Need 4 Speed: Pro Street

[DJ12]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=164464

There is a video and it looks OK, some of the crashes at the end point to a more realistic game. I guess it kinda makes sense considering EA have made Burnout an annual (Minimal changes) update, both games are more arcadey in nature so taking n4s back to it's "roots" might be a good thing.

 

[alt_nick]

Non-icky video link
Should be the same, although I never got to see more than five seconds of green mush from the previous link before my browser crashed ;P

 

[Cheezdoodles]

NFS died for me after NFSorsche

 

[Altivec]

NFS died for me after NFSorsche

NFS died for everyone that enjoys racing games after porsche unleashed.

 

[Fu3lFr3nzy]

About time they upgraded the graphics! while playing Carbon, I cant help but feel like im playing Underground

I guess you can add this game to my list this year

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Oh great more japanese junk cars... Read my lips EA. I WANT FERRARI'S!

 

[sladeviper]

Japanese junk!!!

How dare thee disrespect the magnificent RX-7!

 

[Altivec]

Oh great more japanese junk cars... Read my lips EA. I WANT FERRARI'S!

How about no, we keep the generica japanese cars with EA, and let game developers with some skill in the art of physics have the ferrari licenses.

 

[Phil]

NFS died for me after NFSorsche

Wow, only just then? It basically died for me with Need For Speed 2. The first part was the best of the lot - nice tracks, a sense of realism, nice cars, and car cockpits. None of that over exagerated police cat&mouse chase stupidity that was introduced in NFS3. Need for Speed: High Stakes was a very good game though - and on the way to its roots, if not for the stupid round tracks (I prefer A-B racing). Damage was nicely implemented and cars weren't all that bad.

Everything after that was utter rubbish again.

Let me know when they go back to the fabulous first part of the series at a nice constant 60 fps (and without stupid cops).

(BTW: Never played the Porsche one. Too many Porsches for my liking and didn't have the PC to run it. )

 

[Jon Brittan]

Oh great more japanese junk cars... Read my lips EA. I WANT FERRARI'S!

Hey, while your signature is a quote from Jeremy Clarkson and, even worse, having a go at TVR you are hereby banned from all commentary on cars...

A little more on topic, I've liked all the "Underground" style games from NFS, much like anything else they have to be taken with a pinch of salt and they're nothing like realistic racing games, but they're light-hearted fun.
I'd almost go so far as to say they're the racing games I've most enjoyed over the last few years and I think the same goes for my brother and my dad, all of us with backgrounds in real-life car racing. The thing is, even the likes of Forza don't touch the realities of racing so why not go the other way completely and play games like NFS:MW and Burnout which make no attempt to simulate reality?

I was less of a fan of Carbon than its predecessors, but then I enjoyed it anyway as I bought it on Wii rather than 360 and enjoyed the variety the new control options could bring to the gameplay.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

(BTW: Never played the Porsche one. Too many Porsches for my liking and didn't have the PC to run it. )

NFS: Porsche was great. A bit to many porsches, but it was realistic and had the whole Gran Turismo aspect, with owning dozens of cars, upgrading them and so on.

 

[infinity4]

the gameplay and AI sucked in Carbon and MW for me. you are 3000 feet ahead and the cars just penetrate through all buildings because you are not there.

also you make one mistake when you are thousands of feet ahead, they bypass you in next 20 seconds

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Rubberband AI sucks.

Just an excuse for not making proper AI

 

[inefficient]

NFS Porsche was certainly the best NFS game. But I was a NFS fan since NFS3. And I even did quite enjoy playing both the Underground games on my PC.

I passed on Carbon because it seemed like pretty rough launch title quality stuff. But I might pick up this one if it is actually polished.

I don't really mind the NFS AI. And I love big cop chases.

About the AI, I've beaten every NFS game I have played - and thats a good thing. Many other racing games just get so hard toward the end you just lose interest when you have to replay the same event dozens times to move the SP game forward. NFS AI tends to want to keep the game close but you are never way out in the lead or way behind.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

How about no, we keep the generica japanese cars with EA, and let game developers with some skill in the art of physics have the ferrari licenses.

I loved nfs2, 3 and 4. I have no doubt that EA could make a great NFS.

