Ginny Gudmundsen from USA Today has given Let’s Tap a score of 4/5 stars!

The favorite games of the family testers were Tap Runner and Rhythm Tap. I especially appreciated how much they liked the “gel guys” of Tap Runner. I agree that it’s amazing how expressive they can be with no face.

I really recommend reading the article, but if you’re in a hurry, here’s the conclusion:

Let’s Tap is one of those rare games that brings nongamers to the Wii, while satisfying Wii aficionados. Unlike Rock Band and Guitar Hero, where nongamers feel intimidated by the fancy controllers and all the chaos on the screen, Let’s Tap is inviting. It’s easy to tap your fingers on a box.

It is one of those games where, if you are in a room with a group that is playing it, you’ll want a turn. Who doesn’t want to blow up a balloon by tapping and then have the balloon’s bursting send your gel guy flying down the track? Plus, regardless of whether you are playing or waiting for your turn, the antics of the gel guys will have the whole room laughing. Let’s Tap is a surefire crowd pleaser.

Let’s go!

Back when MADWORLD first shipped in the US, all of us here looked with jealous eyes over in the direction of Europe, who got a very special Soundtrack bonus for one of their pre-orders. “Release the Soundtrack here!” shouted US owners everywhere. Today, we’re happy to confirm that your requests did not go unheard.

Starting tomorrow, the MADWORLD soundtrack will be going out across the US! (and Europe, if you missed the pre order) The coolest part – you don’t even have to wait for shipping. Sumthing Distribution, where you can order the record, is letting you choose between buying a physical copy of the CD (with Black/White/Red style insert and packaging) or, alternatively, downloading it directly to your PC.

I was literally just handed a few of the physical soundtracks, so I took some pictures for you guys wondering what it will look like:

The Soundtrack will run at $15.99 – and you can pick it up not only in America, but across much of Europe too! (Both physical CD and via digital download.) Enjoy guys, and have fun next time you blast ‘Ride‘ while speeding like a demon driving safely through the neighborhood.

This week was Sonic the Hedgehog’s 18th birthday, and to celebrate we’ve been giving away codes for games from the Xbox Live Arcade SEGA Vintage Collection games all week on Twitter, Facebook, and the official SEGA forums. These Vintage Collection games are complete with their own achievements, as well as updated HD graphics and, for select games, multiplayer support over Xbox Live Arcade as well as online leaderboards.

In case you’ve missed the giveaways, here’s how they work: These codes are redeemable on a first-come / first-serve basis. If you’re the first person to enter the code, then the game is yours.

We’re giving away 2 codes for each game in this blog — the codes themselves are above each screenshot, so find the one you want and good luck!

1. Comix Zone

This is a side-scrolling brawler with a neat meta-twist, where you are a comic book artist trapped in his own comic book. You do battle panel-by-panel with your own creations, and the game has a very unique art style with a great soundtrack.

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2. GunStar Heroes

A funky & truly creative side-scrolling shooter, with unique weapons and clever level design. Very fast-paced action and some great graphics to boot.

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3. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Everyone knows Sonic 3. What you might not yet have heard is that this version, from the Vintage Collection, will be “lock-on” compatible. That means that when Sonic & Knuckles comes out it will work with this version of Sonic 3, and you can then play as Knuckles in Sonic 3 — and if you have the Vintage Collection version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, you can play as Knuckles in that game, as well as have access to the special-stage game “Blue Sphere”.

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4. Altered Beast (arcade version)

A stalwart of the SEGA arcade years. The game boasted the ability to turn into a unique mythical-type monster for each stage, and to engage in fisticuffs with storms of flying eyeballs, which is always a plus.

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5. Shinobi (arcade version)

I grew up playing the Master System port of Shinobi, and it was an excellent game–the arcade version, though, still works as a perfect example of the side-scrolling action genre that gets nearly everything right. The music was fantastic, there was a wide variety of enemies with big creative bosses. Shinobi remains one of the highlights of SEGA’s arcade & console years.

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6. Phantasy Star II

One of the great classic RPGs from the era, with an epic story and huge world to explore. Beware of 16-bit Rappys!

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Those of you younguns who only remember the past 20 years of Michael Jackson’s life might forget that for roughly a decade, from Off the Wall and Thriller to Bad and Dangerous, Jackson was just about the most entertaining person on the planet. He worked with some of the best producers of his era and made mind-bogglingly weird/unique/creative music videos.

