Remember those rumors earlier this year that EA might shut down the Need For Speed franchise? Yeah, those were way off the mark. In a bit of a surprise, Electronic Arts has announced their plans to release not one but three upcoming games in their Need For Speed driving series for 2009, including two for the PC. The last entry in the series, Need For Speed Undercover, got slammed by critics and was not a sales success when it was released last fall. This fall EA will release Need For Speed: Shift for the PC and other platforms and the PC-only game Need For Speed World Online.

Need For Speed: Shift is being developed by a new UK company called Slightly Mad Studios (with help from EA Black Box) Its team helped to develop the racing sim games GTR and GTR 2 for SimBin. With that background you can expect Need For Speed: Shift to be more of a simulation game than an arcade racer. According to EA's press release, "Players are thrust into the heart of the action with immersive and exciting features including a stunningly realistic first-person cockpit view camera and an all-new crash mechanic, providing an unrivaled sensation of the speed and feeling of racing a car on the extreme edge of control." The above early screenshot gives you an idea of the visual style they are trying to create.