WHATS NEW November 7th 08

In what is definitely the strongest week of new releases since MCV started doing this regular column, gamers and retail alike have an embarrassment of riches to look forward to this week – and they don’t even have to wait until Friday.

That, of course, is thanks to the slightly delayed LittleBigPlanet. It may nearly two weeks behind schedule, but Sony’s creative platformer will certainly be aiming for the top of the charts.

But despite an extra couple of days on the market, Media Molecule’s title will have its work cut out to better Microsoft’s Gears of Wars 2, which finally arrives at European retail this Friday.

However, it could be argues that calling this week a two horse race is unfair, owing to the quality of some other releases also heading for retail. Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s EndWar is certain to perform strongly, though maybe a more likely outside contender for the top spot is Activision-Blizzard’s Guitar Hero: World Tour.

It would also be unwise to write off WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009, though it’s unlikely to upset THQ too much if it doesn’t grab the stop spot as it will more likely than not still be in the charts upon the release of the 2010 version this time next year.

Sony’s MotorStorm 2 should have a strong week one, whilst Nintendo’s DS hit Professor Layton and the Curious Village may not wow so much from the off but is likely to carry on Nintendo’s ‘long retail tail’ success.

Disney also hits retail with all guns blazing with no less than three titles that each stand to do well – High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE, Disney Sing It and SingStar Singalong with Disney.

Other titles to keep an eye out for include the PSP version of Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, Nintendo’s Trauma Centre: New Blood, Atari’s FPS Legendary, Square Enix’s rogue-like Wii outing Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon, Ubisoft’s Wii curiosity Hell’s Kitchen (YES?) and Warner’s Guinness World Records: The Video Game.

Full Release Schedule for November 7th (taken from MCV’s constantly updated online release schedule):

LittleBigPlanet (PS3) – Sony
Gears of War 2 (360) – Microsoft
Tom Clancy’s End War (PS3, 360) – Ubisoft
Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii, PS3, PS2, 360) – Activision Blizzard
Motorstorm 2: Pacific Rift (PS3) – Sony
WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009 (360, PS2, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP) – THQ
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS) – Nintendo
High School Musical 3: Senior Year DANCE (PS2) – Disney Interactive
Disney Sing it! (Wii, PS3, PS2, 360) – Disney Interactive
SingStar Singalong with Disney (PS2) – Sony
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (PSP) – Konami
Trauma Centre: New Blood (Wii) – Nintendo
Legendary: The Box (PS3) – Atari
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon (Wii) – Square Enix
Hell’s Kitchen (Wii) – Ubisoft
Guinness World Records: The Video Game (Wii) – Warner Games
Exit DS (DS) – Square Enix
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (PS3) – Atari
More Touchmaster (DS) – Midway

Are you smarter than a 10 year old? (DS) – Mindscape
Barnyard Blast (PSP) – Zoo Digital
Blended (DS) – 505 Games
Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason (PC) – 505 Games
Equestrian Training Stage 1 to 4 (DS) – Atari
Hello Baby! (DS) – 505 Games
Hello Pocoyo (DS) – V.2 Play
I did it Mum! (DS) – 505 Games
Margot’s Word Brain (DS, PC, PS2) – Zoo Digital
Men of War (PC) – 505 Games
Pass the Pig (DS) – THQ
Sacred 2 (360, PS3, PC) – Deep Silver
Twin Strike: Operation Thunder (Wii) – Zoo Digital
Vertigo (PC, Wii) – Playlogic
Voyager (PC) – Just Flight