Release This: God Racer 2: Hammy Goes Nuts

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. New releases heat up once again after a disappointing showing last week from all regions, with several major titles scheduled to make their debut in the coming days. God Hand, Scarface: The World is Yours, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade will be a few of the games to hit the United States this week, while Europe and Japan will soon receive hotly anticipated titles like Ridge Racer 2 and Final Fantasy V Advance. The following list covers all of the game software we know to be available -- across all platforms and regions -- for the week ending October 14, 2006. Games Released in the United States: A variety of noteworthy titles will see release in the United States this week -- a noticeable improvement over last week's somewhat limp release lineup. Chief among these include a localization of Capcom's action-comedy epic God Hand, along with the multiplatform release of the GTA-like Scarface: The World is Yours. In addition, the latest in the perennial Mortal Kombat franchise, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon makes an appearance. RPG enthusiasts in the United States also have a lot to look forward to in the coming days. On the console front, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner and Tales of the Abyss for the PS2 are bound to suck up many hours of playtime, while PC gamers are awaiting the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade, an expansion pack for the popular 2004 RTS title Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. Games Released in Europe: While not offering as robust a selection as the United States, Europe's release list shares many of the same big names debuting in the U.S. this week, and even offers a few region-exclusive titles as well. The EyeToy-compatible PS2 title EyeToy Lemmings, for example, has not yet received a U.S. release date, and neither has the formerly Japan-exclusive PSP port of Myst. The same goes for the PSP's Ridge Racer 2, which will debut in Europe at the end of the week. No indication of a future U.S. release has yet been issued, however. An American version seems likely, considering that the original Ridge Racer was among the PSP's most popular launch titles, but for Europe to see an exclusive localized version so soon after its Japanese debut is unusual nonetheless. Games Released in Japan: The big news in Japan this week is Final Fantasy V Advance, an upgraded port of a Super Famicom RPG originally released in 1992. This does not represent the first port the game has seen since its initial release -- a PlayStation version debuted in Japan in 1998, and was included in the U.S.-released compilation Final Fantasy Anthology in 1999 -- but Final Fantasy V Advance is said to include a number of new features and challenges not present in any other version, and should bring in big sales from Final Fantasy fans worldwide. Final Fantasy V Advance was also the best-scoring title among the latest batch of titles reviewed by Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, earning a rating of 32 out of 40. Rockstar Games' Table Tennis followed close behind at 30/40, and Driver: Parallel Lines and MotoGP '06 tie for third place with 29/40 each. The week may not see many new titles debuting in Japan, but according to Famitsu, Japanese gamers can be assured that the few games seeing release are generally of high quality.