Release This: U.S. _Boogie_s Down, Japan Observes International Zodiac

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. Though the United States and Europe appear to be headed toward a typically quiet summer release week, standout releases like Boogie, Mega Man Star Force, and Impossible Mission could nevertheless warrant a trip to local retailers in both regions in the coming days. Dozens of new titles will be flooding Japan this week, on the other hand, with SD Gundam G Generation: Cross Drive and Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System pulling in big preorder numbers both from Japanese gamers and eager importers elsewhere. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending August 11th, 2007. Games Released in the United States:

EA's rhythm title Boogie emerges as this week's most anticipated title, garnering almost twice as much Mindshare as its nearest chart competitor. GamerMetrics reports that Boogie's observed amounts of awareness and purchase intent from IGN users largely mirror the levels of anticipation recorded for Cooking Mama: Cook Off prior to its release in March, and if these trends continue, Boogie is expected to sell upwards of 100,000 copies by the end of September. The PSP port of Tomb Raider: Anniversary is another of the week's more hotly anticipated titles, and Mega Man Star Force: Dragon stands out as the most popular of the impending Mega Man Star Force trio of releases. While these first entries in the Star Force subseries performed below expectations at Japanese retailers earlier this year, a sequel has already been announced, and could eventually find its way Stateside if this week's releases are a sales success. Games Released in Europe:

This week's sparse European lineup contains a number of unique curiosities and obscure titles. The PlayStation 2 RPG Falling Stars is not currently scheduled for release in any other region, and neither is Top Trumps: Dogs & Dinosaurs for the Nintendo DS. Meanwhile, the PlayStation 2 version of Impossible Mission will be the first remake of the classic computer title that Europe will see, despite the fact that DS and PSP versions were released in Australia in June. A Nintendo Wii version is also planned for release in both regions, though no announcement has been made as to whether any of these ports are U.S.-bound. Games Released in Japan:

Japan's release list once again trumps those of the U.S. and the UK this week, consisting of almost 30 titles spanning three platforms. According to Amazon.co.jp, the current biggest preorder seller of the bunch is SD Gundam G Generation: Cross Drive for the Nintendo DS, followed closely in popularity by the enhanced rerelease Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System, which offers a number of improvements over the version of Final Fantasy XII previously seen in the U.S. late last year. Fans of the RPG genre will also likely find interest in Wild ARMs: Crossfire, the first PSP entry in the popular Wild ARMs series. An English-language release has not been announced yet, however. Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber will hit U.S. shores next month, though, and this week's Japanese release appears to be a popular choice among those who enjoyed its predecessor title, DK: King of Swing on the Game Boy Advance. [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.]