NFS 2010, if/when released, would you buy without hesitation

[oshaylinux]

I know it's kinda early for this type of thread, but since Undercover is out and plenty of reviews on it. Just for conversation purposes, if or when EA announces that there is going to be a NFS 2010 game, how many of you based on your on personal experiences and perception of the EA and the NFS Franchise, whom of you will buy NFS 2010 game without hesitation and why?

I will not buy NFS 2010 without hesitation, EA is treating the NFS Franchise like it's a, "red headed stepchild." I have questioned EA's motives concerning NFS Franchise since Carbon, and Prostreet and Undercover (previews & reviews) are just reinforcing mine and many others negative impresion of EA and the NFS Franchise. Looking at the fact the NFS games are constantly being striped of it's major game elements and nothing is being added to it of major value. EA has many games in it's portfolio, and they are all being improved on and new features being added to them. In my opinion, because of the blind and undieing loyalty for the NFS franchise of the fanbase, the NFS Franchise is just easy and sure money for the EA, and no real incentive for EA to wholeheartedly put forth an effort to make the NFS Franchise better, as for as customer wants and desires and concerns, when people are going to by the games anyway?

So what's on your mind? please no cursing because those ***** are really irritating and blocks your message.

Thank you,
Oshaylinux,

[Andre_online]

This is really a good topic. For me, I've been collecting NFS since High Stakes, and I've enjoyed the games more than ever; I got hooked at one point in time. But since Underground, the NFS' gameplay has plummeted tremendously, and it seriously became a turnoff at one point.

However, I still went ahead to buy MW - which turned out to be the better one of the better games - and Carbon, which I've been playing online since the day I bought it. Then last year, I got ProStreet. This was when it really sinks in; when the game started to show signs of weakness. I did not like it, at all, mainly because of the high PC requirements. It was a really huge jump from Carbon's PC requirements and ProStreet's.. But being the loyal me, I just went ahead to buy the game, to my dismay. I have yet to touch it since the day I bought it.

Then there was Undercover, which I can honestly say (and it really hurts me to say it) one of the worst NFS games I've ever played in my life. Everything about it just shows no sign of the 'NFS' element, and I'm really disappointed. Nothing much has been improved with this game. I'm just angry that EA is earning money because of their brand and not the games. They bring it big stars like Maggie, Josie Maran and Brooke Burke. For what? EA's always hyping things up whenever a new game is released; teasers here and there, a new celebrity is introduced, gaming launch. They are wasting their time for all those nonsense when they could have taken their time to build one perfect game. Most Wanted took more than a year to produce, and look at its final product - solid game play.

So in conclusion, I may not be very certain as to whether I'll stick to the NFS franchise in 2010 if EA's not going to change. Other gaming companies by then would have stepped up their game and produce a better series than EA's NFS, there's no doubt about it. For me, I've learnt that buying a game is never about being 'loyal', but more of how much fun you have when you're playing the game. Otherwise it'd be a waste of money and time.

[Carcrazy]

NFS is, and I fear forever will be, a bittersweet franchise. We love the game (not games,) and tbh, I'm not sure what I would do without it (other than buy much better games lol.)

It's gotten to the point where EA doesn't seem to care much. I say much, because it seems they did at least make an effort this time. The truth is, when you put a game on a yearly schedule, no matter how long the production cycle is, it's doomed to failure. You just simply can't supply gamers with new and interesting innovations year after year, and if you do... they've still probably got the last game in their minds at the very least.
--(For an edit, I'll just throw this in... Madden. Great game, in fact, the last one I bought i think was 07. Why? Because there's no reason to buy a new one, I'm not going to get anything out of it. I've got 07, why do I need to spend money for the same game, just with newer rosters and music? Waste of a good $50 right there... - Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming. )

NFS won't ever be one of those games where, you're sitting at home and see a commercial at home and go "WOW," ever again I fear. Maybe this would change on a 2 year schedule, but I'm honestly interested in wheat a 3-year release would do.
Would I buy a new NFS game 3 years from now? Absolutely, no doubt in my mind. Will I buy one a year from now, idk... probably get it from someone else. 2 years? Probably... depends on what I see in it.

