The majority of these releases really won't be seeing the light of day until the spring season, so maybe in a way, I'm using the term "upcoming" a bit loosely. Actually, this section is made up of the racing games that seem to have a rather solid and firm release schedule. In other words, the developer gave a date of release. Now, as you may know, games DO get delayed (the sad truth of GT4 thus far), so these release dates should not be taken as the gospel. So, without any further delay, let's get into the games!

Need For Speed Underground 2

Publisher : EA Games
Platform : Nintendo DS
Racing Type : Street / Arcade
Release Date : March

The Nintendo DS may have already had two racing games released for the system (Ridge Racer DS and Urban Asphalt GT), but both seemed to have been rushed for release of the system and lack the polish and options one would want in a racer. Plus, they were ported from exisiting systems (RRDS from the N64 and UAGT from the N-Gage). Need For Speed Underground 2 will pretty much be the first DS racer that's actually had a good deal of development time, as well as a game that hasn't been ported from another system. First screenshots has just now emerged on the internet, and the game is looking a bit like the original Gran Turismo for the PS1 with the NFSU theme. Hopefully DS version of NFSU will capture a lot more of what the console versions had to offer, rather than making so many sacrifices in the GBA build (but an impressive build in it's own right). Release is scheduled for March, but I might add a month or so to that.

Need For Speed Underground Rvials

Publisher : EA Games
Platform : PSP
Racing Type : Street / Arcade
Release Date : April / May

I'm not exactally sure why this one is dubbed "Rivals", rather than just labeling it "2". Perhaps EA is actually going to do something different for the PSP version of NFSU, but by looking at the screenshots, it really seems similar to console builds, with less polys and slightly blurrier textures. I'm willing to bet (if it hasn't been said already) that this game will have a lot to do with wireless multiplayer, as that's why it has the "Rivals" name. Or, maybe it could be NFSU 3, and the PSP is getting first crack at the title. Who knows. Release seems to be set for a month or so after the PSP launch (at least, if the PSP debuts in March), and I wouldn't be suprised if EA wouldn't just decide to launch the PSP and DS NFSU titles at the same time.

NEXT!