Need for speed gets "serious".....confirmed!

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Why can't they release the demo yet? Are they hiding something? Are they afraid people will be turned off and not buy it? To be honest, (judging from gameplay footage) even with the dpad and assists, the steering is a little too twitchy. Toca3 (Great Mix of arcade and sim) was way more smoother, and i never used a wheel with that game. Also, the action just seems too fast, and what's up with all the smoke? I'm have a lot of doubts... but hey, its NFS to begin with.
 
srsly, we should just not give NFS any more attention until they give us a demo :P boycott for demo? enough with the darn pics and videos
 
I have to say I didn't like the video during EA's conference, hopefully that will just be due to assists. I personally think it looks too fast, racing just doesn't look like that. Its like Burnout.Also all the vids make it look like a pivot system even though I am sure its not.

Driving aids still seemed to be on (and I don't know hat mode this is in, the easier Novice or the simulation) but he's using a wheel and it's Nordschleife.

Near the end of the video it's a section known as Fuchsröhre- in GT4 the braking point to this section has always seem/been wrong and from the look of this video, SMS got it right (those familiar with the section- in GT4 you start braking at very early part of the climb but in reality it should be near the end of the ascent).

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As to a demo to the game. EA (and SMS) did say Summer but it was always meant to be released one or two weeks prior to when the final game hits the shelf. Now that the release date (for the game) is Sept 15 fo NA and 17 for EU, expect the demo at the end of August or early September.
 
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Hmm... wow, first time i see it that stable. Though he seems to be doing a lot of counter steering. Maybe not as as smooth as GT but close enough, visually at least (FFB). Is he running with assists on?
 
srsly, we should just not give NFS any more attention until they give us a demo :P boycott for demo? enough with the darn pics and videos
We should start taking hostages and kill them until they give us a demo. :P
 
Hmm... wow, first time i see it that stable. Though he seems to be doing a lot of counter steering. Maybe not as as smooth as GT but close enough, visually at least (FFB). Is he running with assists on?

It's at Nordschleife and here's an example RL driving on the same track- a lot of countersteering (it's a bumpy, twisty course).

 
Is he running with assists on?
Yep.


You can see 2 of the 3 assist lights flashing (not on this photo 💡 though). Look at the youtube clip again and watch the three assist symbols. You will see that two of these lights will light up frequently.




Triple screen setup on the Xbox. Does this mean that there will be a triple screen setup feature on the PS3 version as well?

berca told me that the PC version has a triple screen feature.
 
Yep.


You can see 2 of the 3 assist lights flashing (not on this photo 💡 though). Look at the youtube clip again and watch the three assist symbols. You will see that two of these lights will light up frequently.




Triple screen setup on the Xbox. Does this mean that there will be a triple screen setup feature on the PS3 version as well?

berca told me that the PC version has a triple screen feature.

On the video it's either PC or PS3 because the 360 doesn't do G25/27 (it's the wheel beiing used in the video).
 
On the video it's either PC or PS3 because the 360 doesn't do G25/27 (it's the wheel beiing used in the video).
You're right.

I was mislead by the youtube title: => www .Xboxfr...

I guess it's the pc version.
 
Well, you guys have a point. I've had the thing sitting in my 'shopping basket' on Amazon.com for the last 3 weeks. But I just can't bring myself to click the 'check-out' button until I've played the demo. Somehow in the back of my mind, I keep wondering if all the naysayers are right and this title will turn out to be very arcade like and an overall disappointment.

Likewise, there are still so many unanswered questions about on-line play and how the lobbies will be set up. The fact that the game judges and rates your driving style and tries to match you with players of similar styles is an interesting concept but we have yet to see how this really works in practice. I can just imagine the repercussions of my first few races on-line: imagine I get repeatedly and violently clobbered from behind. And as a result, I end up being launching into other cars in front of me. The game proudly announces, "We have determined your driving style as a "VIOLENT SMASHER". You will now be matched in lobbies with other "VIOLENT SMASHERS". I wonder how many people who play this game will end up using multiple online IDs either by force or, more cynically, for enjoyment.

