shift-2-unleashed posts

If you're wondering how well Shift 2: Unleashed measures up against some real life race car driving, you may want to check out the video above, where professional drifter Darren McNamara faces off against pro Le Mans driver Tommy Milner in a Time Attack Challenge. Although we're betting that a lot of gamers won't benefit from the same racing chair, pedals and steering wheel that these two use, it's worth watching to get their professional impressions.

For more racing tips, check out the video after the jump, where the Time Attack Champion Chris Rado explains how to make through sharp corners at high speeds.

Download HD Shift 2: Unleashed 'Time Attack Mcnamara vs Milner' Trailer (456 MB)
Download HD Shift 2: Unleashed 'Attacking Corners' Trailer (306 MB)
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The month of March, a very busy month for new PC game releases, concludes this week with the release of a racing sim game, an old fashioned strategy game and the final DLC for an acclaimed sci-fi RPG title.

Shift 2 Unleashed - Electronic Arts bring us this second game in the racing sim series, a spin-off of its Need For Speed game franchise. Developed by Slightly Mad Studios, this game has over 140 cars which can be driven in several gameplay modes. Look for a new in-helmet camera in this game along with a new version of Need For Speed Hot Pursuit's Autolog matchmaking feature.

In just two days Shift 2 Unleashed is, well, unleashed on the general public and publisher Electronic Arts, as it usually does, gives us a launch trailer to remind all of us about the racing sim game. The clip shows lots of gameplay footage of the title's super cool and super fast sports cars racing through different tracks at different times of the day and night.

It also has a rocking soundtrack and some very early reviews from some magazines. Let's hope that the game from developer Slightly Mad Studios does well enough that the team doesn't have to lay off any workers.

Shift 2 Unleashed is due for release next week but the main developer behind the racing sim game, UK-based Slightly Mad Studios, is bracing for some possible job cuts. Gamesindustry.biz (free registration required for reading) reports that the studio completed work on the game for publisher Electronic Arts only to find out that plans for a future unannounced game had been canceled by an unnamed publisher.

The article quotes Slightly Mad's founder Ian Bell as saying that while job cuts may be coming they are in talks with publishers about additional game projects " ... and are very optimistic for the future." Slightly Mad has also formed a subsidiary, Gamagio, that is working on developing smaller mobile and social games.

How would you like to see if you can go faster than a pro sports car driver? According to the latest trailer for Electronic Arts' Shift 2 Unleashed, you can with its Autolog feature. The trailer shows a "hot lap" as driven in the upcoming racing sim game by pro driver Tommy Milner.

Milner is shown driving the lap (in a nice racing simulation controller and seat by the way) in a Chevy Corvette on the game's version of the Laguna Seca track in Monterey, California. Milner put in a fast lap in the game which is recorded in Autolog for anyone else to beat. You will be able to see if you can beat his time when Shift 2 Unleashed heads out to stores and via download on March 29.

Download the Shift 2 Unleashed Hot Lap Footage Trailer at Big Download

Shift 2 Unleashed is a racing sim game and as such the emphasis is on making the game as realistic as possible. That includes being able to deal with driving in corners. In the latest trailer for the Electronic Arts published game, it makes a point that cornering in racing can be very tough; even fatal.

The trailer has a little bit of a surreal quality as it talks and shows via in-game footage how drivers have to know what they are doing when they enter a particularly tricky corner on a race track. Some drivers make it; others meet the wall or other drivers. Shift 2 Unleashed will have lots of that when it comes out on March 29.

Download the Shift 2 Unleashed Dangerous Corners Trailer at Big Download

Staged or not, this trailer did make us crack a bit of a grin. Pitting two drift stars against each other in Shift 2, it shows off the features of both Autolog (which made its debut in Hot Pursuit) and the various customization options available to the player. Watching the real car pros slide around, bump into walls, wince at their mistakes, and eventually finish the race is oddly satisfying. There's also a funny little blooper reel at the end, and an invitation to beat them in unarmed combat driving challenges

Download Shift 2: Unleashed 'Customization' Trailer
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The developers of Shift 2 have bragged over and over that their game is the most realistic racing game ever developed. If this trailer is an indication, the drivers that they consulted think it as well. While this trailer goes mostly into interviewing various high-profile race drivers, it also gives a good look at the physics and visuals of Shift 2. Things such as real-time telemetry (which they actually display within the trailer) and the constant shifting from real to simulated racing blows us away. The best part is that the differences are rather small. Overall, a fantastic trailer.

Download Shift 2 Unleashed 'Realism' Trailer
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We don't know much about cars. So when we say that we have no clue what the car in this Shift 2 trailer is, or why it's leagues above and beyond other cars, we really do mean it. However, it's definitely a pretty trailer, and that car sure is slick! We can't really identify all of the cities either, although it looks like Tokyo and London are represented. Overall a meaningless trailer for anybody who isn't in-the-know on cars.

Download Shift 2 Unleashed 'Pagani Gameplay' Trailer
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Electronic Arts has revealed its latest financial numbers, this time for the time period between October 1 and December 31, 2010. EA's press release stated the publisher brought in $1.410 billion in revenues, which is slightly higher than the $1.346 billion in revenues it had for the same period a year ago. However the company posted a net lost of $322 million for the quarter which was much higher than the loss of $82 million for the same period a year ago.

EA's biggest two game releases for the last quarter, the first person shooter Medal of Honor and the racing game Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, each sold over five million copies so far, according to the press release. EA also announced plans to buy back $600 million of its stock over the next 18 months. The publisher will be holding its quarterly conference call with investors at 5 pm.