Gamertell

San Francisco, California – August 14, 2008 – EA Blackbox reserved the entire Bubble Lounge, a hip club located on the cusp of the Financial District, in order to allow invitees a taste of what’s in store for the latest installment of the popular racing video game series, Need for Speed.

EA Blackbox’s Scott Neilsen, producer of Need for Speed Undercover (NFSU), took center-stage at this event to share details about this highly anticipated follow-up, slated for a November 18, 2008 release. 

The events of Need for Speed Undercover will unravel in a location known as the Tri-City Bay Area, located on the Gulf Coast.  Within the Bay Area, players will be thrust into three major cities: Palm Harbor, Port Crescent, and Sunset Hills. Unfortunately, the Bay Area has seen better days and has become infested and overruled by various crime syndicates. Players will be threaded into this malefic backdrop as an undercover agent whose missions will revolve around just how deep into the web you can entwine yourself without being consumed by it (a la The Departed).

Neilsen introduced NFSU as a way to redefine storytelling through the beautiful marriage between storytelling and interactive elements. The original story is propelled via live-action sequences and in order to create a compelling and interactive experience, the team “went to Hollywood to find the experts”, thus enlisting the talent of international actress Maggie Q (The Transporter, Live Free Die Hard).

Maggie Q stars in NFSU as federal agent Chase Linh, who will be the player’s only link to the outside world. Her character is responsible for getting the player in/out of trouble as well as providing key intelligence, surveillance, and vital information on suspects.

Maggie Q shared a few statements with the ogling crowd about NFSU explaining that this was a very special experience to her because she had never been enlisted to perform in a video game before:

“I’ve always been a fan of racing games and working on Need for Speed Undercover was an amazing experience… I was so impressed by the scope and quality of the overall production that goes into a video game these days. It was like any other day on a Hollywood set. I felt right at home”
She mentioned that she had not played video games in a long time and that the opportunity to play NFSU before this event began had her “screaming like a little girl”. 

Need for Speed Undercover promises reckless cop chases with the use of the world’s hottest cars while tearing it up in sensational highway battles. It was confirmed that NFSU will be available on Xbox 360, Playstation 2 and 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, Playstation Portable, PC and mobile devices.

Game play impressions, exclusive game-play video, pictures, and audio from the event will be available only here at Gamertell. If that’s not enough to keep you buckled to your seat, Gamertell also has footage of Maggie Q playing the game and, this time, she’s screaming less like a little girl and more like an adult, complete with naughty language. All will be available as soon as this writer can catch her breath from flying down the city streets of the Tri-City Bay Area amid a ravage of car wreckage .

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