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Roundup: GTTV's E3 trailers
Did your late night Canasta tournament keep you away from your television last night, preventing you from catching all of GameTrailers' exclusive ... trailers for a number of highly anticipated titles that will be appearing at E3? Fear not -- we've got them posted conveniently after the break. What games are present and accounted for, you ask? Well, let's see (deep breath): Mass Effect 2, Brutal Legend, Lost Planet 2, Split/Second, Brink, DJ Hero, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Just Cause 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Supreme Commander 2, Dante's Inferno, Madden 10, NHL 10, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Need for Speed Shift, Alpha Protocol and Heroes of Telara. Check 'em out!
Need for Speed: Shift doesn't skimp on the licensed cars
You'll have plenty of the proverbial whips to cruise around with in EA's upcoming attempt at a serious racer, Need for Speed: Shift. The game is geared to present 18 authentic race tracks for players to navigate their way through, and an impressive 65+ cars for them to drive around in, including the very sexy BMW M3 GT2 (which will also be gracing the game's cover). In fact, almost all of the major brands make an appearance in the game, including Aston Martin, Dodge, Lotus, Honda, Audi, and Nissan, just to name a few. Even the 2008 SCION tC will be available, if you're more into style than substance.For the full list of cars appearing in the game, hit up EA's press release here.
New Need for Speed: Shift screens and video [update]
Need for Speed: Shift was announced back in January, and Randy spent some hands-on time with the title in March. At yesterday's EA event we got some new screens and a video, and it shows off the world you'll see while locked in the cockpit. The game still doesn't feature an external view of your car while racing, but the demo we saw upped the ante on your view from the cockpit.You'll now be battling G-forces and perspective shifts that are meant to mimic the way a driver's head actually moves in a high-speed race, and they've ratcheted the physics up several notches to make those first-person crashes seem a lot more realistic. EA also claims to have tweaked the AI, so the other racers won't be piling willy-nilly into turns ... which is real bummer, since we like to use them as "padding."Need for Speed: Shift will feature over 60 licensed cars and maintain the minute details of car-tuning that some people can't live without. The game races onto shelves in September -- check out the new screens below!UPDATE: While only caught the in-car view at the EA event, it does offer more viewing modes. We'd lost that in how much they were putting an emphasis on the cockpit cam. The game will also feature a chase cam, hood cam, and bumper cam.%Gallery-43521%
Need For Speed SHIFT careening to release in September
Development on Need For Speed SHIFT must be really speeding along if EA is willing to cement a September release date already. The first game in the new Need For Speed lineup will be available in Europe on September 17 and North America on September 22 -- close enough to Christmas to be giftworthy, but outside of the usual Q4 gamesplosion. Very sneaky. We tried SHIFT out for ourselves recently and came away impressed, so this is definitely one to mark on your "worthwhile games of 2009" list. %Gallery-43521%
Joystiq hands-on: Need for Speed SHIFT
click to shift to a higher resolution Like a mountain road just begging to be driven, the Need for Speed franchise has had its highs and lows since its 1994 debut on 3DO. It seemed poised to leap straight off the map following last year's lackluster Undercover; there were even rumors the series was being handed over to the Burnout Paradise team for CPR. Then up popped not one, but three new NFS games. Need for Speed SHIFT is front-most on the starting grid for a pack that includes a free online PC title, Need for Speed World Online, and the Wii-exclusive Need for Speed: Nitro.We recently got our hands on SHIFT, a racer that's got the makings to potentially rival the likes of Codemaster's GRID.%Gallery-43521%
GTR dev threatens legal action against Need For Speed: Shift team
There's some bad blood in the sim racing world. The recent announcement that Need For Speed: Shift was being worked on by Slightly Mad Studios, which, according to the release, "includes developers and designers that worked on ... GT Legends and GTR 2," may have seemed innocuous enough. But it's led to the threat of legal action from SimBin, the company credited with making those games.In an email we received recently, Magnus Ling, Executive Vice President at SimBin Studios AB said his company "is taking legal advice and considering to also take legal actions against Slightly Mad Studios, as a result of certain statements made by Slightly Mad Studios that we find to be incorrect, misleading and has a negative impact on our reputation as well as business negotiations."When asked about the statement, Slightly Mad Studios boss Ian Bell was quick to respond, calling the assertions "absurd" and saying "more than 25 of Slightly Mad Studios' current staff worked on and are actually credited in GT Legends and GTR2 including the majority of the core development team ... It saddens me when fellow developers make inappropriate statements like this in public but I think the fact that the first I heard of it was from you says everything you need to know about the credibility of the claims. Had there been any merit to them I am sure I would have heard sooner."Ling declined to comment further for the story until SimBin "finished reviewing the case together with [its] solicitors" and Need For Speed publisher EA has not yet commented. Regardless, this doesn't seem like it's over by a long shot. We'll let you know what we hear.
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.
