Release This: Madden NFL 09 Kicks Off in North America and UK

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. This week will see the U.S. and UK premiere of Madden NFL 09. EA's awaited football sim sequel joins Line Rider 2: Unbound and Bangai-O Spirits in North America, as Summer Athletics and Table Football debut in Europe. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending August 16th, 2008. Games Released in the United States:

This week marks the multiplatform debut of Madden NFL 09, which includes an exclusive casual-oriented "All-Play" version for the Nintendo Wii. Madden NFL 09 is also slated to see a port for the original Xbox, and will likely mark the console's final worldwide release after several months of inactivity. Madden also represents one of only two home console games premiering in the U.S. this week, along with Line Rider 2: Unbound. Line Rider 2 will also see a port for the Nintendo DS, which hosts numerous other titles this week, including the Treasure-developed shooter Bangai-O Spirits, dungeon crawler Mazes of Fate DS, and action-puzzler N+. Next week will bring the release of Silicon Knights' Too Human on the Xbox 360, along with Rebel Raiders: Operation Nighthawk for the Wii and Two Worlds: Epic Edition on PC platforms. Games Released in Europe:

Madden NFL 09 also finds its way to all consoles in Europe this week, meeting with other debuting multiplatform offerings like Hellboy: Science of Evil and Summer Athletics. The UK will additionally see a number of region-exclusive releases this week, including The Woodleys Summer Sports for the Nintendo DS and Table Football for the Wii. Games Released in Japan:

A limited release lineup awaits gamers in Japan this week, with the adventure title Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka: Parareru premiering as the week's only console release, while Crazy Taxi: Double Punch and two new entries in the Memories Off visual novel series debut on the PSP. Next week is expected to see a similar lack of new titles, though the region's release schedule is set to resume normal activity by the end of the month.