Need For Speed Series Possibly Cut By EA

[Damjan]

Not more than a month after the release of Need For Speed: Undercover, the Electric Playground is reporting that Electronic Arts may be cutting the franchise entirely. The videogame web show claims that future titles in the series have been canceled. EA director of communications Colin Macrae provided Electric Playground with the following comment:

"We're working through a process on people, products, and facilities at EA and don't have any announcements today."

Undercover, the most recent entry in the long-running franchise, was received fairly well but didn't crack the top 20 in the NPD sales charts for the month of November. Earlier in the year, EA CEO John Riccitiello had spoken of plans to split the Need for Speed development team into two groups, allowing for a 24-month cycle for creating each game rather than the 12 months cycle that he said "torture[d] a very talented group of people."

If this report is true, I'm disappointed that we'll never get the chance to see what could have come from giving this series a much-needed boost in development time to try out new ideas. And unless the publisher already has new plans for the creators of Need For Speed, we could be seeing further layoffs from EA soon, as has been previously predicted. We'll keep checking for official confirmation and word from EA on what's happening to the Need for Speed franchise and why.

Source : 1UP

[JustADummy]

Colin Macrae? WTF?

Also, it's sad to hear this, the NFS series were always cool.

[EvoLuTioN]

I thought Undercover would have brought back the series to its previous glory or whatever, with the 2 teams working all year round. Not a big let down though that they have decided to can it, they'll just let this cool down for a while a launch it again with a different name.

[Chris]

NFS series ended at Underground 2. Everything after that was just shit. Which was a shame, was one of my favourite racing series. Time to move on IMO.

[GTA Don]

For me, EA slowly started killing the series after Most Wanted. I never really played Carbon but I could tell it was shit, Pro Street sucked balls however I still haven't played Undercover yet and there are mixed opinions on the game. EA should just hand the series over to a developer which can actually make good games.

[JustADummy]

Rockstar

Nah, I agree. For me, the NFS Series died after Carbon, EA is getting old tbh.

[MrLlamaLlama]

IMO, fools can't read.

That stated that the development process was going to be transformed into a 2 - year process. Higher game quality, reduced workload, etc. The website claimed that it was going to be cut, and provided a quote (presumably to try and prove it) that said nothing of the sort.

Also, Mcrae and Macrae aren't the same people. One is a legendary Scottinsh racing driver (RIP), the other is likely just an americunt.

NFS series ended at Underground 2. Everything after that was just shit.

x2.

[Ultraussie]

Most Wanted was awesome. A game I could enjoy. Carbon was piss easy, piss short, and Pro Street I stopped playing after the first 5 minutes.

[claude-5]

nfs sucked after MW, MW was awesome but carbon was piss, everyone hated pro street, didnt bother wiv undercover, shudnt bother anyone imo, tbh, nfs got really old and repetative, got soo sick of the same crap over & over

[steveplayer]

IMO, fools can't read.

That stated that the development process was going to be transformed into a 2 - year process. Higher game quality, reduced workload, etc. The website claimed that it was going to be cut, and provided a quote (presumably to try and prove it) that said nothing of the sort.

Also, Mcrae and Macrae aren't the same people. One is a legendary Scottinsh racing driver (RIP), the other is likely just an americunt.

NFS series ended at Underground 2. Everything after that was just shit.

x2.

Is that even possible for EA to do? A 2 year process? They seem to spit games out like, well... spit!

[Thomas.]

I never really have been interested in the NFS series but I do have Most Wanted and Carbon. They're where all my PS2 CDs are, waiting to be dusted. I don't think it's just the NFS series that have been going down in quality over the years, it's also other games such as The Sims 2. Ea need to get a grip if they want to be successful.

[Huckleberry Pie]

For me, EA slowly started killing the series after Most Wanted. I never really played Carbon but I could tell it was shit, Pro Street sucked balls however I still haven't played Undercover yet and there are mixed opinions on the game. EA should just hand the series over to a developer which can actually make good games.

Most Wanted was awesome. A game I could enjoy. Carbon was piss easy, piss short, and Pro Street I stopped playing after the first 5 minutes.

Prostreet was fine, other than the fact that the handling stinks and the DJ kept on mentioning Ryan Cooper's name every millisecond, as if Cooper had paid the announcer some payola or something... Carbon? Way too cool, and so is Most Wanted. I guess they should've changed things in the franchise rather than turning the series into an interactive advertising vehicle of sorts...

[Artur]

NFS series ended at Underground 2. Everything after that was just shit.

x2.

x3

Used to love these games but yeah as stated above, everything turned into shit and was just not the same anymore.

[Charger]

Carbon was the last one for me, I actually found it good. After Pro Street I believe everything just went down hill, no one payed attention. Midnight Club was the game to be at top.

