Empire releases Jackass into the busy Christmas market next Friday – but is confident that the mass-appeal title will hit a top five spot in the chart despite some tough competition.

A new DS version of the game has been added to the publisher’s release roster for Q1 2008, showing the publisher’s faith in the franchise.

Next Friday’s PSP and PS2 version will retail for £29.99 each – and Xplosiv general manager James Spice believes that the titles can attract the attention of mass market consumers, despite the congestion of the pre-Christmas release window.

“The nature of the stunts and the sort of things these guys get up to means that it’s pretty much the perfect fit for a game,” Spice told MCV.

“This is a really big release for Empire and we're putting a lot of support behind the title. It will obviously appeal to young males, and the strength of the licence will attract fans of the movies and series. But, it’s also just a terrific fit for PSP. We expect it to be a top five title on both formats going in to Christmas. ”

The title includes the voices of the Jackass stars including Johnny, Steve O and Wee Man, as well as an editor that allows gamers to take control of the Jackass characters to ‘produce and upload your own episode’.

Other titles on the way from the publisher include Nintendogs-style DS release Animal Paradise and the latest iteration of the publisher’s successful International Cricket Captain.