• I visited a Super Target store this weekend. They already had shelf-space and labeling for Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation 3.
I tooks some phone cam pics... will post in a bit.

• The mall-type game stores ENSURE me that pre-ordering starts this week.

• If you haven't done so already, check out the Need for Speed: Carbon demo in the Marketplace on Xbox Live (Xbox 360).

Before you even start to race, there's a cool little feature called "Auto Sculpting" that lets you re-form the shape your chosen car. You can modify the rims, the tires, the hood, the roof, the sides, the front and the rear of your vehicle. This is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while. I love this sort of customization as compared to just tacking on parts that take forever to earn.

The racing feels very similar to last years NfS except it's in the dark. I was sad that the graphics still aren't up to the 60fps benchmark set by the Burnout games and they still have that weird "bumpy-cam" feel to them. It's not distracting, just weird.

So far, I'm really enjoying the demo. I can't wait for the final, it looks like a great game.

I'm really looking forward to the the online "knockout pursuit" games. It's the standard "knockout" racing where after each lap the last car across the finish-line is eliminated from the race. The kicker with "NfS:C" is that if you're knocked out, you become a police car and get to exact your revenge for the rest of the race.