Latest news with #WiiSports
Stuff.tv
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Stuff.tv
The 10 best tennis video games ever to play during Wimbledon
8) Mario Tennis: Power Tour (2005, Game Boy Advance) Play Presumably concerned Game Boy Color owners would throw their consoles out of the window if the company had the audacity to release a normal tennis game on the system, Nintendo crafted Mario Tennis to be closer to a quirky RPG that just happened to have tennis mechanics in place of a battle system. For this Game Boy Advance sequel, the mash-up was particularly glorious, twinning amusing Zelda-like chats and exploration with high-octane ball-thwacking that was the best on the system. Add in furiously addictive madcap mini-games and you've a title that might not be tennis as you know it, but it does make everything else on this list seem a little dull by comparison. 9) Wii Sports (2006, Nintendo Wii) Play As the Wii arrived, the games industry was roused by a million voices crying out in pain that Nintendo had – shock! – dumbed-down console gaming. Take the tennis bit of Wii Sports: players moved automatically, and you merely swung your controller a bit like a racket, only occasionally accidentally letting go and smashing your TV screen. The thing is, it was fantastic (apart from the TV-smashing bit). Everyone could get in on the action, rather than having to first master the 'gamepad claw'; yet there was enough nuance for dedicated players to pull off some fantastic moves – even if the little Mii characters looked ridiculous while doing so. 10) Top Spin 4 (2011, PS3/Wii/Xbox 360) Play It's probably sacrilege to say it, but some time in the 2000s, Sega lost its tennis-game crown; Virtua Tennis 3 was an impressive if predictable update, but its sequel was finally eclipsed by the lurking Top Spin series. In Top Spin 4, the deep coaching system hugely added to the extensive career mode, and the character customisation went so far as to enable you to select different types of grunts and victory celebrations. It was perhaps all a little clinical (besides the bizarre uncanny valley player faces), but fluid player movement, balanced gameplay and detailed, responsive controls combined to make for a rewarding experience for those who persevered. New balls, please Play If you're thinking, 'Hang on. You've just recommended the game equivalents of Martina Navratilova, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer', that's because there are few newer titles capable of walloping an ace towards your console. Still, if you need something contemporary, there are two solid options. Top Spin 2K25 (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows) follows up on the last entry in the above list with an iterative effort that nets you a slew of licensed venues and players that look at least 34% less like zombies than they did in the Virtua Tennis days. Tweaked mechanics make for exciting risk vs reward moments during rallies. But you'll grumble at the grind progression system and absurdist virtual currency, which leaves Wimbledon winners with barely enough extra virtual cash for a pair of virtual socks. Tsk. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo Switch owners get something a mite more bonkers and colourful in the shape of Mario Tennis Aces. This builds on previous Nintendo efforts by fusing arcade gameplay and adventuring, while occasionally acknowledging that, yes, there's a tennis game in there somewhere. Boss battles with tennis rackets can be entertainingly daft, although the single-player mode runs out of steam faster than the average Brit at Wimbledon. The game's chaotic nature is fun while it lasts though.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Here's a silly puppet boxing game you never knew you needed
I have not played a single boxing game outside of Wii Sports this century, but that could be about to change. Summer Game Fest Live brought us the reveal of Felt That: Boxing, which stars puppet pugilists. This project from the appropriately named Sans Strings Studio and Seth Green's animation company, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, is billed as "a comedic, over-the-top boxing game set in a world where the charm of furry puppets collides with the fury of boxing." The clip is structured like a trailer for an underdog sports movie and it is just delightful. The snippets of gameplay suggest there will be training minigames that include dodging slices of burnt toast that a trainer hurls at your puppet (who is named Fuzz-E) and, uh, plunging a toilet. According to the description on the YouTube video, the developers are aiming to make the "boxing mechanics are intentionally ridiculous, favoring fun over precision, with [puppet] limbs flailing about with an insane sense of chaos." Lovely. This trailer was immediately the most interesting thing during SGF Live up to that point. Felt That: Boxing does not yet have a release window, but you can wishlist it on Steam now, like I just did.
Engadget
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Here's a silly puppet boxing game you never knew you needed
To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. I have not played a single boxing game outside of Wii Sports this century, but that could be about to change. Summer Game Fest Live brought us the reveal of Felt That: Boxing , which stars puppet pugilists. This project from the appropriately named Sans Strings Studio and Seth Green's animation company, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, is billed as "a comedic, over-the-top boxing game set in a world where the charm of furry puppets collides with the fury of boxing." The clip is structured like a trailer for an underdog sports movie and it is just delightful. The snippets of gameplay suggest there will be training minigames that include dodging slices of burnt toast that a trainer hurls at your puppet (who is named Fuzz-E) and, uh, plunging a toilet. According to the description on the YouTube video, the developers are aiming to make the "boxing mechanics are intentionally ridiculous, favoring fun over precision, with [puppet] limbs flailing about with an insane sense of chaos." Lovely. This trailer was immediately the most interesting thing during SGF Live up to that point. Felt That: Boxing does not yet have a release window, but you can wishlist it on Steam now, like I just did.
North Wales Chronicle
22-05-2025
- Sport
- North Wales Chronicle
Bala man shares how foster carers gave him 'secure home'
Jake, now 26, was just eight years old when he began short stays at foster carer Sian's house. The visits, which lasted a few days at a time, were filled with football games in the garden and competitive Wii Sports sessions. Jake said these visits felt like holidays, and he always felt part of the family. He said: "In the past, if I said I was in care, people's instant reaction would be to say 'I'm sorry to hear.' "But they shouldn't be sorry. "I see it as a really good thing to be in care because it gives young people a better life, a better opportunity at doing something they probably would never have done otherwise." Jake continued to visit Sian's house throughout his childhood in care. While studying sport nutrition at Liverpool John Moores University, Jake's circumstances changed and he contacted Sian and her husband Owain, who welcomed him into their home on a permanent basis. With their support, Jake has gone on to establish his own business as a personal trainer and now lives independently in Liverpool. Jake said: "If I have any problems or issues, they are my first point of contact. "I see the whole family just as sort of my family now. "I see them as my siblings as well." Sian said: "I'm so proud of him. "He's driven. "Obviously I'm proud of what he's achieved, but I'm proud of so much more than that. "He's got clients, he's successful in his business but for me I take more pride in the young man he has become and that he has allowed all his experiences to shape him. "I'm so pleased to see that he's able to maintain relationships and that he sees us as his family." Jake's story comes as part of Foster Care Fortnight, which takes place between May 12 and May 25, 2025. The fostering community in the UK is celebrating the power of relationships. Foster Wales is appealing to recruit an additional 800 local authority foster carers by 2028 to address this need. Alastair Cope, head of Foster Wales, said: "Foster Care Fortnight always offers a brilliant opportunity to celebrate the people who create lasting change in the lives of so many children in Wales. "Every fostering journey relies on strong, trusting relationships to create the stability within a loving home that all children deserve. "Whether between a foster carer and a child, a child with their foster siblings, or between a family and their social worker, these relationships open up new possibilities for a child's future and help support them into successful independent lives."
