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New on Demand: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sega Superstars Tennis
"I need to play Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Burning Earth and Sega Superstars Tennis right the hell now, and I'm not going to leave my house to do it!" Listen, we've all been there. ... Well, we haven't. But we assume you have, or else why are you reading this post? Why else would you need to know that both games had been added to Xbox Live's Games on Demand service for $20 a piece? Hey, what kind of game are you playing here? ...What's that? ... You just wanted an excuse to see us? Aww, we wanted to see you too. Don't tell the others, but you're our favorite reader.
Ten for under twenty at Gamefly's sale
In these belt-tightening, penny-pinching times, it literally pays to have a nose for the bargains. That's where we, or rather Gamefly, comes in. The game rental outfit has a broad selection of used Wii software for low, world banking crisis-friendly prices, and we chose ten of the best sub-$20 games to tempt you. Thar be bargains ahead! Baroque for $12.99 Battalion Wars 2 for $17.99 Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy for $9.99 Dewy's Adventure for $13.99 Geometry Wars: Galaxies for $16.99 Mercury: Meltdown Revolution for $15.99 NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams for $12.99 No More Heroes for $17.99 Sega Superstars Tennis for $9.99 Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure for $17.99 There's actually a ton more we could have mentioned, including Super Mario Galaxy for $32.99, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for $30.99, and Metroid Prime 3 for $26.99. Sadly, "One hundred and fifty-eight for under forty-two" just doesn't work as a headline. Hit up the "Source" link for the full set. %Gallery-3283% [Thanks, William!]
Another Week in Europe
Wii Fit is selling like gangbusters in Britain, where it accounts for half of all Wii software sold in the last week, and has given Nintendo its first one-two finish in the All Formats Chart since 2003. And guess what? It's more or less the same story throughout the rest of Europe.The Irish are shedding the Guinness pounds, the Germans are working off those brätwurst, and Sweden ... well, we don't really have a lazy, go-to food stereotype for the Swedes. Anyhow, the point is: they're all loving it, and if Wii Fit doesn't appear in a chart (see: Spain, Denmark), it's probably because a country hasn't got it yet, or the charts have fallen behind.Mind you, don't expect any of this Nintendo dominance to last: next week's charts are guaranteed to be all about one game (yet we suspect Wii Fit might give you have better legs than GTA IV in the long-term). Lean past the break for this week's European charts.
Spend 2 1/2 $10-dollar bills on Touch Detective, Sega Superstars Tennis
You'll have to forgive our convoluted title -- really, it couldn't be helped. If it's not immediately clear, and we very much doubt that it is, GameStop has two great DS online and in-store deals this week: Touch Detective 2 1/2: $9.99, our review Sega Superstars Tennis: $14.99, metareview Which both add up to $25 (provided that you round up)! See what we did there? Two-and-a-half $10 bills? $25? Come on!
Sega Superstars Tennis bombs, marked down to $20
Despite our enthusiasm (and the enthusiasm of Sega fanboys everywhere) over Sega Superstars Tennis, a release that drips with fan service, the game failed to inspire consumers to rush out and buy the game like they did with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games? Not enough Mario, perhaps? Or olympics?Whatever the case, slow sales for the tennis title has given GameStop early cause to slash its prices for Sega Superstars Tennis across all platforms, and you can now buy the Wii game for as little as $19.99. It's a great bargain, considering the game was released only a month ago! You can order Sega Superstars Tennis through GameStop's online shop, but why not save a few bucks and pick it up at one of the retailer's local stores?%Gallery-15155%[Via GameStop circular]
Sega Superstars Tennis gets Xbox Live demo
Have you always had a dark fantasy about watching Space Channel 5's Ulala play hot, sweaty tennis against Sonic's squeeze Amy Rose? If so, you repulse us, and we think everybody would be more comfortable if you'd just leave. Seriously, there's a back door, just slip out. No, no you can't say goodbye to everyone, just get out.But before you go we also have good news for you! There's a demo for Sega Superstars Tennis on Xbox Live, so you can fulfill your primal, forbidden urges gratis. ... But you probably need to pay to watch it, don't you? Otherwise it's just not wrong enough. We just threw up in our mouths a bit, thanks so much for that.%Gallery-8783%
Sega Superstars Tennis demo
Ah, there's nothing like the smell of a fresh demo on a Friday morning. Today's Marketplace offering is none other than Sega Superstars Tennis. The demo offers single player and local versus multiplayer. The game brings together plenty of Sega "superstars" (Amigo? A superstar? Really?) for some friendly tennis action and tennis based mini-games. Taking a cue from Nintendo, the game focuses infuses typical tennis mechanics with fantasy court settings and the ability to enter Superstar Mode, which grants special powers to each character. The demo doesn't last very long, but new features are unlocked through successive play-throughs, so give it a shot.
