Need for Speed SHIFT is out September 17th in Europe and September 15th in North America. It will be available on Xbox 360®, PLAYSTATION®3, PC and PLAYSTATION®PORTABLE (PSP) as well as on Mobile and iPhone.

Need for Speed™ SHIFT is an award-winning authentic racing game that combines the true driver’s experience with real-world physics, pixel-perfect car models, and a wide range of authentic race tracks. Need for Speed SHIFT takes players in a different direction to create a simulation experience that replicates the true feeling of driving high-end performance cars.

Players are thrust into the loud, visceral, intense, athletic experience of racing a car on the edge of control from the driver’s perspective through the combination of perception based G-forces, the hyper reality of the cockpit view, and the brutal experience of a first person crash dynamic. Need for Speed SHIFT features an accurate, accessible physics-based driving model that allows you to feel every impact, every change of track surface and every last bit of grip as you push yourself to the edge.

The all-new driver profile is the ultimate extension of the true driver’s experience. This system gives each player a unique persona based on a player’s driving skill and style - aggressive or precise. Driver profile impacts how a player unlocks cars, overall career progression and online matchmaking. In Need for Speed SHIFT, how you drive is who you are behind the wheel.

Need for Speed SHIFT is being developed by Slightly Mad Studios in collaboration with Black Box and senior vice president Patrick Soderlund at EA Games Europe. Slightly Mad Studios includes developers and designers that worked on the critically acclaimed games GT Legends and GTR 2.

Key Features
- True Driver’s Experience – A variety of visual cues delivers the true driver’s experience including a three-dimensional HUD that mimics driver head movement, inertia and G-forces. The depth of field also adjusts based on the speed of the car; so when the car is traveling at high speeds the perspective will shift to the distance putting the car/cockpit out of focus.

- Driver Profile – What kind of driver are you? Driver profile tracks the player’s evolution as a race driver from event to event. This system is made up of a driver’s personality on the track, their success rate and any profile points and badges accrued all of which work together to create a tailor-made career and game play experience. Driver profile is pervasive throughout all modes: career and online.

- Dynamic Crash Effect - When the player hits a static object or opponent car, the player will feel like they are 'taking damage'. A combination of visual and audio effects will leave the player disorientated and briefly disrupt the race.

- Total Customization – Need for Speed SHIFT features a comprehensive customization option that lets the player tailor every aspect of the cars performance and styling. Go under the hood to upgrade and tune your vehicle to increase its performance. The visual customization system allows players to personalize both the exterior and trick out the interior to reflect their individual style and preferences.

- Photo Real Cars and Tracks – Nearly 70 licensed cars are available including the Pagani Zonda F, Audi RS4, and Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. There is also over 15 real-world locations like Willow Springs and Laguna Seca as well as fictional circuits like downtown London and Tokyo.

Some trailers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxkqsHf3rGk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rTUAlOX0XQ

Track guides:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQnSyai9zsg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2RxENxTZ6M

Commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB-allQ76iU

 

So I went to the Need for Speed: Shift demonstration yeasterday up in Austin. Posted it in the Texas meet section. The demonstration was awesome! Was greeted in by one of the guys there (he did the facebook page) and talked with one of the producers who is also a car enthusiast and a track racer. No wonder why this game is so amazing! The music was kinda loud in the lounge but never the less, had a great time.

To the game! a couple of hours before I went to the demonstration, I played some Grid for a little while, expecting the physics of NFS:S to be more like Grid. I was dead wrong! To be honest, the cars (each car has a distinct individual feel) feel more like between PGR3 and GT5 of course with it's own, looser feel. I was very concerned about the loose and twitchy handling when I first started playing. I mean, it felt like just using the d-pad.. but after playing around with a few of the fine tuneable steering, gas, and brake settings, I was able to turn down the twitchyness. Each control (steering, gas, and brake) has a sensitivity/speed setting and a dead zone setting. It was the dead zone setting that needed some adjusting. By the way, this is without all the cheesy assists that brake for you on turns and what not. The tracks are great, cars feel real, and I am extremely happy with what I played.

As for the drifting, it's not finished yet but all I could say is that I really hope they fine tune that.. It was impossible.

Here are some pics:

The entrance



Some of the stations



Me playing NFS:S!

 

Yea I been hearing good things about this game. I might get it, but there is going to be a lot of racing games coming out soon. Plus, on the pc side, that day shift comes out so will Batman and Resident Evil 5, which equal me with no money... :[

 

By the way, I have TONS of promo codes for an endurance race. I thought I'd give you guys dibs before I post them on the NFS forum.



PS: Can a mod please edit the title to: 360, PS3, PC: Need for Speed: SHIFT

 

im down for the promo code

 

im down for one too.. i think this might be one of the better NFS games to come out in the last 5 years

 

I'd be down for one. I have always liked the NFS games and have had the itch for a new car game lately. I will prob pick up the game in the next few weeks...


from the videos this version looks great...

 

 

i wonder if this will be fun, the last NFS i really played was underground 2.

i played a tiny bit of most wanted and carbon, but didnt like them so i stopped.

 

looks good, may have to get it

 

Came across this awesome vid!

http://shift.eagames.co.uk/?shareID=...da8d156fd29156

3 more days!!! CAN'T WAIT!

 

From what I've seen, the driving dynamics are awful for what is supposed to be a sim racing game. I'll stick to GT-R and GT5. The NFS series needs to go back to arcade street racing and stay there.

 

Funny hearing that since it was the guys who did GTR2 for the PC that made this game. The review scores has been positive and this game is gearing towards more sims but still has a arcade feel to it. But since you are more into sims racing than yea GT5 is the way to go.

