It is easy to get carried away with the imminent release of your favorite console be it the Playstation 3 or its cousin, the Nintendo Wii. Yes, motion sensing Twilight Princess sword thrusts and Resistance: Fall of Man screen shots have left us all in a tizzy of anticipation, but freezing on the sidewalk is no way to spend an evening.

For those of you who have pre-ordered your Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii, feel lucky that you’ll get to survive the rush at your Toys R’ Us or GameStop, leaving you able to stroll into your favorite retailer and waltz out. For those with the desperation and spare cash to plunk down an absurd premium to secure a Playstation 3 over at eBay, this article is certainly not for you (though I do envy you).

For those in the middle, neglecting to pre-order but hearty enough to camp out now that the time is near, there are a few essentials that you need to remember before you head on down with your pup tent and thermos to the Best Buy sidewalk.

Layers, Folks, Layers

As you’ll find more and more as you travel through life, your mother was right. For most of the country, mid-November can pack quite a chill. Sure, the lucky folks in Miami or San Jose get a break, but the rest of us, especially at night, have the prospect of getting a nice chill. The lines, especially for the Playstation 3 with its predicted short supply at launch, will likely form early, so arrive early and bundle up well. Dress for what you think it’s going to be like at night, not what it’s like when you get there.

Social Gaming At Its Finest

Pick your poison, be it a Nintendo DS, a Playstation Portable, a Gameboy Advance or even some classic Game Gear goodness. Standing in line for a Wii? You better believe that there will be some Nintendo DS gaming in line. Single cart download games like Mario Kart, Clubhouse Games or Metroid: Prime Hunters will undoubtedly provide some distraction as the hours tick by, and possibly make you the most popular person literally on the block.

Dig A Little Deeper

Yes, your local Best Buy or Walmart will have shipments of Nintendo Wiis or Playstation 3s to cart out, but so will lesser-scavenged retailers like Sears, FYE, Costco, Sam’s Club, CompUSA and other similar outlets. While those stores will have smaller initial shipments of each console (especially the sure-to-be-scarce Playstation 3), the crowds will undoubtedly be smaller in kind.

Nintendo has given its Wii a production head start and shortages for it may be less pronounced than the Playstation 3, but how can you leave being the first amongst your friends to land a next generation console to chance?

Bundle up, bring entertainment, bribe your kid brother or sister to man another station if you must, don’t forget to bring the plastic and you’ll have a better, more successful trip to the glamorous retail outlet sidewalk camp-out.

Oh, and bring a pillow.

Nick Crane is a successful Webmaster and publisher of CoolGamesZone.com Visit his site at http://www.coolgameszone.com to find out more on the upcoming release of the latest Nintendo Wii.