But joking aside, I think I may just order it this weekend. The video above looks convincing enough in the sense that the free running game play is interesting. Is anybody else going to pre-order?
 
The video above looks convincing enough in the sense that the free running game play is interesting. Is anybody else going to pre-order?

Keep in mind though that the sense of speed is increased with a 3 screen setup... So if youre on a single screen it will be less... this was pointed out to me in another thread :D
 
Keep in mind though that the sense of speed is increased with a 3 screen setup... So if youre on a single screen it will be less... this was pointed out to me in another thread :D

Yes that's true and I understand that. But if you just focus on the center screen, the game play seems to be much less frenetic than I've seen in other videos and the inputs seems to much smooth and more realistic. Perhaps playing with a wheel really transforms this game. (It is too much to hope for?)

One thing I do notice that there seems to be considerable lag from the driver's steering wheel inputs to the screen showing on the monitor.
 
Some more Nordschleife footage:

:irked::indiff: Mmmm. Maybe I need the demo after all. Thank goodness the assist lights keep flashing. But bloody hell, assists or not, you shouldn't be able to ACCELERATE and overtake by driving on the grass. At least not at those speeds.
 
:irked::indiff: Mmmm. Maybe I need the demo after all. Thank goodness the assist lights keep flashing. But bloody hell, assists or not, you shouldn't be able to ACCELERATE and overtake by driving on the grass. At least not at those speeds.

if traction control gives you traction I dont see why not.
 
if traction control gives you traction I dont see why not.

Traction control can't give you traction. It can only stop you from exceeding your traction limit. Therefore you shouldn't be able to out accelerate a car on the track while you are on the grass. Forza 3 looks like it is just as bad if not worse in this regard. It is a serious flaw that should not be in the most realistic settings that the game has to offer (I believe that forza3 had it with assists off). In some ways its like the rubber band effect in professional online races that used to be in GT5P. Being off track will never be realistic. In real life it appears to be pretty easy to get stuck in the kitty litter. That won't happen in a video game but you should at least lose time.
 
Well guys, I'm happy to report that I will be buying this game based on the hands on report of a respected sim racer I know from the Eutechnyx forums who visited the show yesterday. I'm not sure if there's an issue with linking to another forum so I'll cut and paste some of his findings.

Keep in mind this is all 3rd person but I respect his opinion and I just wanted to pass along his perspective since he had a chance to try it out for himself:

3. Need for Speed: Shift
The stand was awesome! 8 x Need for Speed Shift playable with pad on a small flatscreen (sound over headset)
8 x Need for Speed Shift playable on PC with Race-Simulator D-Box GP Pro 200, 3 Flatscreens, 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound, Logitech G25 (Price for the whole Hardware: 14.400,- Euro)
1 x Need for Speed Shift playable on PC with D-Box GPH-120 (the home gaming Version of the seat), Headset-Sound and G25

Tracks: Fantastic (3 Versions of Silverstone, 2 Versions of Brands Hatch, Spa, Nürburgring NORDSCHLEIFE and so on........)
@Polyphony: That´s how to present a coming game! Everything was playable !!!!

Drove a Porsche 911 GT3-RSR on the Nordschleife. It was the first time in the last two years that i played a racegame with a pad. Didn´t work! But that was simply my fault! Lost my feeling for Steering with the small analog stick!

Then i played on the big D-Box-Seat: Fantastic! Very good control over car! Nothing to do with other parts of need for speed. Much more of a simulation, even if it is not so much a simulation like the GT Games are !!!!!

It was Fun and Challenge but always good to control. The Movement of the Chair was the greatest Experience i had in the last 20 years of Gaming! Amazing! Cars handle very realistic and you loose speed when you are drifting!!! That´s the difference between this one and the older parts of the series. Drifting is fun and easy to control, but it´s not the way to success in this game. That´s what i like.

