Release This: God of War PSP, Bully Arrive Stateside

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's worldwide lineup sees Bully: Scholarship Edition and Army of Two debuting across multiple platforms in North America and Europe. The U.S. will additionally receive the awaited action title God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP, along with a pair of MLB-licensed baseball sims from Sony and 2K Games. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending March 8th, 2008. Games Released in the United States: Many long-awaited titles are set to release across all platforms in the United States this week. God of War: Chains of Olympus in particular has been touted as the PlayStation Portable's most anticipated release of the year so far, and PSP hardware sales are likely to see a boost in the coming week as a result of the previously PS2-only series making its portable debut. Elsewhere, Sony's and 2K Sports' rival baseball sims Major League Baseball 2K8 and MLB 08: The Show compete across multiple platforms, as an upgraded version of Rockstar's Bully makes its way to the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Meanwhile, the Nintendo DS finds a busy lineup featuring a variety of casual and kid-friendly releases (along with the well-regarded roguelike Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer), as the PlayStation 2 receives a port of Konami's Silent Hill: Origins. Next week will mark the U.S. release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Nintendo Wii, as other platforms see Condemned 2, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. Games Released in Europe: EA's cooperation-based shooter Army of Two will debut in both the U.S. and the UK this week, arriving months after its originally scheduled release date due to reportedly significant gameplay tweaks. The UK will also see exclusive localizations of the DS rhythm title Kira Kira Pop Princess and Artdink's railway simulator A-Train HX for the Xbox 360 in the coming week, while the PSP receives the Europe-only puzzler Fading Shadows. Games Released in Japan: Among Japan's most prominent offerings this week are localizations of Guitar Hero III and Metroid Prime 3, both of which arrive several months after their initial Western release. Anticipation also runs high this week for Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!, a PS3 sequel to Sega's Yakuza franchise that takes place during Japan's Edo period, in contrast to the characteristic modern-day setting seen in Ryu ga Gotoku and its sequel. An overseas release for Kenzan! could be a ways off, however, given that a localization of Ryu ga Gotoku 2 (Yakuza 2) was only recently announced for U.S. release at an unknown future date.