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Slightly Mad Studios gives first look at Project Cars
Need for Speed: Shift developer Slightly Mad Studios released its first set of screenshots for Project Cars, offering an early glimpse at its upcoming sim-styled racer. Due to launch in November for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U, and PC platforms, Project Cars features a variety of motorsport challenges and playable car types. The game offers a dynamic time-of-day and weather system, along with community-focused features like time trials, competitive multiplayer events, and image and video content sharing. Slightly Mad will detail Project Cars' career mode and online features in the coming months. [Image: Slightly Mad Studios]
Project Cars takes drivers on 'the ultimate journey' in November
Need for Speed: Shift developer Slightly Mad Studios announced that its sim-styled racer Project Cars is due to hit the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and PC platforms in November. Project Cars demonstrates its slick presentation and advanced damage modeling in the newly released trailer above. Slightly Mad recently announced that Project Cars will be one of the first games to feature support for Sony's upcoming Project Morpheus virtual reality headset. [Image: Slightly Mad Studios]
World of Speed creative director stresses the game will be completely free
Perhaps you're looking forward to playing World of Speed but your enthusiasm is tempered slightly by ambiguity regarding the game's business model. Well, the good news is that it's going to be free. No, we didn't say "free-to-play," we said free. According to creative director Andy Tudor, players should be able to reach the highest tiers of the game without ever having to spend any money whatsoever, and there are no plans to sell boost packs or the like. What the game actually will sell is somewhat more ambiguous, since one assumes that at some point the studio would like to make some money from the game. Only time will tell if the game is embracing a very unique business model or if it's simply trying to shake perceptions of free-to-play games selling power. There are more details about the game's design ethos and overall scope in a recent interview with Tudor. [Thanks to dengar for the tip!]
Project Cars will launch as one of the PS4's first Morpheus games
Slightly Mad Studios' crowdfunded racing game, codenamed Project Cars, will launch as one of the first PlayStation 4 games to support Sony's Project Morpheus virtual reality hardware, the developer announced this week. "Virtual reality is a perfect fit for racing games since the game world literally comes rushing towards you from the distance and the increased sense of depth and speed that stereoscopic vision affords you makes this incredibly real and tangible," the developer said. "Project Morpheus also allows you to see detail you might have otherwise missed... Via our interior cameras not only can you look around the cockpit and see everything from a first-person perspective, but using head-tracking via the PlayStation Camera you can also now move around the cockpit too -- peer closer at some intricate detail or turn around and look out of the back window." Slightly Mad Studios' previous work includes Need for Speed: Shift and its sequel, Shift 2: Unleashed. The studio announced last year that it was ditching proposed Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game in favor of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 development. Project Cars will hit consoles and PC platforms in November. [Image: Slightly Mad Studios]
Need for Speed: Shift dev's next game is PC racing MMO World of Speed
Slightly Mad Studios announced its new racing game today, World of Speed. The PC racer will be available this year as a free-to-play download published by My.com, with a closed beta program scheduled for the spring. The former Need for Speed: Shift and Shift 2: Unleashed developer described World of Speed as a "massively multiplayer online arcade racing video game," with players having access to an "endless garage of cars" to drive on tracks based in cities across the globe like London and San Francisco. World of Speed will feature team and club-based multiplayer racing along with objectives, missions and live events. [Image: Slightly Mad Studios]
World of Speed aims to satisfy racing itch
If putting the pedal to the metal is second nature to you, you might be interested in World of Speed, a new racing MMO announced for the PC. Developed by Slightly Mad Studios, this free-to-play game includes a vast array of cars from city runners to historic racing models and a variety of venues from true-to-life tracks to conglomerate concoctions carved from roadways across cities like London and San Francisco. Besides team and club competitions, World of Speed also sports unique missions and objectives in every race, live events, players challenges, and the Airfield social hub. As an MMO, the game will receive new content regularly in the form of new tracks, cars, and gameplay modes. Interested drivers can sign up for beta on the official site. [Source: Slightly Mad Studios press release]
Project Cars ditches PS3, Xbox 360, adds Xbox One, PS4, SteamOS
Slightly Mad Studios, the British development house perhaps best remembered for Need for Speed: Shift, is working on a new racing game called Project Cars. Today the developer has announced three new platforms for the game: Xbox One, PS4 and SteamOS. Project Cars, which was originally due to launch this year on PC and later on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U, has now been pushed back to Fall 2014. This delay also means that Xbox 360 and PS3 have been left by the wayside - those ports have been canceled - and so the updated platform list includes Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, PC and SteamOS. The "Cars" in Project Cars stands for "community-assisted racing simulator," a nod to Project Cars' crowd-funded and community-driven development plan. Those who have committed cash to Slightly Mad Studios have had access to frequently-updated builds of Project Cars and have helped steer the game's progress since late 2011.
