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| NFS Shift: Interview with Ian Bell |
Friday, 03.07.2009 |
 Ian Bell from the Slightly Mad Studios answers some questions about the upcoming Need for Speed Shift on NeedforSpeed.com. Although he is quite enthusiastic about the game, this interview contains some interesting information, how the developers handle the physics in the game and how they are trying to connect realism with action.
There are four levels to the driving model, and all driving models give you the choice of using visual damage only or 'full' (performance) damage. Again, the engine supports any level of realistic visual to physical damage but we will be tuning the levels to ensure a fun experience. Bumpers will fly off, hoods will be popped open, doors will be bashed in, and if you've got full damage on, your suspension will bend, your steering will pull or get sloppy, and your engine will be destroyed, barely limping around to the end of the race. We made the decision to keep the focus on action without critically severe punishment, since this is a racing game, not a crashing game. There will be consequences to your actions with full damage on, and it will likely destroy your race, but you will always be able to at least limp across the finish line to collect your profile points.
Sounds like an interesting decision, that you're not able to completely wreck your car, but this could be the bridge between sim and action fans. Hardcore simulation gamers will have a "Pro" mode, which feels more natural and will also raise the bar for handling.
Additionally the physics engine sounds quite impressing, as the game is able to reflect the tiniest details like tire deformation based on g-forces, tire pressures and rubber thickness. As Ian Bell says: "[...] only the most diehard sim fans will notice, but we know it's there."
Better you read the complete interview yourself here:
 NFS Shift: Interview with Ian Bell
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| NFS Shift: System Requirements |
Saturday, 27.06.2009 |
Only 3 months to go until Need for Speed Shift is released. Now the system requirements for the game (PC) showed up - although it's not sure whether this information is official, as it comes from a polish  Facebook site:
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
OS: Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Vista Service Pack 1
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 (or equivalent) CPU running at 3,2GHz or higher (3.4GHz for Windows Vista)
Memory: 1GB RAM (Vista 2GB)
Hard Drive Space: 10 GB of free space
Graphics Hardware: 256 MB RAM with Pixel Shader 3 (PCI-Ex)
Sound Hardware: DirectX 9.0c compliant card (DirectX 10.1 compliant if applicable)
DVD Drive: 8X or faster DVD Drive
For Online Play: Network card with broadband connectivity
RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS:
OS: Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Vista Service Pack 1
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2,5GHz or AMD 64 X2 2,0 GHz
Memory: 2GB RAM (Vista 3GB)
Hard Drive Space: 10 GB of free space
Graphics Hardware: 512 MB RAM with Pixel Shader 3 (PCI-Ex)
Sound Hardware: DirectX 9.0c compliant card (DirectX 10.1 compliant if applicable)
DVD Drive: 8X or faster DVD Drive
For Online Play: Network card with broadband connectivity
NFSUnlimited (Source)
Gamekaze.pl (Source)
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| NFS Shift: 5 new Screenshots |
Saturday, 27.06.2009 |
Five new screenshots of Need for Speed Shift were published at NeedforSpeed.com. They are a little bit low-res, but quite nice:
You can find more screenshots here:
NFS Shift: Screenshots
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| NFS Shift: IGN E3 2009 Live Demo |
Wednesday, 24.06.2009 |
The onlinemagazine IGN sat down with Andy Tudor, the Lead Designer at the Slightly Mad Studios. In this two-parted video he shows a little gameplay of Need for Speed Shift, the cockpit view and introduces the driver profile and points you can collect during the race:
IGN E3 2009 Live Demo Part 1
IGN E3 2009 Live Demo Part 2
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| Game Critics Award - The Winners |
Tuesday, 23.06.2009 |
As recently reported Need for Speed Shift was nominated in the category "Best Racing Game" at the Game Critics Awards.
Today the winners were announced and unfortunately the game Split/Second by Black Rock/Disney Interactive Studios won the award.
This doesn't say much about the game yet, because from all Need for Speed games only Need for Speed 3 in 1998 and Motor City in 2000 (which had earlier the name Need for Speed: Motor City) could win in this category...
Game Critics Awards
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| NFS Nitro: The Art of Need for Speed Nitro |
Friday, 19.06.2009 |
 Gil Rimmer, Art Director of Need for Speed Nitro talks at NeedforSpeed.com about the visual style of the game, which will be released for Wii and Nintendo DS. NFS Nitro made quite a good impression at the E3 and won both IGN E3 Awards for the best racing game on the Wii and Nintendo DS.
Here is an excerpt of the article at NeedforSpeed.com:
In addition, Need for Speed NITRO has a breakthrough visual style based around the concept of “OWN IT” where you “tag” the city you race in as you take the lead in the race! By fusing the underground racing scene with the world of Graffiti we have achieved some fresh game play that heightens the racing experience and transforms the racing world.
We wanted the tagging to “pop” so therefore treated the environments as a “blank canvas” waiting to be owned. This idea is implemented by keeping the background limited in color and saturation allowing room for your vibrantly created tags and cars to be noticed.
