I'm not even sure why either, but it may have a bit to do with the image of the cars, most notably with Mercedes and Ferrari sports cars. Here's a few examples earlier in the series:

* In Need for Speed III and Need for Speed: High Stakes, Ferrari and Mercedes models were available in the game but unavailable for races with police pursuits. My impression is that the car manufacturers didn't want to associate their sports cars with police pursuits, but that didn't apply when they appeared again in later games (see below), and most recently, Test Drive: Unlimited. Damage models for both models of cars were included in High Stakes. NFS III marked the first appearance of a Merc, while Ferraris were already around since the first game.

* In Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, Ferraris and Mercs are available both in normal races and police pursuits. Limited damage models (minor dents and the likes) are still present for such models.

* Obviously, given the Underground series had more to do with "ricer" and "pimped SUV" culture, all exotics are missing. No significant damage models are available either.

* In Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Carbon, only Mercs were present. Still, no serious damage models are available, although scratches and crack windshields are possible.

This post has been edited by Parrot: May 27 2007, 08:14 PM

That could turn on vets who played the original Need for Speed and Porsche Unleashed, but not arcade gamers who started out with more arcade versions of NFS games. The NFS series had only become really popular after the Underground games was released, and games between these and ProStreet were still heavily arcade.

If ProStreet is to be a simulation game, it's a really risky gamble. This game better have accessibility to both NFS gamers, or it's going to end up alienating a large group of people.

I'm not implying the game is going to be too realistic, but simply having real-world physics is enough to make the game harder to play. Imagine having to deal with maintaining control of a car while competing with increasingly difficult opponents in a race. You want to zip, zip, zip and win as soon as you start a race, not deal with the bullcrap in between. There are not many arcade gamers that would last more a week playing games like this; they just don't have the patience or time.

That's why Porsche Unleashed didn't catch on. It was too complicated for arcade gamers 'taste, with too many individual vehicle parts to deal with, sensitive controls and difficult AI. That's why I have to disagree with NFS:PU being arcade.

For the record, NFS:PU is also one of my most favorite NFS games in the series, mostly for its attention to detail and a wealth of info on Porsche cars (can't say much about the dumbed down police though). Just needed to clear that up.