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Unlike Dante's Inferno, there's a very good chance that the new game based on (Robert Zemeckis's upcoming movie version of) Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol won't make us want to go back in time and apologize to the original work's author on behalf of the industry we love so much. The main reason: it's designed by Revolution Software's Charles Cecil, best known for his work on Broken Sword. Cecil's experience with smart adventure games means that this new game is unlikely to turn Ebenezer Scrooge into a musclebound avenger who tears apart the ghosts invading his home.

"The approach I took was to place the player as the hand of fate," Cecil told Develop about the Sumo Digital-developed game, "guiding a very willful protagonist down the road to redemption, and he doesn't want to down that road at all. Players have to interact with people and the environment to make that happen, and it tells the story in really different way. I'm very happy with it."

We never thought we'd find a licensed Disney game about Christmas so interesting! Another different way this story is being told: with Cecil's own narration. He did some placeholder voice work, and "the Americans" insisted that it remain in the final game.

Though Cecil didn't specify platforms, a game based on A Christmas Carol is set to come out on DS on November 3, just before the November 3 release of the film.

What do a BMW Z4 Coupe, a Subaru WRX Hatch, and a mess of big trucks have in common? They'll all be at your disposal in upcoming rally-racer Dirt 2, silly! Aside from the game's striking visuals -- the ones that we marveled over when we saw it last February -- gameplay has always been a strong suit for Codemasters' dirt racer. While the video above, titled "Baja Raid," looks vaguely similar to games like Motorstorm and Pure, we expect a different, more simulation than arcade, feel from Dirt 2. Check out the rest of the trailers after the break or head over to our sister site Big Download and snag them for yourself in full HD glory.

Sega just crushed the hopes of North American Playstation fans who are interested in Sumo Digital's upcoming Outrun Online Arcade, announcing that the game will not be releasing to the PSN in NA. Instead, Outrun will release exclusively to the Xbox Live Arcade in NA, but Europe will remain unaffected by the exclusivity deal.

That said, we have a hunch that hardcore U.S. Outrun'ners on the Playstation will find a way to access the goods. That's what profile region settings are for, right?

Sega has officially announced that it is bringing Outrun Arcade Online to Xbox Live Arcade. The game is being developed by Sumo Digital, the team responsible for the recent Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (on which Outrun Arcade Online appears to be based). It will be enhanced to include high definition graphics and will feature online play for up to six players. Outrun Arcade Online includes 10 different Ferrari cars and 15 different tracks on which to race them. And, of course, it wouldn't be Outrun without the music ... and the hot girl in the passenger seat. The game is expected to drop in early 2009. Check out the first screens in the gallery below and the debut trailer after the break.

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?


[Via GameStop circular]

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!

Sega and Sumo Digital may have served up a worthwhile tennis option for the Wii, but can the DS title rock the court? From the early reviews, it looks like the character roster is the best thing the handheld has going for it, though there are some solid gameplay mechanics buried beneath the fanservice.

IGN: 69% -- Solid, but too easy. "If you replaced the traditional tennis courts with ones taking place in such SEGA universes as Sonic the Hedgehog's Green Hill Zone, the Nights dreamworld Nightopia, and House of the Dead's Curian Mansion, and then replace the professional athletes with Sonic and Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog, AiAi from Super Monkey Ball, Beat from Jet Grind Radio, and Ulala from Space Channel 5, you'd get SEGA Superstars Tennis. And that's exactly what Sumo, the developer of Virtua Tennis, has done for SEGA ... But compared to other tennis games, it feels more automatic than it should be."

GamePro: 45% -- This is on the DS why? "The final thing to keep in mind when avoiding Sega Superstars Tennis for DS is that the game looks better on consoles. Also, the play style isn't really suited to handhelds, since there doesn't appear to be a way to save your progress in a tournament. While the character roster has potential, the tennis here is just too gimmicky and frustrating to recommend."

Nintendo Power: 80% -- The Nintendo magazine found themselves immersed in a solid experience -- for both tennis and Sega fans. "The default button-based control scheme is less forgiving than that of the Mario titles, calling for more precision and tighter timing -- either a welcome challenge or a minor frustration, depending on how much you mind AiAi acing one past you ... Control issues aside, Sega Superstar Tennis is swimming in clever game references and should be fun for even a casual Sega fan."

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!

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.

Whatever you think of Sega's output since the Dreamcast bowed out of the industry, Sega titles have a history of containing outstanding minigames. Remember how you once skipped three days of university to ace every minigame in Crazy Taxi, or how you would turn down nights out with friends because you wanted to knock down giant skittles in Virtua Tennis? Well, probably not, because those are my memories, but you get the picture.

Anyway, Sega Superstars Tennis looks like it will resurrect this proud tradition of awesome minigames. They're full of very Sega-esque tasks, from collecting golden rings to fending off the living dead to guiding mice into rockets. All of which is enough to make us forgive the game's other imperfections, like the lack of online play, or NiGHTS' plainly ludicrous voice. Go past the break to see why we're looking forward to playing minigames on the Wii again!

A press release for New International Track & Field just burst through the tape and into our inboxes, complete with news of a U.S. release window and fresh details.

Apparently, the game will be launching stateside this summer, with more than 15 characters available from the start. A further two are unlockable (and our money would be on Snake making his second non-Metal Gear Solid appearance of 2008), and there'll be 20 events to keep us distracted and our touchscreens gouged.

Also worth mentioning is the "Voice Boost" feature, which will allow players to bellow into the DS microphone to give their character a performance boost by cheering them on. We saw this idea used (briefly) in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (one could psyche up the crowd by clapping near the microphone), but it seems like it could be a more significant feature here. "The louder you are," declares Konami's press release, "the bigger the boost!" That could get annoying.


[Via press release]

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.

Look at Frogger's expression here -- he simply can't believe that he's part of a 100m sprint with super-deformed versions of Pyramid Head and Simon Belmont. Nor can we, actually. The cast of characters in Konami's New International Track & Field is even more unusual and eclectic than that of the DS's other mascot/athletics mash-up.

As well as Frogger, Pyramid Head, and Simon Belmont, these 28 new screens feature Pentarou, a penguin whose most notable appearances came in the Parodius series of games, and Evil Rose, a fighter from the mediocre Xbox 360 'rassler Rumble Roses XX. The events appear to be just as diverse, including as they do the likes of "Belmont's Challenge," which looks like a kind of vampire-themed take on archery.


[Via press release]

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.