Release This!: Week Ending February 24, 2006

Gamasutra's regularly weekly round-up of worldwide video game releases sees a good variety of titles available this week across all territories. The United States sees the highly anticipated Fight Night Round 3 and the latest game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, Sonic Riders (released simultaneously in Japan), and Europe gets an early look at EA's first-person shooter, Black. There's also a truckload of new PS2 software in both Europe and Japan this week, including the European debut of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, and Taito arcade port Ibara in Japan. Games Released in the United States: Game Boy Advance: Yu-Gi-Oh! Double Pack Nintendo DS: Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll Gamecube: Sonic Riders PlayStation 2: Fight Night Round 3, MS Saga: A New Dawn, Sonic Riders, TOCA Race Driver 3 PlayStation Portable: Fight Night Round 3 Xbox: Fight Night Round 3, Sonic Riders, TOCA Race Driver 3 Xbox 360: Fight Night Round 3 PC: EverQuest: Prophecy of Ro, EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky, RF Online, Tycoon City: New York The big news here is EA's boxing sim, Fight Night Round 3, the Xbox 360 incarnation in particular garnering a lot of media buzz for its impressive graphics. The cross-platform Sonic Riders is a racing game starring the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise characters, and focuses more on simplistic arcade gameplay than serious racing. Tycoon City: New York is a city-building sim, developed by Beach Life and Monopoly Tycoon creators Deep Red Games, for Atari. Games Released in Europe: Game Boy Advance: Trollz: Hair Affair Nintendo DS: Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble PlayStation 2: Black, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Ford Street Racing, Project Zero 3: The Tormented, Suikoden Tactics, The Sword of Etheria, TOCA Race Driver 3, Trapt, The Ultimate Trivia Quiz PlayStation Portable: Armored Core: Formula Front - Extreme Battle, Koloomn, Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play, World Series of Poker Xbox: America's Army: Rise of a Soldier, Black, Ford Street Racing, TOCA Race Driver 3 PC: Crashday, Ford Street Racing, Lula 3D, RF Online, TOCA Race Driver 3, Tycoon City: New York The high profile release in Europe this week is Black, Electronic Arts' attempt at a new First-Person Shooter franchise. Also notable and bizarre this week is the European release of America's Army: Rise of a Soldier for the Xbox. Don't ask us what The Ultimate Trivia Quiz for the PS2 is, we have no idea. Games Released in Japan: Game Boy Advance: Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters Expert 2006, Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2006 Nintendo DS: Sangokushi DS Gamecube: Baten Kaitos II, Sonic Riders PlayStation 2: Clannad, Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Full House Kiss 2, Genso Suikoden V, Ibara, Makai Senki Disgaea 2, Metal Wolf REV, Samurai Champloo, Sega Ages Vol. 22: Advanced Daisenryaku, Sega Ages Vol. 25: Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box , Sengoku Musou 2, Separate Hearts, Sonic Riders, Zero Shikikan Josentoki Ni PlayStation Portable: Gamble Con Fight, Gensou Suikoden I + II, Initial D: Street Stage, Kinnikuman: Muscle Generations, Mai-Hime Bakuretsu!, Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner, Namco Museum 2, Ooedo Senryoubako Quite a variety in Japan this week, with the big news being the cross-platform release of Sonic Heroes. Surprisingly enough, an Xbox SKU was set for release in Japan, which would have made it the first new Xbox game in Japan in several months, but we can't find any evidence to suggest that it managed to actually ship. Also of note in Japan this week: Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box, a PlayStation 2 collection of three classic Mega Drive games by cult-inspiring action developer Treasure.