A few days ago The Websterhoff disappeared!

He was last seen speeding off in the company Transit in the direction of Cologne, Germany.

We assumed it was his regular annual jaunt to the Dynamo Lounge and gave up hope of seeing him again for several weeks.

So imagine our surprise when we unearthed this video of him presenting Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit to Europe's gaming elite at GamesCom!

He was working all along!

And here he is in action: explaining how our incredible Autolog feature works, with a little help from the Porsche GT3 RS and the Pagani Zonda Interceptor.

Obviously, here at Criterion Games we cannot condone irresponsible driving or disregard for other road users.

Which is why we were horrified to see these pictures taken yesterday on Fairview Road and East Gorge Freeway, Seacrest County.

This indivudual's showing virtually no regard for rule 647b of the Seacrest County Highway Code, which explicitly states: "Never attempt to drift a blind mountain turn at 200mph in a GT3 RS whilst being chased by a police chopper and / or tricked out Viper SRT10."

When will they learn?!

Fairview Road is home to numerous sensitive and endangered animals such as deer and squirrels. This driver has clearly failed to consider the environmental impact of revving a flat-6 to 9000rpm through a natural wilderness.

We can only assume that all three of the drivers pictured here are experiencing simultaneous faults with both their speedometers and sat nav systems. They've somehow failed to realise they're driving 200mph into oncoming traffic down East Gorge Freeway.

It's no wonder Seacrest County's road safety record is so poor. Here's a video we made to explain the basic idea of Autolog.

It's the game that swept this year's E3 awards in the Driving Category.

Now, we unveil what you get when you pre-order the elite Special Edition of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

We're one day into the European games show - GamesCom - and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit has picked up a sweet nomination for Best of Show.

Check out these great shots from the EA's stand at the European Games event - GamesCom - this week in Cologne.

We hope everyone at the show's having an awesome time getting hands on with the nearly-finished Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and getting close to a couple of the stars of the game - the ultra-rare Lamborghini Reventon and Pagani Zonda.

But for me and the Sarge, the show can't end soon enough. We had to sacrifice our company cars for the event, Guildford's buses are no replacement.


Dunno about you, but to me: nothing expresses "VIP" more than a 2009 Ford Transit parked outside Cologne's exclusive Dynamo Lounge!

This van's so awesome, the Seacrest County cops have come out of the game just to shut it down.

And with the owner inside sampling the unique delights of the Dynamo Lounge, looks like it could have been an easy bust.


Here's a fantastic side-on shot of the 2009 Europcar Ford Transit.

This baby's packing a mighty 2.4 TDCi Diesel 140ps 6 speed in RWD, and from this shot, you can easily make out the interior ply panelling. Quality.


Spotted by one of our engineers on his way to work!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks very much like the 2010 (!) Transit MWB in custom COOLERAID decals!!!!!

Phenomenal.

Shame the car park's so full!

It's really hard to see past the Bugatti Veyron, Aston Martin DBS, Pagani Zonda Cinque, Porsche GT3 RS and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG that some drivers have thoughtlessly left in the way.


Here's a shot taken in front of Criterion's Guildford studio showing what we're pretty sure is a green Peugeot 106.

Unfortunately, some guy's got right in the way in a Porsche Carrera GT, but you can still clearly make out the Peugeot's awe-inspiring silhouette and the bespoke plastic hub caps.

Just beautiful.


Check out this awesome snap taken by one of the Need for Speed team on his way to work.


It's not often you see one of these bad boys in the flesh, so we scrutinised the details to try and identify the specific model.

We think it's the 2005 Ford Transit in white, but it's tricky to pin down the exact year since this one's sporting a few "custom" accessories - the after-market roofing ladders, ultra-rare plastic storage tube and bespoke tree decals.

Stunning.

Also pictured: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, featured in Need for Speed Hot Pursuit by Criterion Games.

Professor Follett is one of Guildford's most recognisable landmarks.

He can often be found heading out for a packet of M&S Viennese Sandwiches (The Official Biscuit of Criterion Games) in his lab coat; his crazy dreadlocks spilling a trail of mathematical symbols and vehicle dynamics equations behind him.

So it was no surprise that he was yet again accosted by one of our fans last week.

What was a surprise was that this particular fan had come all the way from France, Europe to meet the team behind his favourite games!

He was none other than Lambert Delorme, and with almost all of our French-speaking team members away on holiday, we decided it was a perfect opportunity to bring him in for Le Studio Tour!

We just unveiled Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit to the world's video games press in LA, where it was named Driving Game of E3, but we always like to show our fans the software, too, and we especially like our hardcore French fans.

Here is Lambert with the Crash TV Gang; from left: One-Take-Lake, Catherine The Great, Professor Follett, Lambert, Sergeant Sullivan, Crash TV Jez, Lambert's Mom and The Websterhoff!


