With week after week of lacklustre software releases on pretty much every applicable format, it would appear the only thing worth playing is the waiting game. So, another seven days roll along, another seven days are chipped off the block of time sitting between now and the virtual tsunami of top-tier titles that are set to cascade around us come the end of the summer… damn, it’s taking too long.

So, with summer month frustration still ringing in our ears, and a recent, mouth agog, gamplay session of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End still sending bile-induced shockwaves of disgust across our assaulted gullets, we present you this week’s new release rundown.

Unsurprisingly, the PS3 is largely a non-starter (again), with only Calling All Cars hitting European shores and a big fat nada arriving in the US. From an Xbox 360 point of view, US players can look forward to Colin McRae: DiRT and Band of Bugs, while EU gamers can grab the likes of Midway’s shooter Hour of Victory or FlatOut Ultimate Challenge.

The Wii is fairly well represented this week, with the likes of Mario Party 8 (EU) and Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (US) landing amid a crowd of interesting Virtual Console releases.

As per usual, however, it’s left to the handheld and PC platforms to make up the numbers with offerings such as Hot Brain, Puzzle Scape, and Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground on the US PSP, while the EU DS has Kirby Mouse Attack and Metroid Prime Pinball, and the PC gets Blitzkrieg Strategy Pack and Arena Wars Reloaded.

New releases for week ending June 22

North American new releases:

Monday June 18

Blitzkrieg Strategy Pack (PC)

Bloody Wolf (Nintendo Wii VC)

Hot Brain (PSP)

NES Open Tournament Golf (Nintendo Wii VC)

PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient (PSP)

Puzzle Scape (PSP)

World Sports Competition (Nintendo Wii VC)

Zendoku (Nintendo DS)

Tuesday June 19

Brothers in Arms DS (Nintendo DS)

Colin McRae: DiRT (Xbox 360, PC)

Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground (PSP)

Hard Truck: Apocalypse – Rise of Clans (PC)

Resident Evil IV: Wii Edition (Nintendo Wii)

SimCity DS (Nintendo DS)

The Sims: Pet Stories (PC)

Transformers: The Game (PSP)

Transformers: Autobots (Nintendo DS)

Transformers: Decepticons (Nintendo DS)

Wednesday June 20

Band of Bugs (Xbox 360)

Pro Cycling Manager/Tour de France 2007 (PSP, PC)

Friday June 22

Arena Wars Reloaded (PC)

Model Train 3D (PC)

European new releases:

Friday June 22

Calling All Cars (PlayStation 3)

FlatOut Ultimate Challenge (Xbox 360)

Hot Pixel (PSP)

Hour of Victory (Xbox 360)

Kirby Mouse Attack (Nintendo DS)

Mario Party 8 (Nintendo Wii)

Metroid Prime Pinball (Nintendo DS)

Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia (Xbox 360, PC)

Pac-Man Rally (PSP)

SEGA presents Touch Darts (Nintendo DS)