Superstars Tennis demo headed to the XBLM
The SEGA marketing folks just announced that a SEGA Superstars Tennis demo will be headed to the Xbox Live Marketplace in the near future, as soon as it passes Microsoft certification. Though, the demo may be end up being restricted to North American Live subscribers seeing that such restrictions have been implemented on the PSN Store where the demo has already been released. SEGA also felt the need to rub some salt in our scabbed over Bloodshot demo sore by mentioned that the Condemned 2: Bloodshot demo should be making an XBLM release soon'ish as well. To date, the Bloodshot demo has been "coming soon" for over two weeks. Anyone willing to bet that we don't see either SEGA promised demo until mid-April?
WRUP: Volley for serve edition
Many of you are likely eyeing up Sega's Superstar Tennis as a means of primary enjoyment with your Wii this weekend. Of course, Brawl is out and will likely remain a constant source of enjoyment in the life of all us Wii lovers out there, but that doesn't mean we should neglect the new titles. We shouldn't ignore them.Will you be checking out Sega Superstar Tennis? Will you be checking out one of the other releases this week? What will you be playing?%Gallery-15155%
Metareview: Sega Superstars Tennis
Sega's decision to release Sega Superstars Tennis in March was a bold one: Many companies moved their releases out of the way of Nintendo's major offering -- and those games aren't competitive multiplayer games starring a cast of iconic video game company mascots from different games, battling on a variety of stages inspired by the games from whence the characters came.No, we don't think Sega Superstars Tennis is a direct response to or an attempt to compete with Super Smash Bros. Brawl -- if it were, we wouldn't see Sonic in Nintendo's game. Sega Superstars Tennis is a smaller release, meant, we would guess, to bridge the gap between "casual gamers" and Sega superfans. Or, to be more cynical, to be a Virtua Tennis sequel without the likeness rights. Did Sega and Sumo Digital serve up an ace or a fault? Or is the game best analogized by some other tennis term? The reviews seem to range from the ecstatic to the nonplussed. Hit the post break for reviewers' opinions!
DS releases for the week of March 17th
This week, there are a lot of DS games headed out all around the globe, but it's particularly a great week for those of you who keep your eyes peeled for interesting Japanese releases. Not the import type? That's okay -- there's a lot of other games to consider, and some that aren't even quite games, per se. Diary Girl Fantasy Aquarium by DS GoPets: Vacation Island Lost in Blue 3 Sega Superstars Tennis
Shipping this week: roll them bones edition
It's sort of a lonely week for new releases. It's not that we aren't seeing anything worthwhile, though. Nope, this week we have the much awaited sequel to Rainbow Six Vegas, sagely titled Rainbow Six Vegas 2 to in order to nullify any confusion. Remember, this is the last time you'll be getting your 6 on in Vegas, so get it while the gettin's good (alternately, you could wait until it goes down in price and get it while the gettin's better). Also releasing this week is the latest curiosity from Sega, Sega Superstars Tennis. Alas, it seems Sega has more trouble wedging its beloved characters into the sports genre than Nintendo does, as the game has thus far received only fair to middling reviews.[Via Joystiq]
No online in Sega Superstar Tennis Wii because of 'time constraints'
As huge fans of Nintendo, we often find ourselves being their harshest critics. One of the problems we've always had with the company was its lack of devotion to a competitive online arena, where gamers could do comparable things online with their Wii that the Xbox 360 and PS3 can do.Why do we bring all of this up? Well, the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game will have the online play and it's missing from Nintendo platforms because of "time and development resource constraints." We just wonder what kind of constraints would allow them to include it into the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions and not in the Wii version? Hey, we're willing to wait a little longer so long as what we're getting is a complete product and not the table scraps left from the other versions of Sega Superstars Tennis. Sure, we get the best control method (presumably), but is it worth it?Regardless, we're still excited for the game. We just wish we could enjoy the game with you.%Gallery-15155%[Via Go Nintendo]
Ulala packing tricks in Sega Superstars Tennis
Sega just served up more footage of Sega Superstars Tennis, and all the ingredients are in place for one of the most quintessentially Sega experiences in years: cartoon monkeys called Amigo, blue skies, Ulala, and Sonic's horrible voice. Playing tennis to a rousing rendition of Samba de Janeiro, even in videogame form, feels a bit weird, but we strongly suspect we won't care!Past the break: footage of Ulala playing on home territory. The resolution of the video isn't the best, but we're sure she plays a shot through her legs, a la Martina Navratilova!
