Need for Speed (NFS) is a racing game franchise published by Electronic Arts and currently developed by Criterion Games, the developers of Burnout. The series generally centers around illegal street racing and tasks players to complete various types of races while evading the local law enforcement in police pursuits. The series is one of EA's oldest franchises not published under their EA Sports brand. The series released its first title, The Need for Speed, in 1994. The most recent game, Need for Speed Unbound, was released on December 2, 2022. Additionally, a free-to-play mobile installment released in 2015, Need for Speed: No Limits, is actively developed by Firemonkeys Studios, the developers of Real Racing 3.
Ridge Racer is a racing video game series developed and published for arcade systems and home game consoles by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco. The first game, Ridge Racer (1993), was originally released in arcades for the Namco System 22 hardware, later ported to the PlayStation two years later as a launch title. It was met with several sequels and spin-off games for multiple platforms, the latest being the mobile game Ridge Racer Draw & Drift (2016) with the latest mainline game being Ridge Racer 7 (2006). Gameplay involves the player racing against computer-controlled opponents to be the first to finish in a race. Drifting is a core aspect of the series, and is used to keep speed while turning corners.
Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles is likely as old as the automobile itself. It became especially prevalent during the heyday of hot rodding (60s), muscle cars (70s), Japanese imports (90s), and sports cars (2000s). Since then, it continues to be both popular and hazardous, with deaths of bystanders, passengers, and drivers occurring every year. In the United States, modern street racing traces its roots back to Woodward Avenue, Michigan, in the 1960s when the three main Detroit-based American car companies were producing high-powered performance cars. Since a private racing venue was not always available, street races would be held illegally on public roads.
Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition is a 2005 racing video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third installment in the Midnight Club series. Like previous installments in the series, the game is an arcade-style racer and focuses on wild, high-speed racing, rather than realistic physics and driving. The name is derived from a partnership between Rockstar and DUB Magazine, which features heavily in the game in the form of DUB-sponsored races and DUB-customized vehicles as prizes.
Juiced is a racing video game by British studio Juice Games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and mobile phones. The game was delayed for release in 2004 because the original publisher, Acclaim Entertainment, went defunct. Juice Games and Fund 4 Games retained ownership of the property and sold the game to THQ, who funded the project for a further six months of improvements. In early 2006, British software publisher Focus Multimedia re-released the PC version of Juiced at a new budget price as part of its "Essential" games series. The game offers different modes including career and arcade that present the player with challenges of increasing difficulty. The player can customise the car to suit their style and unlock new ones in arcade mode. The game features nitrous boosts, similar to that of other racing games. Juiced went to number one in the United Kingdom MCV sales charts and its first version sold 2.5 million units.
Burnout Revenge is a racing video game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360.
Ridge Racer 6 is a racing game by Namco released in 2005. It was the sixth console game in the Ridge Racer series but unlike the previous mainline entries, which were released for PlayStation consoles, this entry was released exclusively as a launch title for the Xbox 360. In a similar fashion to the first Ridge Racer on PS1, Ridge Racer V on PlayStation 2, Ridge Racer(s) on PlayStation Portable and eventually Ridge Racer 7 on PlayStation 3. All are exclusive launch titles for their respective consoles.
R: Racing Evolution is a racing video game released on the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox by Namco. It is a spin-off of the Ridge Racer series. Unlike the latter, the game uses licensed racecars rather than fictional vehicles featured in the franchise. The Xbox version is not compatible with Xbox 360. The GameCube version features Pac-Man VS as a separate disc.
Crave Entertainment was an American video game publisher founded in 1997 by Nima Taghavi. Its headquarters was in Newport Beach, California. It was acquired by Handleman Company in 2005 in a deal valued up to $95,000,000 but was then sold to Fillpoint LLC in early 2009 for only $8,100,000 due to Handleman's bankruptcy and pending liquidation. During its lifetime it published games for Dreamcast, Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, GameCube, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox, and Xbox 360. Crave mainly focused on budget titles, and imported games such as Tokyo Xtreme Racer series.
Street Racing Syndicate is an open world multiplatform racing video game produced by Eutechnyx, and released by Namco on August 31, 2004, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Windows-based personal computers. The game was also released for the Game Boy Advance on October 4, 2005. During its release, it was meant to compete against Need for Speed: Underground 2, the sequel to the critically acclaimed first game released in 2003.
Tokyo Xtreme Racer is an arcade racing video game series created by Genki and inspired by street racing on the Shuto Expressway in Tokyo. Its first installment, Shutokō Battle '94: Drift King, released in 1994 for the Super Famicom. In 2017, Genki released the latest installment of the series, Shutokou Battle Xtreme, for iOS and Android devices.
Project Gotham Racing (PGR) is a series of racing video games developed by Bizarre Creations and published by Microsoft Studios and Sega (Dreamcast). The series appeared on the Dreamcast, Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, and consists of Metropolis Street Racer (Dreamcast), Project Gotham Racing (Xbox), Project Gotham Racing 2 (Xbox), Project Gotham Racing 3, and Project Gotham Racing 4.
Pocketbike Racer is an advergaming title developed by Blitz Games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 video game consoles. On November 19, 2006, Burger King started selling it for an additional $3.99 USD with any value meal. It is one of three titles released by Burger King.
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is a 2010 kart racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It was released for Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, and Windows, featuring characters from multiple Sega franchises. The game is the third title in the Sega All-Stars series, preceded by Sega Superstars Tennis. A mobile version was developed by Gameloft, and released for iOS in June 2011, as a paid download. A version for OS X was released by Feral Interactive in April 2013.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a 2010 racing video game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android, webOS, and Windows Phone. The Wii version was developed by Exient Entertainment. Hot Pursuit is the sixteenth Need for Speed title and was released in November 2010, with digital distribution versions released within December 2010. This version is a reboot of Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (1998). A remastered version, titled Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, was released on November 6, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on November 13, 2020, for Nintendo Switch.
Forza is a series of simulation racing games for Xbox consoles and Microsoft Windows published by Xbox Game Studios. The series seeks to emulate the performance and handling characteristics of many real-life production, modified, and racing cars.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed is a kart racing video game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U in November 2012, for PlayStation Vita in December 2012, for Windows in January 2013, for Nintendo 3DS in February 2013, and for Android and iOS devices in January 2014. The PS3 and Wii U versions of the game were released in Japan on May 15, 2014.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a 2005 open-world racing video game, and the ninth installment in the Need for Speed series. Developed by EA Canada and EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts, it was released in November 2005 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance and Xbox 360. An additional version, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0, was released in the same year for PlayStation Portable. The game focuses on street racing-oriented gameplay involving a selection of events and racing circuits found within the fictional city of Rockport, with the game's main story involving players taking on the role of a street racer who must compete against 15 of the city's most elite street racers to become the most wanted racer of the group, in the process seeking revenge against one of the groups who took their car and developing a feud with the city's police department.
Need for Speed Rivals is a 2013 racing video game developed in a collaboration between Ghost Games and Criterion Games, and published by Electronic Arts. It is the twentieth installment in the Need for Speed series and the debut title for Ghost Games, who would be established as the primary developer of the series for all subsequent non-mobile installments up until 2020.
Super Street The Game is an action-racing video game based on the Super Street magazine along with assistance of the Motor Trend Group. The game developed by Rebel Games and Team6 Game Studios, and published by Lion Castle Entertainment. It was released September 11, 2018 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows worldwide. The game was created using Unreal Engine 4. The soundtrack was composed by Deon Van Heerden.
