Um, The Game? Need For Speed: Shift Trailers

For a while the Need For Speed games became something... we weren't paying much attention to. Then Shift was announced, and everyone sat up to take notice. Why? Because it's being made by Slightly Mad Studios, a team made up of people responsible for the stunning GT Legends and GTR games. Jim writes much about it here. So a crop of new trailers appear, and I think, hooray! Then I watch them and I shake my pretty head.

EA, a word. What you've done here is you've released four trailers promoting your game, which feature approximately five seconds of game footage, identical in each one, and then interviews with proper racecar drivers accompanied by real world footage.

That's all fine. That all sets things up. But that's where you then kick in your game footage to wow us with how it recreates all these important features described by the drivers. They teach us about the role of drift, you then show us drift in your game. Because otherwise... um... you know - the game?

So here they are, and there's nothing wrong with them if you want to hear professionals drivers talking about aspects of the sport. But don't expect to learn a single thing about a racing game we're all rather looking forward to.