When I started writing for QJ I never thought I'd be writing so many depressing news related to the economy, but here we are. News has come in that Electronic Arts' restructuring plans have hit their Black Box studio, with 200 of their 350+ staff laid off.

More after the link.

Although not officially confirmed yet, the grapevine has named the casualties of Electronic Arts' "cost-cutting measures." Studios that experienced significant layoffs are Mythic Entertainment, the guys behind Warhammer Online, and EA Tiburon, the studio responsible for Madden and other titles under the EA Sports banner.

Rumors of Electronic Arts cutting the Need for Speed series is looking confirmed. A press release from the publisher officially announced that they will be closing the studio EA Black Box, home to the Need for Speed and Skate franchises.

With Electronics Arts winding up for the release of its latest arcade style racing game with Need for Speed: ProStreet, the promoters from the gaming company delivers to us an exclusive TV spot advertisement for the game.

The commercial encompasses all the hyped up game features that the developers from EA Black Box has been talking about for the past few months. New features such as the advanced damage modeling, customizable body parts autosculpting are just some of the features that add to this intense racing game's strong following.

While the game doesn't exactly feature those two drivers you'll see in the video, the game might as well have been sliced from real life, seeing as how the visuals really bring life to the game. Need for Speed: ProStreet is due to be released this November 14 in North America on the PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and DS.

Anyway, enjoy the video we have on this great game and remember, leave the driving to the professionals.

Buy: [ Need for Speed ProStreet (Xbox 360) ]
Buy: [ Need for Speed ProStreet (PS3) ]
Buy: [ Need for Speed ProStreet (PC) ]
Buy: [ Need for Speed ProStreet (Wii) ]

When Electronic Arts said they've upped the ante on Need for Speed ProStreet (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS2), they definitely weren't kidding. While they've spun developer interview after developer interview explaining why Need for Speed was being redefined for a more hardcore audience, those interested in what EA Black Box was offering waited quietly for an up-close and personal look, taste and feel.

But wait no longer, because from Dutch (Netherlands) Game1, we've watched an in-game gameplay demonstration of Need for Speed ProStreet on what appears to be an updated version of the circuit race (or URL) and found our eyes momentarily glued to the screens in awe. That much detail (including damage and asphalt grain) with an almost unflinching framerate was dumbfounding - at the least.

Without further ado, though, we'll let you check out the three-minute long gameplay video. Downtown Tokyo, here we come a-driftin'!

More info abound the latest upcoming title in the Need for Speed franchise, Need for Speed: ProStreet in this developer interview. Here, Matt Little sits down to talk about what's going into the game and what they've done to distinguish it from today's Forzas, Gran Turismos and Burnouts.

It seems that the developers, Matt Little specifically, wanted the raw feeling of drifting one's car at speeds of more than 90 miles per hour, instead of the usual 40-50 mph we see often. Drag racing is also built into the game, and Matt promises that it's going to be deeper and more involving than in the past game, as well as being more intense.

Three major draws for the game also came up in the interview - namely, the game skirting the edge between arcade and realistic driving, car damage and tire smoke. While the latter two are pretty much self-explanatory, the former is a little bit more complex. Matt explains that Need For Speed: ProStreet's driving style can't be quantified by saying it's closer to Gran Turismo or to Burnout, but another niche entirely. He elaborates by saying that it will have that realistic feel, but also have the arcade sensation by which it's accessible to almost anyone who picks up the controller to play it.

Need for Speed: ProStreet is definitely looking good. Enjoy the video.

There has been a lot of talk about EA Black Box's Need for Speed ProStreet. This game is slated to be released for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS by November this year.

Most of the fans of the series are wondering what direction the game will be heading in, will it be more of the same or something new entirely? John Doyle, EA Black Box producer for Need For Speed ProStreet, was recently interviewed by GameInformer and he spilled the beans on the game.

