Bringing the athletics genre to the next generation consoles for the first time, SEGA’s Beijing 2008 features 10 sports, 38 events and even includes the official Olympic venues such as the Beijing National Stadium (the “Bird Nest”) and the National Aquatics Centre (the “Water Cube”).
Unveiled by sporting champions Lauren Burns (former Olympic Taekwondo champion and Channel Seven commentator) and William Henzell (Olympic competitor and 2006 Commonwealth Games, Table Tennis Silver Medallist), guests got the chance to warm up with traditional thumb wrestle bouts to get them in fine form for playing the game.
After a competitive hands-on session with SEGA’s Beijing 2008, they were then treated to a blistering table tennis exhibition from Henzell before a knock-out table tennis tournament saw one of the guests walk away with a customised SEGA table tennis set. Both Lauren and William got hands-on with the game, taking on guests and each other in a variety of the events featured in the game.
“Playing sports focused videogames has been a part of my training regime in the past, and it’s been great to see how far SEGA has come with Beijing 2008 in terms of its realistic graphics and gameplay” said Lauren Burns, former Olympic Taekwondo Gold Medallist and Channel Seven commentator. “I was pretty happy with my form on the game, but I have to admit that there were a few seasoned professionals out there that got the better of me!”
“It’s been great fun being challenged by a group of gamers who have obviously honed their hand-eye coordination skills – there were a number of surprisingly good players both on the table and on the game!” said William Henzell, Olympic competitor and 2006 Commonwealth Games Table Tennis Silver Medallist. “I’ve been a gamer for a long time and I remember some of the earlier athletics titles, and there really wasn’t much to them. SEGA’s Beijing 2008 looks awesome and the gameplay is top notch.”
Beijing 2008 features a variety of game modes never before seen in an official Olympic Games video game. The game offers innovative control schemes that allow novice gamers to learn how to play each event, while providing experienced gamers the chance to set new records.
Set to be released on Thursday 3rd July, the game has been developed by Eurocom Entertainment Software for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and for PC. The online functionality of all of these platforms will ensure that for the very first time, fans of the Olympic Games will be able to experience the thrill of competing against other gamers across the globe in the world’s greatest sporting event.
We’ll have a review coming soon, stay tuned.
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