190°

Why SHIFT Can't Get into Gear

Koku Gamer writes: "Something which I like to do on a regular basis is thinking about future game titles and franchises. It can range from looking at released (or leaked) screenshots, videos and other media and anticipating gameplay or thinking about the different vehicles, tracks and modes which the developers will have on offer. Something particular which came to mind though was the upcoming simulation racer Need For Speed SHIFT, due for release this November by developer Slightly Mad Studios."

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kokugamer.com
wwm0nkey5424d ago

Played this at E3, it was actually pretty fun!

Ziriux5424d ago

I'm a HUGE fan of Need for Speed games, bad or good I have fun with them. I do have to admit Pro Street was horrid and almost made me stop playing NFS games.

shocky165424d ago

I honestly can't see this one being any better from what we've seen.

I'm calling it now - 7.5 average GR.

Ziriux5424d ago

Shockey,

It is a whole new development team working on it. The one thing that makes me think it might not do so well is because it's still a short development cycle it had, a year or so, which just isn't too much time.

shocky165424d ago

Doesn't it have only like 80 cars and 20 tracks? :S

Rofflecopter5424d ago

While I am looking forward to see what this game brings to the table, I feel that the order of racing games will end up being fairly straight forward

GT > Forza > NFS

But who cares? Racing enthusiasts will buy, most likely, GT and Forza (depending on the system they own, or both if they own both). The rest of the population will buy whichever appeals to them at the time..

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RedDeadLB5424d ago

I think EA made a good move putting the NFS series in Slightly Mad's hands. If Black Box made another NFS game, I'd go postal. The last good NFS game was Most Wanted.. From there, everything went downhill... I can't say anything for Forza because I don't own an Xbox 360, but even if I did, games like GRID and now, Shift, will always be better to me than simulation games. I hate Gran Turismo, I hate GTR.. But I always loved NFS games, and I will continue to show my support.

DeadlyDevil5424d ago

NFS series lost its touch after most wanted in my opinion.

Ziriux5424d ago

I agree Deadly, easily my favorite NFS game. Most wanted felt really good, open world. reminds me of Midnight Club LA very much.

Reibooi5424d ago

The Need For Speed series probably has it's own dedicated fan base that are going to buy Shift regardless of if it's better or worse then Forza 3 and I think to a degree EA is banking on that.

That said most are not gonna see Shift as anything else other then a rental or they may just pass it up completely.

Ziriux5424d ago

I agree. There is at leas a 250k of dedicated NFS fans that will be purchasing the game. The other people will have to be convinced to buy this game. Although, I don't think many look at games as each others competition.

really duh5424d ago

Better or worse than Forza 3? People will buy NFS for it's arcadish gameplay regardless of what the devs say it is. People will buy Forza 3 for sim racing and the costumization and strong community features and services. The two games are not even in the same ballpark. I can see a lot of kids picking up nfs because their friends have nfs

Ziriux5424d ago

Great point Duh, it's comes down to the hardcore racing fans when it comes to choosing between the two. I'm not sure how good SHIFT can compare to the sim of the Forza franchise, considering how I've never heard of the dev. in charge of developing SHIFT.

Greywulf5424d ago (Edited 5424d ago )

NFS is/was a great franchise, EA is trying to turn it around. Several sites are giving the game the upper hand in regard to graphics/fun as well as Split second.

Arcade is "next gen" for the word casual/pickup and play. Much the like the forza developers have learned with GRID's Arcade Rewind features and stronger arcade modes to where "anyone can pickup up and play". They are all directly compared since they all include arcade racing/features. Forza is going to have to sell more/release more titles to establish itself from the shadow of the Need for Speed franchise. People buy NFS like Maddens, and I will agree with you there. But its not a negative/positive thing. Its just the way it is. The last Prostreet sold 1mill plus on various consoles.

Kinda sounds like you're trying to throw NFS under the bus. Anyone remember the one on the 3do with the guy talking smack? the Road & Track edition?

Ziriux5424d ago

Great point Greywolf. I never thought about it that way, but you're right. There just isn't as many racing hardcore fans as there are those who enjoy the arcady racing games like NFS, Burnout and Midnight Club. So yea SHIFT will have a great chance to succeed in regards to sales, however in quality I think that Forza 3 will definitely be a better title.

From the screenshots though, i must admit SHIFT is looking to bring the best graphics thus far to the NFS series.

really duh5424d ago (Edited 5424d ago )

You think Grey had a great point? I don't know what he's going on about I was talking about how you couldn't compare a true Sim with a arcade series trying to be a Sim series. Does NFS-shift even have background processing on the level of Forza? can you change all parts in a car, does each part effect the car's performance in a truie to life fashion? etc etc

LOL at the Halo rant did somebody try to compare Halo to Operation flashpoint 2?

Greywulf5424d ago (Edited 5424d ago )

Which is why they are compared. A simulation is to simulate driving/physics. Which is why they are compared. GTR doesn't have bodykits and cai's. Does that mean its no longer a sim and cant be compared? The biggest new features that F3 has added are quite Arcadey. GRID's rewind features, and a Video editor have nothing to do with simulations. And like Turn10 said, they want Forza3 to be able to be picked up and played by anyone. Arcade = Casual. Which is what the devs are trying to pickup on clearly. You cant artificially place forza above well established franchises, no matter how hard you personally try. Which is also why they are compared.

Duh lol @ you taking what I said as a "halo rant" The same excuse you tried to push on NFS, could be said for Halo as well as most games as far as kids buying it because friends have it. But NFS is also a recognized franchise, to where people by it regardless. Which is also like the halo franchise. Which isn't a negative thing, or a positive thing.

