TOKYO, Oct 7 — If you don’t know what to buy the gamer in your life this holiday season, console yourself. Nielsen has been busy crunching the data, monitoring the buzz and checking pre-orders to compile a list of the most wanted and eagerly anticipated titles scheduled for a US release before the end of the year.

Its results, which are split into multi-platform and platform exclusive releases and include the opinions of more than 4,800 gamers, put “Call of Duty: Black Ops III” at the very top with an anticipation ranking of 98 per cent across all platforms, be it Xbox One, PS4 or PC.

The latest addition to Activision’s popular shooter series is closely followed by more sequels and franchise extensions. RPG title “Fallout 4” is tied in a very close second place (a 95 per cent rating) with “Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate,” an action and adventure series that is getting a huge publicity shot in the arm thanks to its current big-budget adaptation into a blockbuster movie with Michael Fassbender.

Film tie-ins are certainly helping to build up the hype around upcoming releases. Electronic Arts’ “Star Wars: Battlefront” is in fifth place in the multiplatform charts with an anticipation rating of 88 per cent just behind “Need for Speed” in fourth place with 92 per cent.

As for console-specific titles, Xbox One owners are more excited about the launch of “Halo 5: Guardians” than any other dedicated title. The original Halo sci-fi shooter helped establish the Xbox’s gaming credentials when Microsoft decided to enter the console market, and with a 100 per cent anticipation rating, the latest instalment of the series is clearly the must-have game this holiday season for Xbox owners.

Despite being a more popular console in terms of units sold, PS4 owners aren’t quite as excited about upcoming exclusives. According to Nielsen, “Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection” is currently creating the biggest stir (79 per cent), while for Nintendo Wii U owners, it’s “Yoshi’s Woolly World” (91 per cent) that is the most eagerly anticipated release.

Nielsen’s charts only include games scheduled for launch in the US between October 1 and December 31 that score an anticipation rating of 70 per cent or more, and so, when it comes to PC gamers, only two platform-exclusive titles have made the cut — strategy game “StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void” with a 91 per cent rating, and literal empire building “Anno 2205,” which scores 75 per cent. — AFP-Relaxnews