Even from when this game was announced, I was pretty convinced that this was basically EA's attempt at a reconciliation from a nasty break up from an ex they loved. (This ex being the fans and what they truly wanted, another Underground) But now, it's pretty obvious that the fans (Those that have grew up with the series in any sort of incarnation) aren't going to have it, especially when there are so many other options for arcade or simcade racers, and the market itself is moving ever so closer to realism and racing sims.
As much as I love the NFS series, it shaped my life and my love for cars, as well as probably a good amount of the 18-25 year old car guys on GAF and elsewhere, but at this point, the damage EA is doing to the franchise as a whole (sending NFS to basically become a Burnout clone via Criterion, and pretty much ruining any sort of fun the games up to HP 2010 still had being the main culprit for me) is souring any fans they have left. I'm not the one to rail upon EA for killing the series, as I still enjoy their games...but at this point, my dream would be the series to end already. But it's one of EA's breadwinners, so I doubt that'll happen.