Game Releases - Week of August 30th, 2004

This week's worldwide game releases include a plethora of new titles in the United States, as the pre-Thanksgiving release rush takes off extremely early. There are also a different, but still significant batch of releases for UK/European videogame consumers, but it's an overall relatively quiet week for Japanese gamers. -- Games released in the United States: PlayStation 2: The Guy Game, ESPN NHL 2k5, Phantom Brave, Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires, Nascar 2005: Chase for the Cup, Street Racing Syndicate, Street Fighter: Anniversary Collection, Star Ocean: The End Of Time, Spy Fiction, T3: The Redemption, Digimon Rumble Arena 2, Gallop Racer 2004 Xbox: The Guy Game, ESPN NHL 2k5, Pro Fishing Challenge, Nascar 2005: Chase for the Cup, Street Racing Syndicate, T3: The Redemption, Wings Of War GameCube: Pikmin 2, WWE: Day Of Reckoning, Starsky & Hutch, T3: The Redemption, Digimon Rumble Arena 2, Street Racing Syndicate, NASCAR 2005: Chase For The Cup PC: Wings Of War, Anarchy Online: Alien Invasion As mentioned, the Thanksgiving/Holiday release flood starts early in the U.S., with major Nintendo sequel Pikmin 2, Square Enix's intriguing Star Ocean: The End Of Time, the latest in the Japanese SRPG explosion in the form of Nippon Ichi's Phantom Brave, Sega's budget-priced ESPN NHL 2K5, and the mature-slanted party title The Guy Game all hitting retail. -- Games released in Europe: PlayStation 2: Conflict: Vietnam, Crimson Sea 2, Ribbit King, Second Sight, ShellShock: Nam '67 Xbox: Conflict: Vietnam, Second Sight, ShellShock: Nam '67 GameCube: Wario Ware Inc., Second Sight, Ribbit King A couple of major European-developed, similarly themed games debut ahead of their U.S. release, this week, with SCi's Conflict: Vietnam and Guerrilla/Eidos' ShellShock: Nam '67 both reaching stores. Nintendo's wacky, innovative GameCube party title Wario Ware Inc. also hits stores, following its release in other territories. -- Games released in Japan: PlayStation 2: Tokusatsu Henshin Hero (Simple 2000 Vol. 60), Ghost Hunter Xbox: Otogi Hyakki Toubatsu Emaki An extremely quiet week for Japanese gamers, with the release of From/Sega's Xbox action title Otogi II probably the highlight. Other debuts include the Japanese version of Sony Cambridge title Ghost Hunter, and a 2000-yen budget title in which you get to be a genuine Japanese henshin hero, Ultraman style. Sources: NCSX, GAME, EB Games