Out This Week
Enslaved! Castlevania! PES 2011!
Welcome to the new and improved PAL Releases Roundup. You might have noticed it's not called PAL Releases Roundup any more (it was a bit dry, wasn't it?). Instead it's called... Out This Week. Boom.
Here we'll tell you what's out in shops on Friday. We'll also highlight downloadable games that are too good to miss, although we'll leave the minutiae of the online store updates for separate stories. Given how big and fiddly it's all become, it's better to give PlayStation Network and Xbox Live and the Nintendo Shop the space they deserve.
We've got a few new additions in Out This Week that will hopefully make it more entertaining than your average new releases list. First up are staff sales chart predictions - we'll take it in turns to predict the top five games in the following week's all-formats chart, and may compile the results into a league table after a while so you can separate the Pachters from the Mystic Megs.
We're also introducing Eurogamer's Game of the Week award. Expect that on Friday, with an appropriate level of world-ending excitement.
Finally, we're bunging in Eurogamer readers' most-wanted games. This is a nice little addition so everyone can see, on a weekly basis, the games getting you lot hottest under the collar.
That's it! We hope you like Out This Week. As always, we're keen on your feedback. So let us know what you think and we'll go from there. Oh, and have a stab at your own chart predictions. It's a lot of fun.
This Week In Shops!
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
- Developer: Ninja Theory
- Publisher: Namco Bandai
- Formats: PS3, Xbox 360
What is it? Action game loosely based on the ancient Chinese novel Journey to the West. What we think: Ellie loved it. "Enslaved is a solid, well-built offering which is a pleasure to play," she wrote. Check a video of the first 15 minutes below.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
- Developer: MercurySteam Entertainment
- Publisher: Konami
- Formats: PS3, Xbox 360
What is it? 3D reboot of classic 2D vampire action platformer. What we think: Christian Donlan awarded Castlevania an impressive 8/10, describing it as "a polished and enjoyable blast of musty Gothic action".
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
- Developer: Konami
- Publisher: Konami
- Formats: PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
What is it? Latest in Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka's annual football franchise. What we think: "PES fans can hold their heads high," Tom offered in his 7/10 review, "and fans of the beautiful game are on the road to being spoiled for choice again in light of this encouraging instalment."
What Else?
- Darksiders (THQ / PC)
- FIFA 11 (EA Sports / DSi and DS Lite)
- Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light (Square Enix / DSi and DS Lite)
- Front Mission Evolved (Square Enix / PS3, Xbox 360)
- Heavy Rain: Move Edition (Sony / PS3)
- NBA 2K11 (2K Games / PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
- NHL 2K11 (2K Sports / Wii)
- Sid Meier's: Pirates (2K Games / Wii)
- Wii Party (Nintendo / Wii)
- World Rally Championship 2010 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Chart Predictions!
Each week one of the team will step up to predict the UK all-formats chart. The following predicts the outcome for the week beginning Friday 8th October (to be reported on Monday 11th October).
Tom Bramwell, Editor
- FIFA 11
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
- Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
- F1 2010
- Wii Party
"I think PES will sell a lot but FIFA was one of the three biggest game launches of all time, and even if its sales dip considerably in week two it should do enough to stay on top. I've popped Enslaved there in hope rather than expectation, and Wii Party in expectation rather than hope. It would be nice to see Enslaved and Castlevania do well, or for Heavy Rain to suddenly turn into a phenomenon but that seems about as likely as a suntan at the moment."
Eurogamer Readers' Top 10 Most Wanted Games
- Gran Turismo 5 (Sony / PS3 / 3rd Nov 2010)
- Final Fantasy Versus XIII (Square Enic / PS3 / 2011)
- The Last Guardian (Sony / PS3 / Christmas 2011)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (Electronic Arts / PC / Q2 2011)
- Guild Wars 2 (NCSoft / PC / TBC)
- Fable III (Microsoft / Xbox 360 / 29th Oct 2010)
- Half-Life 2: Episode 3 (Valve / PC / TBC)
- Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks / PC, PS3, Xbox 360 / 22nd Oct 2010)
- Beyond Good & Evil 2 (Ubisoft / PS3, Xbox 360 / 2011)
- Aliens: Colonial Marines (Ubisoft / PC, PS3, Xbox 360 / 2011)