Need for Speed SHIFT races to retail

Need for Speed SHIFT hits retail stores today in North America and across Europe on September 17. Need for Speed SHIFT offers breakneck speeds, a cockpit view, a deeper career mode and a robust line-up of cars - if you believe what EA says. Other features include real world physics with perception based G-forces, a “brutal” first person crash dynamic, and the all-new driver profile, which gives each player a unique persona based on their driving skill and style.

Need for Speed SHIFT is available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP and iPhone.

EA Races Forward With New Need for Speed Games

Earlier this month, word broke out that EA had cut staff from Black Box in the wake of some major financial restructuring. There were even rumors that the publisher was retiring its Need for Speed franchise after poor sales on Need for Speed Undercover. Well, early this morning, EA put that rumor to rest, announcing the development of not one, but at least three new NFS titles.

“We recognize racing videogame fans are very passionate and unique – they want customized gameplay experiences. Whether it’s more of a realistic driving game with accurate car physics or over-the-top cop chases, we are making different games for different audiences,” said Keith Munro, vice president of marketing, Need for Speed. “Each game provides a deep, engaging and rich racing experience. We’re giving players the option to choose the best racing title that suits their style of gameplay.”

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Rumor: EA Cuts Black Box Staff

According to rumors circulating today at Kotaku and elsewhere, EA has cut an estimated 150 - 200 employees from its Black Box Studio - that studio most recently finished Skate 2. There is also a rumor of a company-wide meeting at EA Canada where the top brass of the company discussed the state of the industry and the future of EA.

We cannot confirm these rumors and EA is not making any public comments at this time. This makes sense since the company will release its financial results on Feb. 3. Most likely — if this latest rumor is true — EA is cleaning house well in advance of going before the public and its shareholders, with hat in hand.

EA Announces More Layoffs

Yesterday, when we reported on Free Radical’s closure, we wrapped up wondering just who was next on the chopping block. This morning, we got our answer, as Electronic Arts announced further details on a restructuring plan, which will include consolidating facilities and a new round of holiday layoffs.

According to the announcement, EA expects the restructuring plan to save it somewhere around $120 million annually and $60 million or so over the next several financial quarters. Under the new restructuring plan, EA will cut about 1,000 jobs, roughly 10 percent of its total worldwide workforce. The majority of these cuts are expected to be completed by March 31, 2009. The restructuring also calls for consolidation or closure of at least nine of the company’s studio and publishing locations, including the Vancouver-based Black Box Studio, which has been responsible for the company’s Need for Speed and Skate franchises. The Black Box teams and associated game franchises will move to the nearby EA studio location in Burnaby, British Columbia.

This new round of layoffs and consolidation comes at a rough time for EA. The company had already announced a round of upcoming layoffs back in October, now having to raise the number of jobs cut from the original 6 percent to the current 10 percent. While the current state of the world economy may be a major factor in EA’s current financial woes, many analysts have laid part of the blame on the company’s dogged pursuit of a Take-Two takeover earlier in the year. Black Box’s fate probably wasn’t helped by the lackluster reviews of Need for Speed Undercover either.

EA Cancels Vancouver Studio Plans

As I look at sales data for November, i’d like to say that I share the widely held notion that the interactive entertainment industry is recession proof, but recent activities within the industry give me pause. Take, for example, EA’s decision to cancel its plans to open a new studio in Vancouver. Two days after the company lowered expectations for revenues and earnings in fiscal 2009 and announced some serious belt tightening, the company revealed that it would not go forward with plans to open up a facility in Vancouver that would have housed the studios behind the Need For Speed and FIFA franchises.

“These are challenging times, they’re uncertain times for our industry and across the board,” EA spokesman Colin Macrae told The Globe and Mail newspaper this week. “We continue to be firmly rooted in Vancouver.”

While EA may be firmly rooted in Vancouver, it is cutting an undisclosed amount of jobs in its Canada-based development studios and most assuredly, many of its game products that it planned to work on in 2009. Disappointing sales of games like Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space and other holiday game release probably didn’t help - or its stock sliding to a seven year low.

If there is a lesson here it is a familiar one for other sectors: no company is safe in these very uncertain financial times.

A Date 2 Skate

Electronic Arts announced today that Skate 2 will hit retailers in North America on January 21st, 2009 and worldwide on January 23rd, 2009. Skate 2 brings gamers to New San Vanelona, a city that’s been rebuilt after an unspeakable disaster five years ago. Equipped with double the bag of tricks, players are tasked with rebuilding their careers and reviving the skate scene - we guess for the sake of community morale or something. Now with the ability to get off-board and move objects around, gamers can create their own spots and challenges which can then be uploaded, shared and experienced by others around the world.

Skate 2 also promises new tricks that allow players to skate on and off the board. Skate 2 is developed by Black Box, and will be made available on PS3 and Xbox 360. Skate It is available on Wii and the Nintendo DS now.

More Need For Speed Undercover Details

EA’s Black Box studio revealed new details about the latest action racing game in the Need For Speed series, Need for Speed Undercover. Need for Speed Undercover will let players race through speedways, dodge cops and chase down rivals as they go deep undercover to take down an International crime syndicate - in other words, the latest game finally returns to its roots. The new game brings back the series’ trademark police chases and introduces the all-new ‘Heroic Driving Engine’ - a technology that generates racing moves at 180 miles per hour during highway battles.

Other promised features include an open-world environment featuring over 80 miles of roads, an enormous highway system where combat driving will unfold, high-speeds, high-stakes chase sequences, a new A.I. mechanic that will provide realistic and high-energy action driving, aggressive and intelligent cops whose sole purpose is to take down the player quickly, deep car customization, real-world damage and realistic driving physics, and some of the hottest licensed cars on the market including the Audi R8, BMW M6 and Lexus IS-F.

Need for Speed Undercover is being developed by Black Box in Vancouver, B.C., and will be in stores in North America on November 18 and in Europe on November 21. The game will be available for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PlayStation 2, DS, PSP, PC and mobile.