Release This: BioShock Looms, UK Sees Blue Dragon

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. Riding on a crest of positive review scores and high levels of gamer anticipation, BioShock stands above all competing software in the United States and Europe this week. Meanwhile, Two Worlds and Blue Dragon compete for attention among RPG fanatics, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and Gyakuten Saiban 3 prepare for a rush of sales from fans of both franchises in Japan. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending August 25th, 2007. Games Released in the United States:

After meeting with widespread acclaim from critics in the days leading up to its release, BioShock is likely to find a similarly warm reception from consumers. The Xbox 360 and PC ports of BioShock encompass almost 50% of this week's overall Mindshare data, and few of this week's releases boast comparable levels of anticipation and purchase intent. The online RPG Two Worlds and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 for the PS3 are holding their own in this week's results, however, while the Level 5-developed Jeanne D'Arc has also gathered a significant amount of prerelease interest. Interestingly, Nintendo's Brain Age 2 lags behind at sixth place in this week's findings. Given its previous and continuing sales success in the UK and Japan, however, Brain Age 2's American debut should also meet with high levels of demand. Games Released in Europe:

Though gamers in the UK will soon enjoy Blue Dragon and MotoGP '07 several days prior to their scheduled U.S. debuts, this week also features numerous delays and staggered release schedules. Only a select few consoles will receive ports of Madden NFL 08 this week; the Xbox 360 version has been delayed until the end of this month, and the PlayStation 3 port is not expected to hit store shelves until the end of September. NASCAR 08 suffers similarly. Only the PlayStation 2 version will find release this week, as PS3 and 360 ports await a mid-September release. Games Released in Japan:

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates leads preorder sales at Amazon.co.jp in the week leading up to its release, and appears likely to head the region's Nintendo DS sales charts by the end of the month. Ring of Fates -- a sequel to the Nintendo GameCube multiplayer RPG Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles -- is additionally being bundled with a special edition Nintendo DS console, which is currently in demand by series fans both in Japan and overseas. Importers are also turning their attention toward this week's Nintendo DS re-release of Gyakuten Saiban 3, which offers a full English script in addition to its native Japanese text. Its North American counterpart -- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations -- is not scheduled for release until the end of October, and Gyakuten Saiban 3's budget price gives importers a rare advantage over those who choose to wait for a U.S. version. [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.]