Everybody's up and about with the impending launch of the much-awaited PlayStation 3 in Europe and other PAL territories. Parties then, ought to be no problem, as we're sure there's gonna be a whole bunch of them in celebration for Sony's next-gen's arrival. And celebration is what we have for you today.

This one is from Electronic Arts, and they're out to give you a splendidly rockin' time for the PS3's launch. What they have in store for you are six titles that are sure to "usher in a world of next-generation gaming experiences" on your PS3. Says Gerhard Florin, EA's Executive Vice President and GM for International Publishing,

With the arrival of the PS3 in Europe and other PAL territories, the industry is turning the corner to the next-generation of interactive entertainment. From this point forward, it's all about amazing our customers with the best, all-new and innovative gaming experiences.

 
That is why, starting tomorrow, March 23, EA will be serving up to you gamers the following titles that will be launching alongside the PlayStation 3:

Def Jam Icon
The Godfather: The Don's Edition
Need For Speed: Carbon
NBA Street Homecourt
Fight Night Round 3
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07

So get out there and have a blast -- finally.

They may be a magnet for bad publicity, but it certainly can't be denied that their franchises sell well. Two of Electronic Arts' games have reached rather high sales, making EA games a high seller on two continents.

In the United States, EA Sports' Madden NFL '07 has sold over 5 million copies across the different consoles. As a result of these figures, a press release EA sent out, they proclaimed Madden to be "North America's most popular game of 2006".

Over in the United Kingdom, it's their underground racing game that's taking up the Electronic Arts banner. Gamasutra reports Need for Speed: Carbon as the new leader of the pack by pushing another EA title, FIFA '07, out of the top spot and into second place.

With best-selling games in two countries, as well as additional games in their lineup in the top ten lists, EA should be quite pleased with their results this year. This is one of EA's best years in the business, making them a company to watch out for yet again in 2007.

Admit it, you have the feeling that business analysts make their numbers up. But nobody doubts an Irish bookie, so we'll look at Paddy Power's numbers instead. Yup, bookmaker Paddy Power (PaddyPower.com) has predictions for which games will sell well this Christmas:

• Need for Speed: Carbon 8 - 13
• FIFA 07 4 - 1
• Gears of War 10 - 1
• Eragon 10 - 1
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 10 - 1
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 11 - 1
• Tony Hawk Project 8 14 - 1
• Superman Returns 16 - 1
• WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 16 - 1
• Call of Duty 3 20 - 1
• Pro Evolution Soccer 6 20 - 1
• The Sims 2: Pets 20 - 1
• Happy Feet 22 - 1
• Guitar Hero 2 25 - 1
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories 33 - 1
• Bratz: Forever Diamonds 80 - 1
• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Party Edition 250 - 1

It's another NFS year. Need for Speed: Carbon is the favourite with odds of 8/13. NFS: Most Wanted took the number one spot last year, while NFS: Underground 2 was the favorite the year before that. Then again, cross-platform games would tend to sell more titles than the single-platform games. (Does that explain why Eragon is up there - we don't know; only a few of us bought the book, and quite a number of us did not buy the game.)

Twilight Princess is up there duking it out with the Xbox 360's Gears of War. Oh. That's a tough one to call right now. If you're a gambling man, you might wanna make a bet, but we won't just yet.

Here are two new gameplay videos for the much-talked about cross-platform game, Need for Speed Carbon. The first vid, "Highlights", shows you pretty much all the reasons why you should get out right now and grab a copy of this game off store shelves. At least, for your Xbox 360. Although, the vid is actually for the PS3.

There's the usual exciting race action, typical of Need for Speed titles, only, that in this one, you won't exactly get off scott-free. Cops are there, and they're out to get you. Customize your rides, and make it the belle of the ball (or something...) with your own choice of spoilers, hoods, rims, the works. Feel the adrenaline rush, along with the wind. Of course, any car action won't be complete without a hot babe telling you to drive.

Meanwhile, the second vid we have here, "Steering", basically is for the Wii version. Inset, you can see how the controls are supposed to go via the Wiimote. And it comes just in time for the launch of both Nintendo's console, and the game's version for it.

The PS3 version is fast on the heels with a launch date set for November 20.

Hot chicks not included.

The engines start roaring, and the beads of sweat start forming on your forehead. You grip the wheel more tightly with breathless anticipation - wrong move, buddy. Relax. Take a deep breath. Take in the road. Take in the competition. These are the last ten seconds of the countdown before all of that becomes a blur, and the only thing you have to worry about now are the road ahead of you, the cars around you, and first place.

Tomorrow*, Electronic Arts puts the pedal to the metal with Need for Speed: Carbon rolling into stores for the Xbox 360 and the PC, with the PS3 and Wii versions punching the nitrous on their respective launch days this November. Starting tomorrow, the flag goes down and the rubber heats up. But today? You racers can take that deep breath. Look back to see if you've missed anything in our coverage.

And enjoy this last** pre-release, pure gameplay trailer of Carbon from EA and GameVideos. Before the flag goes down, the tires heat up, and the only thing you have to worry about is first place.

* = as advertised by the trailer. Weird that GameVideos would list its release date as "December 1st."
** = for the PC and Xbox 360, anyway. Any chance for PS3 and Wii-version trailers?

