Need for Speed (abbreviation: NFS) is a multiplatform racing video game series with the first game The Need for Speed being released on August 31, 1994.
On October 21, 2009, Electronic Arts announced the franchise had sold over 100 million units, making Need for Speed the most commercially successful racing game series at the time, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted being the best selling game in the series with 16 million copies sold.[1]
Remastered entries in the Need for Speed series are re-releases of games that had been previously released at an earlier date or for an earlier console generation. Their content is generally towards utilising as much of the original game as possible as well as including quality of life additions or alterations.
Some entries in the Need for Speed series were sold through retail as boxed products with a unique edition alongside its regular boxed counterpart or re-released as a boxed unique special edition that included additional content.
Some entries in the Need for Speed series were sold with downloadable content available through online stores that would include additional content for a regular edition of a game.
Game
Release
Platforms
Need for Speed: Carbon - Collector's Edition Upgrade
Many games in the Need for Speed series are localised for multiple languages, but some unique localisations are re-releases that include altered content for promotional purposes in the region, are released only for a specific region, or have been edited into a region specific product.
Browser games were developed as promotional tie-ins for films such as Top Speed or as exclusive games for Electronic Arts' EA Platinum subscription service.
"The Need for Speed" is a quote by Peter "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun, a 1986 action drama film directed by Tony Scott about United States Naval Officers training at the U.S. Navy's Fighter Weapons School. It stars Tom Cruise as Peter "Maverick" Mitchell, and Anthony Edwards as Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, whom share a line of dialogue prior to a training exercise; "I feel the need... the need for speed!"[2]
Need for Speed 64[3], a 64-bit entry in the series for the Nintendo 64 was being worked by Paradigm Entertainment alongside EA Canada, but altered during development into Beetle Adventure Racing after EA signed a deal with Volkswagen to create a game around the New Beetle.[4]
Early entries in the V-Rally series are often mistaken for being part of the Need for Speed series. They were published by Infogrames, and developed by one of its teams which would later become Eden Games. However, Electronic Arts bought the publishing rights to the series for North America and associated it with their Need for Speed brand to make up for the lacking interest for rallying at the time within the United States:
V-Rally, published in Europe by Infogrames for the PlayStation in July 1997 as V-Rally: 97 Championship Edition, was published in North America by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation on November 4, 1997 as Need for Speed: V-Rally.
V-Rally 2, published in Europe by Infogrames for the PlayStation on June 30, 1999 as V-Rally 2: Championship Edition, was published in North America by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation on November 16, 1999 as Need for Speed: V-Rally 2, and later published in North America by Infogrames for the Dreamcast on October 18, 2000 as Test Drive V-Rally.