Release This: Zelda DS, PGR4 Make Anticipated U.S. Debut

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. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Project Gotham Racing 4 debut alongside a slew of basketball sims in the United States this week, as Europe enjoys an early look at Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions and Japan prepares for Dragon Ball Z Sparking! Meteor and Ash: Archaic Sealed Heat. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending October 6th, 2007. Games Released in the United States:

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass barely manages to come out on top in this week's Mindshare results, as Project Gotham Racing 4 and a number of basketball sims follow in hot pursuit. Of the ten new basketball titles to see release this week, the Xbox 360 port of 2K Sports' NBA 2K8 appears to be the most popular, though EA's NBA Live 08 is shaping up to provide plenty of competition on store shelves. Outside of the Mindshare top ten, the week will also bring a variety of other interesting titles to all platforms. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe in particular should prove to be a hit among fans of the franchise, while Konami's long-running Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu series will finally see its first U.S. release in MLB Power Pros for the Wii and the PlayStation 2. Games Released in Europe:

While many of this week's basketball releases will see near-simultaneous release in both the U.S. and the UK, others become victims of a staggered release schedule. Interestingly, only the PlayStation 2 version of NBA 2K8 has a definite release date for this week; all other ports are listed as having a vague "October 2007" UK release. NBA Live 08 is an even more unusual case, however, as the UK Nintendo Wii version has been delayed by several weeks, while the PC port will remain European exclusive until the end of October. PSP owners, meanwhile, will have an early shot at a translated version of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions several days in advance of its planned U.S. release. The War of the Lions has remained a top PSP seller in Japan since its release in May, and is greatly anticipated by strategy RPG fans in both the United States and the UK. Games Released in Japan:

The PlayStation 2 version of Dragon Ball Z Sparking! Meteor and Gundam Battle Chronicle for the PSP rank as the most-preordered titles among this week's batch of new Japanese releases, according to Amazon.co.jp. The Mistwalker-developed Ash: Archaic Sealed Heat is also generating significant prerelease interest in Japan and overseas, and Guitar Freaks V3 & DrumMania V3 should prove to be popular with fans of Konami's Bemani series in all regions. [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.]