Need for Speed: Shift demo drifts to Xbox Live, PSN on Thursday

by David Hinkle { Sep 29th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Attention, race fans: EA's Need for Speed: Shift will have a demo ready for a qualifying run this Thursday, October 1. The demo features two tracks (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and London River) as well as five different vehicles to master:

BMW M3 (E46)
2008 Dodge Viper SRT10
2006 Lotus Elise 111R
2008 Nissan GT-R
2006 Pagani Zonda F (unlockable)

As for that last car, you'll need to excel on the two courses and earn enough points to unlock it. And remember: The demo is not limited to Blur developers, so feel free to make with the loading down!

Tags: ea, electronic-arts, need-for-speed, need-for-speed-shift, slightly-mad-studios

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Durden @ Sep 29th 2009 6:01PM

I really want to get this game but Forza is too close.

Platinum_Skeet @ Sep 29th 2009 6:06PM

Yeah after playing the Forza demo I'm sold. With all the assists turned on at times it feels like a Arcade racer with your controller. But with the assists off and a racing wheel it's a true racesim.

Cheesus Crust @ Sep 29th 2009 6:22PM

RACIST!

Chester @ Sep 29th 2009 6:34PM

Oh your really missing out, cause this game is a BLAST!!

kojo87 @ Sep 29th 2009 8:16PM

i have the demo for PC and all i can say is forget what you know about Need for Speed. i was a fan of NFS from NFSII through Underground 2 and this feels nothing like any of them. Shift, however feels like a totally new take on the series. much more of a sim but still has some arcade feel to it. i have not played Forza (sorry im a PC gamer) so i can't say how it compares but all in all i think they did a good job on this one. but i am holding off final judgment until i can play some Dirt 2 and see how that stacks up

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 30th 2009 12:26AM

I hear you Durden because when I was under the impression GT:5 was releasing this year I almost didn't pick up Need For Speed: Shift. Shift is a solid game but it's pretty easy and there isn't much depth there. It feels like a solid game but I think it would have benefitted from an additional 8 months of development. It's not a true racing simulation but it's an admirable effort. I like it. I would say 7.5/10

Joe4Android @ Oct 1st 2009 9:35AM

THE WORST racing game I have played in a long time!! The AI is terrible, and the driving physics are bad enough to make me want to shoot the EA dev team!! Another FLOP from EA!! You guys F'en suck at game development! I suggest you all go out and work at a grocery store in the F'en meat department..something tells me you all sit around and jerk off together while developing games...my god, has anyone ever heard of Quality Control??? Who let this game onto the shelves?????

Heavytoka @ Sep 29th 2009 6:02PM

Awesome! I've been wanting to try this game out before I decide to buy it or not.

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 29th 2009 6:06PM

Is it available on the Playstation Network on the Xbox 360?

haw haw haw

Solace @ Sep 29th 2009 6:17PM

you saw that pic too? haha

Sly (Now equipped with DS!) @ Sep 29th 2009 6:35PM

wait, what pic?

dark_inchworm (stronger than never, ever before) @ Sep 29th 2009 6:48PM

http://kotaku.com/5368824/nfs-shift-crashes-at-playstation-store-screen---on-a-360

Solace @ Sep 29th 2009 6:51PM

enjoy this FAIL

http://freakbits.com/xbox-360-crashes-accessing-playstation-store-0927

Sly (Now equipped with DS!) @ Sep 29th 2009 6:52PM

oh haha. that would be hilarious if a 360 game had a playstation store screen on purpose.

tomlinson731 @ Sep 29th 2009 6:10PM

E46 BMW M3 ftw

Wayne @ Sep 29th 2009 8:34PM

GT-R for the win. You cannot defeat Godzilla.

Marco le Polo @ Sep 29th 2009 6:12PM

I'll have a friend download it so I can play it at his house. If I inform him that I'm bringing some pan dulce he'll stop whatever he's doing/downloading so to download it faster.

FIN

ZeNLik3BuDDha @ Sep 29th 2009 6:22PM

Pan Dulce FTW

Mmmmmmm

Halwende @ Sep 29th 2009 6:16PM

Sweet, be interesting to see how this game's interior cam & gameplay experience compares to Forza 3

Mu93n @ Sep 29th 2009 6:21PM

is it me or did the last need for speed AND midnight club kinda flop because people were still playing burnout paradise? aside from gran turismo and forza hasnt burnout somewhat dominated the racing sim genre? i mean im not being biased im honestly curious. i didnt get into either need for speed undercover or midnight club la but i just heard they were kinda lackluster. anyways my point is that i wasnt really enthused for shift because of what i heard of the previous one.

Look At This Suit @ Sep 29th 2009 6:31PM

You just called Burnout a racing sim.

Think about this for a second.

tomlinson731 @ Sep 29th 2009 6:32PM

Burnout is not a racing sim. Racing - yes. Simulator - no.

Bradwart @ Sep 29th 2009 6:32PM

That's not a bad point. BP did have a lot of longevity thanks to the free DLC. Racing sims in general seem to be dying off, which is why Shift is more of a 'driving simulator' like GT and Forza. Still, I see a lot of copies sitting on shelves, probably because of the bad memories of NFS Undercover.

Sly (Now equipped with DS!) @ Sep 29th 2009 6:37PM

heck, even racing is debatable. 90% of my time in paradise was spent casually driving around or doing group stunts online with a bunch of people. for a game known for its crashes, it's surprisingly relaxing.

The Baron @ Sep 30th 2009 7:17AM

The hardcore racing sim market is actually a lot stronger on PC than console (e.g. the success of GTR and the thousands of mods available for it). Forza would probably get a lot more success if MS released it on their 'other platform'.

