Need for Speed SHIFT from EA Races into Retail this September

March 23, 2009

Need for Speed SHIFT from EA
Races into Retail this September

Delivering a True Driver’s
Experience, Need for Speed SHIFT Pushes Authentic Racing Genre to the Next Level

Electronic Arts Inc. announced today
that Need for Speed SHIFT, the all-new authentic racing game in the Need for
Speed series, will hit stores in Europe on September 17 and North America on
September 22, 2009. Need for Speed SHIFT brings a true driver’s experience to
some of the world’s most iconic racing tracks, including the storied Brand’s
Hatch in the UK. The game also features the largest roster of high-performance
cars in Need for Speed history including race cars such as the Pagani Zonda F,
Porsche 911 GT2 and Lotus Elise.

“With Need for Speed SHIFT, we set
out to create a racing game that pushes the genre and delivers something never
before seen in a Need for Speed title,” said Patrick Soderlund, Senior Vice
President at EA Games Europe. “By focusing on the driver’s experience through
the first-person view, we are able to capture the high-speed intensity and
gripping emotions of racing.”

Players are thrust into the loud,
intense, and athletic experience of racing a car from the driver’s perspective
through the combination of perception based G-forces, the hyper reality of the
cockpit view, and the all-new brutally disorienting crash dynamic. Need for
Speed SHIFT features an accurate, accessible physics-based driving model that
allows you to feel every impact, every change of track surface and every last
bit of grip as you push yourself to the edge.

Need for Speed SHIFT is being
developed by Slightly Mad Studios in collaboration with Black Box and Patrick
Soderlund. Slightly Mad Studios includes developers and designers that worked on
the critically acclaimed games GT Legends and GTR 2. The PSP version is being
developed by EA’s Bright Light studio.

Need for Speed SHIFT will be
released on PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, PC and PSP in fall 2009. More information
can be found at
www.needforspeed.com
.