Need for Speed: Shift

Unlike previous games in the series, this is not a simulation of illegal street racing and features no criminal gangs or undercover police officers. Rather, the races are sanctioned and take place on closed courses. The goal is simply to become the best race car driver possible. You can, however, choose whether you want to race aggressively (by bumping into other cars) or with careful precision. Also, the game does not show the real impact of crashes, so kids could get the impression that crashes aren't all that serious.

The first thing players do is race a single practice lap the results of which are used to set a wide variety of difficulty settings, from opponent intelligence to whether or not anti-lock braking and electronic stability control systems are switched on. The computer does a pretty good job of judging a player’s skill based on this one lap, but players can change these settings at any point to make the game as easy or hard as they like.

Women who hold up signs before races show some cleavage and toned midriffs.

Like most authentic racing simulators, this game is loaded with licensed cars (Nissan, Porsche, and BMW, among others). What’s more, tracks and vehicles are lined with billboards and stickers advertising real world automotive brands, such as Hankook and Falken.