In the search for realism, EA didn’t have to stray outside of its own talent pool: Development for Shift was headed up by EA’s European boss, Patrick Söderlund. Shift falls into the latter category and claims to deliver the most realistic experience of any NFS to date.
To further differentiate its offerings and attempt to capture more of the driving-game market, Electronic Arts (EA) has refocused the Need for Speed brand into three categories: Arcade-type titles (largely Nintendo Wii–based), new story-centric titles like those NFS fans have become accustomed to, and games that aim to offer more-authentic experiences.
Why Sweden? We’ll get to that in a minute, but first a little about the Need for Speed franchise. We were given a preview of Shift in Sweden. It’s a departure from the brand’s prior arcadelike offerings in that it’s an attempt at a simulator-style game. The newest Need for Speed title, Shift, hits stores September 22 and will be available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP, and PC.
