This year, as the Olympic flame is lit in Beijing for the first time, also for the first time the official video game version of the Games makes it to the next-generation consoles.
The big question is will the 2008 iteration of the "official IOC-endorsed Olympic Games video game", produced by Sega, finally break the button-masher mould of past official editions.
Actually, this is the second "official" Olympic release of the year. Nintendo's Mario and Sonic made their trip to Beijing earlier this year in a rather patchy game for the Wii console.
This version is more in the vein of past Olympic titles - multiple sports (in this case 38 events in 11 disciplines) played by national teams (32 to choose from) amid graphic representations of this year's real venues.
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.