Slightly Mad's Project Cars coming to Wii U, has nothing to do with Pixar
Slightly Mad Studios has added Wii U to the list of platforms for its crowd-funded racing title, Project Cars. Project Cars -- standing for "community-assisted racing sim" -- is already planned for release first on PC in 2013, and later on Xbox 360 and PS3.Slightly Mad's crowd-sourced approach to Project Cars allows fans to invest in the game and to access frequent builds, provide feedback throughout its development process and possibly add "video game producer" to their resumes.
Slightly Mad Studios using WMD, crowd-funding for new racing game
Need for Speed: Shift developer Slightly Mad Studios is breaking out the big guns with a crowdsourced funding scheme titled World of Mass Development, or WMD (see what we did there?), which will take its first run with a new racing game, C.A.R.S. Through WMD, Slightly Mad will release C.A.R.S.' crowdfunded technology to subscribers, who can then help develop the game and reap a return on their investments once it launches. Slightly Mad will take 30 percent of the profits, with the rest divided among the community investors based on the amount of shares they own. Slightly Mad expects C.A.R.S. to take two years and $5 million to produce. With shares priced from $5-$100,000 for individuals, groups or companies, Slightly Mad expects a $10 share will return $35, $250 to return $875 and $100,000 will return $350,000 -- if the game makes $25 million in profit. Slightly Mad has a goal to sell 3 million copies of C.A.R.S., earn a profit of $52 million and receive a 90 percent on Metacritic. "Traditional development puts developers at the mercy of publishers," Slightly Mad said. "The development process offered by WMD shifts the focus back to creating great games that your target audience wants to play, whilst still offering the chance to get proper funding for development and testing."
Shift 2: Unleashed 'Legends' and 'Speedhunters' DLC will be free on PC
We here at Joystiq never play the console superiority game; play on the platform you like, man. Oh, but when it comes to Shift 2 Unleashed, it would appear the PC is the superior platform -- at least, in a getting things for free kind of way. EA has announced that the Legends and Speedhunters packs, both $10 pieces of DLC on consoles, will be released free of charge on the PC. Beginning June 30, PC players can download both packs for free from EA's new digital distribution hub, Origin.com. Race on past the break for a video primer for the free DLC and a breakdown of what you'll get.
Shift 2: Unleashed DLC is for the 'Speedhunters'
Previous DLC for Shift 2: Unleashed offered up some classic cars and tracks for cash, but this next pack is all about a balance between the two: old muscle cars and expensive modern roadsters. For $9.99 on PSN and 800 MS Points ($10) on Xbox Live, you'll get two new branches, each featuring nine events with mandatory manual gear transmission use: Drag and Standing Mile. Drag is all about judging time over a quarter mile, while Standing Mile is a competition based on the top speed players can achieve over a mile strip. Race past the break for a list of cars and tracks, as well as a new trailer.
Shift 2 'Legends' DLC brings some classic cars out of the garage
Are the newfangled autocontraptions in Shift 2 Unleashed a little too modern for you? Not a fan of all the vehicular bells and whistles fastened to your 21st Century whips? EA has announced a DLC pack that should give you the sweet, nostalgic release you crave. On April 24, the game will receive 14 retro cars and five equally retro tracks -- most of which hail from the 1960s and '70s. You can pick up the new rides and venues for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Check out the full list of new-old content included in the "Legends" pack after the jump -- and while you're back there, why not check out the DLC's announcement trailer?
Shift 2 Unleashed review: Pedal to the medal
It was a wise move for EA to subdue the Need For Speed in the title of its sequel to last year's first racing sim in the franchise, Need For Speed: Shift. That's not to say Shift 2 Unleashed is unworthy of the brand -- far from it -- but given how well received the last arcade-style NFS title, Hot Pursuit, was, there would surely be plenty of folks who'd think this was the sequel to that game. It's so very not that. The original Shift remains one of my favorite racing games of all time -- and one of my most-played titles ever, too. So, to say that I've had some pretty high expectations of its sequel would be an understatement. Since last year, I've wondered how EA and Slightly Mad Studios were going to improve on the most realistic feeling, visceral and downright fun console racing sim to date. The short answer: They made it more realistic. The long answer is after the break.%Gallery-119962%
Shift 2 featurette pits two pros in an Autolog showdown
Having already proven his absolute comprehension of the sweet science of Shift 2: Unleashed, pro racer Tommy Milner now faces an even greater challenge: besting Irish driver Darren McNamara using the game's Autolog feature. Can he preserve his honor? For America?