Video: Sega Superstars Tennis mini-games
GameTrailers has posted a handful of new Sega Superstars Tennis videos. It looks like Sega's new tennis title will come packed with various mini-games. The two latest videos show off both a ring collecting Sonic mini-game and a another -- the objective of which we can't quite discern -- based on ChuChu Rocket. The games look entertaining enough, but let's just hope the tennis is up to snuff. After all, mini-games are mini for a reason. Having said that, we pray that there's a Space Channel 5 dancing mini-game with "Space Michael."
Sega Superstars Tennis de amigo
We haven't seen much Samba de Amigo related media for Sega's upcoming tennis game, aside from a handful of screenshots. Fortunately, the Samba stage looks to be pretty great, if we do say so ourselves. The above trailer may be super short, but the stage seems to have all the elements of "awesome," like a cheetah band, good music, and bra-wearing cacti. It's nice to see some fun characters make a return from the original Dreamcast game -- we're sure our favorite maraca-playing monkey would be lonely without them.After the break, you can also check out the intro trailer for the Sonic's Green Hill Zone court.
European wait for Sega Superstars Tennis gets a little shorter
Europe might not be able to Brawl with Sonic in March, but they can make the speedy blue hedgehog pick up a tennis racquet in Sega Superstars Tennis. Originally dated for March 28th, Eurogamer reports that the game won't take as long to hit European shores as we originally thought. While the game's release was only bumped up eight days to March 20th, Europeans can rest assured that they're getting it only two days after us folks in America (compared to the usual gap, that's not so bad). Some of the staff at Nintendo Wii Fanboy are super hyped about this game for the Jet Set Radio references alone, so we hope those of you in Europe who feel the same way enjoy these good tidings. Unfortunately, once again you'll be forced to choose between motion controls and online play.%Gallery-15155%
Tennis Harrier
We're pleased to see that the bizarre Sega-history minigames are intact in the DS release of Sega Superstars Tennis. Here, Ulala, a dancing reporter from a satellite-based TV station in a retro-futuristic musical world, is taking a break from rescuing Michael Jackson from TV-faced aliens to play Space Harrier using a tennis racquet. So, you know, it's your basic tennis game.And since we follow all Jet Set Radio-related developments eagerly, we'd like to point out that the second-best-known member of the GG's, Gum, is visible in these screenshots as a playable character. It remains to be seen if you have to jump on top of a car in order to convince her to join.%Gallery-13434%
Fault! Sega Superstars Tennis to lack online play
Sega Superstars Tennis' joyful habit of meshing together franchises such as Jet Set Radio, Samba de Amigo, Space Channel 5, and OutRun has already left us smitten with the game, even though it's just tennis.Indeed, our extreme fondness for the title meant it only hurt more to hear that this celebration of Sega awesomeness would not have online play in the Wii version. The sad news was casually revealed in an IGN preview of the title, though we had our suspicions back when the game was announced. We'd gladly exchange the one noteworthy perk of the Wii version -- multiple control schemes -- for a chance to face down fellow Beat fans from other continents.%Gallery-15155%[Via Go Nintendo]
Sega Superstars Tennis: controls, minigames, and awesomeness
We know that Sega Superstars Tennis is a tennis game with a bunch of Sega folks in it, but until now we haven't known much else. How would the Wii controls work? What kind of special powers can each character use? CVG sat down with Sumo Digital to discuss the Wii version and get some specifics.First, and most important for distinguishing between the Wii and other versions, the controls. SST will in fact use a motion-based control setup. As Sumo describes it: "We take the Wii remote's speed and direction and use this to determine the shot you get. But of course, as with real tennis, the better your timing, the better the shot you'll do." With somewhat direct translation between movement and in-game response, this sounds much more Wii Sports and less Rockstar Table Tennis.The developers also revealed some of the minigame options, which are unsurprisingly based on Sega classics, and can be played single- or multiplayer. They described a Space Harrier game in which the player hits tennis balls at the arcade game's enemies, and a Puyo Puyo game involving a wall of Puyos that must be cleared with tennis balls. In addition, new screenshots (in our gallery) reveal a House of the Dead zombie-killing minigame, and Sonic, Chu Chu Rocket, Super Monkey Ball and Jet Set Radio minigames that we don't quite understand. The screens don't depict the Wii version, but they illustrate new gameplay elements and that is important.Finally, a couple of new characters were revealed, with an indication that some were still being kept under wraps. In addition to the ones we've seen, Shadow the Hedgehog, Reala from NiGHTS, and Gum from Jet Set Radio will be playable.%Gallery-15155%
