Need for Speed Shift Message Board

Need for Speed: Shift developer Slightly Mad Studios is breaking out the big guns with a crowdsourced funding scheme titled World of Mass Development, or WMD (see what we did there?), which will take its first run with a new racing game, C.A.R.S. Through WMD, Slightly Mad will release C.A.R.S.' crowdfunded technology to subscribers, who can then help develop the game and reap a return on their investments once it launches. Slightly Mad will take 30 percent of the profits, with the rest divided among the community investors based on the amount of shares they own.

Slightly Mad expects C.A.R.S. to take two years and $5 million to produce. With shares priced from $5-$100,000 for individuals, groups or companies, Slightly Mad expects a $10 share will return $35, $250 to return $875 and $100,000 will return $350,000 -- if the game makes $25 million in profit. Slightly Mad has a goal to sell 3 million copies of C.A.R.S., earn a profit of $52 million and receive a 90 percent on Metacritic.

"Traditional development puts developers at the mercy of publishers," Slightly Mad said. "The development process offered by WMD shifts the focus back to creating great games that your target audience wants to play, whilst still offering the chance to get proper funding for development and testing."

#psp With the PSP's days numbered in North America, there won't be too many more offers like this before the handheld is taken out back and shot. More »

We can't imagine anybody in the market for a PSP hasn't already gotten one (or isn't just waiting for the PlayStation Vita) but regardless of our collective apathy, EA and Sony have teamed up on a new bundle. As you may have gathered from the headline to this very post, the bundle comes with a copy of Madden NFL 12 and Need for Speed: Shift. It also throws in the requisite black PSP-3000 and a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, all for $159.99.

Sony will release the bundle on August 30, the same day that Madden will be released on basically every platform in existence including the PSP.

[Thanks, Rahul]

A pair of LinkedIn profiles suggests that at least two Need for Speed titles will be released next year. According to the profile page of programmer Chris Mcclure, he was at NFS: Shift developer Sightly Mad Studios from August 2009 - February 2010 where he "worked on new open world technology but also worked on Need For Speed Shift too." Cleverly, Mcclure altered this statement today from "... but also worked on Need For Speed Shift 2" after his apparent reveal was spotted by superannuation (and preserved by Google's cache).

The original Shift was released in September 2009, and if Mcclure is covering his tracks, then a sequel was likely underway as work on the first game wrapped, which would allow roughly the minimum development time necessary to release Shift 2 some time during the first quarter of 2011. Recall that in February, during an earnings call, EA dated a Need for Speed game for that period. COO John Schappert described the unnamed iteration as "another big driving simulation" (Conference Call Script [PDF]). "Need For Speed: Shift 2" would be a good fit for that description and time frame.

We can't imagine what kind of event would spur EA to slash the price on several of its big-name iPhone games -- oh, right. Regardless of motive, Touch Arcade informs us of the sale, which extends through tomorrow. Here are some highlights:

• Command & Conquer: Red Alert [iTunes link]
• FIFA 10 [iTunes link]
• Dragon's Lair [iTunes link]
• Need for Speed: Shift [iTunes link]
• SimCity [iTunes link]
• Battleship [iTunes link]

The good news: lots of iPhone games are only $1. The bad news: none of those games is Mirror's Edge (which is still only available for iPad).

[Thanks, Dali]

Though there's not much on the "new game front" in this week's European PSN update, there's plenty of new stuff for the games you already know and love. There's the release of Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening, new cars for Need For Speed: Shift, some LittleBigPlanet PSP love, the arrival of Patchwork Heroes and, of course, the Gaga-ization of the Rock Band Music Store. Check out the full list of releases after the jump!

Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list:
(Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

Sure, Ferraris are fun and all, but they aren't exotic enough. EA's looking to increase Need For Speed: Shift's roster of wacky, expensive rides you'll probably never drive in real life through the Exotic Racing Series Pack. Available March 18 for 800 ($10) on Xbox Live and PSN, the Exotic Racing Series Pack parks seven new rides in your virtual garage:

• Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
• BMW M1 Procar
• GUMPERT apollo
• Honda NSX
• McLaren MP4-12C
• Maserati GranTurismo S
• Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss

Get in the race with seven celebrated new cars on the New Riviera track.

Those with a taste for fine racing games and fine automobiles take note: As we reported last week, the Ferrari Racing Series DLC for Need for Speed: Shift is now available from the Xbox Live Marketplace at a cost of 800 ($10). A quick refresher: The expansion reintroduces the Italian automaker's cars to the NFS franchise after seven years without 'em -- bringing with it 10 classic rides and a new series of race, hot lap, mixed track, time attack, race series, eliminator, endurance and world tour events. Basically, any real racing game fan will lap this up.

And now, your handy-dandy Xbox Live Marketplace link.

Get behind the wheel of some of the most exclusive cars on the planet with the Ferrari DLC pack.

After a seven year absence, the Ferrari brand is returning to Need for Speed, albeit in an anti-climatic comeback for true Ferrari fans like ourselves. First, the facts: On February 16, those who own Need for Speed: Shift on 360 will be able to get 10 cars from the venerable manufacturer for 800 points ($10) -- we've got the full list for you after the break.

