, Call of Duty: Ghosts, FIFA 14, Watch Dogs, NBA 2K13 and Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. Just make sure you read the full terms and conditions before you start boxing up your games. okay?
Need for Speed: Rivals aiming to launch with next-gen consoles this year
Need for Speed: Rivals is slated to be a launch title for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, Lead Designer James Mouat told Joystiq at E3. The game was already announced as coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on November 19, but Mouat said the team wants the game to "be out on launch" for next-generation consoles. Mouat also confirmed that the game will not include local, split-screen multiplayer. While the Rivals' "AllDrive" feature places a heavy emphasis on competitive, online-connected multiplayer, Mouat assured us that "if you never touch the Internet with your console, it still plays fine," and that "you'll have an entire single-player campaign to play through."
Need for Speed Rivals E3 trailer is your target
With a dose of Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, who stars in the game, EA showcased a new trailer for Ghost Games' Need for Speed Rivals. The competitive racer is bracing itself for impact with the Xbox One, PS4, PC, Xbox 360, and PS3, with November 19 pinned for the current-gen editions. %Gallery-190956%
Need for Speed Rivals on PC will look 'easily as good' as next-gen versions
Need for Speed Rivals – the franchise's first turn into the new world of next-gen consoles – is also coming to the PC. In crafting the PC version, Ghost Games executive producer Marcus Nilsson promises "Need for Speed Rivals will look easily as good on PC as next-generation consoles." The original press release for Need for Speed Rivals made no mention of a PC version; however, the PR has since been amended revealing the PC version will arrive on November 19 alongside the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game. Xbox One and PS4 versions will launch "later this year." Other than differences in graphical fidelity and online player count, Rivals features differences in its new marquee feature "AllDrive" across current- and next-gen systems. AllDrive is the ability for the game to "seamlessly" adapt to player interaction as they cross paths in the open-world space. On next-gen consoles, players will have unspecified exclusive ways to interact with the game using other devices. Nilsson would not detail if the PC version's feature-set would be based on the current- or next-gen platform versions. Expanding on how AllDrive would work, Nilsson offered an example of how the game would react to friends in the same world engaged in separate chases that come across each other. With the new feature, Need for Speed Rivals would recognize player proximity and any current missions and automatically shift objectives and scoring to that of a traditional co-op encounter. Players can enter and exit each other's worlds to race and interact "on-the-fly." The core features of AllDrive will be available on all platforms. For more on Need for Speed Rivals, read our reveal post with additional comments from the game's executive producer. [Ed. Note: This post was updated to reflect changes to the announcement press release.]
Need for Speed Rivals floors it to Xbox One, PS4 'later this year', PC and current-gen consoles Nov. 19
Recently renamed developer Ghost Games and the fellow racing fanatics at Criterion Games have banded together for Need for Speed Rivals: a new game that represents the franchise's first drift into the next-gen console world (which is not to be confused with the 2005 handheld spinoff). Powered by Frostbite 3, Rivals aims to utilize the power of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 to give players "the freedom to seamlessly go from single player to co-op to multiplayer" when it releases "later this year." [Update: This story has been updated for accuracy, removing mention of a release window for the next-gen versions from an outdated release draft.] Need for Speed Rivals transports players to the fictitious Redview County, an open-world environment where players can take on the role as either street racer or police officer. Like Most Wanted before it, racers aim to become the most infamous person behind the wheel, while cops attempt to work together to drive the area's high-risk inhabitants off the road. Players can personalize the experience with custom license plates, paint, liveries decals and rims, and performance upgrades. Current-generation consoles will also join the rivalry – powered by its own version of Frostbite 3 – on November 19. A PC version is also in the works.%Gallery-189208%
