Release This: Halo 3 To Blast Competition In Significant Release Week

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. Microsoft's greatly anticipated Halo 3 will hit the U.S., Europe, and Japan this week, as dozens of competing titles struggle for attention in its wake. FIFA 08 should have little difficulty in finding its audience in the UK, however, while the PS3 port of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion promises to attract a crowd 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 September 29th, 2007. Games Released in the United States:

To no surprise, Halo 3 dominates this week's GamerMetrics results, achieving over 70% of the total Mindshare divided among 39 separate titles across all platforms. The regular edition of Halo 3 is by far the most popular version of the game among IGN's users, though gamers in the market for either of the special editions are slightly more inclined to pick of the $130 Legendary Edition, according to this week's results. The remainder of this week's Mindshare top ten is equally interesting. The PlayStation 3 port of Skate ranks especially high in observed purchase intent, considering that an Xbox 360 version was released two weeks ago. Low-profile Wii releases like Dragon Blade and Ninjabread Man are also gathering curiously high amounts of prerelease interest. Near the end of the list, Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party makes a strong impression as the week's seventh-most anticipated release, while its sister title, Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2, finishes in 19th place. Games Released in Europe:

Anticipation for Halo 3 runs high in the UK this week as well, though an expansive release list awaits owners of all consoles. FIFA 08 promises to give Halo 3 a run for its money in the coming week -- preorder numbers are quickly ramping up at online retailer Amazon.co.uk. Among the seven versions to be released this week, the PlayStation 2 version of FIFA 08 currently ranks as the most popular at Amazon, with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports trailing close behind. European gamers will also soon enjoy an early look at Sega Rally, which is not scheduled to debut in the United States until October, and will not see Japanese release until 2008. Games Released in Japan:

Amazon reports that Halo 3 ranks the highest in preorder numbers among this week's scheduled Japanese releases, and the PlayStation 3 port of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is seeing strong presales as well. The week's lineup is otherwise fairly quiet. Importers, however, could find interest in licensed releases such as Bleach: Blade Battles 2nd and curiosities like EA's mixed drink recipe compilation Bartender DS. [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.]