TeamXbox writes: "
As far as sports games go, Olympics-style ones don't usually register much with serious gamers. Sure, old school game heads will always reference Summer Games on the PC or the classic Track and Field from the arcades (and one of my personal favorites on XBLA). But other than that, Olympics-themed games are rarely more than a cheap budget title with uncomplex gameplay, pushed out the door every four years to capitalize on the current Olympic fervor. And to an extent, Beijing 2008 is that – an officially licensed game meant to stoke the Olympic flame – but as far as production values and amount of events included, Beijing 2008 is definitely going for the gold.
The real Olympic Summer Games will begin on August 8th of this year (8/8/08) at 08:08:08 PM, Chinese Standard Time. Man, I sure hope 8 is a lucky number in Chinese numerology. SEGA will be releasing the video game version a little bit earlier so you can get your warm up on. Featuring thirty-six different events in all (plus Decathlon and Heptathlon which are collections of events for a total of thirty-eight), Beijing 2008 has got more action than any other Olympic game that we've ever seen. Not only is there a huge variety of events, but each plays completely differently and features its own unique gameplay mechanic."
Amazon have released their video game deal of the day for Thursday.
Nominations for Develop Industry Excellence Awards are unveiled, and two developers are likely to walk away with most of them.
Rockstar and Media Molecule will be contesting for the most category nominations. Rockstar snags six of them with GTA: Chinatown Wars and GTA IV: The Lost and the Damned from Rockstar while Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet alone is nominated for another five.
Wouldn't be surprised if Rockstar takes all their 6 nominations and brings home several prizes =)
Do you still suffer from Olympic fever? Are you constantly checking NBC looking for any glimpse of a balance beam, pool, or waving country flags? Fear not, Summer Athletics is here with your cure. Sure, you would think that an Olympic-styled game would just add fuel to the fire, but Summer Athletics is all but guaranteed to drown it, like Michael Phelps treats other Olympians' dreams.
If you remember the ancient Commodore 64 title, Summer Games, you know what to expect. The title is surprisingly similar, given the twenty-plus years between the two games. You have the option to play a single event, compete in a set of events (including a traditional decathlon), or build an athlete from scratch with career mode. The game gives you twenty-six events to play, in seven different categories. Save the lame career mode and a handful of additional events, it feels strikingly similar to the classic Commodore 64 title, except the older title actually plays better.
