30°
9.0

OXCGN's Need For Speed: Shift Review- Stick-Shifting Mayhem

OXCGN:

"It wasn't too long ago when we found out that the Need For Speed franchise would be no more. Now it seems that three new iterations of the franchise are set to hit consoles in the next year with Need for Speed: Shift being the first. But is it really worth reviving the Need For Speed?"

gaminoz5679d ago

I think I would have released this one a bit later or earlier than Forza 3 than they have....might get missed?

XboxOZ3605679d ago

Yep, totally agree the same goes with Borderlands which is released on the same day as Forza 3 here in Australia, bloody stupid if you ask me.

Sure, different genre, but gamers only have so much $$ at the end of the day (figuratively speaking)

The sales of this on PS3 have soared, due mainly because most westerners now have no idea when GT5 will be released - other than "some time after Japan, which is "sometime in March 2010" So I'd be looking at any racing game worth half its salt if I was a staunch PS3 player, as there's nothing out for it until well - who knows.

The sales for this on the 360 are lower by half the number for PS3, and PC, which shows the xbox gamer is awaiting Forza 3 rather than grabbing this.

I've always said this time round EA could nail it, especially since it dropped it's useless internal studio and got someone who actually knows racing first hand to build a proper game. I'll have this inn the 360 loading bay asap.

darkmurder5679d ago

I found it pretty fun, I didn't really like teh whole grey screen thing when you hit something but in general its a pretty good game til Forza arrives!

Godem5679d ago

I got way to frustrated with the drift courses.

moe845679d ago

NFS Shift is okay. The drifting is borderline crap. The "realism", although it is just a game... just fails when it comes to drifting. The drifting could have been made better if the tracks were not programed so you slide or spin your tires(which is an awful sound) at the slightest bit of throttle play or turning the steering wheel.

PC: L O A D I N G wtb less please. It's stupid how much loading you do. Go do a quick race or drift to see how your car is going to work out for you, and there's a good chance you'll spend just as much time at loading screens as you do actually racing. Between loading and that ever so annoying 10 seconds of race prep just fails.

The game looks good, I've been playing in 16:10 on just about maxed out settings and have no problems at all. Smooth as can be. Track is a little glossy for my taste, but I can deal.

Using a game pad for controls could have been better. I've got a pretty nice Logitech, and yea.. all I can do is race. Menu browsing doesn't seem to want to work with game pads, at least mine. Having to use the keyboard for that takes away some of the fun. A way so you can tune your car on the fly in quick race would have been nice. Having to quit.. go to a loading screen. Climb the rough the menu, find "Tune" make some tweaks, back out of the menu and go through more loading as you get back into a race.. /sigh Then to find out your tweaks made things worse..

Will Forza be a better game.. probably not. If anything equal to Shift. With it's "I'm going to slow way down for you to catch up" a.i and it's Forza 2 graphics.... With it's 2 discs, lets hope one isn't an install disc. Poor 360 peeps...

Wtb GT5

pushergreen5678d ago

it is clear from the demos that fm3 is vastly superior. twice the framerate, twice the draw distance, same amount of detail, higher rez backgrounds and tarmac, and superb physics. Not that shift is not good but why buy it when fm3 is just a short wait and is likely a superior racer. Judging from the shift demo a 9 seems high but it is great to hear that, I will pick it up later on the cheap, for now though the wait for fm3 is is filling me with anticipation.

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.

Kombatologist1428d 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.

darthv721428d 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.

spwittbold1428d 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.

thejigisup1427d 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-1428d 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_Slaughter1427d ago

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

Retroman1428d ago (Edited 1428d 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)

DarXyde1428d 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.

Retroman1427d 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.

strayanalog1428d ago

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

1428d ago
Profchaos1428d ago

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

boing11428d ago

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

Show all comments (16)
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
OneEyedSteve2090d 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.

OnlyThoseOnTheFence2090d 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.

steven83r2090d 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.

CYALTR2089d 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"

Retroman2090d ago (Edited 2090d 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