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Shippin' Out November 13-19: PS3/Wii launch week

Two next-gen consoles debut this week, with a huge slate of games going on sale alongside them.

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When Sony launched the PlayStation 2 in October 2000, President Clinton was in office. When the GameCube went on sale in November 2001, the US had just gone to war in Afghanistan. Now, some six and five years later, respectively, both Sony and Nintendo are debuting their newest consoles in the US.

First up is the PlayStation 3, which goes on sale at midnight on Thursday, November 17. With a "target" of only 400,000 units being on hand at retail in North America, the console will likely prove elusive to most. This week, GameStop announced that it had overbooked sales of the console, meaning--as was the case with the Xbox 360 last year--many people who had preordered the PS3 would have to wait.

As far as games go, the company announced that 21 titles would be available "through the holidays," though that number was recently reduced to just 20 after The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was postponed until next year. Now, according to online retailers, some 15 games are slated to go on sale during the week of November 17, including Resistance: Fall of Man. (Two PS3 titles originally slated to ship last week, Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, are now listed as shipping this week.) The grand total of 16 games must be taken with a grain of salt, though, as, Sony or third-party publishers will still only confirm they have a "holiday" release date and online retailers are often wrong.

Meanwhile, demand for the Wii, which debuts on Sunday, November 19, is also steep, with Wal-Mart's and Amazon's online Wii preorder bundle rapidly selling out. Nintendo promises that the console will be in abundant supply, with some 4 million units available worldwide by year's end, versus Sony's estimate of 2 to 2.4 million PS3s.

Nintendo was cagey when it came to its Wii launch lineup, saying that around 30 titles would be available by year's end. The game giant has only named a trio of first-party games for day one: Excite Truck, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Wii Sports, which comes packed in with the console. According to retailers, though, some 21 Wii titles will hit stores on Sunday, including Red Steel and Call of Duty 3. (Another 30-odd classic NES, SNES, and N64 titles will also be available via the Wii's virtual console download service.) These titles are in addition to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, which most online retailers list as shipping this week.

For Xbox 360 owners unmotivated to buy a Wii or a PS3, the week offers 11 new titles for Microsoft's next-gen console, including Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 and WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007. A full list of games for the week is listed below. (Please note: Most dates are taken from online retailers and are subject to change.)

NOVEMBER 13, 2006
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Wii)
Blitz: The League (Xbox 360)
Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (Xbox 360)
EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer (PC)
Great Invasions (PC)
March of the Penguins (GBA)
Medieval 2: Total War (PC)
Model Train 3D (PC) Scions of Fate (PC)
Uno / Skip-Bo / Uno Freefall (DS)
Winx Club: The Quest for the Codex (GBA, DS)
World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer - All In (Xbox 360)
Yoshi's Island DS (DS)

NOVEMBER 14, 2006
Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (PC)
Asphalt: Urban GT 2 (DS, PSP)
Backyard Basketball 2007 (GBA)
Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses (PS2)
Bass Pro Shops: Trophy Bass 2007 (Xbox)
Battleground Europe: World War II Online (Macintosh)
Bionicle Heroes (Xbox 360, GC)
Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 (PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360)
Catz (PC)
Charlotte's Web (DS, PC, GBA )
Dark Age of Camelot: 5th Anniversary (PC)
Dogz (PC)
EA Replay (PSP)
Eragon (PS2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360, DS, GBA, PC)
Final Fantasy III (DS)
Gitaroo-Man Lives! (PSP)
GT Pro Series (Wii)
Happy Feet (Wii, PC, PS2, GC, DS, GBA)
Hard Rock Casino (PS2, PSP)
Heroes of Might and Magic V: Hammers of Fate (PC)
History Channel: Civil War (Xbox 360)
Horsez (PS2)
Madden NFL 07 (PS3)
Mashed: Drive to Survive (PS2)
My Frogger Toy Trials (DS)
Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles (PS2)
NFL Street 3 (PS2, PSP)
Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts (PSP, DS, GBA )
Platypus (PSP)
Pocket Racers (PSP)
Rayman Raving Rabbids (PC, PS2| Xbox, GC, DS, GBA, Wii )
Rampage: Total Destruction (Wii)
Shrek Smash and Crash (GBA, PS2)
SingStar (PS2)
SingStar Rocks! (PS2)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Xbox 360)
Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (GBA)
Spider-Man: Battle for New York (DS, GBA)
Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2 (DS)
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Wii)
Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 2 (DS)
Totally Spies! 2: Undercover (DS)
Tomb Raider: Legend (GBA, DS, GC)
Xiaolin Showdown (PSP, PS2, Xbox)
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 (Xbox 360, PS2)
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force (PSP)

NOVEMBER 15, 2006
Brain Boost: Beta Wave (DS)
Brain Boost: Gamma Wave (DS)
Heroes of Annihilated Empires (PC)
Mortal Kombat: Unchained (PSP)
Richard Burns Rally (Xbox)
Thrillville (PSP, Xbox, PS2)

NOVEMBER 16, 2006
Cars (Wii)
Horsez (PC)
Sega Genesis Collection (PSP)
Sonic Rivals (PSP)
Teddy Factory (PC)
Tonka On The Job (GBA)

NOVEMBER 17, 2006--DAY OF PLAYSTATION 3 LAUNCH
Call of Duty 3 (PS3)
Genji: Days of the Blade (PS3)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (PS3)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire (PS3)
NBA 07 (PS3)
NBA 2K7 (PS3)
Need for Speed Carbon (PS3)
NHL 2K7 (PS3)
Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)
Ridge Racer 7 (PS3)
Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (PS3)
Tony Hawk's Project 8 (PS3)
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (PS3)

NOVEMBER 19, 2006--DAY OF Wii LAUNCH
Big Bumpin' (Xbox 360, Xbox)
Call of Duty 3 (Wii)
Excite Truck (Wii)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Madden NFL 07 (Wii)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii)
Monster 4X4: World Circuit (Wii)
need for Speed: Carbon (Wii)
Pocketbike Racer (Xbox, Xbox 360)
Rapala Tournament Fishing (Wii)
Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii)
Red Steel (Wii)
Sneak King (Xbox 360, Xbox)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent (Wii)
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (Wii)
Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
Wii Channels (Wii)
Wii Sports (Wii)
World Series of Poker (Wii)

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