Release This! Ace Attorneys, Euro Heroes, Goth Lolitas

The worldwide game releases for the week starting October 9th represent the eye of the game-release hurricane, with quiet weeks in the U.S. and Japan. In the U.S., it's a good time to be a portable gamer, while Marvel Comics fans get their day in Europe and Japan celebrates its subculture of gothic Lolitas with an extra-special DS game. Games Released in the United States: Game Boy Advance: Backyard Skateboarding 2006, Hello Kitty: Happy Party Pals, Nightmare Before Christmas: Pumpkin King, Teen Titans, Backyard Football 2006, Madagascar: Operation Penguin, Ultimate Arcade Games GameCube: Codename: Kids Next Door, SSX On Tour, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger: Night of the Quinkan, Zatch Bell Nintendo DS: Zoo Tycoon, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney PC: Serious Sam II, Bratz Rock Angels, Caterpillar Construction Tycoon, Chuzzle, Evergirl, Hoyle Slot Games, Marine Park Empires, Medieval Lords, SPLAT Magazine Renegade Paintball, Cross Racing Championship, Diner Dash, Joint Operations: Combined Arms, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera Pants!, Wild Life, Worms 4: Mayhem, WWII Tank Commander, PlayStation 2: L.A. Rush, Codename: Kids Next Door, Devil Kings, Jampack Volume 13, NCAA March Madness 06, Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge, Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song, SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy Seals, SSX On Tour, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger: Night of the Quinkan, Zatch Bell PlayStation Portable: FIFA Soccer 06, Gretzky NHL 06, SSX On Tour, Xbox: L.A. Rush, Serious Sam II, NCAA March Madness 06, SPLAT Magazine Renegade Paintball, SSX On Tour, Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge It's a pretty quiet week for the fall season in the U.S., with not as many big-name games as usual. EA Sports and EA Sports Big have the week mostly to themselves, as they release several games for several platforms: the biggest one is SSX On Tour for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, and PSP, but they've also got FIFA 06 and Gretzky 06 on PSP, as well as NCAA March Madness on a couple platforms. Plucky smaller titles of interest are Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney on DS, Devil Kings for PS2, and Akitoshi Kawazu's little-awaited return with Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song. Games Released in Europe: Game Boy Advance: Bratz Rock Angels, Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2005 Season, Driv3r, Power Rangers Space Force Delta, Ultimate Spider-Man GameCube: Bratz Rock Angels, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, Ultimate Spider-Man, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Nintendo DS: Ultimate Spider-Man, PC: Blitzkrieg II, Bratz Rock Angels, Lineage II Chronicle 3, Serious Sam II, Taito Legends, Ultimate Spider-Man, Wings Over Vietnam, World War Zero, WWII Tank Commander, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse PlayStation 2: Bratz Rock Angels, London Racer Destruction Madness, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, Metal Slug 4, Midway Arcade Treasures 3, SpyToy, Stuart Little 3: Big Photo Adventure, Taito Legends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Melee, Ultimate Spider-Man, Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse PlayStation Portable: ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Xbox: Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt, BloodRayne II, Metal Slug 4, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, Midway Arcade Treasures 3, Raze's Hell, Serious Sam II, Taito Legends, Ultimate Spider-Man, Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse Just as mid-September was in the U.S., the UK gets the unofficial Marvel Comics Week at retail, as Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, and X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse are all released overseas. Other multiplatform "notables" are Bratz Rock Angels, and the somewhat more respectable Taito Legends compilation. Games Released in Japan: Game Boy Advance: Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters: GX Mezase Duel Ranking Nintendo DS: Londonian Gothics: Meikyuu no Lolita PlayStation 2: Code Age Commanders, Critical Velocity, Rasetsu Alternative Slim pickings in Japan this week, but Square Enix's Code Age Commanders, another one of its "polymorphic content" properties, hits PlayStation 2. Also of note Londonian Gothics, a random dungeon game for DS with a twist: not only does it star a cast of Victorian-era adventurers, it's focused on dressing up the heroine in the frilliest of fashions rather than saving the world.