To find out more about the game, we fired off a number of questions to Gregg McGillivray, assistant producer on the title. Here's what he had to say:
IGN: What are the major differences between the console and PSP versions of Need for Speed ProStreet?
Gregg McGillivray: The PSP version of Need for Speed ProStreet is, at its core, a portable edition of the console version that includes many of the same features, including full Damage Modeling. The major difference is that this version actually has quite a bit of content exclusive to the PSP, such as Driver Intuition, Driver Personas, and Speed Mode.
IGN: How do the Driver Personas work? Are they similar to the difficulty selection that you get at the start of the console games?
McGillivray: In a sense, yes. Choosing a Driver Persona does directly affect the difficulty level of the races in which you'll be partaking. Speed King is for racing veterans, Weekend Warrior is meant for players who are new to sim racers, and Adrenaline Junkie is meant for players who have previously played racing games.
But choosing a Driver Persona also indicates the level of assist that you will receive from the game; this is called Driver Intuition.
IGN: How does the Driver Intuition work?
McGillivray: Driver Intuition is an optional assist tool that highlights the ideal path the user can take around the track. Keeping your car on this indicated line will give the player an acceleration and traction boost that may help decrease their overall time. This is meant primarily for beginner players, for on the Weekend Warrior setting the ideal path stays illuminated throughout the race, and players will get a bit of help from the game with steering and braking. Players choosing the Adrenaline Junkie setting will only see this driving line appear around the most difficult corners, whereas Speed King will allow the driver to toggle this feature on and off as they see fit.
IGN: It sounds like Driver Intuition will reward players for keeping to the designated driving line, but doesn't that also mean it'll punish racers who take turns differently?
McGillivray: Not at all! Players can drive the tracks any way they choose. Driver Intuition is only meant to help players improve their in-game driving skills as well as get to know the tracks better. With Driver Intuition, players of all skill levels can enjoy the game.
IGN: What can you tell us about the damage modeling and how it affects your performance?
McGillivray: The damage modeling affects all cars in the game, not only in their visual appearance but also in their performance. Crashing into walls or other cars can noticeably affect your car's handling or transmission, making them less responsive – and not to mention the crumpled metal marring the look of your prized car! As well, incurring damage will affect your winnings from each race as a portion will have to go towards your repair bill. Having realistic-looking damage and diminished performance for crashing your car is just one of the ways in which Need for Speed ProStreet PSP is one of the most realistic portable driving games to date.
IGN: Is the game still based around Race Weekends?
McGillivray: Not as such, though there is a Career Mode based around race events taking place on many of the real-world racetracks featured in the console version.
IGN: What event types can we expect to see?
McGillivray: Besides Circuit and Grip races, there are also Speed Mode events exclusive to this version. Speed Trap is a mode where racers must race through checkpoints at the highest possible speed to win. Lap Knockout and Gate Knockout are both races where the last person to cross the checkpoint will be eliminated. And finally, Time Attack is a time-based mode where players must race against the clock to reach the next checkpoint. We've tried to add a large variety of events for on-the-go racing on the PSP.
IGN: Will online play be present?
McGillivray: Yes, there will be 4-player online races through Infrastructure mode, as well as locally through Ad Hoc.
IGN: What else can you tell us about the game that we haven't talked about yet?
McGillivray: We also have another great new feature this year with the Race Maps mode. This enables players to check out schematics of all the tracks that they've raced in the game. You can compare the path you've driven to that of the ideal driving line, as well as zoom in close anywhere on the track to analyze how you drove and where you crashed. It's a cool feature that really allows players to see how they've done and help improve their performance in the future.
Overall, we feel that with Need for Speed ProStreet PSP, the team really nailed the feeling of portable sim racing, with pick-up-and-play controls and very polished visuals!
Thanks for your time!
