EA COO Peter Moore made an appearance at the PlayStation Experience. Remember that important announcement he was teasing a few days ago? It turns out that, in celebration of PlayStation’s 20th anniversary, EA will be giving away free games on the PlayStation Network. These free releases will be live at noon PST today. Oddly enough, they will only remain free until tomorrow midnight PST.

What were the game announced to be free for all users? Need for Speed: Most Wanted for the PS Vita, Mirror’s Edge on the PS3 and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare on the PS4.

Yes, EA is actually giving away games that are several years old as a free gift to PlayStation gamers. All aboard the hype train. At least Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a compelling recent release.

What are your thoughts on the announcement though? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned for more information.

Of course, for the PlayStation 4, Sony plans to expand its PlayStation Plus service to include cross-game chat and free albeit limited versions of commercial games for players to try before they buy (for example, Evolution Studios’ DriveClub). Of course, it has also been decided that multiplayer on PS4 will now be available only through PlayStation Plus.

Xbox Live has also begun a push to offer free full games for the Xbox 360, which includes Halo 3, Assassin’s Creed II and more. As for what Microsoft will offer on the Xbox One’s version of Live – besides the abolishing of Microsoft Points – remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more.

“We perhaps define ‘realism’ slightly differently – we want the game world to have soul and to feel alive – from the garage you work from, the particle effects you kick up on track or the crowds you’re there to entertain. We want a sense of occasion at the race events; a selection of only the most iconic vehicles that we hone tirelessly, a narrative wrapper for the game, which gives the player a singular goal and driving force behind their actions.

“And as you mention, the handling model plays an integral part in achieving this goal of realism and immersion too. The goal of TrueFeel is to ensure the player is always engrossed in the driving action, and that cars are true to character whilst being intuitive enough to get to grips with.

“I think that’s a real differentiator for us – we get the tech specs and we ensure that the base model for that handling is precise to what the manufacturers give us, but when you translate that through a wheel peripheral or game pad, it’s not always going to feel quite right with just numbers and specifications plugged in.

“So we bring in professional consultants who have driven the cars we’re building to give us an acid test – a measure of whether what they’re playing really stands out as the character of the vehicle, and what we can do to improve.”

Earlier, Codemasters stated that only 5 percent gamers utilized the view in Race Driver: GRID and were thus omitting it for the sequel. In regards to games like DriveClub, releasing on launch day for the PlayStation 4, which feature highly detailed cockpits, we quizzed Smith on whether the number of games who utilized it in the previous game hadn’t gone up in the past few years.

“This subject has come up a number of times, and I’d actually point your readers in the direction of a blog post on the Codemasters forums for a detailed response on it. Essentially, we get our telemetry data from across all of our racing titles over the last five years and have a whole range of stats to support this.

It was decided during production that for the game overall, in terms of our resources, and in terms of what we’re bringing to the gamers – all of them, not just a proportion of them, that it was best to do this. Our call to action to gamers is that the improvements we’ve made elsewhere need to be played to be believed; so get the game and play it yourself.

“We are confident you’ll love the driving experience, and see exactly the benefits that this decision has brought.”

GRID 2 releases on May 28th in North America and May 31st in Europe for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

The Wii U version indeed has several features that make it fit for the console, most especially the new Co-Driver feature which allows one person to drive using the Wiimote controller while the other provides control and navigation assistance using the Wii U GamePad. Of course, the partner can use the GamePad to throw cops off, switch daytime settings or activate improved performance besides controlling traffic on the raod.

You can also switch between cars, track milestones and much using the touchscreen without ever having to slow down. If that weren’t enough, the entire game is playable off TV using the Wii U GamePad.

Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing stated that, “Hearing about upcoming games is one thing, but with Nintendo the proof is always in the playing. SXSW is where fans of all types of entertainment and technology come together, and we’ll have games on hand to excite every type of visitor.”

The Wii U games available for play include Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, LEGO City Undercover and Need for Speed Most Wanted U. Nintendo 3DS games include Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Kersploosh!, HarmoKnight and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate.

Keep in mind that these are all unreleased titles – there will be far more to play at the event.

Source: GotGame

“The Wii U has had a bit of a bad rap – people have said it’s not as powerful as 360, this, that and the other… Hopefully we’ll go some way to proving that wrong.”

“Nintendo don’t speak about that, it’s not their core focus at all but they did their ‘Iwata Asks’ about the hardware and it talks consistently about how they got to keep it quiet with low power consumption, and they totally did that…but what they haven’t really championed is how they delivered something that could do this as well.

“It’s possible. It works. You have to think about it and put time and craft and effort and whatever else into it but you have to do that for everything that’s worth doing in this business…I think people should either go all-in or not bother.”

NFS: Most Wanted releases on March 19th for Wii U.

Today, Electronic Arts has announced that the high speed racer will be arriving for the Wii U in North America on March 19th and in Europe on March 21st.

Most of the new features utilize the Wii U Gamepad, including the local co-op mode Co-Driver. The deal is that one person drives using the Wiimote, while the other hits up the Gamepad to provide navigation details.

Your partner can distract pursuing cops, switch time cycles, push up the car’s performance and even control traffic. Of course, players will be able to change mods and cars, and track various milestones and secrets via the Gamepad’s touchscreen as well.

As if that weren’t enough, the Wii U version also receives Ultimate Speed Pack, which packs five insane speed demons like the McLaren F1 LM, Aventador J, Pagani Zonda R, Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse and Venom GT Spyder. That’s a whole lot of bang for the buck.

We’ll keep you updated on pricing and other details as the launch date nears.

A press release for the same indicates that the game will take advantage of Wii U features such as displaying information on the gamepad. One could even play the entire game off the controller if they so pleased.

European and North American release dates for the game are expected to arrive shortly. How the Japan release date came about first, when the series has never really been big there, is a mystery but at least it provides a much needed indication of the game’s Wii U status.

Source: NintendoLife

The Ultimate Speed Pack DLC features the Pagani Zonda R, McLaren F1 LM, Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, Lamborghini Aventador J and Hennessey Venom GT Spyder, the last of which must be beaten in a special Most Wanted List event. Of course, there are tons of other events and extras including the addition of 70 speed-themed Car Milestones.

The Ultimate Speed Pack for Need for Speed: Most Wanted is now available on PS3 and PC for $9.99 USD and on Xbox 360 for 800 Microsoft Points.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a whole new speed chase without a new rival who is piloting the fastest vehicle out there, the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder, and isn’t going down without a fight.

The additions don’t stop there, as multiplayer contains more than 70 all-new speed-themed milestones for earning Speed Points and unlocking rewards.

You can look for the Ultimate Speed Pack to release on December 18th for Xbox Live Marketplace at 800 Microsoft Points, on PlayStation Network for £7.99 and and for PC via EA’s Origin platform for £7.99.