Did you catch yesterday’s announcement trailer of Shift 2? It certainly seemed to polarise opinion, but on the whole we are looking forward to seeing what Slightly Mad can bring to a genre that is set to get very crowded. Speaking to Official Xbox 360 Magazine, Shift 2: Unleashed producer Marcus Nilsson had the following to say when asked if the team were aiming for a locked down 60FPS:
“You have to make a choice with today’s tech. Either you go for – and this is harsh but it’s what I think – the bland graphics of GT and Forza, or you try to push the bar for what consoles can do. That’s what Slightly Mad is doing, and hence the decision was made to aim for 30 frames.”
A bit harsh perhaps, but does he have a point? When Forza 3 first came out I remember quite a few people commenting on how the game looked nice, but strangely sterile. We can’t wait to see the team “push the bar”.
Foxhound_Solid
GT5 is gonna be the best thing Human Eyes have ever seen….
I must say though I loved the early NFS’ up to Underground 2. They seemed to have lost their way. However in time I will get Hot Pursuit as it looks great.
Shift never really hooked me in tbh….
Pedromr
No way! That’s Angelina Jolie! GT5 will be the second best… :P
nofi
“what’s what Slightly Mad is doing, and hence the decision was made to aim for 30 frames.”
Then I’m not interested. Good job, folks.
Colinbarr66
30 frames isn’t bad, missing out on a game because of this is a bit silly. Especially since the first was good.
beeje13
yeah but going for 30fps in a game like shift, where they want you to feel like a driver, is a bit bizzare – a driver needs quick reactions and input, to sum up: 30fps makes games slower.
cam the man
The first Shift game would have been a very good game if the frame rate was locked at 30 instead of slowing down to a crawl and stuttering at some points.
Jumping Monks
So at the expense of the framerate, they’re going to dirty it up a little. I think it’ll depend on a demo for me
3shirts
I’m pretty sure GT is pushing the bar, idiot
beeje13
yeah agree with you there, 1080p at 60fps, these idiots can only do 720p at 30fps…. not rocket science at whos got the best tech.
bunimomike
Everything you mention is technical. If that doesn’t sum up what Kaz is after nothing does. Many of us fence-sitters want GT5 to be incredible; pick us up in its arms and swing us around once more but worryingly it looks like the fun remains dormant.
This, for me, is the difference. The GT franchise is supremely satisfying whereas games like NFS are great fun. It really depends on what you want from your entertainment.
cc_star
The ‘Shift’ NfS sub-brand is going after the sim market, it will be the only AAA sim that is multi-platform in comparison to GT & Forza, and I think the team are on to something here. GT & Forza are bland and whilst millions of people love them – millions dont!
If they can nail a sim feel but with a bit of added grit then this ‘Shift’ sub-brand will end up being a mega-franchise in its own right and thanks to be multi-platform could outsell both.
People who talk endlessy about 1080p are probably the sort of people that think high megapixel cameras take a better photo and perhaps even work in Currys. There’s far more to an image’s quality than resolution alone. GT is of course gorgeous, probably even class leading, but in its own sterile, bland kind of way.
3shirts
I agree that they are technical matters but he says “push the bar for what consoles can do” and to me, that sounds like technical challenge rather than anything emotional. Of course it’s open to interpretation though.
Sympozium
Every year I always seem to get NFS at a low price… I don’t know why but Shift to me is overhyped so I give up.
Shadow0410
Shift 2 probably wont do that well tbh, with GT5 released long before then most of us will have a sim racer that will last us years, the first Shift was fun but let’s face it, it’s not GT.
bajere
“the bland graphics of GT and Forza, or you try to push the bar for what consoles can do”
Fake tits look nice, but real ones feel better… Just because they are making it look nice, dosent mean we will enjoy it more…. realism on GT5 will make up for any lack of grime etc
DJ-Katy
I agree with him that the graphics in GT5 look sterile, but that’s because they went for hyper-realism. Shift is more half-sim half-arcade, at least the first one was.
Those of you whining about 30fps are flat out morons. The vast majority of games you play run at 30fps including almost all the racers, including Burnout Paradise. I didn’t see a problem with the sense of speed there, I didn’t in Shift either. 60fps adds a relatively minor level of smoothness to the animation, it doesn’t slow down the sense of speed because your car’s position is not tied to the rendering speed. I would certainly rather have the gritty dirty graphics of Shift at 30fps than the realistic but boring graphics of GT5 at ‘almost’ (according to Yamauchi) 60fps.
Or, let’s look at it another way:
Did you play GT5 Prologue?
Did you play Shift?
Which had a much better sense of speed?
I rest my case.
bunimomike
One of the finest posts of the year.
Shadow0410
Good post and I totally agree, the FPS should be a minor concern, Shift was a superb game but I prefer GT5 purely for the higher depth of realism, where Shift fell down for me was in the car physics, crashes didn’t work right and the damage model was pretty poor from a visual standpoint.
3shirts
I agree. I think it is incredibly difficult for a game to tread the sim/arcade divide. In almost all cases it disappointments on one or both of those elements. The best racers are pure arcade or pure sim in my opinion, things like Burnout, Blur, GT, Forza etc
nofi
“Those of you whining about 30fps are flat out morons.”
Sorry for wanting more from my games.
3shirts
I used to find your rants amusing but I worry that this is actually the real you; Rude and obnoxious, and that makes me sad
skibadee
you have misread that mate.
Beelzie14
I loved Shift irrespective of the FPS. This is not something that worries me in the least. The biggest problems with Shift though were that it was buggier than an entomologists laboratory and had more lag than a fat kid at sports day. The concept, driving physics and brutality of close racing were awesome however.
The thought of GT5 still gets me buzzing and salivating like nothing else on Earth however – ok not more than the thought of Megan Fox, Mila Kunis and Sienna Miller all pissed up on champagne and feelin “naughty” in the back of my Hummer-sine (limo), but you get the point!