You know why some chicks playing tennis are worth watching, no matter how bad or boring could turn to be a match? If you don't, look at Anna Kournikova. If you still didn't find out why, then maybe you should start watching chess, because tennis is surely not your thing! Anyway, as a final hint - take a look below, and try to imagine what could be the link between tennis and gaming. Without any help, I couldn't guess that either, but since I know the whole story already, here's what you should know...

...since it happens a lot for various celebrities to step in and help promoting a certain game, why not add some hot tennis chicks into this human equation? How? Well, by offering Top Spin fans a chance to meet Maria Sharapova, of course! Here's an excerpt from the official press release: <-125x125 Button - right->"2K Sports announced today that top-ranked tennis star Maria Sharapova will be autographing copies of Top Spin 3 for Wii home video game system at the Nintendo World Store on August 25. From 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., fans can meet Maria Sharapova and have her autograph their copy of the most authentic tennis experience available for Wii."

As you can see above, the whole thing is expected to happen between 12PM and 1PM on the 25th of August, at the Nintendo World Store, in Rockfeller Plaza, New York, NY. Probably you missed it, but that doesn't really matter for now - if it happened now, it will probably happen again, and if someone would ask me, I would really like to meet Maria Sharapova dressed as a Dark Elf. How would you like to meet her? Don't answer "naked," please! :)

Finally, I should also add that Top Spin 3 has been rated E for Everyone by the ESRB, so you're all free to take the tennis ball and give it a spin with Maria!

Did you ever meet a bear? Although I am not living in a region where bears are running free, I had two close encounters with bears, and they both had a happy ending. Since I am here to write this, that should be obvious, anyway. I won't get deeper into those encounters, but all I can say is that I regret I had to deal with brown bears twice, and since it all happened in Europe, I had no chance of encountering the Kodiak Bear. Anyway, Alaska is one of the destinations I have to check in my list with places to visit, but until I get there, I think it's easier to grab a Wii and enjoy Mastiff's Major League Eating: The Game...

Major League Eating is now available via WiiWare, but I think the real thing is even more interesting, so here it is - the records belonging to Takeru Kobayashi, Joey Chestnut, Sonya Thomas and Patrick Bertoletti are now history: 66 Nathan's Famous hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes; 97 Krystal hamburgers in eight minutes; 65 hard boiled eggs in six minutes and 47 seconds; eight-plus pounds of rib meat in 12 minutes!

Now, to the Kodiak Bear facts in the game - if you manage to unlock each character in the game along the way, you'll get the ultimate unlockable in the end, The Alaskan Crusher. Here's what the official press release says...<-120x240 Vertical Banner - right->

"Hailing from Alaska's Kodiak Archipelago, The Alaskan Crusher is considered one of the world's largest terrestrial omnivores. He prefers the brain, flesh and eggs of the salmon, and the internal organs of deer, elk and cattle. He is also extremely fond of berries, grass and other plants.

In order to face The Alaskan Crusher, players must unlock each of the hidden characters in Major League Eating: The Game. Once each hidden character is available, The Alaskan Crusher will be unlocked. Hidden characters are unlocked by winning a match with a specific character as follows:

Win a game with "Crazy Legs" Conti to unlock Tim "Eater X" Janus
Win a game with Erik "the Red" Denmark to unlock Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas
Win a game with "El Toro" Jimenez to unlock Richard "The Locust" LeFevre
Win a game with Juliet "The Lovely" Lee to unlock Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti
Win a game with Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti to unlock Joey "Jaws" Chestnut

Only one eater, competitive eating legend Takeru Kobayashi, has ever dared face a Kodiak bear in head-to-head gurgitory competition, and Kobayashi suffered a crushing defeat on that day five years ago. Will Kobayashi find his revenge? Only time will tell."

Pretty funny, don't you think? I am sure that one of the real Kodiak Bear facts is that such a monster won't ever compeat with a human in any contest, but...who can tell for sure?

