Electronic Arts has teamed up with retailer GAME to create the ultimate video game driving challenge: the Need For Speed SHIFT UK Championships. Starting on August 28, gamers will be able to put their racing skills to the test as they compete in GAME stores across the UK to post the fastest lap times on new video game Need for Speed SHIFT, the latest edition of EA Games’ renowned Need for Speed series.Heats will take place at 49 GAME stores, with the fastest winners going on to face off in a final set of time trials to be held at Thorpe Park, Surrey, on September 26th.
The 49 finalists will then compete to set a quick lap time worthy of being crowned the Need for Speed SHIFT UK Champion, with the winner receiving the keys to a brand new Nissan 350Z GT sports car. There will also be a host of other spot prizes for participants in individual stores.
“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 Stuart Lang, EA UK Marketing Director. “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. This contest will allow thousands of gamers across the UK to experience that feeling and reward them for their skill.”
Martyn Gibbs, Customer and Brand Director at GAME, said: “This is a great chance for GAME customers to come in store and try an exciting new game before it’s released. The game play is fast and incredibly realistic. Lots of budding racers are going to be really excited to come in and test their racing skills against other racers around the country. And to top it all, the prize is amazing. It’s another example of GAME going the extra mile for customers.”
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 will be released on PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, PC and PSP (PlayStation Portable) in fall 2009.