News

NFS Hot Lap – Week 16 Winners!

NFS Mike — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:39:00 GMT

Well, we’ve had our big Ferrari announcement today, but that won’t stop us from announcing the winners of the NFS Hot Lap challenge for Week 16!

The fastest lap winner is a previous winner and has snapped MrKingRawana’s 3-week reign at the top! This week EAO2slow ripped around Ebisu Circuit South in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX in just over 27 seconds, narrowly beating the champ from last week by only a few milliseconds! Well done! EAO2slow will get to choose which car and track we use next week :)

The random draw winner is ralph5879! He’ll be receiving a prize package for simply participating! He also happened to have a few nice laps on this week’s Hot Lap!

Check out both their videos below!

This week’s car and track are right here!

Car: Audi RS4
Track: Autopolis

Winners’ videos!
EAO2slow:

ralph5879

Special edition Ferrari Podcast is LIVE!

Kirk Pedersen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:53:00 GMT

A very special Ferrari edition of the Need for Speed Podcast is now available for download from iTunes and our RSS feed.

It's a special Monday edition of the Need for Speed Podcast, as we're very happy to announce that Ferrari has returned to the NFS universe with the Ferrari Racing Series for SHIFT!

We had special guest - and noted Ferrari fan - Marc De Vellis in studio to chat about the 10 models which will be available in the pack, which is available for download February 16 for $9.99 on Xbox 360.

Ferrari returns to Need for Speed with Ferrari Racing Series for SHIFT!

Kirk Pedersen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:48:00 GMT

We have news for Need for Speed fans across the globe today, and it’s big – Ferrari is making its triumphant return to the NFS universe for the first time since Hot Pursuit 2 with the release of the Ferrari Racing Series for SHIFT.

You read that correctly, the last time a Ferrari was featured in an NFS game was nearly eight years ago. We’ve got a full range of 10 supercars from the prancing horse, including the California (seen above), F430 GTC and one of the rarest Ferraris of all, the F50 GT.

Also included in the Ferrari Racing Series, which is available exclusively on Xbox 360, is the Ferrari World Tour, a new series of races where you’ll pit yourself against Ferrari’s stablemates in a series to determine which Italian supercar is king of the hill.

The Ferrari Racing Series is available for SHIFT starting February 16th for a cost of $9.99. Here are some shots of the cars in the pack to tide you over until it’s out.

The super-rare and ultra-cool Ferrari FXX.

Looking ravishing in red is the Ferrari 599 GTB Fioriano.

With only three ever built, the Ferrari F50 GT is incredibly rare, but we've got it in SHIFT.

Designed for racing, the Ferrari F430 GTC is a speed demon with looks to match.

The elegant Ferrari F430 Spider is as fast as it is gorgeous.

Facebook Customization Competition closed - Voting starts NOW!

Kirk Pedersen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:48:00 GMT

A big thank-you to everyone who entered the Need for Speed Facebook customization competition. The competition is now closed and we will be posting the photos to our Facebook page shortly.

Voting will be open for two weeks, closing at 11:59 p.m. PST on Monday, February 22, so get as many friends as you can to 'like' your custom creations.

Here's a link to the album.

Wrapping up two weeks of free cars on the NFS Facebook game: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

Kirk Pedersen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:19:00 GMT

We're wrapping up the two free weeks of cars on the NFS Facebook game, and going out with a bang, the final car is the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, one of the fastest and most beautiful cars ever made.

The free cars are a part of the Facebook app customization competition, which runs until February 8, 2010, so get your entries in to kirk@needforspeed.com.

To get your free ZR1 click here.

Need for Speed Podcast 17 is LIVE [VIDEO]

Kirk Pedersen — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:09:00 GMT

The 17th edition of the Need for Speed Community Podcast is now live and ready to download from iTunes and our RSS feed.

This week on the podcast, Drew, Greg, Mike and Kirk give competition updates about the Facebook app, GGL and the Hot Lap.

The guys also talk about when a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera visited the NFS offices, our video interview with Dave Elton, and our off-topic topic, the one album we'd have on a desert island with us.

Below is a link to stream the cast.

But if you'd prefer going the old-fashioned way, here's the download links:

DOWNLOAD LINKS

iTunes | RSS

Two weeks of free cars on the NFS Facebook App - Today: NEW Shelby GT500

Kirk Pedersen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:35:00 GMT

With only two days left in the second week of free cars on the Need for Speed NITRO Facebook game, today we have one of my favorite cars, the beautiful and ridiculously powerful Shelby GT500.

The free cars are a part of the Facebook app customization competition, which runs until February 8, 2010, so get your entries in to kirk@needforspeed.com.

To get your free GT500 click here.