[Harwood Butcher]

IMO, fools can't read.

That stated that the development process was going to be transformed into a 2 - year process. Higher game quality, reduced workload, etc. The website claimed that it was going to be cut, and provided a quote (presumably to try and prove it) that said nothing of the sort.

Also, Mcrae and Macrae aren't the same people. One is a legendary Scottinsh racing driver (RIP), the other is likely just an americunt.

NFS series ended at Underground 2. Everything after that was just shit.

x2.

Bold: LOL, I thought the same thing. I wasn't understanding where they got the idea that the series was being taken out.

I would have to agree with Chris, after Underground 2, it all went to shit. I didn't even beat Underground 2, but I liked the idea of the free roam feature.

I think EA should re-do Hot Pursuit 2. Similar soundtrack, better graphics, same tracks with more roads and the ability to go off road and more tracks as well. OR they could just combine all the old tracks into one some how. That'd be bitchin'.

[TM™]

Need For Speed were awesome back probably when the 'Underground series was created. That obviously shows you that they worked effortlessly to make it big, up until Most Wanted, they started to lose touch. I still think Most Wanted is a good game, and all of the series under it were great too, it just got boring afterwards, especially when Pro Street was released. I thought Undercover was going to be awesome, but ended up like Pro Street, only worse if you ask me.

I hope they continue though, they just need to re-think their whole plot and add some new features and stuff, make it better, rather than stay at the same pace every time. But yeah, time to move on, there are some other good games out their that beat NFS.

[@SupremeD;]

Is it just me or does EA try to ruin everything for me, i mean they tried to take over T2 and now there going to cancel one of my favorite franchise's other grand theft auto. What a shame..

[claude-5]

nfs was one of the only things that came out of EA, except the sims games, that better not be cut

[WRX22B1998]

meh well, i liked a lot of the NFS. didnt play most wanted, but i think underground 2 is probably my fav. carbon was good too, undercover is pretty good. all the new cars and stuff, a customise mode, and freeroam is back...

this poses the question "if not NFS, then what will make them money"

[@SupremeD;]

After doing a little resarch i found out that the NFS instalment would instead be done by Criterion Games, developers of the Burnout franchise.

[WRX22B1998]

sweet. i was gonna say, i really really hope they don't kill NFS.

all they need to make (for a nearperfect racing game in my opinion) is a game like Gran turismo 4/5 (many cars, realistic etc) with the customisation level of NFS. If that doesnt sell, then nothing will

I guess it would be massive, perhaps a double blu-ray disc LOL. 360 owners have to use 10 DVD's hahaha

[Gycu]

Thank God! 'twas about the time ...

If they ever make a NFS game again I would like it to be a Next-Gen version of Need For Speed III Hot Pursuit, I just love that game, I still play it sometimes, after 10 years it was released, can't count the hours per day I spent on that game some years ago ...

Hot Pursuit 2 (NFS6) was cool but not as good as the original HP.

[YellowJacket]

NFS is my favourite racing series.

On a weird side note, my name is in Most Wanted and my husband's name is in Undercover. We don't exactly have very common names...I thought that was pretty cool.

Edited December 25, 2008 by YellowJacket

[K9 Krew]

NFS series ended at Underground 2. Everything after that was just shit. Which was a shame, was one of my favourite racing series. Time to move on IMO.

You read my mind Perfectly.

[azn]

Underground 2 brings back some great memories. I remember getting it for Christmas in 2004 and I literally went crazy over it. Funny enough I still play it today just to mess around, tune cars and see what comes up. The thing is..The annual releases are just killing the series. That's why Midnight Club is good each time it's released, because there are only 4 major titles in the series, and not something year after year. It's like the iPod mainstream right now, like Wrx was saying to me on msn, when the 1st gen Nano was released it was awesome because it was something different, nowadays either everyone has one or the annual releases are just making it more common to us now, so naturally our reactions are probably 'meh.'

EA splitting the team into 2 is pretty crap. The second team picks up on a half finished project, it's like

Underground 2 brings back some great memories. I remember getting it for Christmas in 2004 and I literally went crazy over it. Funny enough I still play it today just to mess around, tune cars and see what comes up. The thing is..The annual releases are just killing the series. That's why Midnight Club is good each time it's released, because there are only 4 major titles in the series, and not something year after year. It's like the iPod mainstream right now, like Wrx was saying to me on msn, when the 1st gen Nano was released it was awesome because it was something different, nowadays either everyone has one or the annual releases are just making it more common to us now, so naturally our reactions are probably 'meh.'

EA splitting the team into 2 is pretty crap. The second team picks up on a half finished project, it's like picking up a book halfway through and trying to figure out the beginning as you near the end..