I just recently bought Top Spin 3. I’m a big tennis fan but since I don’t have the actual skills to play tennis in real life, I just fulfill my grand slam dreams through video game tennis. I’m actually pretty good at it and I’m now building up my character so I can start competing in online tournaments.

Top Spin 3 is actually the second tennis game in this generation. I previously bought Virtua Tennis 3 but sold it a few months ago since I’ve already finished the game. The lack of online play meant that the game had no legs for more playing options. But Sega has announced that it will be releasing Virtua Tennis 2009 this year. The new tennis game will be available on all three consoles — the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360. A PC version will also be released. This time Sega has built an online play mode and have also bulked up the roster of tennis stars, which will include Federer, Nadal and the Williams sisters. The mini games that have come to characterize Virtua Tennis will be returning with five new challenges.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this. The online mode is what I’m looking forward to the most.

“We welcome AMD’s broad support for DirectX 10.1 compliant hardware and we’re pleased to see our newest technology brought to market so soon. One of the great advantages of PC gaming is the rapid pace at which the experiences evolve and improve. The ATI Radeon HD 3000 series and now the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series hardware delivers on the promise of DirectX 10 gaming with significantly improved visuals and enhanced performance,” said Kevin Unangst, Global Director, Microsoft Games for Windows.

“With Battleforge, EA is pushing the boundaries of the real-time strategy genre introducing social and community technologies to deliver a whole new online experience. It only makes sense that we leverage the latest technology such as DirectX 10.1 supported by the new ATI Radeon HD 4800 series of graphics cards from AMD to deliver an amazing experience for gamers,” said Dirk Ringe, vice president, EA Phenomic. “We’re working hard to deliver a new fantasy RTS experience never seen before. Using DirectX 10.1 and AMD’s graphics technology will enable Battleforge to look its absolute best.”

“SEGA welcomes the chance to deliver one of next year’s most technologically advanced titles, Stormrise. AMD’s enthusiastic commitment to new standards such as DirectX 10.1 in the ATI Radeon HD 4800 series is helping us develop a game which looks better and runs faster than was possible on previous platforms,” said Chris Southall, CTO Europe, SEGA. “SEGA is delighted to team up with AMD on one of our forthcoming games. AMD’s firm commitment to cutting-edge technology makes them a natural partner for us on Stormrise.”

ATI Radeon HD 3000 series graphics products and ATI Radeon HD 4800 series graphics products are widely available now at leading e-tailers, retailers and system integrators worldwide.

To showcase the difference that DirectX 10.1 technology makes, AMD recently unveiled a real-time 3D demo called “Ping Pong” to illustrate some of the new graphical techniques made possible by the new features DirectX 10.1 and supported by both the ATI Radeon HD 3000 series and ATI Radeon HD 4000 series of graphics processors. The interactive demo shows off advanced lighting techniques only possible through DirectX 10.1. For more information and to view the demo, please visit: http://ati.amd.com/developer/demos/rhd3000.html.

I am very excited about the news that the Nintendo Wii is getting a new House of The Dead title for Sega. The game, House of The Dead: Overkill, is said to carry on the cheesy, b-movie-like theme of the previous games.

According to reports, Sega will serve up a prequel that will tell the story of Agent G and Agent Washington. As for gameplay, the Wii-Mote will act as the “light gun” but melee attacks will also be incorporated in the agents’ list of moves. I can’t wait for the game to arrive next year.

As announced over at IGN, to further celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog’s 15th anniversary, Sega will be releasing a port of the original Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog 1 on the Gameboy Advance. However, to sweeten the deal, this port will contain a save feature and Sonic’s trademark spin-dash attack, which wasn’t created until Sonic the Hedgehog 2, worked into the game. No news on whether they’re going to give the sprites any sort of make-over or if any further alterations will be made. Never-the-less, this is a great game to take on the go and I sincerely hope it means the rest of Sonic’s Genesis adventures will be ported to a handheld.