Slightly Mad Studios is currently without a project
Next week, Shift 2: Unleashed will race to retail, but the post-launch festivities at developer Slightly Mad Studios are a bit dampened by the news of layoffs. According to comments made by studio head Ian Bell to GI.biz (registration required), another project that was underway has been suddenly canceled, affecting several studio staff. "Essentially we were let down at the last minute by one publisher who we'd signed a deal with only for it to be canned before we even started. I can't say who," Bell said. He went on to say that he's still in talks with the publisher in question among others. As for the studio's next project, that's currently up in the air. Bell says Slightly Mad hasn't been able to "secure a deal for a new project... yet," though he adds that he's "optimistic about the future." Those affected by layoffs at Slightly Mad have somewhat of a silver lining: Ian Bell and Slightly Mad's other co-founder, Andy Garton, recently formed their own social/mobile studio, Gamagio. Currently, the two are attempting to raise capital for the new venture and, according to Bell, employing ex-Slightly Mad Studios devs.
Watch a pro driver play Shift 2 Unleashed
It's no secret that real professional race drivers play racing video games, sometimes even for training. EA has released a video of Dubai 24h winner Tommy Milner taking Shift 2 Unleashed, which hits March 29, through its paces in a Corvette C6.R GT1 at Leguna Seca. He's really, really good.
Shift 2 Unleashed preview: Night rider
Back in November, EA showed us an early version of Shift 2 Unleashed, which touts Autolog implementation and a new immersive helmet cam designed to make what was one of the most lifelike racers even more, well, lifelike. At a San Francisco hotel earlier this week, I was given full access to the game's Career mode, a series of progressively difficult venues that combine traditional races with more specialized events -- muscle car races, retro events, and elimination and drift challenges are sprinkled throughout. Shift 2 Unleashed takes its predecessors shoes, shines 'em up and tries to pass them off as an entirely new pair. Yes, this is an evolution of the ideals present in Need for Speed: Shift, but it's obvious that Slightly Mad Studios was careful not to mix things up too much. Producer Jesse Abney describes it as "a refinement of the things we've done the year before," thus the game's biggest new features are Autolog implementation, deeper car customization, a new helmet camera system and the addition of nighttime driving. Night driving isn't going to redefine the sport, surely, but in Shift 2 Unleashed, it poses its own unique set of challenges. Since the damage models are more dynamic this time around, you can actually break your headlights and be stuck racing in pitch blackness -- believe it, because it happened to me when I was drafting too close to a racer who slammed on their brakes when I was flying through a track in Dubai. An intense, and unexpected, wave of panic and confusion ensued. "So this is nighttime driving?" I thought to myself. Abney also told me that cars can break axels and even damage engines to the point where a race cannot be finished, which wasn't possible in the first game.
Shift 2 Unleashed shifts to stores March 29
EA has clarified the "early 2011" release window for Shift 2 Unleashed by declaring that we'll be able to satisfy our need for speed (without the "Need for Speed") on March 29 in North America and March 24 in Europe. The trailer after the break reveals the EU date -- but if you'd like to see the other date at the end, check out YouTube. In addition to revealing the date for your next Autolog adventure, the new trailer features some driver's-seat footage that reminds us why we play racing games instead of racing cars in real life. That is, it's the constant fear of painful death. Just a quirk we have.
Shift 2 Unleashed preview: The new look of racing sims
Now that the dust has started to settle around Gran Turismo 5, EA is pulling off the sheet on its Need for Speed: Shift sequel. Simply Shift 2 Unleashed -- no "Need for Speed" in the title -- the racer represents returning developer Slightly Mad Studios' continuing effort to make players feel like they're actually driving some of the world's most powerful cars. %Gallery-108443%
Shift 2 Unleashed loses 'Need for Speed' and adds Hot Pursuit's Autolog
What better day to announce a new entry in a long-standing franchise than the release date for what is, arguably, the best installment in the series to date. Today, on Need for Speed Hot Pursuit's big day, EA has stolen some of that thunder by announcing Shift 2 Unleashed, the sequel to last year's simulation-style installment. In doing so, EA has dropped the "Need for Speed" half of the title (though the debut trailer, found after the break, still puts the game squarely in the NFS series, even using Hot Pursuit's n-shaped logo). In its place is Autolog, the excellent, always-connected enhancement that Burnout-dev Criterion brought to Hot Pursuit. EA calls it the "next generation" of the stats-driven friendship killer -- though, with less than half a year between both iterations, let's say we're skeptical of that claim. The game is being built by racing veterans, and Shift developers, Slightly Mad Studios for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. This morning's press release says to expect the game in "spring 2011," which is pretty close to the previously reported Q1 2011 window. So, are you more of a Hot Pursuit or a Shift 2 kind of gamer?
