That’s the view of Need For Speed: Shift producer Jesse Abney, whose “authentic” racer displays at 30 frames per second. Abney claims there’s plenty more under the hood that determines a racer’s performance.
Motion control purports to be intuitive and accessible. Peripherals, such as the plastic guitar, balance board, light gun and, with Tony Hawk Ride, the skateboard, seemingly add weight to the argument that the traditional control pad is a barrier to entry. But the racing genre has long offered its own dedicated controller designed to remove that barrier: the wheel.
There are two Need For Speed games coming out this year, as part of EA’s effort to recalibrate the franchise. Nitro is for Wii and DS and is very much an arcade racer. Shift is for PC, 360, PS3 and PSP and, you’d imagine, veers more to the serious end of the spectrum. Just don’t call it a sim.