Drove the Maserati MC12 and the BMW 135i on the two different seats.

Then i realized that (at least on the Nordschleife but i think it´s possible on any other track) you can choose between "Morning, High Noon and Evening".

Went back to pad and PS3 and drove the BMW M3 GT2 on the Nordschleife on evening setup. It´s not that dark and the differences first seemed very small. But when i passed "Hocheichen" the sun was very deep and glaring and the "blinding" was awesome!

But again i wasn´t able to control the car with the pad. I think that all assists were "off" (at least i hope so Cheesy)

For me the pad control seemed really difficult.

Now for the Sound: For me Ferrari Challenge is the racegame-Sound-Benchmark on PS3! But it will loose it´s position on 17th of September!

Sounds seemed very similar to FC (Gear Grinding, Differential-Sounds, Turbo-Charger, Sounds of the Carbon-Brakes...) but it´s all a bit more "clean". Sorry, it´s hard to describe!

Simply sounded fantastic! You will love it!

But we still have to consider SCC! Maybe it will even be better?

The only question for every sim-gamer is: Will it be enough simulation for me to have fun with it. For me it looks OK!

I decided to forget about lap-times and simply take the BMW 135i for some drifting. It was easy (very easy !!!) to control and i drifted very clean through 3 corners without any problems. In real life or in GT5P i would not have been able to do this so easy. But it was fun!


Need for Speed will definately become one Highlight of this years racing games.
 
No, I'm not 'sure' of anything. But I trust the guy who posted this as being pretty savvy and has similar tastes. We both like Ferrari Challenge so it can't be that bad. ;)
 
Higgiracer's definitely a "serious" sim racer, so I would trust his judgement. At the very least his review would suggest that SHIFT is pretty far removed from previous NFS games, & well worth buying for any sim-oriented racer.

His comments abut GT5 also seem to confirm the sense that I have had for some time: that PD have bitten off more than they can chew with GT5 & that they are having difficulties bringing it to the point where they can feel comfortable about releasing it.
 
Well Biggles, I guess you, me and Higgi will be meeting up on NFS pretty soon. Assuming of course we all end up being rated 'similar' drivers by the game. :)

As SCC's NTSC release is now in serious doubt or at least delayed indefinitely, I've pretty much given up on it and I'll probably be moving my seat time to Shift. At least until GT5 is released.

If this turns out to be a waste, Higgi's going to get a beating. ;)
 
It's at Nordschleife and here's an example RL driving on the same track- a lot of countersteering (it's a bumpy, twisty course).
I get that m8, ive seen my share of races on Nordschleife (TV). I've also been there twice (as a spectator/tourist) :) Hopefully i can log laps there once im out of school next year.

Anyway, Im just referring to how the FFB reacts to his input. It seems like a small turn makes the car slide more than its supposed to so his forced to counter steer a bit more.
 
Well, I do trust Eero to keep the boat on course.. So now that Dirt has been seen, I guess this will be the time killer before GT5 👍

Eero, don't let us down!

:)
 
Nice. But still hard to tell how "sim" it will be. At this point they don't want to alienate any part of their potential market. The game certainly looks good though.
 
Nice. But still hard to tell how "sim" it will be. At this point they don't want to alienate any part of their potential market. The game certainly looks good though.

Exactly my thoughts, not sure what to make of the driving yet. Have a look at the 4 videos posted at gamersyde (link below) taken from the GamesCom floor and, especially on low speeds, input seems very, if not to direct and really want to try a demo before I buy the game.


Videos were driven with all aids of, but they did not know in what mode. Tracks are Brands, Spa, Street track in harbor location and a track located in a desert (no clue what those last two are called ;) )

GamesCom: 4 NFS Shift videos (gamesyde.com)
 
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