EA catches a lot of flak for pumping out endless sequels, but there's a reason why games have hit the yearly grind: they sell, and in the case of the Need for Speed series, they sell rather well -- particularly for a series that's managed to move into a decidedly free-roaming approach to things where the original fan base grew up with track-based races. Of course Need for Speed Carbon was designed from the ground up to be a next-gen title, which leaves up a little leery of what the PS2 version might end up like, but hey, we won't have to wait long for the PS3 version to hit around launch time.

That doesn't mean the PS2 version can't be interesting, of course, it just won't have all the whiz-bang visuals. It will have the very same basic gameplay, though; chiefly the ability to move from the nighttime glitz of the city out in to the canyons for a little drift racing. It serves to highlight the game's 50+ cars in tuner, muscle and exotic classes, y'see, but also gives folks a chance to mess around with the 300+ parts and the new Autosculpt tech for custom shaping car bodies.

“The Need for Speed franchise prides itself on innovation and this year is no different,” claimed Larry LaPierre, the game's Executive Producer. “By introducing all-new canyon racing, a re-vamped drift mode and a revolutionary customization tool, we feel we have developed the ultimate next generation racing experience.”

Well, not next-gen for us current-gen chumps, of course, but again, we won't have to wait long to get our hands on the PlayStation-branded next-gen edition in just a little bit. We'll give you our final verdict on the PS2 and PSP versions in a few days.