Game Releases - Week Of October 25th, 2004

Author: by Andrew Wilson, Simon Carless

While this week could easily be summarized in one word, at least in the U.S. and Europe: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the shipping schedule is, in fact, packed with diverse titles across all regions. Overall, North America sees another flood of games, with Europe not too far behind, and Japan also seeing a significant increase from last week's totals. -- Game releases in the United States:
PlayStation 2: Ace Combat 5, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum, Nightmare Of Druaga, The Bard's Tale, Taiko Drum Master, SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie, The Incredibles Xbox: Outlaw Golf 2, OutRun 2, Chessmaster, Ultra Bust-A-Move, Bicycle Casino '05, The Bard's Tale, Dead Or Alive Ultimate, SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie, The Incredibles GameCube: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie, The Incredibles PC: Star Wars Galaxies: Jump To Lightspeed, Hidden & Dangerous Sabre Squadron, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Men Of Valor, Texas Hold 'Em, NBA Live 2005, Pacific Fighters, SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie, Mysterious Island, Shade: Wrath Of Angels, The Incredibles, Grand Theft Auto Classic, School Tycoon, Ski Resort Extreme, Shrek 2 Action Team Game Boy Advance: Classic NES Metroid, Classic NES Zelda II, Classic NES Dr. Mario, Shrek 2: Beg For Mercy, Yu-Gi-Oh! Destiny Board Traveler, Animal Snap, Classic NES Castlevania, SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie, The Incredibles In an increase over last week as far as sheer number of titles shipped, while the PlayStation 2 behemoth GTA: San Andreas dominates the news, there are also some retro handheld highlights, since this week sees the U.S. debut of the second Classic NES series of Game Boy Advance games, including Metroid and Castlevania. Elsewhere, Tecmo continues its Xbox fighting franchise exclusivity with the online-enabled Dead Or Alive Ultimate, LucasArts and Sony Online take off into space with the Star Wars Galaxies PC MMO expansion pack, Jump To Lightspeed, and Namco bring quirky drumming action to the States with PS2 title Taiko Drum Master. -- Game releases in Europe
PlayStation 2: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Driven To Destruction, Ford Racing 3, Midway Arcade Treasures 2, NBA Live 2005, Powerdrome, Sly 2: Band Of Thieves, Total Club Manager 2005, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005, Trivial Pursuit Unhinged Xbox: Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders, Midway Arcade Treasures 2, NBA Live 2005, Powerdrome, Total Club Manager 2005, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection GameCube: NBA Live 2005 PC: Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, Medieval Lords, Mortyr 2, Shopping Centre Tycoon, Total Club Manager 2005, VFR Terrain A somewhat modest line-up compared to the U.S. market, the European market’s largest release is, naturally, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. However, this week will see the European release of noteworthy titles including Phantagram's good-looking Xbox action strategy title Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders, as well as the multi-platform release of the retro compilation Midway Arcade Treasures 2, and the Xbox SKU of Capcom's Street Fighter Collection. -- Game releases in Japan
PlayStation 2: Apocripha 0, Armored Core Ninebreaker, Ever 17 Out of Infinity, King Of Fighters 2003, Kita He: Diamond Dust, Kita He: Diamond Dust + Kiss is Beginning, Pride of the Dragon Peace, Sentimental Prelude, Stella Deus Xbox: Psyvariar Extended Edition, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection GameCube: Mario Tennis Game Boy Advance: Moero! Jaleco Collection, Ochainu Kururin, Fruits Mura no Doubutsu Tachi Dreamcast: Baldr Force EXE A surprisingly full-featured Japanese release list for this week includes the latest in From Software's Armored Core PS2 franchise, the good-looking Atlus SRPG Stella Deus, some hardcore gamer-oriented Xbox titles, the continuation of the evergreen Mario Tennis series for GameCube, and even an extremely rare Dreamcast game, the steampunk-influenced adventure shooter Baldr Force EXE. Sources: NCSX, Play Asia, GAME, EB Games