PlayStation 3 and Vita versions of Need for Speed nearly the same

By: Musa Afridi

  |   October 22nd, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

Or as Jeremy Chubb, the Community Manager at Criterion Games, put it, the console version has been “crowbar”-ed onto the Vita with progress in the latter adding to the player’s overall ranking in the game.

EA is one of the biggest publishers when it comes to its portfolio of series and franchises it has under its belt; from Medal of Honor to Battlefield, Mass Effect to Dead Space, FIFA to Madden and Burnout to Need for Speed, EA has its hand in almost every cookie jar.

However, the studio is still trying to make its mark on the PlayStation Vita, where it has only released a handful of titles with controversy courting one of the titles, as fans are outraged at the way EA shamelessly released FIFA 13, which was essentially a repacking of FIFA Soccer, its predecessor.

That being said, it seems that Criterion, one of the studios under EA, is looking to give the console and those who use it to play their games their due respect as the studio has effectively crammed the console version onto the PlayStation Vita.

According to Jeremy Chubb, the community manager at Criterion Games, the Vita version is not to be taken lightly and a considerable amount of effort has been put into the game.

He boasted, “PS Vita represents a huge step for us. We’ve managed to crowbar the entire PS3 game onto the system, including almost all the races and events, the online play (albeit with four players rather than eight on PS3) and the massive open world. It’s all right there in the PS Vita version.”

At the same time, all the points earned on the Vita version will also be added to the overall Speed Point tally and count towards how high one ranks on his friend’s Most Wanted list, essentially adding a level of cross-interaction between the two consoles.

“That’s pretty cool on its own, but everything you do on your PS Vita copy earns you Speed Points, inching you closer to that top spot on your friends Most Wanted list.”

However, Criterion did not confirm whether or not the Cross-Buy feature would be implemented for the game. The feature basically allows any user to own the game on both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, as long as they purchase the PlayStation 3 copy of the game.

EA had earlier reported that they were looking into the option but no news has been released since then. Whether or not the feature is added could make a world of difference for many gamers. The Vita is in desperate need of a few big names and knowing Criterion’s ability to deliver solid racing experiences, it seems that the Vita could finally be getting that non-WipEout racer fans have been craving.