Beijing fever hits the stores, boosting Sega’s sales
Posted by Graham. Filed under Europe, G, Microsoft Xbox 360, Multi-platform, News, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3. Tagged with Beijing 2008, Charts, Hulk, Mario and Sonic, olympics, Space Siege.
Well it was pretty inevitable, with the Beijing Olympics being a pretty big success, Olympic fever has hit the gaming shelves, putting Sega’s sales in some pretty respectable positions in the charts.
Three new Sega games on Steam
Posted by Nathan. Filed under Nathan, News, PC. Tagged with Beijing 2008, Hulk, olympics, Space Siege, Steam.
Three “new” Sega titles have been released on Steam, the popular digital distribution service for PC games. The titles are Space Siege ($49.99), The Incredible Hulk: The Official Video Game ($29.99) and Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games ($29.99). OH BOY!!
That’s about all there is to say about that, since I haven’t played any of these games, and at those prices I probably won’t any time soon. I got more important things to buy. Like hamburgers. Burgin’.
[via Steam]
Them Brits just love their Mario… and Sonic
Posted by Graham. Filed under Europe, G, News, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Sonic. Tagged with Mario & Sonic, olympics.
It’s hardly brand new information that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is selling pretty darn well. Many would say that it is selling “surprisingly” well, considering so many people (including some Sega Nerds) berated the idea, when Sega originally announced it.
Sega Europe has now announced that the Wii version of Mario & Sonic has hit sales of over 1 million, in the UK alone!  Combined with the DS version, figures are just over the 1.35 million mark.
“Mario and Sonic has made gaming history with over a million software units sold on the Nintendo Wii within the UK alone,” SEGA Europe North MD Alan Pritchard told MCV. “The title has been an immediate hit from launch and we will continue to re-invest and market this title throughout the rest of the year with a hope of reaching over two million sales by the end of our financial year.”
Now that is pretty impressive, considering the UK has a population of around 60 million, while the US has something in the region of 300 million people, and the UK sales alone make up for (approx.) 1/5 of the game’s worldwide figures.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this game hits the 10 million mark by the end of the year, it must be nearing the 6 million figure by now, and it will no doubt receive a surge in sales when the Olympic Games actually begin.
[Source: GoNintendo]
[Image from MCV]
Olympics president says no achievement in games
Posted by Nathan. Filed under Multi-platform, Nathan, News, Worldwide. Tagged with Beijing, Mario & Sonic, olympics.
Jacques Rogge, the 66-year-old president of the International Olympic Committee, has blasted gamers worldwide by praising young people involved in sports and bashing the once-esteemed hobby of virtual visual entertainment.
“Kids are attracted to visual, interactive forms of communication,” Rogge said to the Times Online. “It’s not going to be easy for sport to counter that. You won’t hear me saying sport is not fun–it is. But it requires austerity and discipline. The answer is achievement. You will never achieve in a video game. It is not really success.”
Uhh, obviously Mr. Rogge has never heard of the Xbox 360 and its large selection of games, all of which feature a wide range of various achievements, some of which are pretty darn difficult to earn. 10,000 kills in Gears of War takes a seriously dedicated gamer, and I’d directly compare earning that to finishing a marathon. Both require extreme amounts of dedication and physical training and mental focus. The ONLY difference is that one earns you 50 gamerpoints while the other gives you a shot at Olympic gold and short-lived international fame.
Of course, I’m sure Mr. Rogge isn’t going to complain about Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games or Sega’s other upcoming game based on the Beijing 2008 Olympics, as his wonderful organization stands to share some of the profits thanks to licensing deals.
Sega partner with ISM, to make the Official Beijing Olympic Games
Posted by Graham. Filed under G, Microsoft Xbox 360, News, PC, Sony PlayStation 3. Tagged with Beijing, Fan Stuff, olympics.
With the pretty big (and surprising, for some) success of Mario and Sonic Olympics, Sega has now patnered up with ISM, (International Sports Multimedia), giving them the exclusive rights for the upcoming release of the Official Beijing Olympic Games.
“After the successful launch of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Gamesâ„¢, we are delighted to announce the official video game of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games,†stated Gary Knight, Marketing Director of SEGA Europe. “Combining an enjoyable game with a truly global sporting license will provide a fantastic sports game experience for gamers everywhereâ€.
Review: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Posted by JamesC. Filed under James, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Review. Tagged with Mario & Sonic, Mario and Sonic, olympics, sega.
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, the most recent party game to hit the Nintendo Wii, tries very hard to add something new to the genre and in a lot of ways succeeds. Developed by Sega, in partnership with Nintendo, the game is surprisingly (at least to this reviewer) fun.
Shining with a good amount of polish, M & S offers up some high production values to get people interested, and to keep events engaging it employs a really challenging curve towards the latter events. All these elements keep things feeling competitive and fresh throughout nearly the entire game.
I say nearly because in some cases the game comes up just short- somewhat in the same way a fat Italian plumber would if he ever actually tried the long-jump. But ignoring a few faults and looking to where the game really excels, you could end up having a lot of fun for a very long time with this addictive game.