 

Yeah I just can't mix racing on a track with an arcade feel. I see that's what they've gone for, but it's not my thing

 

Honestly I've been very disappointed with NFS games recently. I got my hands on a copy of NFS III when I was younger and I loved it. I liked High Stakes, Porsche Unleashed, and the couple after it. Underground was pretty cool and I absolutely loved Most Wanted in 2005. IMO, Most Wanted has been the best one yet.

After that, with the release of Carbon, Prostreet, etc.., they just sucked. Maybe it was because I discovered Forza and Forza 2, but NFS just seemed lame to me. It felt like it was geared towards a much younger audience but yet tried to appeal to gearheads by putting much more technical tracks and such. I received Undercover for a Christmas present this past year and played it once before it started collecting dust on my shelf. I took it about a month ago and traded it in towards the pre-order of Forza 3.

I'm simply just giving my opinion about the NFS games recently, don't bash me. From the looks of things, SHIFT looks pretty good, but nothing I would spend my $60 on

 

^omg, High Stakes was the best!
I would get Forza 3 if my crapbox360 still worked. I got tired of Gran Turismo a loooong time ago..It's the same thing every GT game.

NFS:S comes out tomorrow!! So exited!!

 

^Hell yea man, High Stakes was the shit.

And what's wrong with your 360? It's a pain in the ass to get it finalized, but send that shit back to Microsoft and get it fixed under warranty. Forza 3 is worth it

Be sure to tell us what you think about the new NFS. I still won't purchase it, but a few good reviews may get me to rent it and try it out.

 

This game is fucking SICK. I don't say that about many racing games, but man...i'm having a complete BLAST with this one. Controls are great, AI is actually extremely challenging/lifelike, car selection is orgasmic, gameplay is spot on, the sense of speed is brutal, and it has just about every good track you could ask for.

The learning curve is surprisingly steep believe it or not, just about every car handles/reacts differently. The Car Battle races are HARD...seriously, i've never been this challenged in a racing game since I can remember. If you mess up more than two times during a race, you might as well restart the race.

Really glad I picked this one up, can't wait for until I unlock the better cars.

 

^Because of that, I may have to check this out!

 

^Surprising review considering the NFS series' past failures.

 

That's good to hear, I hate how some racing games you could crash and fuck up alot and still come in 1st place. (that is assuming you have equal horsepower cars)

 

They have this mode called Car Battle, where you race one on one against rivalry cars (RS4 vs. M3 for example). It took me atleast 8 tries to beat the M3, and I was trying REALLY hard around the n-ring. You start out on a staggered starting line, and you have to lose the opponent by 5 seconds (or vice versa), so if you hit a patch of grass and slide out, the AI will pass you like you're nothing and its game over. I was really surprised considering the past NFS titles have been aimed towards the GP, but man this game really turned things around. The only other racing game i've had this hard(rewarding) of a time in was r-factor on PC.

 

Yea all the reviews I seen have been in the 9's, so it must be a good game. I will probably get it when its cheaper due to not having time for games atm. O and Batman just came out for PC.

 

Ne else pick this up?

 

My roommate downloaded it for his 360 and I played it a bit last night. It's actually pretty fun. The controls aren't as tight as I'd like them to be, but the graphics are good and the sense of speed is cool

 

i'll definitely download the demo. i've been disappointed with burnout paradise (i know it is a very diff game), so I'm ready for a new car game

 

I picked this up last night, and I agree with jjaber. I kept telling myself I was going to go to bed after the next race, and before I knew it it was late. The last race I did was the M3 vs the RS4. I chose the M3, and like jjaber said, it's not easy. If you spin out once, you need to restart. I could never get more than 2 seconds ahead. He was always right on my ass ready to take advantage of any mistake I made.

So far so good.

One thing I dislike, however, is that you can buy cars with Microsoft points. To me, that takes the fun out of earning the cars. Now every little shitbag online will have a Zonda R.

Can't say much about the online play, because I didn't try it.

jjaber- what car did you start with? I started with the s2000.

 

ohh wtf.. that you can use ms points to buy cars.

 

i got the game as well. so far i like it.

as for the rs4 vs the m3. pick the Rs4. seems to have a little more stability since its AWD.

 

For anyone that's played or owns the game do you HAVE to use the joystick to steer? I personally hate using the joystick and there are some games where you cant alter the controls to use the d-pad. This is the only reason I didnt buy it on Tuesday because I didnt know and then I was heated because I went to Blockbuster to rent it to find out and they told me it wasn't available to rent until today. Oh this is for PS3 by the way.

 

The d-pad? You want to race using the d-pad? How the hell do you do that? The steering is on/off. Personally I hate driving with anything but a wheel now, but I can at least make due with the stick

 

Yeah my friend makes fun of me for it too even after I whoop his ass. LOL!! I dont know, it's just the only way I'm comfortable. I tend to overcompensate when using the stick.

 

how does your girl feel about that?

 

i picked it up, deffintly a hard game....with the low end cars you are all over the track. the one on one battles are difficult. the drifting certainly isn't easy for me at all..

i kinda wish i had a wheel but the sticks will be fine for now. other that it's a fun game but hard.

 

You can't buy upgrades with your Microsoft points. You still have to earn the money for those.


One other complaint I have is the load times. They take FOREVER. I haven't timed any yet, but it feels like it takes 2 minutes to load the race.

 

I'm down 4 a promo code! Looks like I'm picking up a new racing game this week!

I need a steering wheel too for PS3. What's the best one to get?

 

I have a driving force gt and love it. The g25 is a beast, but is twice as much, so I don't feel that's worth it

 

for a 6 speed shifter + clutch?

if the game supports a clutch then i find it worth it.

 

install it to the hard drive?

 

any promo codes left???? really want to pick this up for the ps3