Gamasutra's regular round-up of worldwide video game releases, "Release This!", takes a look at every game title we know to be shipping to stores this week, in an exclusively compiled list.
The United States prepares itself for war at retail this week, as long-anticipated heavy-hitters like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Stranglehold, and Warhawk fight it out on store shelves alongside the likes of Blue Dragon and Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. Japan and Europe opt for more laid-back release schedules, though standout titles like Boogie, Blade Storm, and beatmania IIDX 13: DistorteD are certain to spark interest.
The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending September 1st, 2007.
Games Released in the United States:
Nintendo Wii: - Carnival Games - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (#1 on GamerMetrics Most Anticipated New Releases, 25.20% Mindshare) - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Xbox 360: - Blue Dragon (#4 on GamerMetrics, 9.78%) - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam - MotoGP 07 - Stranglehold (#2 on GamerMetrics, 12.33%) - Stuntman: Ignition - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (#5 on GamerMetrics, 5.40%)
PlayStation 3: - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (#6 on GamerMetrics, 3.40%) - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (#7 on GamerMetrics, 3.33%) - Warhawk (#3 on GamerMetrics, 10.67%)
PlayStation 2: - Brunswick Pro Bowling - Metropolismania 2 - Stuntman: Ignition - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 - Wild ARMs 5
Nintendo DS: - Garfield's Nightmare - Professional Fisherman's Tour: Northern Hemisphere - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
PlayStation Portable: - Brunswick Pro Bowling - Dead Head Fred - Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (#9 on GamerMetrics, 3.03%) - Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes (#8 on GamerMetrics, 3.27%) - NHRA: Countdown to the Championship 2007 - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
PC: - Guild Wars: Eye of the North (#10 on GamerMetrics, 2.73%) - Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Facing off against numerous major releases across all platforms, Nintendo's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption comes out on top in this week's Mindshare data by a significant margin. Competition is much more fierce among the next tier of popularity, however, with Stranglehold, Warhawk, and Blue Dragon gathering near-equal amounts of prerelease anticipation and purchase intent in the days prior to their debuts.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 also stands among these top titles in this week's results, though its Mindshare data is split between both its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ports. The Xbox 360 version proves to be the more popular of the two, continuing the trend of gamers generally favoring Xbox 360 editions of multiplatform releases. Interestingly, though, IGN's users show a marked preference for Dynasty Warriors: Gundam's native PlayStation 3 version, rather than its recently assembled Xbox 360 port. As the PlayStation 3's install base grows, this margin of preference is expected to shrink further over the next several months.
Games Released in Europe:
Nintendo Wii: - Boogie - Cosmic Family - Madden NFL 08 - Tamagotchi Party On! - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Xbox 360: - Madden NFL 08 - Stuntman: Ignition - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
PlayStation 2: - Impossible Mission - Stuntman: Ignition - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Nintendo DS: - Dragon Ball Z: Goku Densetsu - Dynasty Warriors DS: Fighter's Battle - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 - Worms: Open Warfare 2
PlayStation Portable: - Brian Lara 2007: Pressure Play - Impossible Mission - Tales of The World: Radiant Mythology - Worms: Open Warfare 2
PC: - Guild Wars: Eye of the North - Guild Wars: Eye of the North (Bear Edition) - Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms - Sam & Max: Season 1 - Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Europe plays its usual game of catch-up this week, with big names like Madden NFL 08 and Boogie making their way overseas weeks after finding success in the United States. Exclusives and early debuts for titles like Impossible Mission, Worms: Open Warfare 2, and Dragon Ball Z: Goku Densetsu help to balance the release scales between both regions, however, while Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and Stuntman: Ignition will become available to both European and American gamers almost simultaneously.
Games Released in Japan:
Xbox 360: - Hitman: Blood Money
PlayStation 3: - Blade Storm: Hyakunen Sensou
PlayStation 2: - beatmania IIDX 13: DistorteD - Chanter#: Kimi no Uta ga Todoitara - Gintama Gin-San to Issho! Boku no Kabuki Machi Nikki - Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn! Dream Hyper Battle - Simple 2000 Series Vol. 120: The Saigo no Nippon Tsuwamono - Tsuika AS+ Eternal Name - Youki Hime Den
Nintendo DS: - Eiken-Ou: Jun-2-Kyuuhen - Kazoku Minna de Nippon Shiatsu Shikai Kanshuu: RakuRaku Shiatsu Navi - Love Cat Life - Me de Unou o Kitaeru: DS Sokudoku Junior - One Piece: Gear Spirit - Oni Zero: Sengoku Ransei Hyakkaryouran - Simple 1500 Series Vol. 21: The Fuhyou: Bitai de Shutsugeki! Senjou no Inutachi - Summon Night Twin Edge: Seireitachi no Kyoumei - Tsunde Tsumi Kiss
Gintama Gin-San to Issho! Boku no Kabuki Machi Nikki and Blade Storm: Hyakunen Sensou lead weekly preorder numbers at Amazon.co.jp in the week prior to their releases. The Nintendo DS release One Piece: Gear Spirit is also gathering significant preorder support among Japanese gamers and importers alike, as are both the regular and special edition releases of Konami's beatmania IIDX 13: DistorteD. Otherwise, this week's Japanese lineup is fairly unremarkable, with its remainder largely consisting of budget releases and edutainment titles.
[About IGN GamerMetrics: IGN GamerMetrics is an interactive tool designed to report the real-time behavior and interests of visitors to IGN Entertainment's network of gaming enthusiast web sites. Using data collected from IGN's readers, GamerMetrics shows the levels of consumer awareness, engagement, and purchase intent in every video game title released in the U.S. market.]
