IGN GamerMetrics Cite WWE Vs. Raw As Top Title

In anticipation of the upcoming releases for the PlayStation 3 and Wii console platforms, IGN Entertainment, owner of the IGN.com and GameSpy.com consumer websites, has released its GamerMetrics list of the most anticipated new releases for the coming week. The list, which is based on three months of IGN visitor activity, gauges reader interest and purchase intent in games across a variety of platforms. Interestingly, across all platforms surveyed, the list found THQ’s WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2007 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 to be the most anticipated title for the week, no doubt a reflection of the popularity of the wrestling franchise, as well as the expected scarcity of either of the new console platforms. Wii exclusive releases secured the following two spots on the list, however, with Nintendo's highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ranking in second place, followed by Ubisoft's first-person shooter, Red Steel. Another Wii launch title from Ubisoft, Raving Rayman Rabbids, also garnered IGN reader anticipation by ranking tenth on the chart. Overall, the Wii was by far the most dominantly represented platform on the chart, both in terms of cross platform releases as well as exclusives, perhaps reflecting curiosity as well as building excitement for Nintendo's upcoming console. The Wii pack-in Wii Sports ranked twelfth on the list in terms of reader anticipation, followed by Atlus' Trauma Center: Second Opinion and Sega's Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. Atari's Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and Nintendo's own Excite Truck filled out the sixteenth and seventeenth spots on the list in terms of reader interest, while the Wii version of Activision's Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam was found in the number nineteen position. PlayStation 3 releases were also heavily represented on the chart, with Activision's Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 07 ranking fourth and fifth on the most wanted list. Both of these titles, however, are also set to launch for the Wii as well, and the chart unfortunately does not draw any delineation between which versions of these titles readers prefer. The same can be said for EA's Need for Speed Carbon and Call of Duty 3, both of which fall on the list in the seventh and eight positions respectively, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog which ranked eleventh on the chart for both Sony's platform as well as the Xbox 360. The only PlayStation 3 exclusives on the weekly GamerMetric chart were found in Sony's Insomniac developed Resistance: Fall of Man, which was the ninth most anticipated title on the chart, and Sony Online Entertainment's Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom, which rounded out the chart in the twentieth position. Finally, the chart also saw mild representation from other platforms, with Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy III remake for the Nintendo DS ranking sixth on the chart, while Nintendo's platformer Yoshi's Island DS was found in the eighteenth position. Sega's Medieval II: Total War, the lone PC representative on the chart, ranked fifteenth on the weekly chart.