It's an okay list, but there are some glaring omissions. Where, for example, is the 2006 Ferrari X734 or the X744? Where's the 2008 Ferrari Sesquiderro? Where's the 1898 Ferrari X78 Horse or the 1962 Ferrari Old-Timey Ice Cream Truck? Should the fact that these are cars we made up in attempt at humorously masking our ignorance of all things automotive just eliminate them from consideration? Without so much as a second thought? PS3 owners, it may have seemed that you were being slighted, but you can count yourself lucky that you've been spared this travesty of justice.

EA has opened the garage door and rolled out its Team Racing Pack for Need For Speed: Shift, adding five new cars and a cooperative online racing mode to its superb driving game. Available today for Xbox 360 and PC, the DLC is priced at ... wait, it's free? Five cars and a new mode are free? This is obviously an error and the DLC should be downloaded before EA starts asking like 1500 space bucks for it. Oh, EA did this intentionally? Kudos, giant publisher. (We're still not sure if this is some kind of trick.) XBL Gold members can grab the expansion from the Xbox Live Marketplace at this link. PS3 owners in the UK will find the free DLC on PSN today, with the US PlayStation Store getting it next Thursday, December 10.

EA's preparing a new pack of cars for your virtual garage in Need for Speed: Shift. On December 1st, Xbox 360 owners worldwide will be given five classic rides to race around in, free of charge, while PS3 owners in Europe and North America gain access on December 3rd and 10th, respectively. Dubbed the Legendary Car pack, this new bit of DLC puts gamers behind the wheel of these five classic rides: 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427 1967 Shelby GT-500 (Nicolas Cage not included) 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T 1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV The free update will also bring with it a new Team Racing mode, which will allow two teams of up to six racers to compete against each other online. You've got some time, so find a few friends and get your shake and bake on.

The eternal battle of red vs. blue stretches to the streets.

All-new car pack arrives as DLC.

Don't want to grow up or pay full price for video games? A list of purported Black Friday game deals for Toys R Us has shown up online, with a few temporary price drops that may justify a late night or early morning trip to TRU on November 27. Most of the great deals are "5AM Doorbusters," which means that if you have yet to pick up Halo 3: ODST, Need for Speed Shift, or Forza 3, they'll all be $34.99 ... at 5AM. Good luck! Also marked down at that obscenely early hour: Dead Space Extraction, which most of you have yet to pick up. It'll be just $24.99. Whether any of that is worth getting up at ridiculous o'clock to fight each other over is your call. [Thanks, Pete!]

EA announces a partnership between the Need for Speed team and Ford regarding the 2010 Mustang.

Yep, EA has announced the Need for Speed series has raced past the 100 million sold mark -- thanks to recent sales of Need for Speed: Shift -- and earned $2.7 billion in life-to-date sales, cementing its status as the best-selling racing brand in gaming. Just because it's sold the most doesn't necessarily mean it's the best franchise in terms of quality, however -- so we cooked up the graph you see above! There are a couple of things to keep in mind as you follow the red line's progress: First of all, we didn't include cell phone entries and tried to focus on the main entries in the franchise The general quality of the series seems to be high, yet starts to dip after the release of Underground 2 in 2004; Shift seems to have brought the series back from the brink of critical mediocrity EA's focus now is on rebooting the franchise -- the first step was to release a new hardcore sim racer in Need for Speed: Shift. The next move is to release Need for Speed Nitro, an arcade racer for the Wii and DS market, and follow that with Need for Speed World Online, a free-to-play PC racer for the casual audience.

Need For Speed celebrates selling 100 million units.

This washing machine will really have you feeling the Gs.

Attention, race fans: EA's Need for Speed: Shift will have a demo ready for a qualifying run this Thursday, October 1. The demo features two tracks (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and London River) as well as five different vehicles to master: BMW M3 (E46) 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 2006 Lotus Elise 111R 2008 Nissan GT-R 2006 Pagani Zonda F (unlockable) As for that last car, you'll need to excel on the two courses and earn enough points to unlock it. And remember: The demo is not limited to Blur developers, so feel free to make with the loading down!

Get up close and personal with the lineup of NFS Shift.

It looks like the UK's need to rock was outpaced by it's need for speed [Hnngghh - Ed.], as Need for Speed Shift debuted in the top sales position this week. Need for Speed's arrival shifted [STOP IT - Ed.] Guitar Hero 5, DiRT 2 and Arkham Asylum to the second, third and fourth places, respectively. It seems the Fab Four couldn't hold on to their own homeland, with The Beatles: Rock Band slipping from fourth to seventh. Meanwhile, Wii Sports Resort moved up one notch to fifth, while Bethesda's Wet debuted at number six. Rounding out the list were Call of Duty 4, Wii Fit and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. Now, if you'll excuse us, Joystiq Publishing needs to get back to planning its future UK blockbuster: Colin McRae's Shifty Arkham Hero. Source -- EA's Need For Speed Shift's Into First (Chart Track) Source -- All formats chart (Chart Track)

Electronic Arts has announced that a demo for Need for Speed: Shift is now available for PC. You can grab the demo from Big Download right here. The demo offers five different cars, including the BMW M3 (E46), the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10, the 2006 Lotus Elise 111R, the 2008 Nissan GT-R. The fifth car, the 2006 Pagani Zonda F is included in the demo as an unlockable. While the demo is currently confined to the PC, take heart, console owners. A demo is scheduled to hit the Xbox 360 and PS3 in early October.