It's not so much a secret at this point, but at least we now have the finer details: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered is coming later this year, with PC, PS4 and Xbox One getting the refreshed title on November 6th while it'll be coming to Nintendo Switch on November 13th. There's a visual overhaul, with 60fps being the target on PC, PS4 and Xbox One while the Switch is looking to hit 30fps, while they'll all benefit from cross-platform multiplayer (a key part of Hot Pursuit's make-up, seeing how it introduced the concept of asynchronous multiplayer to modern games with its Autolog feature).

There's more besides, with the DLC folded into the main campaign, while some subtle tweaks have been made to gameplay and the front-end has had an overhaul. Most importantly, though, the core driving feels as fresh as it ever has - those pendulous slides are intact, while Seacrest County looks better than ever before. It's also a homecoming of sorts for the series, marking the start of Criterion's second stint behind the wheel of the hugely popular series.

Having spent a few hours with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, I chatted to Matt Webster, VP of Criterion Games, and Chris Roberts - one of the original team on Hot Pursuit who's now at Stellar Entertainment and is working as creative director on the remaster.

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It looks like Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered will be announced on Monday.

A countdown on the official Need for Speed website is set to end early UK time on Monday, 5th October.

The Need for Speed Twitter page is having fun with the announcement, too:

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Microsoft's Black Friday sale has begun, which means massive savings for all you Xbox One owners out there. While you can head to our Xbox Black Friday deals hub for a giant list of great Xbox One deals, we also wanted to highlight the aptly titled Black Friday Game Deals sale.

There are currently lots of great discounts on the Xbox marketplace, but be aware that you have to be an Xbox Live Gold member to avail yourself of the offers right now. The deals will be made available to everyone else on 24th November, and the sale runs right up to Monday 2nd December.

We've had a poke around Phil Spencer's digital storefront and found some of 2019's best video games have been discounted by up to 50 per cent. Not too bad, eh?

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You'd be forgiven for thinking this one was going to be a wreck. Pushed out with next to no fanfare and the latest of a series that's been on a rapidly accelerating downward spiral this past generation, the signs for Need for Speed Heat haven't been too promising. So it's a pleasant surprise to discover that this is easily Ghost Games' best outing since its debut with Rivals, that no-frills launch speaking to a wider, stripped-back philosophy that's quicker to get to the core appeal of Need for Speed than recent efforts.

And Need for Speed Heat understands that this series is, above anything else, a romance. It's the love story between you and your car, a love that blossoms over a series of street races, point-to-point drives and escapades with the local law enforcement. It's about how you take a stock Nissan 180SX - one of the starter cars in Need for Speed Heat - and embellish it with tricked-out ECUs and turbochargers while lavishing its exterior with vinyls and bulging fenders until it's all utterly yours.

Need for Speed Heat dials back the bullshit of the 2015 reboot and 2017's risible Payback. There's a story here, and it's as painful as ever - you're part of a crew that's up against the corrupt police force of Heat's Palm City, essentially - but it's very much in the background and entirely ignorable. You get to pick your own avatar, from a fairly generous list, dress them as you see fit (a small nod, perhaps, to the dear departed Test Drive Unlimited) and then skip through all the cutscenes as you get down to business. The bullshit that's here is mostly the bullshit that matters. Want to change the timbre of your exhaust note as you modify your ride? Of course you do, and Need for Speed Heat is more than happy to oblige.

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EA has firmed up details of this year's Need for Speed, with a Florida-bound, urban racer set for release on November 8th on PC, Xbox One and PS4.

Dubbed Need for Speed Heat, it casts you against the city's police as you work your way up through the city's band of street racers. So it sounds very much like a Need for Speed game, then.

It's set in the fictional Palm City, with a day/night cycle that plays into the racing - by day you can take part in sanctioned events, while by night there are underground street races to seek out.

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UPDATE 12/8/19: EA will announce its under-wraps Need for Speed game this Wednesday, 14th August at 3pm UK time. That's pretty zoom!

That's according to a new countdown clock which has popped up on EA's Need for Speed website, spotted by fans over the weekend.

Following its online reveal, EA will be bringing its new racer to Gamescom next week. The publisher has previously said the game will launch before the end of the financial year.

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EA has a brand new Need for Speed game due out by Christmas, but you won't get to see it at E3, or anywhere else, in June.

The publisher has told NFS fans it will keep the car game under wraps for a while longer, despite the series' tradition for E3 appearances.

EA has yet to say anything at all about the game, other than tell investors that it exists and will launch in time for the busy end of year sales season.

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