Okay, so I want to pre-order ESPN NFL 2K5 for xbox. 19.99 price seems pretty standard. I want to place 2 orders, one for myself and one for my brother in california. I could potentially go pick mine up in-store but would like my brother's shipped to him as a surprise. I'd like him to get it as soon after the release date as possible so we can start playing on Live.

It used to be that if I pre-ordered a dvd I would get it on the release date (and luckily sometimes a day ahead) but I don't know if that's still true or how it applies to games. I'm sure you wouldn't get it early, but potentially on the release date. If not, I want it the soonest after that.

So long story short, where would be the best place to order from considering:

1) Earliest arrival date

2) Low shipping costs

I don't care so much about saving 2 or 3 bucks as getting it fast.

This will be my first online purchase of an xbox game. Thanks!

Personally, electronic boutique has served me the best. I usually wait for one of their "free second day airshipping" sales and get that.

9 times out of ten, I get my copy the same day as all of the people who paid extra for overnight.

You usually get hit with tax, though, cuz they have stores in most states.

Yeah. Amazon hits me with tax too, but they have always been really quick on DVD's etc. I was thinking ebgames.com for this one.