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Speaking to GameSpot, EA Canada’s Larry LaPierre has confirmed that the PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360 and PC versions of Need for Speed: Most Wanted will feature online play, but the PlayStation 2 version will not.
“From the initial stages of development, there are many features on the drawing board that we want to put in the game in an ideal situation. We have to ask ourselves for every feature in the game, ‘Will it meet our high standard of quality, and how will it affect the overall experience of the game?’” said LaPierre. “In this case, we made a conscious decision to ship the PS2 game without online gameplay, because we were not able to meet that highest standard of quality we had hoped for in this online feature.“
The PSP version of the game, titled ‘Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0’ will, however, include a two-player online mode. The lack of online support for the PlayStation 2 version seems very odd as EA has supported the PlayStation 2’s online functionality for many years now. According to LaPierre the reason for the lack of online play was not because of hardware, saying that “it was our decision, from a software standpoint, to pull the online gameplay from the PS2. Our decision was not based on the hardware.“
Rumours are circulating that the real reason for the lack of online play in the PlayStation 2 version is down to Sony’s strict guidelines for PSP games, stating that all ports must have an extra feature over the PlayStation 2 version. In the case of Need for Speed: Most Wanted, the PSP version gets online play as an extra.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted will be available in November for all formats with the Xbox 360 version almost certain to be a launch title in Europe and the US.
