need-for-speed-shift posts

It's awards season in Hollywood and even games are not immune to be caught up in the glitter. This week the Visual Effects Society announced their nominees for their 2010 awards. As shown by The Hollywood Reporter, they include two game categories. One is for Real-Time Visuals which include two PC games; Modern Warfare 2's Gulag Extraction and Need For Speed Shift's World Sequence.

The other game related category is Visual Effects in an video game trailer. Again two PC games were nominated and both were from BioWare titles; Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The winners will be named on February 28.

Just because 2010 has started that doesn't mean that all of the holiday sales have disappeared. Publisher Electronic Arts has launched a New Year's sale on their online store that will give gamers a chance to take 30 percent off several EA titles until January 10.

Among the games on sale are Need For Speed Shift for $34.96, Ultima Online for $27.99, The Sims 3 for $34.96 and Dragon Age: Origins for $34.96. Keep in mind that Steam's holiday sale ends on January 3 and GoG.com's own holiday sale also ends on January 3 so there's still some time to use up that spare Christmas money.

Steam's big holiday sales event is ongoing with a ton of games and game bundle collections with slashed prices. Today they have gone even further with one day sales on five titles. The prices are only valid until 12 noon Eastern time on Christmas Day.

The biggest deal is with the id Software Super Pack. You can now purchase and download over 20 games either developed by or based on id games for a mere $23.79. Also Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter can be yours for just $9.99 for one day. Left 4 Dead 2 is on sale for $33.49 while Need For Speed Shift has a price cut of $37.49. Finally Football Manager 2010 can be yours for just $29.99.

Today was a fairly slow day in terms of new PC game sales:

• Direct2Drive posted up their latest one day sale today. From now until 1 pm Eastern time on Friday you can download and purchase Resident Evil 5 for just $24.95, a 50 percent price cut from its normal price. They have also discounted Borderlands for one day only; you can grab it for just $32.95.
• GameTap has put three recent EA games (Dragon Age: Origins, Need For Speed Shift and The Sims 3) on sale for $39.99 each, a 20 percent cut from their normal price. They have also added the RTS game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade to its list of games available via its paid subscription service.

Need for Speed SHIFT has partnered with Falken Tire and Discount Tire to present an brand-new game demo that features the exclusive Falken Porsche GT3 RSR race car. The demo includes two tracks and five cars altogether. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"Need for Speed SHIFT delivers the true driver's experience with a stunning cockpit view, deep career mode and amazing car roster. You will be thrust into the loud, intense, and athletic experience of racing a car from the driver's perspective through the combination of perception-based G-forces, the hyper reality of the cockpit view, and the all-new brutally disorienting crash dynamic. Prove your skill on two tracks - London River and the world famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps using one of 5 unlocked cars, including the Falken Tire Porsche GT3 RSR - exclusive to the Falken Tire Shift demo!"

Download Need for Speed SHIFT Falken Tire Demo (1 GB)

Gallery: Need For Speed Shift

Direct2Drive is giving PC gamers another chance to get a recently released game on the cheap. Their 24 Days of Christmas promotion is now in its third day and from now until 1 pm Eastern time you can download and purchase Electronic Arts' recent racing sim game Need For Speed Shift for just $24.95.

For those of you doing the math that's 50 percent off its normal price. The game, released last September and primarily developed by UK-based Slightly Mad Studios, just got a free upgrade that added several new cars (mostly American muscle cars) as well as the all new Team Racing mode.

The latest patch for Need for Speed SHIFT includes the free Team Racing Pack DLC. The expansion includes five new cars and an all-new team racing mode, where players must work together to win. For a glimpse of what expect, check out the trailer after the jump. The Need for Speed SHIFT demo can be downloaded here.

"The Team Racing Pack downloadable content for Need for Speed SHIFT includes five new cars: 1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV, 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, 1967 Shelby GT500, 1969 Dodge Charger R/T and 1969 Dodge Challenger R/T, as well as the new Team Racing mode.

Grab your friends, create a team and take on the world in Team Racing. Using a combination of teamwork, skillful driving and the occasional slick maneuver to topple your opponents, you'll be atop the podium in short order."

Download Need for Speed SHIFT Team Racing Pack Patch (134 MB)
Download Need for Speed SHIFT Demo (1.13 GB)
Download HD Need for Speed SHIFT Team Racing Pack Trailer (305 MB)
Check out all Need for Speed SHIFT downloads

Nvidia doesn't take any holiday off , apparently. The PC graphics chip maker decided to release some new official drivers on Thanksgiving for their GeForce series of graphics card. The new 195.62 version drivers are currently available for PCs with Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows Vista operating systems.

The release notes for the new drivers show that they include additional SLI and multi-GPU support for a number of new PC games like Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands and others. The new 195.62 version drivers also contain a number of bug fixes for games and includes performance improvements for Need For Speed Shift. All in all, it's a must have if your PC has an Nvidia-based graphics card.

Yep, it's yet another massive price cut for downloadable PC games to tell you about before Thanksgiving officially begins. Electronic Arts' own online EA Store has decided to cut the prices of all of their current downloadable PC games by 30 percent. The sale prices lasts until Monday.

That means you can download and purchase Dragon Age: Origins from EA for just $34.96 during the sale. That price will also get you The Sims 3 and Need For Speed Shift during the sale. Other games with big price cuts include Mercenaries 2 for just $6.96, Warhammer Online for just $9.96, and the deluxe version of Dragon Age Origins for $45.46.

This trailer for the Need for Speed SHIFT Team Racing Pack, an upcoming free content expansion, provides fans with a glimpse of some of the big features to expect. As its name indicates, NFS SHIFT players will have to switch their driving styles from individual strategies to more team-oriented ones as they speed down these tacks. Also included are brand new vehicles to muscle against the competition with. Unfortunately, even though the trailer indicates otherwise, the Team Racing Pack isn't available yet. It releases in Europe on December 1st for the PC and Xbox 360 and on December 3rd for the PlayStation 3 console. North American players across all platforms will have to wait until December 10th, but the Need for Speed SHIFT playable demo can be downloaded right now here.

Download HD Need for Speed SHIFT Team Racing Pack Trailer (305 MB)
Download Need for Speed SHIFT Demo (1.13 GB)
Check out all Need for Speed SHIFT downloads