Release This: Major League Gundam

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. Anticipated releases like SSX Blur and Major League Baseball 2K7 are expected to pull big sales numbers in the United States this week, while Europe will soon enjoy an exclusive PC port of Resident Evil 4, among many other titles. In Japan, meanwhile, Gundam Musou will soon crush all competition underneath its robotic heel, leaving boosted PlayStation 3 hardware sales in its destructive wake. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending March 3, 2007. Games Released in the United States:

While SSX Blur -- the latest and first Wii-exclusive entry in the SSX series -- stands out as the week's single most anticipated title across all platforms, GamerMetrics reports an even greater amount of awareness and purchase intent divided among the three console ports of 2K Sports's Major League Baseball 2K7. Sports fans also have another baseball title to choose from this week with Sony's MLB 07: The Show for the PS2 and PSP, though neither port appears to be as anticipated as 2K Sports's offering. The Sims 2: Seasons expansion pack is also poised to be one of the week's biggest titles, even though its popularity isn't fully reflected in its Mindshare data. Amazon reports that Seasons is currently the single most-preordered software title across all platforms, and its significant casual appeal could make it just as big of a sales success as The Sims 2: Pets. Games Released in Europe:

Europe once again comes up short in major releases this week, with few exclusive titles to call its own. The majority of the region's weekly lineup has been seen before in other regions, though bigger titles like The Sims 2: Seasons and Jade Empire: Special Edition are set to debut in both the U.S. and the UK almost simultaneously. The only exclusive titles scheduled to debut in Europe this week are Pocket Pool for the PSP -- which will be released in the U.S. in April as Gone Wild Pocket Pool -- and a PC port of the popular GameCube and PS2 title Resident Evil 4, which will not see U.S. soil until June at the earliest. Games Released in Japan:

Few titles debuting in any region this week can hope to match the popularity of Gundam Musou. Licensed titles based upon Gundam and its many subseries continue to be numerous and ever-popular in Japan (the Gundam license also plays heavily into this week's release of Super Robot Taisen W for the Nintendo DS), and Koei's Musou series (Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors) is similarly prolific. Combine the two properties, and the result is a title that is this week's most anticipated Japanese release across all platforms. Gundam Musou is expected to be the first major title to sell many Japanese gamers on the PlayStation 3 -- even moreso than past favorites like Virtua Fighter 5 and Armored Core 4 -- and its release is predicted to lead to a sharp increase in PS3 hardware sales. [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.]