After laying low for a few months, On Shelves is back, bringing you all the games and their release dates for this week. For starters, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and LocoRoco 2 are finally hitting shelves after months of  screenshot-scrutinizing and trailer-watching. If you're thinking about shopping for fresh titles, look no further. All you need to know is right here!

Introducing, the NASCAR Kart Racing for the Wii. Yep, that's right, yet another licensed sports title comes to your Wii, thanks to Electronic Arts. It looks like it's gonna be very enjoyable for the kids, and those kids-at-heart who'd want to see NASCAR in a different, more colorful light.

Did you think Amazon was going to leave you (and your wallet) to slog through the press of holiday shoppers at your local retail stores? Hardly. The full article contains the list of goodies available for Amazon's Black Friday Sale.

Due to unfavorable business circumstances, Stormfront Studios was forced to shut down, leaving its 33 employees wandering about looking for new work. It's always sad to hear news like this, especially when the studio already worked on notable franchises such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Eragon (Xbox 360, PSP, PC) and other games. More in the full article.

It was just recently when we learned about the marketing promotion being employed by Nintendo of America (NoA) concerning the shiny white console Wii and the NASCAR race held at Dover International Speedway.

Judging from Perrin Kaplan's recent statements, it looks like this will culminate into a Wii NASCAR video game in the future. First and foremost, the VP for Marketing and Corporate Affairs mentioned that sponsoring a car at NASCAR gave NoA the chance to further showcase the Wii in front of a wide and varied audience.

When asked whether this will translate into a Wii video game, Kaplan shared, "I hope so. It seems like a good fit." Perrin Kaplan was pressed about the matter and then she explained:

Wii and Nintendo DS are the most popular video game systems in the country, and NASCAR is one of the most popular sports. So you have to believe that there's a lot of crossover. But we haven't done any surveys specifically targeting NASCAR fans.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that Microsoft and Bungie's Halo 3 launch will be the single biggest first day game release in history. Sales could easily hit US$ 200 million on launch date and sell 130,000 more Xbox 360s.

This could place the Xbox 360 at top spot again by going toe to toe with Nintendo's red-hot commercial success Nintendo Wii. The Xbox 360 and the Wii are precariously close in overall sales figures, though it must be noted that the Microsoft console had a year of headway before the Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 launched.

Microsoft is hauling in the proverbial nine yards of marketing and product extensions, sporting a deluxe edition of Halo 3 worth US$ 120, a comic book mini-series from Marvel, a new Mountain Dew variant called Game Fuel, ads on Burger King and 7-Eleven, and most recently a Halo 3 themed NASCAR paint job for David Stremme's No. 40 Dodge Charger.

"It will be the biggest first-day seller ever ... it will grow the installed base," says Pachter as he predicts some 2.5 million copies to fly off stores from the get-go. In effect, Pachter says that the September sales of the Xbox 360 game console will add up to 40,000. Hardcore fans are expected to treat the launch like a national holiday.

"It's a test for the industry on how much hype can you successfully get around a game," says X-Play host Morgan Webb as she concludes that this is a big event not only for Microsoft and Halo fans but for the business as a whole.

The next NASCAR season is going to be quite remarkable for Wii fans. For the first time, Nintendo is sponsoring a car at the said event. The car itself, the number 16 Ford Fusion, will be sporting a Wii theme.

The man behind the wheels will be Greg Biffle. If you're not particularly a big fan of racing or NASCAR, you don't have to worry if your "Wii car" has a good chance of winning because Biffle is one of the more experienced drivers out there.

He has been racing at the event for more than a decade now and has already won several trophies. The last one was the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Wii-themed Ford Fusion, furthermore, has already been tested during the race that took place at the Chicagoland Speedway from July 13 to 15.

If you want to see it for yourself, take a look at this schedule:

• August 12: Watkins Glen International in New York
• Aug. 17 to 19: Michigan International Speedway
• Aug. 31 to September 2: California Speedway, Fontana, CA
• September 21 to 23: Dover International Speedway, Delaware (be sure to check out the Wii-themed race car at Sunday's race!)
• October 12 to 14: Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina

The August 12 event as well as the one on September 21 to 23 will be aired on ESPN at 1 p.m. EST and ABC at 1 p.m. EST respectively.

