Motioning you over into a dank and shadowy corner, GamerSquad conspiratorially leans into your proffered ear and whispers words of release not heard for many moons throughout the parched and seemingly barren gaming world.

What are those words? Well, it’s probably wise to avoid spilling into a tirade of joyous expletives, but let’s just say that the long-awaited arrival of a certain watery FPS truly marks the end of the summer and the beginning of an extremely high-quality end of year run in…

…which starts this week with BioShock, of course, on Xbox 360 and PC (catch the unprecedented review feedback HERE).

However, when it comes to decent next-gen titles, this week isn’t merely a point of focus for Irrational and 2K Games’ underwater epic. No, not at all. Indeed, other notable releases slamming onto retail shelves include Brunswick Pro Bowling and Dave Mirra BMX Challenge for the Nintendo Wii. Xbox 360 owners can grab themselves a Blue Dragon while also getting to grips with the breakneck speed of Moto GP 07.

Sadly, the PlayStation 3 is still lagging somewhat as the poor release trend starts to show signs of being well and truly bucked. Sony’s machine can only offer up the long-awaited port of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 to tempt those holding fast to the promise of undeniably barnstorming software.

Possible slippage may well (again) befall Two Worlds for the Xbox 360 and PC and also Combat Mission: Shock Force for the PC – both of which have been slipping down the release schedule for weeks now.

North American new releases:

Monday August 20

Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (Nintendo DS)

Rider’s World: Competition (PC)

Super Metroid (Wii VC)

Tuesday August 21

BioShock (Xbox 360, PC)

Brunswick Pro Bowling (Nintendo Wii, PSP, PS2)

Combat Mission: Shock Force (PC)

Dave Mirra BMX Challenge (Nintendo Wii)

Destination: Treasure Island (PC)

Dragoneer’s Aria (PSP)

I Spy Fun House (Nintendo DS)

Jeanne D’Arc (PSP)

MetropolisMania 2 (PlayStation 2)

Panzer Killer (PC)

Real World Golf 2007 (PS2, PC)

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (PS3, PSP)

The Settlers (Nintendo DS)

Turn It Around (Nintendo DS)

Two Worlds (Xbox 360, PC)

European new releases:

Friday August 24

Anno 1701 (Nintendo DS)

BioShock (Xbox 360, PC)

Blue Dragon (Xbox 360)

Bob the Builder with Eye Toy Camera (PlayStation 2)

Chicken Little: Ace in Action (Nintendo Wii)

Loki: Collector’s Edition (PC)

Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, PSP, DS, PS2,)

Moto GP 07 (Xbox 360)

NASCAR 08: Chase for the Cup (PlayStation 2)

Pac-Man World Rally (PSP)

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (PC)

UFO Trilogy (PC)