At 7PM on Thursday evening, the EA Studio Showcase drew to a close -- but for GameCyte and our competitors, the party was just getting started. Spirited away to a posh San Francisco venue with gates guarded by the likes of Lamborghini Gallardo and Audi R8, we were presented with luxurious couches, champagne-filled glasses and one shared scoop: the unveiling of Need for Speed: Undercover.
"You blend, and you listen -- and you don't trust anyone," boomed the voice of "international box office sensation" Maggie Q, as we got a sneak peek at the game's promotional trailer. For one about to wrangle with a room full of fellow journalists over every last scrap of available intel, this seemed like sage advice -- so we took it. But did our metagaming espionage attempt pay off? Come find out after the break.
Hearkening back
In June of this year, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello told investors and media, in no uncertain terms, that he was disappointed with last year's Need for Speed: ProStreet -- and blamed EA's own rushed, 12-month production cycle for the title he considered a misstep. "We were torturing a very talented group of people up in Vancouver, which makes it harder to be as innovative every year." But Riccitiello revealed that things were changing. For the next Need for Speed, EA Black Box would have over sixteen months to produce a story-driven title the EA chief likened to The Transporter.
On Thursday, in a dark, crowded lounge filled with free alcohol, we listened to producer Scott Nielsen explain what the Canadian studio had done with that extra time.
"You've probably been wondering, 'where has Need for Speed been?' We've been pretty quiet," Nielsen admitted. "We've been kind of taking stock of things, sitting back, and really trying to figure out, 'How do we tell stories within our games?' 'How can we go back and do a better job of telling stories?'" His answer, of course, was the plot of the newest entry in the series, Need for Speed: Undercover.
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