Pre-Order: [NFS: Carbon (Windows XP)]
Pre-Order: [NFS: Carbon (Xbox 360)]
Pre-Order: [NFS: Carbon (PS3)]
Pre-Order: [NFS: Carbon (Wii)]

Sneaky, sneaky. Apparently, there was this June press trip that occurred in Vancouver for Need For Speed Carbon (coming out on PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360) that for some reason, we didn't really know about -- not even our sources. Hmmm...such a shame, 'cause we tripped upon a whole lot of screenshots from that event, and man, did we miss a lot!

But, let bygones be bygones 'cause we now have them in our possession. Although you may say that there's nothing really different from these batch of screenshots from the ones we've already posted, you just have to look at them closely to appreciate the details in the graphics. From the reflection on the car body, to the gears within the rims...that's detail for you, right there. What can I say? The shots are just fantastic. But that could just the pseudo-photographer in me. Check it out for yourself and be the judge of whether or not this is one of the finest collection we've seen.

And to think we almost missed it entirely.

More NFS: Carbon screens after the jump!

Pre-order: [Need for Speed:Carbon for PS3]
Pre-order: [Need for Speed:Carbon for Wii]
Pre-order: [Need for Speed:Carbon for X360]

This post is sort of an update to the last one that featured the tracks and in the world of Electronic Arts' Need for Speed Carbon.

We've got three embed videos here. First up is a short one featuring the Canyons. A nice thing about the canyon stages is that it really gives the player that Initial D-must-drift feel. Y'ah don't believe us? Let's go through a check list. Night-time driving? Check. Downhill track? Check. Poorly lit mountain side roads with not much railing? Check. Death upon failure to drift? Uber check.

We really are hoping there's a Trueno in the game. We wanna to see if it can out run the cop cars. The rest of the videos feature San Juan and Silverton. That's the "Latin" and "casino" areas of the game. The videos for those tracks emphasize how much went into the design of each stage. Anyway, enough talk. Let's watch. Click play people. Enjoy!

Buy: [Need for Speed Carbon PS3]
Buy: [Need for Speed Carbon Xbox 360]

From QJ reader GmDude66 comes these great new screenshots from EA's upcoming Need For Speed: Carbon. These drop-dead gorgeous images say it all. EA wasn't kidding around when theyset outto make NFS:Carbon! These vehicles gleam with Turtle-Wax-like reality. And the metal-on-metal sparks don't look too shabby, either!

But then again NFS:Carbon will be the the first member of its franchise to run wild on all the next-gen consoles. It has no choice but to make the kind of smashing audience impact that would crush an armored car like a beer can to a frat boy's forehead. NFS: Carbon will feature a selection of cars from previous titles including Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Underground 2 plus an-all new line up of cars: Chevrolet Chevelle SS, Audi Le Mans Quattro, and the Shelby GT500.

So gentlemen and ladies who don't mind getting grease under their nails, get ready to rev up your engines.

You can also find more info about NFS:Carbon for the PS3 here and the Wii version here.

 

MAZDASPEED3 will now be included in EA's Need for Speed: Carbon car line-up. We won't be surprised, really, as this is all part of EA's campaign with major gaming retailers around the world to boost the NFS: Carbon title sales. EA has in fact joined forces with Channel M, EB Games, and Gamestop to set out a fierce marketing campaign for NFS: Carbon all over North America.

The campaign will include exposing players to Mazda in-games, raffled pre-orders at EB Games and Gamestop where gamers can win a real MAZDASPEED3 car, mall tournaments, parties, and a Las Vegas championship where the winner gets a chance to win his/her own MAZDASPEED3 as well.

The game will be available for retail (and download for mobile) on November 1 onwards in the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC, and mobile.

Curious about the speed and stats of the MAZDASPEED3? This baby is actually one of the quickest and fastest front-wheel drive cars in the world. A lightweight car with a sizable engine producing 263-horsepower and 280 lb/ft of torque, the swift MAZDASPEED3 revs up at 0-60 mph time well under six seconds and kicks off to an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph. The name says it all.

Buy: [Need for Speed: Carbon (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Need for Speed: Carbon (PS3)]
Buy: [Need for Speed: Carbon (Wii)]

You've seen the jazzed up site, you've seen the rides. Now it's time for you to see where all the action is set to happen. We have here for you not just one, not even two, but three videos of the streets you'll be speeding by in Need For Speed: Carbon (coming out on PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360). Art director Neil Eskuri gives us a run-through of the sites and what to expect from them.

The first video takes you downtown where freeways and high rise buildings loom over you. Eskuri describes it as a mixture of San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. It's a very rolling area and it's got tighter turns than there is in the industrial area.

The second video showcases Fortuna, which is where the "exotic areas" are. Heavily influenced by Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica, this place was meant to be cruised with exotic cars. There's a lot more elevation pitch, tighter turns, and a whole lot more of technical driving.

Welcome to Kempton, Carbon's industrial area. Here, expect to have a lot of obstacles to overcome. Primarily, this is designed for muscle cars. It is described as very flat with lots of long straight areas to really get that power of the car roaring.

Anyhow, this is sure to boost up some more your interest in the game. So while it's still fresh, feel free to download them right here.

Download: [NFS Carbon: Downtown]
Download: [NFS Carbon: Fortuna]
Download: [NFS Carbon: Kempton]

Pre-order: [NFS: Carbon for PS3]
Pre-order: [NFS: Carbon for Wii]
Pre-order: [NFS: Carbon for X360]