Release This: God of War II: 1st Love

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. Few titles are brave enough to debut alongside the much-anticipated God of War II, which promises to claim the lion's share of software sales in the United States upon its release. Few other titles of note will make their way to stores in any region this week, though the Nintendo Wii port of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 could find itself a popular choice among sports fans in the U.S. and Europe, while Japan awaits the release of Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan DS and Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 1st Love. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending March 17, 2007. Games Released in the United States:

God of War II leads gamer interest and purchase intent among this week's releases by a wide margin, with no other single title even coming close to matching its popularity among those surveyed. Gamers are also showing a fair amount of interest in the upcoming Wii port of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, which manages a distant second place finish in this week's findings. Otherwise, this week's U.S. lineup seems a bit lacking in comparison to last week's offerings, which included a number of major releases across all platforms. The coming weeks promise a much greater variety in new titles, however, with the likes of Armored Core 4, Cooking Mama: Cook Off, and the PS3 port of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion set to see store shelves by the end of the month. Games Released in Europe:

Few titles stand out in this week's UK release chart, though EA's offerings for the Nintendo Wii should meet with a healthy amount of interest, and the cult favorite Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All will likely make just as big of a sales splash as its prequel did last year. Europe's sole exclusive title for the week is Championship Manager 2007, the latest release in the long-running soccer team management simulation series. In addition to this week's PS2 and PSP versions, an Xbox 360 port is planned for release later this month. None of these ports are likely to see American release. Games Released in Japan:

A hodgepodge of new releases spanning many genres awaits Japanese gamers this week, with Namco's word-based puzzler Kotoba no Puzzle: Mojipittan DS and Konami's Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 1st Love currently leading as the week's most anticipated titles. The Koei-developed RPG Kiniro no Corda 2 also appears to be generating a lot of interest in the days prior to its release. It's interesting to note that many of this week's Japanese releases were developed and released in the United States several months prior. Both Fight Night Round 3 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 met with critical and popular acclaim upon their American release several months ago, and the multiplatform SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab (known simply as SpongeBob in Japan) remains a popular choice among many younger gamers. Hopefully, these titles will find similar success upon their release in Japan this week. [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.]