Need for Speed SHIFT PC demo available now

A few days ago we wrote about Electronic Arts' (EA) proclamation of the Need for Speed comeback with their latest title, SHIFT. "Easy enough to say," we thought, wondering where a demo was. Well, the company has put together one after all and released it today for PC, and interestingly enough, a few weeks before the console version demos are set to hit. PC gamers treated by a publisher -- what's this now?

The system requirements are surprisingly low for the graphical quality, offered, too -- check its product page below to see if you run it.

The ~1.2GB demo sees you competing on the famous tracks Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and the lovely London River, using one of the following four cars:

• BMW M3 (E46)
• 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10
• 2006 Lotus Elise 111R
• 2008 Nissan GT-R

Even cooler: collect enough stars for good performance and you unlock "the ultimate racing machine", the Pagani Zonda F (no shot of that, unfortunately, but we assure you it's a classy little thing).

That's that, then -- get to downloading (link below), and see if EA has really put their money where their mouth is.

Update: it's flippin' fantastic. And as a bonus, the retail copy doesn't require online authentication!