Have you ever played Forza 1 or 2?

It's the closest thing a console has.

I was being generous in my earlier post so as not to offend. If SMS wanted to, they could wipe the floor with Gran Tourismo. I understand that Forza is better than GT in terms of realism, but it's still a console racing game.

I have to ask.. when has the Gran Tourismo series ever been a sim racer?

I think drifting is pretty silly myself. The figure skating thing is a good analogy. There are a lot of people into it though, and if that's their thing then so be it.

The thing is, for it to be worthwhile at all, Shift will have to have a pretty realistic physics simulation. Unless you have to be constantly modulating the throttle and making corrections with the wheel, there's no point.

The developers and physics programmers behind it are easily some of the best around, so they have the ability to make an excellent simulation, but my worry is that EA will be putting pressure on them to make it have a more broader arcade appeal. Obviously, the problem with that is that the both the people who like the more arcade-style games and the people who want a realistic game will probably find driving around a race track in an only superficially realistic game incredibly boring.

Asking developers who have up until now only written PC-only sim-racing games to write a console Need for Speed game is potentially mixing oil and water. Personally, I'm hoping they use all of their skill to put out a genuine racing simulator that could very easily challenge Gran Tourismo and Forza in terms of realism. If the EA suits stuff it up though, as they're so apt to do, it's going to be a huge waste and a failure.

Ian Bell, the head of SMS, has said it's by far their most realistic simulation yet, and I really hope he's not bullshitting. We can be guaranteed that the underlying code is for a very realistic simulation because they've been working on it for years--long before EA came along (10-Tacle going under left them high and dry)--so it's all going to come down to what sort of restrictions EA puts on them. It wouldn't be a conventional Need for Speed game obviously, but it would be something new and potentially excellent. In short, I'm a little nervous that one of my favorite developers has been thrown in the EA profit-only meat grinder.

I loved drifting back in ridge racer 3 - since then and especially in NFS I've also found it a massive chore. Yeah hitting the odd power slide is fun but being forced to drift around every inch of the tracks - even the bloody straights - it just stupid.

The video looks like the implementation of Drift racing is better... but it's still not a racing type really want. I somewhat enjoyed UnderGround 2, but none have compared since Porsche Unleashed set the bar for NFS games.

Sadly, we're in an age where most developers think people want a slightly more serious version of Burnout.

If they want to make a racing game fine, make a racing game. If they want to make the equivalent of figure skating with cars, then fine make a drifting game, but don't force drifting into a RACING game.

From my understanding SHIFT was suppose to be a serious 'sim'ish' version of Need For Speed?

It's not that drifting isn't liked by some people, it is.
It just that it doesn't need to be tagged on to every game to try and sell the game to 'drifters' and upset the other customers (demographic of soon ex-customers that don't like having to drift while driving).

The problem is EA and the minds behind NFS are trying to have every little racing buzz feature so that they can sell as many copies off the shelves. Trying to please the most racing demographics possible in a single game ends up really pleasing few with the final package. While it will sell off the shelf at first, eventually people will realize what EA is doing and that the games really not that great.

You end up with an amalgamation of racing features instead of an ultimate racing game (what NFS was many years ago).

An IP that has lost itself and is still wildly floundering around trying to find itself.

It's hard to convince a publisher to stop playing sales and focus on making the best games because undiscriminating gamers keep buying what they are fed.

This comment was edited on Jul 11, 2009, 17:08.

If this were a copy of GRID, it would actually be a good game. I don't see that happening.

Further proof that EA are just trying to copy GRID.

Hot Pursuit, High Stakes, Porsche Unleashed. Those were the last good Need For Speed games. R.I.P. NFS.

Drifting is fun to watch, but it is not fun to do in a game. It is a huge chore in any game I've played with this mode.

I don't like drifting, but I'll still get this as long as it has LAN play.

This comment was edited on Jul 11, 2009, 13:42.

Well, there killed most any hope of this being a good game...

...hopefully the next one in the series (the one Criterion is working on, allegedly) turns out to be better. It's really a shame what's happened to NFS. Always flashes of brilliance... then the drifting.

I thought this was supposed to be their "serious" racing game?

Why am I not surprised?

The IP has been drifting into the garbage for some time.
The decision makers on this IP are clueless, but that won't stop the sales in console channels.