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Burn (a limited amount of) rubber in NFS Hot Pursuit demo

by: Chad -
More On: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
There is a lot to talk about regarding the demo that's now available for Need for Speed Hot Pursuit.  First, there is a time limit strapped onto the demo - it ends on November 9, 2010. Second, there is only one mode available when you download the demo called the "Dark Horse Hot Pursuit" event.  You'll be chasing a cop on a coastal highway and mountain range of Seacrest Country.

While you're playing, the NFS social network called Autolog will be tracking your performance.  How well you do will automatically be pushed out to all those that you add to your NFS friends list.  If you add at least one friend to that list, you'll unlock a second event called "Roadsters Reborn."  (It probably goes without saying that the Autolog social network is not available in the Wii version.)

Everyone that plays the demo will earn 500 bounty award points for use in the full game (as long as you use the same EA account for both).  I enjoy having the demo unlock or reward me with items in the full game, but I'm not sure if I need my demo to have all of these caveats in them.  Regardless, the demo for Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is now available on Xbox Live and PSN in North America and you can look for the game on shelves on November 16.

EA HITS THE OPEN ROAD WITH
NEED FOR SPEED HOT PURSUIT DEMO
 
Feel the Rush of Besting Your Friends
With Criterion’s Groundbreaking ‘Autolog’ Social Network

 GUILDFORD, UK – October 25, 2010 – Criterion Games, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced a demo for Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit. This demo will give gamers early access to this holiday’s hottest action racing title. Starting October 26 for a limited time*, players can experience the intensity of friendly competition, using Need for Speed’s revolutionary social network, Autolog. This new in-game technology makes personalized recommendations to gamers based on what their friends have been playing. Autolog is a brilliantly simple feature that challenges each player to set the best race time amongst their friends. Play alone and reign supreme against the game’s AI or invite just one friend to join, and unlock a second track in the demo. Playing with friends or frenemies, players kick off an addictive competitive loop where the compulsion to be the best and earn bragging rights is irresistible.
 
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit ships on November 16, 2010 and is already earning accolades from critics worldwide for pioneering a new innovation within the racing category. “Need for Speed Hot Pursuit could redefine online racing forever,” stated GamesRadar in their summer preview of the game. In Europe, Eurogamer noted that, “Friends, data and photos continuously stream into view, all offering new gameplay opportunities and challenges.”
 
“Need for Speed Hot Pursuit is blowing the roof off social competition and bringing excitement back to the racing genre,” says Matt Webster, Producer at Criterion Games. “We’re putting players and their friends at the heart of the gameplay experience by automatically tracking and comparing each person’s performances. This demo will give gamers a snapshot of Need for Speed Autolog and how we’re amping up the energy of intense pursuits, competitive racing and online connected play – nothing is more powerful than beating your friends.”
 
In the Need for Speed Hot Pursuit demo, players will be able to chase as a cop in the Dark Horse Hot Pursuit event, speeding through the coastal highway and mountainous ridges of Seacrest County. At the heart of the demo is a social network called Autolog that tracks cop and racer performances while playing solo and uses those statistics to generate fierce competition between friends. Once players add a friend to their Need for Speed friends list, the second event will unlock called Roadsters Reborn, where gamers can compete as racers to set the best times. When they download and play the demo they will also earn 500 bounty award points in the full game for both Cop and Racer careers**. Accruing bounty will allow players to unlock events and exotic cars and progress through their careers in the full game.
 
The Need for Speed Hot Pursuit demo will be available for download October 26 on Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace worldwideand the PlayStation®Network in North America and on October 27 on the PlayStation Network in Europe. The retail game will be available on November 16 in North America and on November 18 and 19 in Europe on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC. The Limited Edition can be pre-ordered now on all platforms to gain exclusive content at no extra cost, with participating retailers worldwide (while supplies last). Need for Speed Hot Pursuit will also be available on the Wii™ and is being developed by Exient.***
 
For more of the latest news and information on Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, please visit http://www.needforspeed.com or become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/needforspeed and follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/needforspeed
 
* Demo ends on November 9, 2010
** Use of Bounty Points from the demo requires full game and use of the same EA Account used to play the demo.
*** Autolog not available on the Wii