In October, Activision's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock gave the performance of its life, racking up more than $115 million in first-week sales and accounting for four of the top 10 best-seller slots for October. This week, MTV Games and Harmonix will hit their opening chord in the Battle of the Bands with Rock Band on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. (A PlayStation 2 version is due out December 18.) In addition to toy guitars, Rock Band amps the rock-centric rhythm game action to...12...with a drum kit and mic and will retail stand-alone for $59.99 and in bundle form for $169. Rock Band's set list includes 58 songs from the likes of the Rolling Stones, Metallica, and Nirvana, with additional downloadable content slated to arrive day and date with the retail package.

　　Platform exclusivity is the name of the game this week, with nearly every system receiving its own hotly anticipated game. Fresh off its bout of legal wrangling in Singapore due to a steamy alien-on-alien love scene, BioWare's sci-fi space opera Mass Effect arrives for the Xbox 360. Naughty Dog's Indiana Jones-inspired action adventure Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Namco Bandai's light-gun shooter Time Crisis 4 arrive on the PS3. While it's uncertain whether its PS3 counterpart will arrive before the end of the year, Epic Games' gladiatorial shooter Unreal Tournament III arrives a day before the November 20 salvo for the PC.

　　Retailers are arming themselves with the Wii Zapper this week, and in addition to the packed-in Link's Crossbow Training, Sega is shooting up the Wii arcade-style with Ghost Squad. Atlus hits the siren on Trauma Center: New Blood, while Namco Bandai eschews mano-a-mano brawling for action adventure gameplay in Soulcalibur Legends. The Nintendo DS also gets in on the action this week, with already-a-hit-in-Japan Mario Party DS arriving for the portable, while the world of Ivalice expands with Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.

　　Chair Entertainment's Unreal Engine 3-powered downloadable title Undertow exerts its pull on Xbox Live this Wednesday. The underwater shooter features single- and multiplayer modes, as well as 16-player online action, and can be purchased for 800 Microsoft points ($10). In addition to working the pipes as a plumber and saving the Mushroom Kingdom as a superhero, Mario moonlights as a demolitions expert in Wrecking Crew (500 Wii points, $5) for the Wii Virtual Console. Also appearing on the Wii VC this week is Sonic 3D Blast (800 Wii points, $8) and Super Air Zonk (800 Wii points, $8).

　　This week's new releases are listed below (list taken from retailer information--actual dates may vary).

　　 NOVEMBER 19, 2007

　　Avatar: The Last Airbender -- The Burning Earth (X360)

　　Baby Luv (PC)

　　College Hoops 2K8 (PS3, PS2, X360)

　　CSI: Dark Motives (DS)

　　Eschalon: Book I (PC)

　　Link's Crossbow Training (Wii)

　　Mario Party DS (DS)

　　Medal of Honor: Airborne (PS3)

　　Sega Rally Revo (PC)

　　Sonic 3D Blast (Wii VC)

　　Super Air Zonk (Wii VC)

　　Time Crisis 4 (PS3)

　　TimeShift (PS3)

　　Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)

　　Unreal Tournament 3 (PC)

　　Wrecking Crew (Wii VC)

　　 NOVEMBER 20, 2007

　　7 Wonders of the Ancient World (PS2)

　　AMF Bowling Pinbusters! (Wii)

　　Cabela's Monster Bass (PS2)

　　Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess (X360, PS2, PC)

　　Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)

　　Geometry Wars: Galaxies (Wii)

　　Ghost Squad (Wii)

　　Godzilla Unleashed (PS2)

　　Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash (DS)

　　History Channel: Battle for the Pacific (PS2, PC)

　　Indoor Sports (Wii)

　　John Deere: Harvest in the Heartland (DS)

　　Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PC)

　　Luxor: Pharaoh's Challenge (PS2)

　　Mass Effect (X360)

　　Monster Jam (Wii)

　　Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus (X360, PS2, PC)

　　Rock Band (PS3, X360)

　　Showtime Championship Boxing (Wii)

　　Soulcalibur Legends (Wii)

　　Star Trek: Conquest (PS2, Wii)

　　Strawberry Shortcake: The Four Seasons Cake (DS)

　　Swashbucklers: Blue & Grey (PS2)

　　The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles (PS3)

　　Trauma Center: New Blood (Wii)

　　 NOVEMBER 21, 2007

　　Incursion (PC)

　　Soldier of Fortune: Payback (PS3)

　　Undertow (XBL)

　　 NOVEMBER 22, 2007

　　No releases announced.

　　 NOVEMBER 23, 2007

　　Black College Football Experience (PC)

　　Fire Pro Wrestling Returns (PS2)

　　Petz: Hamsterz 2 (DS)

　　Petz: Dogz 2 (PS2)

　　The King of Fighters XI (PS2)