slightly-mad-studios posts

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.

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 due out later this quarter and this week publisher Electronic Arts is slowly revealing more info on the racing sim division of the Need For Speed series. The game's official web site has now revealed that it will feature cars from Chevrolet, Toyota and Lamborghini. It also revealed four different track settings including being able to drive through the streets and around the landmarks of London.

Meanwhile our sister site Joystiq has more info on the game's updated Autolog feature which was first introduced in Need For Speed Hot Pursuit. In addition people who own Criterion's recent arcade racer will be able to access two extra cars in Shift 2 Unleashed (the Pagani Cinque Roadster racer and Lamborghini Reventon police car).

It's been only a couple of months since it was officially announced but today publisher Electronic Arts gave us a release date for its latest racing game Shift 2 Unleashed. The "racing sim" branch of EA's Need For Speed franchise will be released on March 29 for North American gamers. Europeans will get access to the game a little earlier; it comes out on March 24 or March 25 across the pond (depending on which country in Europe you live in). The sim game comes once again from developer Slightly Mad Studios.

Don't forget that pre-orders get access to the Limited Edition version with 40 extra events in the game along with three exclusive cars (the Nissan Silvia spec.R Aero (S15), the Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV, and the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640).

With Need For Speed Hot Pursuit now out and about in stores and via download, publisher Electronic Arts shifts (pun intended) its attentions to its next driving game, the simulation-oriented Shift 2 Unleashed. Today the company announced that people who pre-order the game will gain access to three exclusive cars.

The cars are the Nissan Silvia spec.R Aero (S15), the Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV, and the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640. In addition pre-orders will also gain access to 40 exclusive career events. Those events will include races where everyone is driving the same car along with challenges races that pit classic versions of vehicles against modern versions. Finally the Manufacturer Showdown races have long time rival cars driving against each other. The game is due for release later this spring.

With Need For Speed Hot Pursuit now officially in stores, publisher Electronic Arts finally announced what has been know for a while now; a second game in the Need For Speed Shift racing sim series is in the works. The second game dumps the "Need For Speed" part of the title and is now called Shift 2 Unleashed.

Due for release in the spring of 2011 from developer Slightly Mad Studios, the game will feature a revamped graphisl engine as well as what EA is calling an "innovative helmet camera view simulating the physical experience of driving at 200mph." It will also feature Autolog, the social networking system that is now a part of Need For Speed Hot Pursuit. You can check out the trailer for the game when you check out the bonus content in Need For Speed Hot Pursuit.

Electronic Arts clearly loves the Need For Speed driving-racing game franchise. The publisher recently launched the online-only PC racing game Need For Speed World and in November developer Criterion Games will take the franchise back to its cop-driver roots with Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Today as part of its financial press release, Electronic Arts revealed a new release schedule for its upcoming games and one of its titles due for release in the first calendar quarter of 2011 is Need For Speed Shift 2. This would be the sequel to the more racing sim-style of game that was first released for the PC in the fall of 2009. UK-based developer Slightly Mad Studios was the primary team behind the first Shift game (shown in the above screenshot) but there's no official word if it will be involved in the making of the sequel.

Electronic Arts is having a love affair with the Need For Speed franchise these days. Later this month the publisher will launch the racing MMO Need For Speed World and in November developer Criterion releases the arcade-themed open world driving game Need For Speed Hot Pursuit. But even more future projects in the franchise could be deep in development.

A LinkedIn profile for a former programmer at developer Slightly Mad Studios, Chris McClure, indicates he word on Need For Speed Shift 2 before leaving the developer earlier this year. Slightly Mad developed the first Shift game which was a more sim-like racing title that was released to solid reviews last fall. Another LinkedIn profile from writer Rees Savidis stated he "helped to develop the fiction and characters for the 2011 instalment in the AAA "Need For Speed" franchise." It's unknown of this is for Shift 2 or yet another future game in the Need For Speed series.

[Via superannuation]

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.

Fans of Need For Speed Shift have likely been wondering if Electronic Arts would be offering any downloadable extras for the racing sim. Today EA sent the word out that the first such free DLC is on its way. Owners of the PC version will be able to download the DLC on December 1.

The free extras will include the addition of four American classic muscle cars and one import sports car to the game (1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427, 1967 Shelby GT-500, 969 Dodge Charger R/T, 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T, 1998 Toyota Supra Mark). It will also add the Team Racing online gameplay mode where two teams of up to six cars battle it out in stock vehicles.