Comparison between need+to vs need+to+be

I found the following sentence in a website:

---"I need to be playing games week in and week out," the midfielder says.---

My question is that what's the difference between "need+to+verb" vs "need+to+be+verb+ing" like in the sentence above? I mean, is there any difference between the two forms?

Thank you

Hello everyone?

I am waiting for your comments here....

"Need to be [x]ing" emphasizes the progressive or stative aspect of the verb; in other words, the player feels as if he needs to be in a constant state of "game-playing" throughout the week.

Compared with "need to [x]", the difference in meaning isn't really very big. I think "need to be [x]ing" sounds more informal.

In other words, a native speaker will understand well when talking with a non native speaker when the non native speaker just say "I need to play games week in and week out".

Thanks.

Yes, they would understand.

How about this one:

"I need to be going to my grandmother's house tomorrow"

Is it common to say something like the one above?

Well, "I need to be going" is common in vernacular speech, but I think it doesn't really fit in the example you give. I think "I need to be going" is most commonly used by someone as an explanation of why they are leaving at that very moment. If you're going tomorrow, then I think it sounds more natural to say, "I need to go to my grandmother's house tomorrow."