Franchise to expand with three more platform-specific installments
There's been a lot of doom and gloom discussions concerning layoffs at Electronic Arts and failure to meet revenue goals -- especially with Need for Speed: Undercover underperforming in 2008. So it may be surprising to some that EA has announced plans to publish three more Need for Speed games in 2009.
One title has already revealed itself as Need for Speed: Shift, to be released for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PSP. Shift is meant to be a more "serious" racing simulation than previous titles, and the development is being overseen by Black Box executive producer Michael Mann and DICE co-founder Patrick Soderlund. The workload will be carried by a new UK studio called Slightly Mad Studios.
The second upcoming game will be Need for Speed: Nitro, a Nintendo Wii and DS exclusive developed by EA Montreal. No images of the game have been released yet, but EA promises a "unique visual style."
The third and final 2009 release is Need for Speed: World Online for PC, and the title is a clear indication of what to expect. World Online will be a free-to-play online game developed by Black Box and EA Shanghai, targeting the Asian gaming market. As such, Asian regions will be seeing an earlier launch this summer while North America must wait until winter 2009.
"This isn't about quantity, this is about crafting different games for different audiences and their unique tastes in the driving category," assures EA Games marketing executive Keith Munro.
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If they're great games, awesome..Im just kinda worrying EA will tank.
Personally I don't like the idea of a simulation style NFS. They should be trying to make it more like Burnout, less like Forza or Grid, the simulation market is getting a bit crowded these days.
Personally, I hope EA tanks. It will be better in the long run.
Tell them to ditch the name, kill the annoying voiceovers, and stop milking their own titles.
EA is starting to become just like Nintendo...
Hmm, this brings so many issues into my head like what happen too the two year development cycle they said they where taking in order to improve games? When are these games going to come out, all at once or one at a time staggered across the year.
Shift sounds interesting but a lot of the realistic racing games have turned out too be rubbish. One hint, I like my racing wheel to feel connected to the action.