The Burnout Team is doing Speed. Need for Speed, that is. Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello clarified that the NFS and Burnout franchise will NOT be merging into one, although the Burnout Team, frontlined by Alex Ward of Criterion Games, will be taking care of the next NFS iteration.

As if Burnout Paradise (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3) wasn't enough of  a car crashing heaven, Criterion Games recently revealed that free downloadable is coming soon to add new islands and cars to the frantic racing game. Like what devs mentioned before, everything will be free. For more free details, read the full article.

The latest update at Criterion Games' website wishes everyone a merry Christmas, and addresses the flak Burnout Paradise (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3) has been receiving since its demo went live. Find out what Alex Ward and the Burnout team wants to tell naysayers by checking out the full article.

Electronic Arts has sent word announcing that Burnout Paradise (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) will hit stores in North America on January 22, 2008. A downloadable demo is also in the works and should be on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace this December.

Burnout Paradise is the latest iteration of Electronic Arts' highly successful Burnout racing franchise. All the action takes place in a seamless open-world environment set in the fictional Paradise City. Gamers can also invite a friend for some online play to complete three online challenges or simply smash each other up.

Alex Ward, Creative Director at EA Criterion, had the following to say about Burnout Paradise:

This is the definitive Burnout experience because Paradise removes all restrictions, breaks all the rules and puts the control in your hands. We're taking risks with Paradise but we believe that every iteration of Burnout stands on its own and we feel Paradise is the best Burnout yet.

Buy: [Burnout Paradise (PS3)]
Buy: [Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360)]

The Eye Toy HD and Live Vision Camera weren't the only topics of discussion in Criterion Games' interview with CVG. Now, we recall that Creative Director Alex Ward promised that "we're really going to be surprised" with Burnout 5 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Wonder if this is what he meant by that:

Ward: If somebody asked me what game is Burnout 5 most like -

CVG: What game is Burnout 5 most like?

Ward: - it's probably most like Crackdown than anything else. It's the closest thing in terms of it's your game at your pace. You can do it in any order, anyway you want.

The big problem is that I think some people are thinking we're doing a big Test Drive game, some sort of MMO. But we're not. We're doing Burnout.

Well, that certainly narrows down the picture of Burnout 5... a bit. Ward never specified how much like Crackdown Burnout 5 will be, though. We can probably guess (optimistically) open-world free-roam environments like Crackdown - or for that matter, Need for Speed - and you can plug into mission events as they pop up.

Or better yet, the events themselves in Burnout 5 (or some of them) will take place in open-world environments: no closed circuits, little in the way of guardrails, that sort of thing. We're basing this on the point that throughout the series, the Burnout events have always been mostly closed-circuit (even the Crash events), never arena-type.

But it's still a wild-rear bumper guess at this point in time. Hey, what kind of analysis do you expect from "it's probably most like Crackdown than anything else?"

You have to ask what Alex Ward of Criterion Games really meant when he tells CVG: "How you use the controller is key, how you play the game online, how you use the HD Eye Toy and the 360 Vision Camera online is really important." So when he says that the camera accessories for the PS3 and Xbox 360 are "important" (but hopefully still optional, just in case), what does he mean?

Those working on both Microsoft and Sony cameras have been integrating motion-capture control technologies into them (and we thought this 3D mo-cap gaming feature would be useful for a High School Musical-themed Dance Dance Revolution game...). Now, mug shots of the oncoming traffic is the most obvious use for cameras in a Burnout online mulltiplayer, as is video chat, but if mo-cap gesture control is successfully integrated into the game, what are the other uses of such a camera with in a game that's essentially a controlled car crash?

• Gesture control could be used in place of or complimentary with the controller, at least as an option?
• You could probably change your point of view (POV) like in Test Drive Unlimited by slightly turning your head left or right, thus allowing you to see more of the competition?
• The cars will ALSO include modeled characters in them whose reactions (from taunting to panic) will be based on your facial reactions?
• Or perhaps, as part of some grand conspiracy to improve driving safety in the streets, every time you pull off a billion-dollar-damage crash, the Live Vision Camera/Eye Toy HD will snap your mug and email it directly to the DMV and State Highway Patrol, where your face will end up plastered in a Wall of (Potential) Driving Shame?
• Of course we're kidding on this one, lighten up.

  

Let's listen to Alex Ward, Creative Director at Criterion Games, talk to GameTrailers about Burnout 5 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Don't worry about the fact that the gameplay comes from Burnout: Revenge, because Alex says that Criterion is rebuilding the game from the ground up: "we're really going to be surprised" he says, and "it's not interesting to make the same game again." A promise we'd certainly want to hold Mr. Ward to.

Criterion, as of now, is charging through Burnout 5, plus a few other small projects on the side they could probably announce later in the year. But then, Criterion is not just about Burnout. So, what's next after the team burns themselves out getting Burnout out? (Say that three times fast.) Maybe a sequel to the trigger-happy shooter Black? Click Play to find out more.

QJ reader Bobby has pointed us in the direction of new images of Criterion Games' upcoming title Burnout 5 (thanks, Bobby!). According to the website where we got these images from, these are ripped from "a PDF document of the article in OPM about Burnout 5".

These images are really looking pretty good, especially the awesome crash images. Alex Ward has talked about how good the crashes will look like in Burnout 5 (he said it was gonna be "beyond everything you've ever seen, beyond anything that we've ever done"), and by the look of things, he sure wasn't lying.

Anyway, check out the images below. If you wanna check out the PDF of the OPM article you can get it from the Criterion Games website.