- EA delists five Need for Speed games ahead of August online shutdown - 1 June 2021
EA has pulled five Need for Speed games from sale ahead of an August shutdown of online services. On 31st May, EA announced the removal of Need for Speed Carbon (2006), Need for Speed Undercover (2008), Need for Speed Shift (2009), Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed (2011) and Need for Speed The Run (2011) from digital storefronts. In-game stores have also closed. EA said this move, which was announced and implemented on the same day, is in "preparation" for the "retirement" of the online services for these games, which is set for 31st August. Until then, you can still play and race your friends online. But from 1st September onwards, you can play offline only. Read more
- New Weeklong Deals, Monday March 3rd - 3 March 2014
Check back for new deals every Monday at 10AM Pacific.
- Midweek Madness - Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, 70% Off - 9 July 2013
Save 70% on the Need For Speed Franchise during this week's Midweek Madness*! Need for Speed Hot Pursuit launches you into a new open-world landscape behind the wheel of the world's fastest and most beautiful cars. From Criterion, the award-winning studio behind the Burnout series, Hot Pursuit will redefine racing games for a whole new generation. *Offer ends Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time
- Shift 2: Unleashed review - 29 March 2011
I am in favour of the RPG-ification of all things. I want points for successfully waking up in the morning, points for getting my legs through the right holes in my trousers, points for not falling over and voiding my bowels on the way to work. Shift 2 has the right idea: it gives me points for everything. I overtake another car and the invisible car god of the sky gives me 20 points. I stymie a rival’s progression through the pack by weaving my multi-thousand dollar machine in front of his, and he gifts me another ten. All points from my benevolent driving lord go toward Shift 2’s career mode, and fuel a healthy and compulsive unlock schedule that makes me want to swear undying fealty to my new car god and kill all unbelievers. Points spill forth from all Shift 2’s orifices. Winning races or getting the fastest lap on a time attack session will typically give the largest rewards, but t…
- Shift 2 dev slams Gran Turismo, Forza - 30 November 2010
As the battle of the simulation racers heats up, one developer has revealed exactly what he thinks of his rivals. That developer is Shift 2: Unleashed's lead designer Andy Tudor, who had some choice words for Sony's Gran Turismo 5 and Microsoft's Forza 3 when Eurogamer interviewed him to discuss his upcoming game . "Those two games are on pedestals at the moment," he said. "When we're thinking about what we want to do in this game, it's not a numbers game. We're not going to add a thousand irrelevant cars. "Both those games, to me, are almost like encyclopaedias. You've got a thousand cars, a thousand tracks, whatever, and basically the game is about earning cash to get another car, earning cash to get another car. "It's like a grind. It's almost like stamp collecting." Gran Turismo 5, released to sales success last week, features over 1000 cars. 1031 to be exact. Eurogamer listed all o…
- Shift 2: Unleashed - 30 November 2010
You're probably done with congratulating developers just for sticking an XP system in their game. And with good reason; applauding the insertion of statistical progression is like celebrating the creativity of whoever puts MSG in Pringles. That said, when it comes to the Shift series, having the persistent points meter ticking upwards throughout each squealing, tarcmac-buckling race has always felt interesting. It creates an elastic tension between the game's lunges at realism and the rambling series' arcade roots. An obvious choice, perhaps, but it works. The original Shift tried to be a crunchier, bashier kind of simulation racer offering the depth and handling of 'serious' car games like Forza, infused with a touch of Burnout's sideswiping chaos. The sequel takes things one step further, grabbing hold of the first outing's dynamic interior view and squeezing. The end result rams yo…
- Shift 2 Unleashed announced - 16 November 2010
Slightly Mad Studios' Shift 2 Unleashed will be released during the spring of 2011 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, EA's announced. Shift is EA's Gran Turismo and Forza killer it's designed to offer an authentic simulation racing experience in contrast to the arcade racing found in Criterion's Hot Pursuit. The first Shift sold through close to five million copies worldwide, according to EA. Shift 2 brings an "all-new" rendering engine and a "massive" graphics overhaul. "With an innovative helmet camera view simulating the physical experience of driving at 200mph, the thrilling experience of night racing and authentic degradation of tracks and cars, this is tomorrow's sim for today's adrenaline fuelled racer," said EA. Hot Pursuit's Autolog feature, which connects friends and compares stats, returns. Shift 2 "is redefining immersive racing by blending the rush of tearing up the trac…
- Black Box behind Nov 2011 Need for Speed - 2 November 2010
EA's vision for the Need for Speed franchise involves alternating the developers behind every November release in a similar way Infinity Ward and Treyarch alternate development of Call of Duty games. This November's game, Hot Pursuit, was created by Criterion. November 2011's game, unannounced at this stage but confirmed to be in EA's plan, will be created by Need for Speed: Undercover developer EA Black Box in Canada. EA also plans to make a franchise out of side series Need for Speed: Shift designed to compete with the likes of Forza and Gran Turismo in the authentic simulation racing genre. EA's new NFS strategy was revealed by executive Patrick Soderlund in a wide ranging new interview with Eurogamer . "We want to reach a mass-market audience, and Hot Pursuit is a more mass-market appealing product than Shift," Soderlund said. "We want to come back with an action adventure type of…
- Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit to start race wars - 14 October 2010
The latest Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit video shows off some of the hyper-competitive networking features the game will game will have. Essentially, it's going to start a four-wheeled war with everyone on your friends list. Check out the video below. The new features will include a Facebook style 'wall' that will let you post comments, screenshots and race videos to your friends. The game will also track your race times and compare your performances with others on your friends list. If someone beats your best time on a certain track, the game's omniscient 'Autolog' service will send you an update so you can immediately respond and take back the number one spot. As the man says, "there's nothing more powerful than beating a friend."
- EA Week, Day Four: Save on EA Racing Games - 17 June 2010
Visit Steam every day this week for big savings on a different EA game. Today only, save 25% off Need for Speed Shift , 50% off Need for Speed Undercover and 75% off Burnout Paradise ! Please visit www.steampowered.com for more information. A different offer starts at 10am Pacific time.
- The Ultimate iPad Launch Game Round-Up - 3 April 2010
Join Kotaku as we showcase some of the best and not-so-best games available for the shiny new iPad. Check out hands-on impressions for Mirror's Edge, Need for Speed: Shift, Geometry Wars, and more! Seeing as I am the only Kotaku editor with an iPad, the process of working my way through the twenty-five or so iPad games now in my possession is a long and arduous one. There's some really good stuff here, and then there's just stuff, and it's my job to separate the stuff from the stuff. Mind you these are quick impressions, which you probably could have figured out on your own, considering this is going live on the iPad's launch day. I'll be updating this post regularly over the next couple of hours, so stay tuned for more, including Scrabble, Plants vs. Zombies, Civilization Revolution, and more! Latest updates: Glyder 2, Parachute Panic HD, and Pocket Legends for iPad. And that's all for…