EA greatness coming your way! Electronic Arts has released its line-up of games down at E3 in Barker Hangar and Le Merigot Hotel.

Here's a shortlist of the games it's showcasing in E3: Madden NFL 08, NBA LIVE 08, NASCAR 08 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08, Burnout Paradise, SimCity Societies, The Orange Box, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Crysis and Hellgate: London, The Simpsons on three platforms, Army of Two, Boogie, MySims, The Sims 2 Castaway, Medal of Honor Airborne, Need for Speed ProStreet, EA Playground, Skate, and Rock Band.

Says EA Games Label President: "In the next six months, EA will launch the most exciting line up of games in our 25 year history. We’re publishing brand new games ... delivering innovations in blockbuster franchises..." Some of these games will be available for demos for those who are lucky enough to attend E3.

For a quick lowdown of EA's wicked line-up, click on the full article.

 

There's yet another version of the Wiimobile, and instead of hitting the tame neighborhood streets, this one's going to go big-time on the NASCAR circuit.

In a strange marketing move that can only be pinned on Nintendo's oddball way of going about things, Nintendo of America has sponsored a NASCAR racer and had a cool Ford Fusion Car of Tomorrow (COT) all wrapped up in Wii colors, to be driven by pro-racer Greg Biffle.

Biffle will burn rubber using the souped-up Wiimobile at the Watkins Glen Race scheduled on August 12, and in the Dover Race on September 23.

You can also take home your own Wii Ford Fusion. Diecast models of the speedy Wiimobile can be bought from the online store at www.thesundayhauler.com for US$ 64.95.

Electronic Arts (EA) is one of the biggest game developing/publishing companies in the world. The company has recently announced that it will be reorganizing its business under four labels, mainly:  EA Sports, EA Games, EA Casual Entertainment and The Sims.

According to the recent press release, this is to "streamline decision-making, improve global focus, and speed new ideas to the market." However, these teams are not stand alone entities, they will be receiving support from two new groups: Central Development Services and Global Publishing.

These auxiliaries will be led by Executive Vice President John Schappert. In addition to this, all four labels will be served by centralized teams to handle Finance, IT, Legal and Human Resources. Now while this may interest some industry members, what most gamers would probably be wondering about is under what label would their games fall on.

To answer that here's a short background on each label, their respective heads along with what upcoming games will be classified and handled by it.

• The Sims - Led by Label President Nancy Smith. This team created the model on which the new organization is built. Upcoming releases include: MySims for the Wii and Nintendo DS, SimCity Societies, and The Sims Castaway Stories and many more.
• EA Games - Led by Label President Frank Gibeau. This label includes Need for Speed, Medal of Honor, SPORE, Battlefield, Burnout, Command & Conquer, The Simpsons and more. EA Games will also be home to the EA Partners publishing business.
• EA Casual Entertainment - Led by Label President Kathy Vrabeck. This team will focus on lighter, more accessible games for families and new consumers. The portfolio will include EA franchises and games such as Harry Potter, Boogie and others. This group will also be home to EA Mobile and EA's casual suite of online games, Pogo.com.
• EA SPORTS - This team is responsible for many of the company's flagship franchises including Madden NFL, NBA Live, FIFA Soccer, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR, NHL Hockey and NASCAR. EA Executive Vice President Joel Linzner will oversee this group until a president of EA Sports is announced.

EA Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello also gave a few words on how these changes should benefit both the company and gamers in general:

This transition will be implemented over the course of the coming months. EA is privileged to have a deep bench of proven talent and our new structure encourages people to bring great ideas into the market more quickly. There will be more games and services for core consumers and new gamers and better focus on operational efficiency.

That said, does this drive for smaller divisions mean a more service-oriented approach by the company? While we can't say for certain, it looks like the company is headed in that direction. Be sure to keep checking back here for the latest gaming industry news.