Here are the first screenshots of our forthcoming Need for Speed game, entitled Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. The game is focused on high speed police pursuits. Play as either Cop or Racer and get heavily involved with Need for Speed: Autolog, a deep social networking feature designed to put your friends at the heart of your game.

The image above shows the Koenigsegg CCX approaching a road block at speed. When a pursuit escalates to Heat Level 2, cop players can call in road blocks. Fire them off, and they appear about 500 yards ahead of the action forcing escaping Racers to take evasive action.


Here, a player in a yellow Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 Super Veloce shows just how it should be done, steering between the waiting cop cars to bust through a road block.


Cops in pursuit need to stay sharp. This player's hot on the heels of a Racer in the cop version of the Lamborghini Reventón. A little evasive drifting's required to slip around the outside of a failed road block and stay on the suspect.


E3, the annual video game conference and show, is a chance for the world's game creators to showcase their forthcoming software to the world's gaming press. Over the course of three days, they experience everything on offer and call out their most anticipated games.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit picked up a raft of Best of Show awards and nominations this year. Here's just a selection.

• JeuxVideo
  Winner! Best Racing Game
  "To sum up: the new Need For Speed features rich content and is already shaping up to offer a very exciting and deep experience."


• 1-Up
  Winner! Best Racing Game
  Leave it to Criterion (the team behind the excellent Burnout: Paradise) to step in and rejuvenate it by injecting their own brand of racing game by recreating one of the most beloved NFS titles. The other racing games at E3 never had a chance."


• IGN
  Winner! Best Racing Game
  Nominated for Best Xbox 360 Game
  Nominated for Best PS3 Game
  "Criterion, master of the arcade racer as attested by the Burnout games, have been given the keys to EA's series, and the results are incredible - an artful blend of the old and the new, it manages to acknowledge Need for Speed's glorious past while mixing in an inspired level of connectivity."


• Games Radar
  Winner! Reason to Live Award
  "It's been a long time since the words "Hot Pursuit" adorned a Need For Speed title. Almost a decade, in fact. But the series high lifetime NFS fans continue to crow about is back, and it's being brought to you by Criterion Games, makers of the much beloved Burnout series. Wow.. looks like arcade racing is in especially good hands."


• GamePro
  Winner! Best of E3
  "Cops chasing racers in exotics. Burnout Paradise developer Criterion Games brings its spectacular style to the Need for Speed franchise, and it didn't fail to impress anyone that saw it. It's also a deeply connected game, and offers some of the most thoroughly designed social functions that we've seen in a console game. It's also on the cover of the August issue of GamePro, which will be in stores at the end of this month."


• Game FTW!
  Winner! Underwater Swimming, Best of E3.
  "Simply astonishing. When it comes to underwater swimming, no developer goes further or faster than Criterion Games. The Hot Pursuit team are taking underwater swimming to the next level. We cannot wait to see where they surface!"


• VGChartz
  Winner! Biggest Comeback, E3
  Winner! Best Multiplayer Experience, E3
  "Criterion Games has been most recently known for their stellar work on Burnout Paradise, reinventing the franchise with an open world, top-notch racing, and unparalleled multiplayer racing action."


• Gaming Excellence
  Nominated for Best Racing Game
  Nominated for Best Graphics (technical)
  Nominated for Best Multi-Platform Console


• Electric Playground
  Winner! Best Racing Game

Last week, we flew to LA to unveil Need for Speed Hot Pursuit to the world's press and retailers. We were attending E3, the annual video game conference and show, with the latest in-development software hot from the studio.

We kicked things off by headlining EA's Press Conference...you can see all the action right here.


On our recent trip to LA for the E3, the annual video game conference and show, We rocked out with the world gaming press for 3 days straight. It was a quick blast of non-stop demos, interviews and presentations which gave us a chance to bring you the lowdown on the game.

If you weren't lucky enough to be in LA to meet the guys in person, here are three of the biggest interviews of the show for us. Craig Sullivan, Principal Chef de Partie, goes into detail on all the features unveiled so far with the news teams from IGN, Gamespot and G4.


Here's what the game looked like on the packed EA stand at E3. Our guests took the chance to get involved in high speed police pursuits - Criterion-style. That means exotic cars and online play - it's cat and mouse at 200mph.

Hamish Young, Director, Radioactive Materials Dept, was on hand to provide expert guidance on how to get the most from the incredible licensed cars featured on the game.

He had this to say about Hot Pursuit's spectacular selection of licensed exotics: "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."


It's official - Criterion is hard at work on EA's next Need for Speed game - called "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit"

The game's about high speed police pursuits in the world's hottest cars. We're going on online play and placing your friends centre stage courtesy of our sparkling new Autolog feature. To find out more, head over to our Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit page now.

You can rip up the open road in November on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

And if you can't wait that long, the Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 SV Is available now from all good Lamborghini dealerships.