It's also to a point, where a few of us wonder what would happen if the franchise was sold to another company, but we're scared to lose the NFS heritage. I know that at least I am... We all know that EA has the potential to make a good, rather, GREAT game.... we just haven't been seeing it from them.

[korge]

When I played NFS Undercover I said, wow. I like the city, I like the intro, I like the cop chatter... After that, I said, this is a worse experience than when I first loaded up Most Wanted.

They said this game was going to be their game changer. It wasnt. All I can say is you can only deal with long term franchises based on the game at hand and not its past.

[RedCarDriver]

Copy-pasting? For shame! I'll have to do that too:

2010? No, and if there's a 2010 I'm probably not buying 2011, and so on - I want a longer development cycle between games because I know from personal experience that EA screws them up if they try to make the game in a year.
2015 (with no games between now and then)? Heck yeah, I'm probably going to buy it. I'm probably going to read reviews and stuff first, so that I can tell whether or not having a longer development cycle helped them any, but I'm more likely to buy it if it took longer to make, like Oshaylinux said (off topic: how can I shorten your name, if at all?).

[Bojan]

So why does the development cycle matter so much?
Underground 2 according to a lot of users here is one of the best NFS games so far. And that had the shortest development time of all NFS games (less than a year).

[Nitrodemon McLaren]

When we learned more about Undercover - screenshots, trailers and everything, we thought it would be the ultimate NFS... until we found out it was rather disappointing.

Would I buy an NFS scheduled for 2010? I, being a big NFS fan probably would get the game however first I'll have to see what the 2009 NFS shall be, if it's a good improvement, I just may. If it turns out disappointing, I'll have to think about it.

First of all, EA should think about longer development cycles. They have always been trying to release one NFS game a year since Underground if not HP2. Maybe if they stick to a 2-year or a 3-year development cycle, they could make something great.

Now, about handing over the NFS franchise to another company like Criterion or BugBear Entertainment as some say, I don't think that would be a good idea. In my opinion, EA should handle NFS, Criterion - Burnout, BugBear - FlatOut. Just leave things the way they are.

@Bojan: Yes but you see, Underground was a great game. Underground 2 was heavily modified with more car modification features and overall, thus creating another great game. I haven't really seen that in NFS titles since Carbon...

[Bojan]

And Undercover is a heavily modified version of ProStreet. So why does development time length really matter again?

[mean2u]

No. As I've learned from following Undercover, EA's marketing team is really good. Even if their previews for the game look amazing, the final product may still flop, like in this case.

[korge]

And Undercover is a heavily modified version of ProStreet. So why does development time length really matter again?

Because whether you are ignoring it or just dont see it, Undercover is a rather small undertaking considering the fact its more a mod of older games than a standalone title.

Id like to see more work put in than see a trend start similar to Madden 08 Madden 09 Madden 10 Madden 11 etc.

[Bojan]

And once again why does that matter? It works well for certain games (GTA), why not with NFS.

[- Rx7 -]

EA needs newer, better staff.

[Nitrodemon McLaren]

And Undercover is a heavily modified version of ProStreet. So why does development time length really matter again?

First of all, ProStreet was one of the worst NFS games IMO... and according to professional reviews especially when it comes to PS3, PSP... and PC.

[korge]

EA needs newer, better staff.

Why? They are reaping profits.

[Andre_online]

First of all, ProStreet was one of the worst NFS games IMO... and according to professional reviews especially when it comes to PS3, PSP... and PC.

In terms of what?

I thought it was way better than Undercover. I'd like to know what were the ratings and which sites gave these reviews. On the surface, I'd like to say that they're very naive. Just because ProStreet doesn't have any story line and no cops, didn't mean it had to be given such bad remarks.

