Need For Speed Prostreet

The 1995 box cover of EA games first Need for Speed game.

Electronic Arts, better known as EA Games, began developing a fresh new gaming concept in 1992. Teaming with the staff of automotive magazine Road & Track, EA developed a marginally realistic driving simulation for that era that cowered away from the typical arcade-type vehicles and their cartoon-like movements. In 1995 the game was finally released, to the delight of automotive gaming fans across the world who spent long hours behind the boob tube, evading the police who were in hot pursuit of their favorite cars while unlocking special contents within the game with every achieved goal. Twelve years have come and gone since the first Need For Speed landed on store shelves, and all the while EA has managed to continually raise the bar in automotive gaming with the release of 13 unique NFS games (15 counting PSP versions), with this year marking their latest and most highly anticipated release of Need For Speed Pro Street.

Dominate, kill the competition and take your driving skills to the next level. These are just a few descriptive words that submerge you deep into the realms of Pro Street's career mode stages as your skills are put to the test in grip of driving, drift, drag and speed challenges, as you advance through a series of stages making your way past international competitors around the world, and finally coming face to face with the King of Streets himself.

"Pro Street is the next generation for Need For Speed. The one thing we wanted to redefine this year was the physics of the cars. Improvements on the visual aspects as well as the vehicles handing physics give Pro Street that raw feel and adrenaline rush that you get with every race you compete in," says Michael Mann, senior producer of NFS. With new AI (artificial intelligence) that will block you, punt you off the road or even capitalize on your mistakes, EA creates a n adaptive game that's sure to create competition for even the savviest gamers in the racing world.

Using state-of-the-art software, the EA engineers used a wire frame payout of Infineon Raceway to design the game to the exact specifications.

Perhaps you're a casual gamer and lack the knowledge to set up your own vehicle; EA has the perfect solution for you. Need For Speed implemented a quick upgrade option to automatically tune and adjust your vehicle to optimal settings. With a simple click of a button, NFS quickly jumpstarts your career and points you in the right direction as you begin mastering the game in no time. The avid car enthusiasts or experienced gamers who demand more vehicle tune ability can quickly move into the customization mode and tailor their vehicle's tires, body work, suspension adjustments and engine modifications, which all impact how the vehicle will perform. With over 140-plus aftermarket companies currently on board with EA's Need For Speed game, EA is confident to secure twice the number of current manufactures such as GReddy and HKS, to name a few, along with many of the grassroots performance tuners you've come to respect such as Full Race Engineering. "Each company carries different brands of products ranging from GT3076 turbos to GT3582 turbos with different characteristics on how the car feels or drives similar to real life scenarios," says Scott Murray, associate producer overlooking the visual concept of cars. "At the end of the day, one thing we didn't want when designing this game was to have that one golden package for vehicle settings that everyone online uses. We want people to try different parts and create different ways of winning so your setup is totally different from the guy next to you. That is what car customization is all about; using the personal knowledge that you've gained while playing Pro Street and trying new things. We built this game with no personal boundaries."

Dependant on the time of day and the casting of the sun, light will reflect off the vehicles reminiscent of the real deal. Compare that to the previous Need for Speed Carbon and you have a brand new ballgame.

Vehicle telemetry and driver feedback are just a few tools used to design both track and vehicle features.