The biggest challenge as always comes from balancing the technology and the vision for the game. Our game runs at a smoking hot 60 fps! Critical to delivering the sense of control we envisioned for the cars. When you drive FAST the sense of speed is incredible!
We created big and ambitious tracks, each still populated with large amounts of buildings and tons of smackables especially when driving through the narrow streets of Madrid, the dense markets in Cairo and the historic Chinatown in Singapore.
You can find the complete article here:
The Art of Need for Speed Nitro
NFS Nitro: First Look
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| NFS Shift: 3 new Screenshots |
Friday, 19.06.2009 |
On the official NFS website you can find three new screenshots of Need for Speed Shift. In the near future you'll also find there pictures of each car playable in the game, including shots of the interior.
You can find more screenshots here:
NFS Shift: Screenshots
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| NFS Shift: New Screenshots |
Wednesday, 17.06.2009 |
There are new screenshots of Need for Speed Shift available, showing the BMW M3 GT2 shortly before a crash:
You can find more pictures in our screenshots-section:
NFS Shift: Screenshots
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| NFS Shift: Nominated for Game Critics Awards |
Wednesday, 17.06.2009 |
As always after the E3 Expo the best games are honoured with the Game Critics Awards.
Today the nominations were published and Need for Speed Shift is nominated in the category "Best Racing Game". It has to prevail against Blur, Forza Motorsport 3, ModNation Racers and Split/Second.
The publisher with the most nominations is by the way Electronic Arts with 18 games. 3 less than in 2008, but 4 more than in 2007. Last year Need for Speed Undercover didn't even make it under the nominees.
As soon as the winners are announced you'll get to know here.
Game Critics Awards
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| NFS Shift: Driver Profile |
Monday, 15.06.2009 |
As reported earlier Need for Speed Shift will contain a Driver Profile, which should create an authentic driver's experience. EA revealed some official information about this system:
Driver profile is the ultimate extension of the true driver's experience. Extending through the single player career and online multiplayer modes, driver profile gives each player a unique game experience based on the way each player drives on the track. This exclusive driver profile system pushes the entire racing genre forward.Driver profile is a tailor-made career mode based on four key game play components:
1. Personality - a player's driving style determines whether they are an aggressive or precise driver.
2. Success - as in every race, the ultimate goal is to finish at the top of the podium.
3. Profile points - every car passed, every corner mastered, every opponent taken out generates profile points.
4. Badges - these unique icons bring individuality and style to each player's driver profile, as each player races and completes top achievements.
As a player's driver profile develops through the course of the game, it creates rivalries, triggers specific challenges and even unlocks vehicles and customization options. Need for Speed SHIFT's multiple reward systems keeps players in each race regardless of their position.
"The new driver profile feature in Need for Speed SHIFT gives players full control of how they progress through game," said Patrick Soderlund, Senior Vice President of EA Games Europe. "In SHIFT, how you drive is who you are behind the wheel."
You can find a video of the Driver Profile in Shift here:
NFS Shift: Driver Profile Video
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| Need for Speed goes Web 2.0 |
Saturday, 13.06.2009 |
 For those of you who cannot get enough information on their favorite racing game might want to take a look at Need for Speed's Web 2.0 offerings. For the Facebook members amongst you there's the official Need for Speed group to be found here.
Twitter users can follow the respective feed. They're doing a giveaway drawing on Friday 19th among all followers so pay attention to it if you want to win some NFS-related prizes.
Need for Speed Facebook Group
Need for Speed Twitter Feed
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| Criterion Games: New Need for Speed in the works |
Thursday, 11.06.2009 |
The rumors were flying thick and fast, and finally it is a fact: Electronic Arts' COO John Pleasants confirmed that a new Need for Speed title is currently under development at Criterion Games.
"We've taken the Burnout team and combined it with our Need For Speed franchise. So we now have that in our favor because that Burnout team is probably one of the more online-centric and notably high-quality game developers that we have out at Criterion."
EA's CEO John Riccitiello affirmed that there won't be any mix-up of both the NFS and the Burnout franchise:
"I don't think you can fold Burnout into Need for Speed, because a lot of people like Burnout. We don't have a plan right now for a separate major launch on Burnout, because the team doing it is working on a revolutionary take on Need for Speed."
"Revolutionary" take? Sadly they gave no explanation for that. Neither name nor release date for the new title were mentioned.
Kotaku.com (Source)
G4TV.com (Source)
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| NFS Shift: E3 Press Conference Video |
Tuesday, 02.06.2009 |
Yesterday, Electronic Arts' press conference on the E3 took place. Gametrailers.com was there and shot the part about Need for Speed Shift. Patrick Söderlund talks about the game and, in particular, about the Driver Profile.
Audio quality could be better, but towards the end of the video you will get to see some new ingame scenes.
NFS Shift: E3 Press Conference Video @ Gametrailers.com
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