Why Is The 3 Missing From The Title?

One thing that's been bugging me for a while about Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 3, especially now that I have a copy on my game shelf,  is the missing 3 on the packaging.

This 3 isn't just missing on the packaging, but the entire internet, with the exception of a few posts before the announcement.  It's almost as if EA is fraudulently trying to claim that there hasn't already been a Hot Pursuit and Hot Pursuit 2 in the NFS franchise.  Now, I'm sure they're not doing that.  I'm sure there's a good reason the 3 is missing from the package, but it's creating serious social problems.  People unknowingly refer to the 1998 title with me and then get indignant when I assume they meant what they said.  This is because EA's reckless label making has prevented them from knowing the game's true title is Hot Pursuit 3, not Hot Pursuit.

So, why does the package lack the 3?  When will this bug on the packaging be fixed?

(If you're going to say there's not supposed to be a 3 in the title, don't bother to answer because you know you're wrong.  You're just bitter that games existed before you were born, so you try to insult the people that played them.)