You're right, the UG-Carbon era did span 4 games, it was an era, after all. Though they had their differences, they were all focused on the 'urban street racing culture' that is now being revisited by the series. It did end with Carbon - the following games were ProStreet (went to a on-track format and dialed down the arcade driving physics elements) and Shift (further progressing into a semi-sim, on track racer).Eurotrash wrote:The "UG-Carbon days" cover at least 4 games. More if we assume they didn't end with Carbon, and they didn't. As for the series, it didn't start with Underground, look it up. This was the first Need For Speed game:Dr Houbenheimer wrote: Have you looked at any of the information they've released, or the trailer? It's clear a spiritual successor to the UG-Carbon days, and they've gone as far as to call it a re-boot of the series to 'bring it back to what made the series great'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkKxAnOsKfU
And it dates back nearly a decade before Underground. Also does not feature hip-hop, Walmart trunk speakers, tinted NOS spray (wtf), "riced" mommy-mobiles or a pointless story mode to drag it down. What it does have though are physics that made Gran Turismo look like Mario Kart, a great sense of speed (hence the title) and a set of the most popular sports cars of the time (if not ever). THAT is what Need For Speed is about.
And this one will be? Why? Apart from some white guys with baseball caps screaming "yo yo!" I don't see how it resembles Underground or Carbon at all. On the other hand, I've spotted a few similarities with The Run:Dr Houbenheimer wrote: The latest 'Most Wanted' quite clearly was going to be nothing like the 2005 game and never pretended to be so.
-Battlefield style graphics, mostly cyan and orange visual treatment
-Simplistic car customization (a wide bodykit, a set of rims, a custom paintjob, and go)
-Real location, American city
-Bad soundtrack
Most Wanted actually had me fooled at first. This one isn't even trying.
No one said the series started with Underground, who said that? It was a popular period in the series and they're now returning to what the vast majority of fans have been clamoring for for years now. Have a look at the social media accounts of NFS and the like both before and after the announcement.
What 'Need for Speed is about' is a subjective term - the series has been constantly re-iterated and perpetually evolving.
You don't like the over the top "ricer" scene portrayed in the UG games, that's fine, but to each their own, it was a popular trend at the time and this was reflected in great sales numbers. From all accounts so far, the game is now reflecting modern urban car culture, and that's evident in the media releases so far and backed up by numerous third party sources.