As much as I love Need for Speed: Shift, I've been keeping one eye peeled for a patch. I'm at the point where I'm doing harder races with the more finicky cars. I can't tell if my handling problems are a matter of my lack of skill or a tuning bug. Now that I'm messing around with tuning, I'd love to be able to save a few presets. I'm also using the cars with predetermined set-ups that you can't adjust, some of which are nearly impossible to play. And I've gotten really attached to a few of my cars, so I want an easier way to customize their appearance by using all the vinyls I've unlocked. Need for Speed: Shift is a brilliant racer -- the best I've played all year, and that's saying something -- but it's in dire need of a patch to address some of these things.

On the official forum, community manager Vancouver Blade* has just posted news of that patch:

There is no set date yet; the team are still working on the patch so I wouldn't expect it to be released for at least another three or four weeks. I'm being pretty conservative here; it could more or it could be less. I will update when I hear further.

Great. But this bit is encouraging:

The patch is a very big undertaking with more than just fixes being added to it.

On a related note, I just interviewed Need for Speed: Shift lead designer Andy Tudor. Unfortunately, Tudor wasn't allowed to say anything about the patch. Look for the interview later in the week.

* Really? "Vancouver Blade"? Why do community managers feel the need to adopt dopey forum names to try to fit in with the community? You're representing a company. You should act like it. Sorry to pick on you, Mr. Blade, since everyone does it. But it would seem more official if the post was signed by someone whose name didn't sound like a budget-rate superhero who fights crime alongside Manitoba Kid and Lady Newbrunswick