Let's start this week early, shall we? Coming up on retail shelves starting July 27 all the way to the first few days of August is another hailstorm of PC games from the independent front, though you'd probably love this week for the release of Namco Bandai's SoulCalibur IV and its limited edition kits. But if there's anything more significant this time, it's the appearance of more Olympics-themed games as the week heralds the eve before the World Olympics in Beijing. We take them all at the full story.

Another type of athlete is coming to the Beijing Olympic Games to bear the torch: cyberathletes. Yes, professional gamers will be given the honor of carrying the torch in the coming games. Check out the full article for more info.

Mario and Sonic teaming up together with their friends to compete in the Olympics wasn't just a good idea on paper. Nintendo has proven that Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games for the Nintendo Wii and DS  was a hit across the world as the minigame-packed title reached five million copies sold in just three months. Race to the full article to learn more!

If you still haven't had your fill of sports sims for the Wii, then perhaps you might be interested in taking a look at some cool gameplay videos of 49 Games' Winter Sports: The Ultimate Challenge. Having the distinction of being one of two Olympic-themed sports games, it was one of the games which ended the year with a bang for Nintendo's next-gen console.

Watch the two gameplay videos we have for Winter Sports: The Ultimate Challenge in the full article!

Sega and Nintendo's joint effort Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games is almost upon us and the competitors are looking excited to get on with the sporting action. In this video, we see Team Mario giving us a peek of what they've got in store for game day. The old 16-bit rivals are looking to rekindle that old flame in some healthy competition.

Ah, those crazy Romans. When will they ever learn that going up against a small Gaelic strongman and his big, hulking warrior friend is never good for anyone's health. Atari shows to us Asterix's and Obelix's continuing adventures in their upcoming game, Asterix at the Olympic Games. Here's a small army of Wii and DS screenshots delivered to us from Nintendic.

Asides from the game's release coinciding with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it was actually adapted from a comic book with the same title in the Asterix series. From the screenshots, the Wii version seems more than your typical sports sim, with sword fights and fist fights with your typical Roman mob thrown in between events. The DS on the other hand will fully utilize the touch screen to simulate the different events of the various Olympic Games.

Asterix will be facing stiff competition with its rival co-Olympic themed game in the form of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. And while its popularity in the States hasn't always been stellar, its solid base of European fans will definitely want to catch a glimpse of this game when it finally comes out this coming January of 2008 for the PC, PS2, Nintendo Wii and DS.

   

Check out all the screenshots of Asterix's Olympic escapades right after the jump!

Here are the latest video clips released for the upcoming quirky Wii game Rayman Raving Rabbids 2. As always, the bunnies are looking crazy and silly as ever trying to perform various tasks way beyond their intellect. Despite that, fans can't help but be endeared to these Rabbids because of their very own nature.

Anyway, what we have here are the video clips shown back at the recent Games Convention involving gameplays for Tricycle Race and Belch Olympics. But we're pretty interested in the second video as it covers controls and the new mini games added by Ubisoft to Rabbids 2.

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 will become available Fall 2007. It will also be released on the Nintendo DS.

 

Want to see more of Mario and Sonic in action in a friendly olympic battle? Never fear, for we have new screenshots of the duo in action as they strive to live up to the motto of the Olympics: Faster, Higher, Stronger!

What'll you get to see in these Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games screenshots? Well, if you're a big fan of races, then a 500 meter dash featuring your favorite heroes and villains from the Sonic and Nintendo universes should tickle your fancy. Just don't expect Sonic to move as fast as you'd normally expect him to run. You'll also get to see the likes of Dr. Robutnik and Bowser try their best at archery and the hammer throw.

All in all, it looks to be a fun romp through the gameworlds we know and love all while working towards becoming the best virtual athlete you can be. Enjoy the screenshots!

   

More screenshots after the jump!

We came across an interesting discussion at the Wii mailbag portion of IGN discussing how the remaining eight months of 2007 will play out in the game console arena. The discussion delved mostly on the prospect of big franchises coming up with new installments for all three systems and rumors of exclusives porting. At this point, the Wii seems to have the swagger.

 Leading the charge for Nintendo's wonder system are flag-bearers Mario Galaxy, Metroid, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and NiGHTS, keeping fans busy hot off the heels of Super Paper Mario and Twilight Princess. As if that wasn't enough, hot prospects Wii Health Pack, Battalion Wars II, Mario Strikers Charged, Project H.A.M.M.E.R., Dragon Quest Swords, No More Heroes, Manhunt 2, Boogie, and Mario and Sonic at the Olympics are looming large.

That's not to say that the other consoles are without their share if big releases at this year's second half. The Xbox 360 will wreak some serious havoc once Halo 3, Too Human and Mass Effect hit the Microsoft console. With its ever-vibrant Xbox Live community, gamers will be kept occupied for months on end. Don't even get us started on Grand Theft Auto IV. It'll kick some serious thomps and outrage moral zealots everywhere. It's also a good reason to get a PlayStation 3 along with LittleBigPlanet.

Nintendo fans also seem to be eager to see more shooters in their turf. There's already a significant presence of the genre on the Wii, but fans are itching for games like Time Crisis to see how the Wiimote ups the fun factor. IGN, however, was quick to dismiss the idea, pointing to the title's exclusivity for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

Ubisoft announced today that the award-winning composer Tom Salta will be providing the score for the game Red Steel. To the gaming community, he's known for doing the background music of Project Gotham Racing 3 and Sprung, among many others. In the TV and movie industry, he's famous for creating kaleidoscopic musical backgrounds for "2006 Winter Olympics," "Joan of Arkadia," and "Third Watch".

In order to apply the right sonic mood and effect to the game, he arranged and recorded traditional Japanese instruments like the "Taiko," "Koto," "Shamisen," and "Shakuhachi" as performed by expert musicians. He also employed a few people like conservatory-trained Japanese opera singers, Taikoza, the percussion specialist group, and Lili Haydn, the renowned violinist. To reflect the Western-side of the game, he included a wide spectrum of musical styles like orchestra, electronic, rock, hip hop, and many more.

You can actually hear some of the music in the videos from a Red Steel event in Paris, France. In the first one, you'll see two Frenchmen discussing the game while playing it. You'll notice that the cameraman tends to switch from the screen and back to the gamers. He's just showing you how the controllers tie-in with the game onscreen. The remaining four shows more of the levels in the demo. So far, it's looking very good.

We've also included some new screens from the same event. Whew! The French really had it good with Red Steel that day. We'll be eagerly anticipating this game when it ships out in November. Here comes the goodies below!

Preorder: [Red Steel]

More images along with the videos after the jump!