Hello? Flashback! NFS had NO story lines.

[Dragster]

Meh, I don't think I'll buy anymore if it goes this way. Recently I've played a well-known game simmilar to older need for speeds (the golden ones) and I figured that it's all about the cars, we (I am atleast) are all car perverts, and I'd love to see how my turn signals work when i press 'J' for left, 'K' for right, how I can start/turn off my car whenever I want to, drive in neutral downhill just to hear the tire rubbing on the asphalt... This includes extremely high detailed interior, and POV adjusted in a way I can look around the cockpit with my mouse, open/close the windows, listen to the buzz of electricity window systems, heck, I wouldn't mind turning on the air conditioner as well...

Free roaming and tons of exotics. No damage. Customizable wheels and brand-specialized details, showing it's been customized (OPC, ABT, Hamman, bleh...)

Yes, that's a NFS I'd buy... seven copies if needed

edit: oh and yeah, no story ffs.

[korge]

That goes beyond a racing sim. Thats a car sim! Id buy it. I wouldnt have to pay for gas to enjoy a drive.

edit: oh and yeah, no story ffs.

[RedCarDriver]

So why does development time length really matter again?

Well, yes, its development cycle was one of the shortest, and it is one of the best NFS games, but IMO it is the exception rather than the rule. EA has shown that their work would probably be better if they spent more time on it (possibly mostly because it's a greater investment and they are more motivated to make it better) - look at the The Sims series for an example of this, each game was developed in at least five years and each was pretty good, with great gameplay value (with lots of inital profits for EA once it was released but perhaps not as much "quick cash"). Conversely, look at the EA Sports games, which are produced every year and are (in my opinion) not worth buying every year, especially when they're basically the same between years. Heck, if you look at many of EA's games - no, more like the "franchises" - it seems to be a pattern, with exceptions as seen in Underground 2.

The difference between Underground 2 and Undercover was simply that Underground 2 seemed like a more polished version of Underground, with lots of new features, new cars, etc., without taking anything very important out (if really anything besides a few cars), while Undercover just looks like a bare-bones remake of Most Wanted where they threw in only what "mattered" in a new version of it with as little effort as possible.

Examples?

The physics in Underground 2, although they weren't touted as such, are probably the best of any game. The carlist in Underground 2, while it had some of the better cars (Honda S2000, okay, that's basically it) dropped, had many cars added - though, admittedly, the SUVs and new 106 and Opel Corsa don't help in any way. Music in UG2 got worse in some ways and better in others, which is subjective, but it doesn't matter to me since I turn off the music and run Winamp nowadays anyway. Customization had a few things added from Underground but nothing really important (if anything at all) was taken out. Plus, it has had very few, if any, bugs for me.

In Undercover, however, the physics (as I have heard, because I haven't actually tried them yet - prove me wrong) are just ProStreet's (not a great starting place) with stylized arcade-y things like instant-180s added (this, IMO, was a bad idea). The carlist is okay but none of the cars are much more customizable anyway. The customization is worse than ProStreet's in ways (nothing major was added but the ability to have half of the vinyl layers was removed, and a few other things), and the wave of bugs generated is incredibly grim.

EDIT: In fact, many of the bugs found in Undercover are bugs that have been documented for a long time in previous games, in cases since Carbon or even Most Wanted or before - the steering wheel cannot-assign-brake-to-Y-axis glitch and many others are present, according to forum posts.

[Dragster]

That goes beyond a racing sim. Thats a car sim! Id buy it. I wouldnt have to pay for gas to enjoy a drive.

It would be nice though, to keep arcadish racing style, and just go over the edge with the cars themselves. Everything clickable and such

God damn I would love that

[oshaylinux]

That goes beyond a racing sim. Thats a car sim! Id buy it. I wouldnt have to pay for gas to enjoy a drive.

