PALGN writes: "With less than two months to go until the 2008 Olympic Games, it is only natural for the games industry to follow with the release of Beijing 2008 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. PALGN was lucky enough to get some hands-on time with the upcoming title, and though it may not be a show stopper, it's certainly a game that would appeal to a casual market.
The build we played was on the Xbox 360, and unfortunately there was no PS3 or PC build in sight. The gameplay system in place was very simple, and quite odd to get a handle of. There were several different events to choose from, however we only had enough time to play the Pole Vaults, the Triple Jump, Shot Put and Cycling. Each event didn't rely on pure control over your player, but more acted as a mini-game of sorts.
For example, in the Triple Jump, in order to run faster you must waggle the right analog stick left and right as fast as possible in order to raise a bar on the bottom of the screen. After a few moments the bar 'locks in' and your character runs at a locked speed."
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.