Introducing Dave Elton, NFS World Senior Designer [VIDEO]

Kirk Pedersen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:20:00 GMT

Continuing in our tradition of rolling out one video a week of the development team of World, this week we spoke to Dave Elton, a senior designer on Need for Speed World. Have a look.

Dave's a really cool guy and we appreciated him taking the time to sit down with us.

SHIFT GGL Update - Only two weeks left to enter!

Kirk Pedersen — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:50:00 GMT

We're getting down to the final days of the Need for Speed SHIFT tournament going on at GGL Global Gaming. The tourney ends on February 14, Valentine's Day, and we're giving you a little gift to celebrate the occasion.

We are going to have a wild card draw for people who register between now and the end of the tournament, with prizes and wild card entries in the playoffs up for grabs.

The prize for winning the tournament isn't small potatoes - a chance to play for $30,000 to put toward the car of your choice from AutoTrader.com, as well as the opportunity to come down to Vancouver and play on our massive screen.

For more information and to enter, click here. Below is a shot of the current leaderboards.

Two weeks of free cars on the NFS Facebook App - Wednesday: 1967 Shelby GT500

Kirk Pedersen — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:47:00 GMT

We're well into the second week of free cars on the Need for Speed NITRO Facebook game, and today we have one of the most legendary performance icons on the planet, the classic 1967 Shelby GT500 as a free 24-hour testdrive.

The free cars are a part of the Facebook app customization competition, which runs until February 8, 2010, so get your entries in to kirk@needforspeed.com.

To get your free GT500 click here.

NFS Hot Lap – Week 16

NFS Mike — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:52:00 GMT

Here we are, almost 4 months into the NFS Hot Lap and we’re still here! Not bad for an idea that came up over coffee last fall! So I’d like to thank everyone that has taken part in the Hot Lap challenges! Without you guys recording your laps every week (everyone beating me, by the way), the Hot Lap would be nothing, so it’s all thanks to you guys that this has been a success :)

Anyway, enough gushing (I mean, amirite??!), and let’s get into it right away.

MrKingRawana, fresh off his victory in Week 14, decided to keep things consistent and continue with this recent “trip” to Japan. While Week 15 saw us racing around Ebisu Circuit West in the EVO X, Week 16 will have us in another Mitsubishi and staying in Ebisu, only this time in the south.

Car: Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
Track: Ebisu Circuit South

Change to this week: I react to some comments at the end of the video, so be sure to check it out :)

Also, make sure to check out my *personal* favourite entry from Week 15’s Hot Lap challenge! I love seeing entries like this :)

The usual:
Make sure to use the same car and track, keep it to one lap per video, make sure the FULL LAP is recorded, and however you choose to record it, make sure your final time is clearly readable. Post it to your YouTube account and submit it as a response to our Week 16 video (embedded below). And, there’s no limit to the number of video responses you can post, so if you see your best time beaten by someone else, get back in and record a better one. And to make your video easier to track, please remember to tag it with NFS and put a link to needforspeed.com in the video’s description.

As always, if you have any questions, please drop me a line at michael@needforspeed.com and I can help you out.

Here’s my video!

MCU’s *personal* favourite entry from Week 15 - titled "On a Roll":

Two weeks of free cars on the NFS Facebook App - Tuesday: Subaru WRX STI

Kirk Pedersen — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:18:00 GMT

We're well into the second week of free cars on the Need for Speed NITRO Facebook game, and today we have one of the most popular rally and tuner cars on the planet, the Subaru WRX STI as a free 24-hour testdrive.

The free cars are a part of the Facebook app customization competition, which runs until February 8, 2010, so get your entries in to kirk@needforspeed.com.

To get your free STI, click here.

Some Superleggera shots from Monday

Kirk Pedersen — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:37:00 GMT

I think yesterday was one of the greatest days of my life. For all my love of exotic sports cars, I've never actually seen one fire up in front of my very eyes.

I can think of another way I would have preferred yesterday to end, but the Lamborghini people don't take kidneys as down payments. I checked.

Anyway, I took several dozen shots of the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera which was parked at our Burnaby offices for a couple hours, and here are some of my favorites.

Here's the Superleggera pulling away with NFSDrew in the passenger seat. What you can't see is the guy taking the photo crying.

This is a nice touch. 'Olio' being the Italian word for 'oil', just in case anyone reading this blog buys a Superleggera in the coming days and doesn't know Italian.

Here's a shot of the Superleggera's engine bay. Don't touch it.

I was saying to Greg yesterday that there aren't too many cars able to pull off such an aggressive orange paint scheme apart from the Superleggera.

Another daring styling cue, this time the interior, which is adorned with suede. Outside it was drizzling, so there were some tense moments, with some raindrops narrowly missing.

To see the full gallery of more than 30 photos, click here.