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190°

Need for Speed: Carbon, Undercover, and More to Be Removed from Digital Storefronts

EA has announced that Need for Speed Carbon, Need for Speed Undercover, Need for Speed Shift, Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed, and Need for Speed The Run will be removed from digital storefronts beginning today, May 31.

Kombatologist1067d ago

From a preservation standpoint, this is the one thing I hate about digital games. And things will get much worse if game streaming becomes the norm.

darthv721067d ago

The games are already preserved. Hence their existence on the digital stores to begin with. This is no different than when Disney put movies in the vault, only to bring them back years later.

spwittbold1067d ago

Not true. Mass Effect re-release trilogy did not have some of the DLC content specifically because the contractor that played a major role in it's development did not preserve it, nor did Bioware.

thejigisup1067d ago

Any idea of when marvel vs capcom 2 is coming back? That's my favorite game of all time and I can't use it on my ps3 as the file is corrupt and can't find an official dualshock or sixaxis to rebuild the database in safe mode. It's really frustrating that I can't use something I paid for that I expected to have forever.

DOMination-1067d ago

At least it is available digitally. They give you a warning, and if you purchase it, then you will still always have access to it. They will also make it available again one day when it makes sense, but right now I imagine that <100 a day play these games.

Good luck buying Need for Speed: Carbon brand new from a store.

All games have a shelf life. These games are three generations old and had massive circulation. I don't think it is EAs problem if you haven't picked them up by now.

Sgt_Slaughter1066d ago

Why defend EA's bad business practice? There's no way to spin this, it's just bad.

Retroman1067d ago (Edited 1067d ago )

NFS Undercover, Carbon,Prostreets, Rivals, 2015 Reboot, Payback , 2012 Mostwanted was no good, far as I'm concerned they can remove Heat too . it doesn't matter anymore if Ea remove them they "All" crap.
Ea went down hill after Blackbox studio left.
Ghost did not improved NFS , Criterion did nothing better and here they are back to screw NFS again. 2022 will be another flop as the first title they made (Burnout for Speed)

DarXyde1067d ago

Not a fan of those games either, but I think you miss the point: even if someone—for whatever reason—wants to buy those games digitally, they can't. And the transition toward digital platforms makes the issue that much worse. Nevermind buying physical at outrageous prices from online sellers, you literally can't play them if you have an all-digital device.

Kombatologist is exactly right: it is an issue from the perspective of preservation that is likely to get worse with the rise of streaming.

Retroman1066d ago

Ah, no. I did Not missed the point. I spoke my personal opinion on those craptastic titles.
Why would anyone in there right mind but those title's Digitally??.......there is a website you can still buy those games around 19.99 I bought the Ratchet and Clank Trilogy PS3 for 19.99 Amazon and EBay price 79.99 wish I remember the name of the site.

strayanalog1067d ago

I wonder what Need for Speed said a decade ago on twitter.

1067d ago
Profchaos1067d ago

I own some of these games does that mean I can no longer download them? Or just purchase?

boing11067d ago

Removed from storefronts so my guess is it's only about digital purchase.

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130°

Ranking the Need for Speed games - from the bad to the great

Paul writes: "Without further ado, here is my list of the best and worst Need For Speed games in the history of the world! I'll run worst to best, so if you want to know which is the best ever Need for Speed game, you’ll have to read on."

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thexboxhub.com
OneEyedSteve1730d ago

Most wanted 2012 imo was awful, on PS3 the graphics are dreadful, and the crash cam was very annoying. Rival is the worst imo, hated that game. My favourite is Hot Pursuit, great game. Also Shift 1&2 are really good.

OnlyThoseOnTheFence1730d ago

High Stakes will always be my favorite. Great cars, great music, and you could see through the windows which was pretty mind-blowing at the time. Best of all it was ricer-free.

steven83r1730d ago

Lame. The list doesn't even include any of the originals. NFS 1 and NFS hot Pursuit 1998. Must be a youngster who created the list.

CYALTR1729d ago

He clearly stated that being this was an Xbox centered site he was going to limit his list to games that released on some form of Xbox. He also stated he had been playing them since OG PLaystation, so pretty sure he's not a "youngster"

Retroman1729d ago (Edited 1729d ago )

From my personal experience NFS I personally don't like.......
The Worst : Underground 2 , Carbon, Prostreets, Undercover, Porche unleashed, Nitro, NFS World, 2012 Mostwanted, Rivals, 2015 Reboot last but not least Paycrap.
Best NFS I personally like :
All ps1 NFS : HighStakes (the best) including NFS 3 Hotpursuit , ps2 Hotpursuit 2 (Excellent game ) ..Underground ( Best so far)
2005 Mostwanted ( Excellent game) Shift 1/2 (Spectacular) remind me of GT , 2010 Hotpursuit Great game but race Waaaaaaay to long in my personal opinion . Last but not least The Run . these are my favorite NFS titles .
After The Run in my personal opinion NFS went down hill fast with Open world mapping crap, always online, multiplayer crap, alldrive, drifting in every freaking corners, no gripping anymore,autolog. None of this crapfest is NFS original formula. until Ea contract Ghost Games to return the original formula back in NFS it will always be Shitty game.

30°

GamersGate Sells Need For Speed Ultimate Bundle For $9

Hardcore Gamer: For the price of a pizza, you can get ProStreet, Shift 1, Shift 2, and Undercover.

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hardcoregamer.com