"We're trying to get a realistic, believable street-racing vibe," said Doyle, speaking of how they handled the game in terms of development and content. "We're trying to reflect what we see the culture doing." He also added that they are focusing more on performance and skill, the direction street racing is heading towards.

Another thing the developers have decided to do is to omit the police in the game. This was done because of the game's damage aspect, which they believe should be penalty enough for messing around. For those who are wondering what the new game modes in the game are, Doyle gave the low-down on those as well.

We've got Grip, which is traditionally a circuit mode, we've got Drift, which we've really reinvented significantly. Reinventing our physics allowed for us to do Drift in a way that we haven’t been able to do before.

Drag has come back this year and controlling a 1000 horsepower car down a strip is not an easy task. We also have a new mode, which we're calling speed challenges which is all about pushing that car as fast as you possibly can and riding the edge of control.

He discussed a lot of other topics such as how this game matches up against Forza Motorsport 2. If you'd care to read more, feel free to click on our read link for the full interview. Keep checking back here for the latest news on Need For Speed ProStreet.

It's probably a gamer's ultimate dream to be working in a game company and get a high salary for it. If you're gonna dream, dream high and aim to work for a company like Electronic Arts which got to CNN Money's Top 20 Great Employers.

Coming at second, EA currently has a US$ 3 billion revenue and 7, 200 full-time employees. Aside from the starting US$ 60,000 salary, new average-entry workers also get five to ten free games yearly, an option to purchase heavily discounted copies from a company store, and US$ 100 coupons for any game consoles. There are also restricted stock grants, an on-site gym, free DVD library and a plan that allows employees to buy company stock at a 15% discount.

To be fair, it's quite difficult to get a position in this gaming giant's company. Out of 5,000 graduate applicants last year, only 200 passed. A gamer getting paid for working in the video game industry is still a luxury, so good luck to anyone who attempts getting into EA.

Okay, first off, IGN's writing it as "skate" (PS3, Xbox 360), so we're wondering if the official way to write the game's title has changed, or they didn't want to hit the all caps (We're using the small letters here). Second, in this interview with EA Black Box's Scott Blackwood (executive producer), they give the insights behind the game's dual-stick gesture control.

The idea came as much (if not more) from the dev team's "frustration with memorizing button mashing combos" (such as in Tony Hawk) as from the similar dual-stick control in fellow EA title Fight Night - although they acknowledged Tiger Woods' swing stick as an inspiration, as well as 720º and Street Fighter.

Between that, and the game's physics engine, skate seems to carry a different aura from Tony. IGN observed that EA's title is "a much more realistic game" in comparison, and with the dual-stick control, "while it's easy to sit down and perform a few ollies and kickflips, some of the more difficult moves really require that you think about what you want to do and sort of practice them in your mind beforehand, much like a real skater might."

Blackwood and IGN also talk about the game world of San Vanelona ("no fictional halfpipes made of garbage, but rather realistic plazas and sidestreets that skaters inherently seeks out"), licensing, and elements of player customization (for example: EA says tweaking truck tightness and wheel hardness on your virtual board will affect gameplay).

If you're one of those good citizens who have never broken any driving laws, but are just itching to run the red light and give the finger to the police officer who pulled you over, don't fret, Need for Speed: Carbon (Wii, PS3, Xbox360) will help you unleash those law-breaking tendencies bottled up inside you.

Now, a street racing game wouldn't be realistic if you didn't have police officers tailing your ass while you drive like mad down streets and highways, right? Luckily for us, EA Black Box understands this perfectly, so what they did was throw in some police drama into NFS Carbon. As you will see in the batch of screens we have for you today, the guys in blue uniforms play a huge role in Carbon's gameplay. If you're not fast enough to escape from them, tough luck kid, you're gonna face major drawbacks in your gameplay progress.

So anyway, before this writer starts to rap that F*** tha Police song, we'll get on to showing you guys the screens taken from the 360 version. And don't worry guys, it won't be long before you say goodbye to the law-abiding you as NFS Carbon for the 360 will hit the streets at the end of this month. Now, on to the screens!