It would be nice though, to keep arcadish racing style, and just go over the edge with the cars themselves. Everything clickable and such

God damn I would love that

Dude, please no cursing, I do enjoy peoples opinion, but the cursing gets in the way of the point being made..

[oshaylinux]

Meh, I don't think I'll buy anymore if it goes this way. Recently I've played a well-known game simmilar to older need for speeds (the golden ones) and I figured that it's all about the cars, we (I am atleast) are all car perverts, and I'd love to see how my turn signals work when i press 'J' for left, 'K' for right, how I can start/turn off my car whenever I want to, drive in neutral downhill just to hear the tire rubbing on the asphalt... This includes extremely high detailed interior, and POV adjusted in a way I can look around the cockpit with my mouse, open/close the windows, listen to the buzz of electricity window systems, heck, I wouldn't mind turning on the air conditioner as well...

Free roaming and tons of exotics. No damage. Customizable wheels and brand-specialized details, showing it's been customized (OPC, ABT, Hamman, bleh...)

Yes, that's a NFS I'd buy... seven copies if needed

edit: oh and yeah, no story ffs.

You have just basically distribed TDU, which is one the greatest racing games on Earth.

[Andre_online]

In Undercover, however, the physics (as I have heard, because I haven't actually tried them yet - prove me wrong) are just ProStreet's (not a great starting place) with stylized arcade-y things like instant-180s added (this, IMO, was a bad idea).

I could not have said it better myself about the handling. I'm glad someone is finally on my side.. But as everyone has said before, I think you should reserve your judgement until you've played the game.

For me, I was fortunate enough to have tried it on the Xbox platform. Two years back, I also got to try out ProStreet on the Xbox platform too. And let me tell you something: both games handle differently, which goes to say that the cars share different physics from ProStreet and Undercover. The latter's physics, in my opinion, are far much lighter as of its predecessor; you can't do an instant 180 just by dabbing the handbrakes on ProStreet.

In my response to your 'arcady' comment, you can't really blame them. You should know better that EA is never about simulators. To be frank, from Carbon onwards, cars don't correspond to their actual performance statistics. However, I think EA has gone way overboard this time on the physics of the cars. Indeed, it's rather annoying to my eyes to see cars doing a 180 seamlessly when in Carbon, it requires some skills to even pull off a perfect one. That's the only issue I have with Undercover.

Aside from that, I do think that it is indeed a great game on the surface. But I think because of the handling, it's officially murdered the game.

[Nitrodemon McLaren]

First of all, ProStreet was one of the worst NFS games IMO... and according to professional reviews especially when it comes to PS3, PSP... and PC.

In terms of what?

I thought it was way better than Undercover. I'd like to know what were the ratings and which sites gave these reviews. On the surface, I'd like to say that they're very naive. Just because ProStreet doesn't have any story line and no cops, didn't mean it had to be given such bad remarks.

Hello? Flashback! NFS had NO story lines.

First of all, I didn't like the fact that ProStreet centered only around legal races and moved away from street racing. But in the end, I suppose it's a decent game. But not as good as Undercover...

Just my opinion.

[2fast4all]

EA needs to spend at least 2+ years on the next NFS series. 1 year just doesn't cut it and most of us hate it. I will wait until this series gets it fun back, even if it takes forever (I got the semi good previous games to keep me occupied). Pro street was a good game imo, i was into the track based racing and tuning cars at the time, and still am just not as much. Undercover has a lot of technical issues, crummy story, catch up tool for the AI to beat you , and so on. I just wish one of us guys here could talk to the producers at EA and tell there idea what/what not to have in the game (and maybe knock some sence into there brains that most people hate this game), then maybe this might be a hell of a decent series like it should be.

[- Rx7 -]

EA needs newer, better staff.

Why? They are reaping profits.

Profit isn't everything too most people, except EA.


Sad face..