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Posts with tag sega-superstars-tennis

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.

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Another Week in Europe

Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.

While yours truly had trouble tracking down a copy of Mario Kart Wii on the high street (for our review), it appears plenty of others around Europe had no such problem.

Bar Denmark (where it has now dropped to fifth), the title sits at the top of every European chart, and we suspect it might even be influencing the sales of other games. Surely the rise of Mario Kart DS to 8th in Ireland, 8th in France, and 7th in Germany can't all be a mere coincidence? By our reckoning, Mario Kart Wii has ramped up Europe's interest in Mario Kart generally. Fortunately, Mario Kart DS is the bee's knees!

Finally, this week's overachiever award goes to Sega Superstars Tennis -- despite the Wii version's lack of online play, Sega's tennis/blue skies extravaganza climbed to fourth in the UK. Head beyond the break for more European chartage, and please accept our humble apologies for the lack of a Spanish top ten -- that should be back next week.

Continue reading Another Week in Europe

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: Sega Superstars Tennis


[Via GameStop circular]

Another Week in Europe

Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.

Unlike reigning full beard freestyle world champion Elmar Weisser of Germany (who we admire fiercely), we have mixed feelings about this week's European sales charts.

For example, while we're heartened by the success of debutant Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (5th in the UK, and the Wii edition supplemented sales of other versions across Europe -- not bad for a game that appeared on every other console last October), we're irked by the flat performance of House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return (15th in Britain, and nowhere to be seen in the charts of mainland Europe).

Europe, if you're reading, stop buying Game Party (7th in UK), Smarty Pants (10th in Spain), and Mario & bleeding Sonic (high everywhere) and let's get something half-decent up there for a change. Sega Bass Fishing should make next week's chart, so that'd be a good place to start -- let's have that top ten somewhere, please. Sigh. At least Elmar will never fail to impress us. Click on for the charts.

Continue reading Another Week in Europe

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: Sega Superstars Tennis

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!

Continue reading Metareview: Sega Superstars Tennis

Wii releases for the week of March 17th


This week sees the release of a couple of high-profile titles on the Wii, both of which we were hoping would include online play. Reality, however, is different. Still, these titles are interesting nonetheless.

Releases for the week of March 17th:
  • Sega Superstars Tennis
  • Worms: A Space Oddity
  • George of the Jungle
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
  • WWII Aces
So who's planning on picking any of these up?

Gallery: Sega Superstars Tennis

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: Sega Superstars Tennis


[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!

Continue reading Ulala packing tricks in Sega Superstars Tennis

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.

Continue reading Sega Superstars Tennis de amigo

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: Sega Superstars Tennis

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: Sega Superstars Tennis


[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: Sega Superstars Tennis

Sega Superstars Tennis piles on the Jet Set Radio references


If, like us, Sega Superstars Tennis has driven you into a tennis frenzy (a "tenzy"), you will be very happy to gawk at these new screenshots. If you're not into tennis, but all about Sega (which we were until Sega convinced us fully) you can enjoy picking out characters in the background of the Jet Set Radio stage.

In this screenshot, there's an obvious police contingent surrounding the stage, leading us to wonder if they're there to spectate or if Captain Onishima will be arresting us for playing tennis. And on the right side: Jet Set Radio one-punch knockout broadcaster Professor K! In another screenshot, you can see the jumpsuited GG, Tab. We love you, Sega Superstars Tennis, for looking like Jet Set Radio sometimes. You can also check out a bit of character art here.

Mizuguchi: 'Nintendo games are too strong'

Know who we'd like to see developing on the Wii? Tetsuya Mizuguchi, that's who. Some of his games would work beautifully on Nintendo's console. We can totally picture ourselves playing through a motion-based Space Channel 5, or using the Wii Remote to point and shoot in Rez.

Wii owners who also happen to be Mizuguchi fans shouldn't get their hopes up, though. Mizuguchi seems keen enough on the Wii itself, but confessed in an interview with Wired that he was a "little bit worried" about the strength of Nintendo games. We presume this is a reference to an increasingly common complaint from publishers and other industry folk that Nintendo's first-party titles are hogging sales.

Looks like an Ulala appearance in Sega Superstars Tennis could be the closest we get to grooving with Space Michael. Cry.

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