Do you like to play with animals? Big cats, especially? Well, when I say "Puma Games" I am not thinking about such things, so those of you who were expecting such things will be disappointed. Anyway, to make a longer story short, "Puma games" is about the world renowned sportswear brand Puma, who just got involved in the first MMOG that is trying to "recreate the game of football and its accompanying luxury lifestyle." Sounds interesting enough to read on? Well, here we go...

<-250x250 Square - left->According to the (boiling hot) press release I have here, Football Superstars, a game created by a UK based company, called CyberSports, "features thousands of human players online in a virtual world competing with and against each other."The big deal is that the game is completely free to download and play, since "PUMA products and branding incorporated interactively in the game play courtesy of IGA Worldwide, the leading provider of in-game advertising. Players will not only have the ability to experience the awesome speed of the PUMA v1.08 Speed Boot but also visit a virtual facsimile of London’s Carnaby Street concept store in-game, to kit their avatar out with the latest PUMA lifestyle apparel."

Just great! Free game with in-game advertising. I don't know about others, but I have nothing against it. Just look at what these people have to say about the entire "operation":

"We are very excited about our new partnership with Football Superstars as it provides us with a unique opportunity to communicate the brand and it’s benefits to a wider audience." (Richard Callaway, Head of Sport PUMA UK)

"We are proud to facilitate the execution of this campaign, which aligns a leading sports brand with one of the most innovative community-based football games. With the engaging opportunities available within Football Superstars, we believe this is the first of many. This strong integration between both parties will set the standard for other brands looking to get in the game."(Giuseppe Bellanca, VP Ad Sales Europe at IGA Worldwide)

These being said, I think that "Puma games" just got a whole new meaning. A better one.

Formerly known as Ultimate Baseball Online, the game currently going under the Cal Ripken's Real Baseball name is the first and only one of its kind. What kind? Well, think about a free massively multiplayer online game involving sports. Obviously, we're talking about baseball, and this game here is the only MMOSG(massively multiplayer online sports game) available at this time! Today, we're going to talk about a new tournament in this game, but fiiirst...

<-250x250 Square - left->...you should know that Cal Ripken's Real Baseball has been developed for almost 4 years, and the current version of the game is expected to be replaced by a completely overhauled one pretty soon, probably in October.

The tournament announced today is a Home-Run Derby Tournament, being scheduled to begin on June 2nd at 12:00 PM PST. This is going to be a pretty long fight, because the Home-Run Derby Tournament is basically a revolving two-week competition, so we're going to have a new winner reaching the ultimate glory every two weeks.

If you're a beginner, you don't have to worry, because each player is competing against those having the same level, so in the end, it's all about skill.

Andy Wang, founder and CEO of Netamin Communication Corporation, said the Home-Run is "a single player tournament, and players will not just experience winning or losing but learn about playing the game of baseball as well. It will help players to have better experience when they start to play with real people!"

The prizes? A spot in Cal Ripken's Real Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as the option to place your own picture in the list of honorees. Sounds good to you? If so, just go to the Cal Ripken's Real Baseball website, register for free, and then get busy with it. Good luck!

I must confess something - I am not crazy at all about football, but I always enjoy a good sports game, although I am not crazy about sport simulators/managers either...so Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 may be just a good title for me!

Today, Konami announced that the PC, PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360 and DS versions of their Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 soccer game have been shipped to retailers all over the US, just a bit ahead of its official launch.

"Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 marks a major step forward for the most popular soccer video game franchise in the world," says Konami's Vice President of Marketing, Anthony Crouts.

Regarding the new features in this game, he said "Next-gen capabilities such as the Teamvision AI system and photo-realistic graphics, along with a ton of licensed teams and leagues, combine to make this the definitive soccer game for fans and newcomers alike."

PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 users will have to pay $49.99 for the game, while Nintendo DS, PSP and PS2 versions will come cheaper, for a price around $30.