Hey, while your signature is a quote from Jeremy Clarkson and, even worse, having a go at TVR you are hereby banned from all commentary on cars...

Haha well I thought the comment was pretty funny from Clarkson. TVR builds (or is it used to build?) some nice cars. Somewere around my work is a private garage I believe with alot of exotic cars and alsmost every week when I'm working on saturday I see some awsome cars driving by. Last week I saw a TVR, I believe a tuscan. Though it was on a trailer unfortunatly.

 

[Phil]

NFS: Porsche was great. A bit to many porsches, but it was realistic and had the whole Gran Turismo aspect, with owning dozens of cars, upgrading them and so on.

I know, I should have played it back then. Coincidently, I also see Porsche in a different light than I used to (in a more positive light now days) back then.

Anyway, some might think that I am quite the Gran Turismo enthusiast (when in fact I'm just enthusiastic about car games in general being the car nutter I am), but in all honesty, I remember having far more fun with the NFS series (especially that 1st part) than I ever did with the Gran Turismo games. Where IMO NFS excelled was in its driving exotic cars on fun, open roads with traffic on them. Racing on race tracks with roads 3 times wider than your average B road is just... well... lets just say lots of that excitment is lost.

I would buy another NFS game with some of the more exotic cars, nice tracks (no race tracks, but rather racing from A to B), realism (GT style?), traffic and without Police over a Gran Turismo anyday.

In fact, Gran Turismo framerate / physics in a Need for Speed 1 world with the cars from PGR3/Forza would be the best racer.

 

[TheChefO]

I know, I should have played it back then. Coincidently, I also see Porsche in a different light than I used to (in a more positive light now days) back then.

Anyway, some might think that I am quite the Gran Turismo enthusiast (when in fact I'm just enthusiastic about car games in general being the car nutter I am), but in all honesty, I remember having far more fun with the NFS series (especially that 1st part) than I ever did with the Gran Turismo games. Where IMO NFS excelled was in its driving exotic cars on fun, open roads with traffic on them. Racing on race tracks with roads 3 times wider than your average B road is just... well... lets just say lots of that excitment is lost.

I would buy another NFS game with some of the more exotic cars, nice tracks (no race tracks, but rather racing from A to B), realism (GT style?), traffic and without Police over a Gran Turismo anyday.

In fact, Gran Turismo framerate / physics in a Need for Speed 1 world with the cars from PGR3/Forza would be the best racer.

Agreed

Though I do (and did) like the cops in NFS 1. They added a nice variable to races. Using the same formula today I'm sure could produce a world beater. Though I have to say, I think the Road & Track License along with the voice over guy talking up each car really put the player in the game world unlike any before or after it.

EA Canada Rocked!

 

[Cheezdoodles]

I loved having all does video's about the cars and stuff in NFS1.

 

[RobertR1]

NFS3 used to dominate my gaming time for a LONG time. Didn't care one bit for GT1 or GT2. Then I played the hell out of GT3 and disliked GT4.

NFS3, I'll always miss you

 

[TheChefO]

I loved having all does video's about the cars and stuff in NFS1.

Hey I forgot about the videos!

You know, if a company borrowed the same design philosophy and created a modern NFS1 (even with all of it's design flaws) I'm sure it could dominate the market. (or at least sell enough to mke a profit!)

Even with the limited driveable roadway and fixed camera (only facing forward) I think these limitations helped maximize the limited ram and if applied to todays console technology (512mb vs 2mb) should enable devs to really focus on the road and roadside scenery only and not have to worry about how things look from every angle etc. Also streaming could be much more efficient without having to account for multiple directions.

Minor tweaks I'd request:
- Driver AI
- Cops AI
- Traffic AI
- Physics (they were great for their time though!)
- Do away with the invisible wall (just let the car fly off a cliff if the driver was foolish enough to be in that position just allow the action to take place and replace the car on the road with a time/speed delay to keep the race fair.)
- Add more trackside "life" (people, wildlife, vegetation)
- Update the car selection with new models


Other than that, overhaul the graphics and audio and they have a multimillion unit seller on their hands.

No need to go in depth with customizing options out the wazoo and the like and really no need to have hundreds of cars. Keep it to a good selection of roughly a dozen exotics and model a good half dozen A-B tracks and that should do it.