While this is obviously connected with investors not liking them reducing their earnings forcasts, there's definitely more to this than meets the eye. For example, EA had a multimillion dollar title ready for this year that had to be pushed back to next year because the release date for the next Harry Potter movie was movied back to next summer instead of this fall. While it's partly the times, it's kind of sad that investers think this way.
On the other hand, while need for speed undercover is fun once you get into it, the game is somewhat lacking when you first turn it on. The initial races are almost too easy and the heroic driving manoevers aren't really introduced *at all.* The graphics are a mixed bag. City buildings and streets look great as do lighting and weather effects but stuff like water in the bay is sub par looking and at least on my 360 copy the framerate seems stuttery sometimes. The story stuff is pretty fun but ultimately doesn't do alot to grip you right away, and the race selection methods do little to encourage actual exploration of the map. But cop chases are - as in Most Wanted - a lot of fun.
I can certainly see why sales expectations might have been reduced, as first impressions aren't as good with it as they should be. And Pro Street burned a lot of the good faith fans had in the series. Ultimately the race end of Undercover just doesn't feel as involved as even something like the fantastic Burnout Paradise. But once I get into tuning my cars and stuff It might grow on me more. Plus I'm looking forward to seeing how the story progresses even though the story bits have been somewhat far apart. On the plus side, listening to cop chatter on the police scanner is pretty amusing.