Welcome to Need for Speed WORLD

Drew Hahn — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:13:00 GMT

WELCOME TO NEED FOR SPEED WORLD! We are extremely excited to launch the new NFS WORLD web site, which will have more information about the upcoming beta and continual development currently going in to making World the best online racing experience on the planet.

At this time, the beta is only available in the English language, but we do encourage everyone to apply. In order to apply for the beta, please click here.

Exclusive to PC, Need for Speed World is the first massively-multiplayer racing game in the Need for Speed series. Race with your friends online or compete against them and thousands of other racers in the enormous NFS universe, built specifically for World.

Features:
- Massively-multiplayer Need for Speed racing action in a huge online NFS world.
- Compete in a host of exciting new races as well as classic game modes. (Details to be revealed!)
- Brag to your friends about your wins – or taunt them over their losses – in World’s online community, including Facebook/Twitter support.
- Create a street racing legend with RPG-style progression as you tailor your driver and gameplay experience with solo and multiplayer races.
- A huge selection of authentic licensed vehicles, as well as thousands of parts enable you to turn your car from happy cruiser to snarling beast.
- The best car customization engine ever seen in a driving game. If you can dream it, you can create it in World.
- And much, much more… We’ll be constantly revealing new information for Need for Speed World so be sure to check back often!

To learn more about Need for Speed WORLD, check out the FAQ on the Need for Speed WORLD forum.

- NFSDrew

NFSDrew's date with a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera [VIDEO]

Kirk Pedersen — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:24:00 GMT

We had a special visitor today at the Need for Speed offices in Burnaby, as exotic car club Empire One came by to show us one of their toys: a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.

Needless to say, we were thrilled, and NFSDrew took the opportunity to hop into the passenger seat for a quick burn around the area. Check out the video.

It's a pretty sweet machine, or at least it sounded like one as it pulled out of our parking lot, without yours truly inside. I did take plenty of photos of the car, they'll be up within the next few days.

NFS Hot Lap – Week 15 Winners!

NFS Mike — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:28:00 GMT

Much like last week, this week was EXTREMELY close. In fact, I think this week was closer than last week! Trilegdog came within four-tenths of a second of our winner, who was once again, MrKingRawana. He bolted around Ebisu Circuit West with the EVO X in 52.04 seconds. Unreal.

Our random draw winner this week is another familiar face, and he is EAO2slow. Much like trilegdog, he came ridiculously close to challenging for top spot, as he does every week. So it’s nice to see his continued hard work pay off :)

From a personal standpoint, this week’s Hot Lap was the most fun. I absolutely loved this car on this track, which is why I’m excited to say that for this week, MrKingRawana, who had the responsibility of picking this week’s car and track, has chosen to stay put in Japan.

Car: Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX MR
Track: Ebisu Circuit South

Winners’ videos!
MrKingRawana:

EAO2slow:

Two weeks of free cars on the NFS Facebook App - Monday: Mitsubishi EVO X

Kirk Pedersen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:59:00 GMT

Today, we're starting the second week of free cars on the Need for Speed NITRO Facebook game, and we come out of the gates swinging with one of the most popular tuner cars, the Mitsubishi EVO X.

The free cars are a part of the Facebook app customization competition, which runs until February 8, 2010, so get your entries in to kirk@needforspeed.com.

To get your free EVO, click here.

NFSDrew on.. Need for Speed Most Wanted [VIDEO]

Kirk Pedersen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:51:00 GMT

Drew returns for another 'NFSDrew on..' segment, this time talking about his Friday gaming session and time spent as a developer on Need for Speed Most Wanted.

We're always looking for suggestions from the community, so if you have an idea for a topic for Drew to cover, fire kirk@needforspeed.com an e-mail.

Söderlund blogs on Dubai experience

Kirk Pedersen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:15:00 GMT

Patrick Söderlund, the big boss here at Need for Speed, recently took part in Dubai 24H over in the UAE, with team NFS taking seventh place overall and fifth in their class.

Taking his turn behind the wheel of the awesome Porsche 997 outfitted with the Need for Speed livery, Patrick drove strong, firmly showing that at NFS, we're serious about our racing.

He blogged about his experience at Speedhunters. Click here to read more and check out the outstanding photos.

Introducing Marc De Vellis, NFS World Producer [VIDEO]

Kirk Pedersen — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:38:00 GMT

This is the second part of our 'Meeting the World Team' series, and this time we're introducing someone we've already met before, producer Marc De Vellis, who was interviewed in the 'Celebrating 100 Million' series we ran last year.

In this video, Marc chats about his role on the World team, his impressive personal car collection, and his days as a racecar driver.

We've got plenty more of these videos on the wa, so keep checking needforspeed.com for new video content.