Crysis 2 delayed, Need for Speed SHIFT 2 stealthily announced for 2011

We know you’ve all read through EA’s Q1 financial report by now, right?But for the awkward minority who haven’t done so yet, this’ll come as a bit of a spoiler… Among the many licensed titles and alarming number of games ending in “11,” was an oh-so quiet whisperconfirming the existenceof Need For Speed: SHIFT 2. Fantastic news IMO, although I’madmittedly bit biased. I loved the midrace milestones and seriousfocus oflast year’s SHIFT, and my E3 hands-on with Criterion’s multiplayerbasedNeed For Speed: Hot Pursuitupdate didn’t blow my hair back. (Even though everybody else I talked to called the cat-and-mouse approach one of their best experiences they’d had with NFS in years. Go figure)

Above: Hot Pursuit, thankfully still on track for November

To be fair, I’m pretty sure it was because I was playing with a bunch of newbies on the showfloor, who spent most of their time pulling themselves offguard rails and out of ditches, leaving me to drive around aimlessly in total boredom. Plus I’mweary of all online racers,as they tend to breed bullies and gameplay-shattering latency glitches. Whatever, I’m 100% behind another SHIFT… which means you should be, too. (Or else!)

Above: Hopefully consumers won't have to decide between Crysis 2 and Bulletstorm early next year

Now for the bad news:Right next to SHIFT 2 in that 4th Quarter time frame was Crysis 2, which unfortunately means Crytek’s latest won’t ship until at least January 2011, at the earliest. Odder still, print advertshave already teasedthat the game would be releasedduring the "Holidays," and bumping Crysis 2 into a Q4 timeframe pits it againstBulletstorm, alsopublished by EA. Uh oh, one company releasing multiple games within weeks of one another even though they're designed to appeal to the same audience… Who do you think you are EA, Activision?

Aug 3, 2010