Game Releases - Week of October 18th, 2004

This week sees a slight slowing of releases, ahead of next week's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas behemoth, but there are still a significant range of medium-sized titles in both the U.S. and Europe, with only a couple of notable releases over in Japan. -- Games released in the United States: PlayStation 2: Time Crisis: Crisis Zone, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Neo Contra, Scaler, Ape Escape: Pumped and Primed, Nicktoons Movin' Xbox: Outlaw Golf 2, Otogi 2, Men Of Valor, Scaler GameCube: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 PC: Lineage II DVD CE, Castle Strike, Atlantis Evolution, PlanetSide Aftershock, Law & Order 3, Colin McRae Rally 2005, Hidden & Dangerous Sabre Squad, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Combat Over Europe: Forgotten Battles Game Boy Advance: Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Lizzie McGuire 2, Tron 2.0 This week sees a good spread of titles over all consoles, with everything from cultish PlayStation 2 shooters such as Neo Contra to critically panned titles such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. In general, though, the release list tends much more toward the 'unique' (including solar-affected GBA game Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django, and EyeToy budget PS2 title Nicktoons Movin'), rather than major blockbuster games. -- Games released in Europe: PlayStation 2: LMA Manager 2005, SEGA SuperStars, U Move Super Sports, Under the Skin, Vietcong: Purple Haze, World Rally Championship 4, X-Men Legends Xbox: Future Tactics: The Uprising, LMA Manager 2005, Vietcong: Purple Haze, X-Men Legends GameCube: Future Tactics: The Uprising, X-Men Legends PC: LMA Professional Manager 2005, Pacific Fighters, Sacred Plus, Scrabble 2005, Total Club Manager 2005, Trivial Pursuit Unhinged, Wings of Power Game Boy Advance: Finding Nemo/Monsters Inc. Europe has a fair smattering of interesting new titles too this week, with major already-U.S.-released games such as X-Men Legends twinning with European-aimed titles such as Sony Europe's World Rally Championship 4. Also worth noting are even more PS2 camera-compatible games in EyeToy-crazy Europe (SEGA SuperStars, U Move Super Sports). -- Games released in Japan: PlayStation 2: Ace Combat V: The Unsung War, The Nightmare Before Christmas, La Pucelle Hikari no Seijyo Densetsu Nijuu Game Boy Advance: F-Zero Climax A relatively small amount of releases nonetheless showcase some important titles in Japan, with Namco's Ace Combat V likely to be popular with the arcade sim-hungry Japanese market, and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas getting a PlayStation 2 game adaptation courtesy of Capcom, following its integration into Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series. Nintendo also debuts the latest in the F-Zero franchise for Game Boy Advance, including a track editor for hardcore fans of Captain Falcon. Sources: NCSX, Play Asia, GAME, EB Games