Electronic Arts

If we had to name one racing game franchise that has lost the plot of late, it would have to be Electronic Arts’ erstwhile genre-leader, the Need for Speed series. All was well in the beginning, when the focus of the titles in the main canon was on a variety of supercars going fast and, with the exception of Need for Speed II and Need for Speed II: SE, running from the Man. (There were occasional deviations from the formula like the V-Rally games and Porsche Unleashed.)

But gradually, the creators attempted to reinvent the series, increasing the focus on tuner cars, drifting and other fads, pushing the simple-but-effective cops vs. racers in high end cars formula aside in pursuit of being more things to more people. By and large, this strategy has backfired, with more and more longtime players pining for a return to the tried-and-true philosophy. Well, at this year's E3 show in L.A., those diehards learned their salvation was at hand.