Arturo @ Sep 30th 2009 8:28AM

"Burnout is not a racing sim. Racing - yes. Simulator - no."

Reminds me of that Fiber One cereal. Cardboard no, delicious yes. lol

Mu93n @ Sep 29th 2009 6:35PM

ok yeah. def didnt think about that when i wrote it. epic fail on my part. feel free to downvote.

John @ Sep 29th 2009 6:37PM

I bought this game and it was completely worth the money imo to tide me over until Forza 3 comes out.

It's got great graphics and in racing is pretty damn intense. Plus the in car view is the best of any racing game I have ever played, it is just expertly done and really adds to the game (it's the only view I play from).

That being said, it isn't without it's faults. The driving mechanics are a little too arcadey for my tastes, but that is subjective, and it has some LONG load times if you don't install it to your hard drive (Xbox 360, haven't played it on PS3). Plus the drifting segments of the game are awful. They completely change the handing for this part of the game, and for me it ruined the drifting to the point that I won't do those events. Car selection is a little on the lame side to, although it has the Zonda R and the Reventon so I can look past it.

Mu93n @ Sep 29th 2009 6:38PM

and a comment fail on top of that as well -sigh- i think i should just quit while im behind because quitting while im ahead would require me to actaully be ahead...

Kultyper @ Sep 29th 2009 6:51PM

Just buy the game. It's one of the better games in the NFS franchise IMO, and it's on sale at Best Buy for $39.99.

Sly (Now equipped with DS!) @ Sep 29th 2009 6:53PM

the graphics are beautiful for sure, but i need to try out the gameplay.

Bradwart @ Sep 29th 2009 6:54PM

Amazon has it for the same price, for us online retailer-inclined people.

jaaaaaaaaaaames @ Sep 29th 2009 7:43PM

idk ill see if this is any good sure burnout paradise will still be better :)

kojo87 @ Sep 29th 2009 8:24PM

i love Burnout but licensed cars is a HUGE selling point for me. i wish there was a game with the gameplay of Burnout Paradise and the car selection/customization of NFS Underground. i would pay many monies for that

Autobot @ Sep 29th 2009 7:54PM

An unlockable in a demo?

Someone's getting coal in their stocking this Christmas.

sho220 @ Sep 30th 2009 12:49AM

if i remember correctly, which i do, GT:HD had unlockables. i don't think it's that big of a deal. if the game keeps my attention and i keep playing, i'll unlock it and life will be good. if the game is horrible, whether or not the zonda is there won't matter. i'll press the guide button and promptly go back to the dashboard.

Satn @ Sep 29th 2009 8:15PM

I have it on PC, and with a racing wheel, it's orgasmicly good.

I played it for so long my brake pedal foot started to hurt and my back was sore the next day from the forcefeedback.

Bunch of little quips about typical console-to-pc port interface crap, but the racing is what matters and it is gooood.

Wayne @ Sep 29th 2009 8:39PM

Your brake foot is the same as your gas foot. If it isn't, you should have your license suspended.

Satn @ Sep 29th 2009 8:42PM

Not really.

Game controller pedals are much harsher than the real thing, and the seating isn't the same position as a car, so (you probably have no clue about this) it's a lot easier to use both feet on game controllers.

Satn @ Sep 29th 2009 8:18PM

I like the car selection, except a little angry that Lotus Exige cannot be Werks upgraded.

And yeah, they remove all traction control for drifting, so you have to redo your control sensitivity, and then back again for normal racing...which sucks.

7ru @ Sep 29th 2009 8:44PM

Very buggy game. On PS3 anyways, idk about Xbox.
I do like this game and I've put about 20 hours into it now but there are so many glitches and bugs (even after the 1.01 patch) that it just about ruins the game. Seems like this game is still in beta stage, at best. The worst thing is the way the cars just randomly bounce around some tracks. Usually bouncing you right off course. So irritating. Only the faster, top tier cars though. The slower cars handle fine. The Veyron is almost undrivable.
Still an OK game though, to hold me over until GT5.

BladeB @ Sep 29th 2009 11:29PM

I want a lotus and be like hello ya'll-

gamertag- bladeballn

Kevin Lowe @ Sep 29th 2009 11:31PM

This has to be the most miserable racing experience I've ever had. Driving a 135i around Laguna Seca, my G25 flails back and forth in my hands, even when coming down a straightaway. I don't see why developers try to get cute with FFB; just sample the rack torque and send it straight to the motor so that it feels like a normal car.

Some of the physics are pretty good, but there's way too much oversteer, even after using car tuning to dial it back to a minimum. Everything drives like the track is slathered in industrial lube.

Ian @ Sep 30th 2009 1:35AM

Why doesn't anyone ever denote whether a 360 demo will be available to Silver members on day one?

outlaw640 @ Sep 30th 2009 6:31AM

Because you are a second class citizen.

Ian @ Sep 30th 2009 11:48AM

I guess being second class is better than paying for matchmaking which is free on EVERY OTHER PLATFORM! ;)

BrotherSimon @ Sep 30th 2009 2:19AM

lol i love how the games graphics look nothing like the pic

Avatar @ Sep 30th 2009 10:46AM

It looks like that on the PC version.

Avatar @ Sep 30th 2009 10:48AM

Aren't demos supposed to come *before* the full version has been out for almost 3 weeks.

tykjen @ Oct 1st 2009 6:35AM

shitty game. they messed up the controls bigtime..almost every car feels oversteerd

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.