EL33TONLINE: News tag archive: needforspeedshift
Late last year EA revealed that Shift 2 Unleashed players would be able to get their hands on three exclusive cars if they pre-ordered the Limited Edition version of the game.
In addition to getting behind the wheel of the the Nissan Silvia spec.R Aero (S15), the Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV, and the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640, gamers who pre-order the Limited Edition would also get exclusive access to 40 career events. But before we talk more about these let’s see these cars in action shall we?
A brand new trailer for EA and Slightly Mad Studio’s next Need For Speed game, SHIFT 2 Unleashed, has announced the release date for this arcade/realism hybrid racer, and includes some shockingly amazing in-game footage to get the Hype ‘o Meter revving.
Two weeks ago EA announced that the next entry to the Need For Speed series is scheduled to launch in the middle of 2011, but curiously the official title for the sequel to Need For Speed: SHIFT omits the time-honoured franchise name.
Simply called SHIFT 2 Unleashed, this new racing title includes a host of refinements and wholesale improvements over the original arcade/realism hybrid, with the inclusion of a couple new features and an all-new graphics engine.
You can have a look at how this new engine is shaping up with the first ever set of SHIFT 2 Unleashed screenshots below:
EA has just gone and announced that a sequel to last year’s excellent Need For Speed: SHIFT is currently in development at racing game specialists Slightly Mad Studios, and is scheduled to release in the ‘Spring’ of 2011.
Simply entitled SHIFT 2 Unleashed, this next entry to the Need For Speed franchise has some mighty big shoes to fill, as the previous SHIFT title went on to sell almost five million copies worldwide, and as El33tonline’s review of that game will tell you, it successfully delivered an awesome, visceral racing experience that was equal parts simulation and arcade game.
Hidden in amongst the financial mumbo jumbo that comprised EA’s recent quarterly financial results report, the company mentioned the curious existence of a game by the name of Need For Speed: SHIFT 2.
Electronic Arts has just released financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter, and despite what market analysts have been predicting, the publisher has posted some impressive results, with $30 million in profit for the quarter, in comparison to a $42 million loss during the same period last year.
Sales were up 14 percent year over year, to $979 million this quarter, too, on the back of some healthily performing franchises, as Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Army of Two: The 40th Day and Mass Effect 2 all sold one million units during the three months ending March 31st alone.
EA’ CEO John Riccitiello was no doubt chuffed with the results, commenting:
Earlier in the month EA revealed that Ferrari would be returning to Need for Speed after a seven year hiatus. Yesterday the new Xbox 360 exclusive content pack became available for 800 MS Points, delivering 10 new cars to Need for Speed: SHIFT.
The pack also introduces an additional 125 gamerpoints and extends SHIFT’s career mode with 46 new Ferrari specific challenges, including hot laps, eliminators, endurance races and a world tour.
Ferrari will be returning to Need for Speed after a seven year hiatus. This is the latest news from EA who today announced that players will be able to download a new content pack on the 16th of February that delivers 10 Ferrari cars to the game.
EA’s latest current generation racer, Need For Speed: Shift, will soon be receiving brand new downloadable content (DLC) entitled the Team Racing Pack, which includes a new race mode and a host of classic cars, all for the low low price of free.
The new racing mode is an online affair which sees two teams of up to six racers each competing for top honours, requiring players to eschew their normal racing tactics and use team strategy to come out on top.
The new cars heading to Need For Speed: Shift in the Team Racing Pack, on the other hand, comprise a list of names racing enthusiasts are sure to recognise, such as the following:
EA is teaming up with Coke Zero to provide players of Need For Speed: Shift the opportunity to download a new, free car for use in the game.
Up for grabs is the Coke Zero Dodge Viper SRT10, which sports improved speed, acceleration, handling and braking as compared to the vanilla Viper already available in Need For Speed: Shift. You can see the new Coke Zero Dodge Viper SRT10 in action in a gameplay video below:
EA announced late yesterday that their long-running Need For Speed racing franchise recently passed the 100 million (!) units sold mark, placing it in a pretty exclusive club and generating $2.7 billion in life-to-date sales, making it the best selling racing brand in the gaming world.
President of the EA Games Label, Frank Gibeau, said of the achievement: “Few videogame franchises ever reach the 100M units mark, so this is a huge honor. We have millions of fans to thank for driving us to this milestone.
“With the launch of Need for Speed SHIFT and the upcoming release of Need for Speed NITRO, we hope to continue to deliver the most entertaining, action-packed racing experiences.”
Since the release of the original Need For Speed on the 3DO in 1994, the franchise has racked up quite a few impressive statistics, including the following:
When EA announced the direction for their next Need For Speed racing game, I’ll admit I was a little concerned with their aim to focus on the ‘racing experience’ and tilt the overall theme of the game towards more of a simulation approach, while still retaining the ‘jump in and race’ arcade feeling of previous entries to the long running series.
Amid a games market already saturated with quality racers occupying space within both genres - titles that know very well what they are and do what they do very well - this new approach to Need For Speed smacked of an attempt to appeal to both crowds of racing enthusiasts in equal measure, only doomed to dilute both the arcade and simulation aspects and end up appealing to neither set of fans.
Surprisingly, though, Need For Speed: Shift does an excellent job of providing a racing experience for everyone, from the motorheads who want to upgrade and tweak their engines just right, to the people who simply want to let the game take care of the technical stuff and just press accelerate, all wrapped up in a very arcadey points-based approach, with tons of challenges to complete.
Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Need For Speed: Shift.
Thanks to everyone who entered our awesome EA competitions over the past month. The good news is that we have drawn our three winners…check below to see if you are one of them!
Congratulations to Yaseen Karbelkar who scored by winning a copy of FIFA 10 for the PS3, Elmarie Barnard for speeding off with the Xbox 360 Need for Speed: SHIFT prize and Fayyaad Hendricks, who will soon be perfecting his putting skills in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Wii.
Enjoy your games, which will be winging their way to you soon, and thanks again to EA for sponsoring these terrific prizes!
EA has announced that the console demo of Need for Speed: SHIFT will be available for download on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live this Thursday, the 1st of October.
The demo will allow players to race one of four cars (BMW M3 (E46), Dodge Viper SRT10, Lotus Elise 111R and Nissan GT-R) on the famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and the city circuit of London River. Players who collect enough stars will also unlock the Pagani Zonda F.
Need for Speed: SHIFT is available now for the PS3, Xbox 360, PSP and PC.
There are all kinds of ways to win some great games with El33tonline this month, and it’s so easy to enter each and every competition!
Up for grabs are two copies of SuperCar Challenge for the PS3, one copy of Fifa 10 for the PS3, a copy of Need for Speed: Shift for the Xbox 360, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Wii, as well as two copies of Velvet Assassin on PC or Xbox 360!
To enter each competition and stand a chance of winning one of these great games, all you need to do is send in your details and answer a very simple question related to each game.
Visit El33tonline’s competitions page to enter, or follow the links above to reach the respective game’s page.
Good luck!
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