Oh, and he also teamed up with SEGA in 1990 to make several versions of the game Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker. By far the coolest feature of these games was their version of the “smart bomb” mechanic, where you can press a button to eliminate all the enemies on the screen. Only instead of just dropping a bomb or clearing the screen of baddies, Michael Jackson dances everyone into synchronized exhaustion.

Enjoy these nuggets of retro awesomeness.

Genesis/Mega Drive version:

Arcade version:

And as a special bonus — just in case Michael Jackson turning into a giant robot that shoots lasers seemed too normal for you — enjoy this explanation-defying clip of the music/dancing game Space Channel 5 from the Dreamcast.

At the recent E3 show, Alpha Protocol was a big hit among press and attendees with a very excellent demo provided by our internal producers and the Obsidian Entertainment developers. If you missed the show, developer Matt Rorie has crafted a recreation of one of the paths available within the E3 demo.

I’m always really impressed when I see Alpha Protocol in action, I always have a thought on a new approach or path. For example, Matt Rorie does an excellent job of playing the role of an aggressive spy, taking down from afar with a meaty machine gun. If I had my way, I’d be a bit more subtle, working my way through the level from the sidelines as a stealthier spy armed with my two hands, some tranquilizers, and a gadget or two.

Depending on the path, you’ll hit a lot of conversations, a lot of choices, and a lot of options. The video also looks at the skill tree and walks through some of the options available when customizing your character. This is a great opportunity to start mapping out your playstyle, who will you be?

We hope you enjoy this walkthrough and look forward to your feedback on what you would do in this situation. As always, you can post your ideas here or head on over to our forums!

It’s time again for Free Stuff Friday on Twitter! We’ve got some hot items lined up for you this week, including some extremely rare SEGA gear. In fact, we’re so excited to show you what we’re giving away that we decided to make a video to show it all off. If you’re more of a photo-type though, don’t fret… I’ve still got photos for you further down the way.

If you’re new to Free Stuff Friday, I’ve got a primer for you at the bottom of this entry. Brush up on your Twitter skills, make sure everything is in order, and get ready to win fun stuff!

I filmed Clumsyorchid and RubyEclipse talking about this week’s giveaway, so without further ado…

If you like the video and want us to keep doing them, please let us know! We thought it would be fun to try, and we hope you like it.

On the Block

Item 1: SEGA Baseball Shirt

This is a 3/4 sleeve length dark & light blue baseball-style shirt with SEGA on the front. As mentioned in the video, this is from the personal collection of Clumsyorchid. Everyone is eligible to win this prize.

Congrats to our winner, @@watermelon64!

Item 2: Virtua Tennis tennis balls

This is a set of 3 tennis balls branded with the Virtua Tennis 2009  logo. There is also a SEGA logo on the lid. Everyone is eligible to win this prize.

Congrats to our winner, @edlago!

Item 3: SEGA Sweatshirt

This red sweatshirt with the SEGA logo on it is a size S, and also from the personal collection of Clumsyorchid. Everyone is eligible to win this prize!

Congrats to our winner @thexboxfan!

Item 4: The Conduit (Wii)

Hot off the presses and straight to you! The Conduit was released this week, and we’ve got a copy to give to one lucky fan! It’s for the Wii (obviously), and sorry — this one is limited to people in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Latin America (NTSC region).

Congrats to our winner @wargamer!

Item 5: Empire: Total War

Empire: Total War just had an update this past week along with some sweet DLC. If you haven’t given this RTS a chance yet, this could be your lucky day! It’s for the PC and everyone in the US, Canada, Mexico and Latin America (NTSC) is eligible.

Congrats to our winner, @KenWicklein!

Item 6: Virtua Tennis 2009

Need some Virtua Tennis on your PS3? Here’s your chance! Everyone in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Latin America (NTSC) is eligible.

Congrats to our winner, @GenDV138!

Item 7: Let’s Tap

Let’s Tap is getting some great reviews! If you win this game, you’re in for a tappin’ good time! Available to all in US, Canada, Mexico and Latin America (NTSC).

Congrats to our winner, @Volcynika!

How it Works

1. You must be following us on Twitter to be eligible. (If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can create one by going to http://www.twitter.com and click the green “get started — join!” button in the center of the page.)
2. At random times on Friday, we will announce the prize we are giving away, and what number of response you need to be to win. Send us a direct message (DM) via Twitter and be that number to win the prize. (@ replies do not count as entries!)
3. All followers are eligible to win all prizes, unless a restriction is noted. Restrictions are usually due to the prize being region-locked. For example, US games that won’t work on UK gaming systems. There may also be age restrictions due to the rating of the game.
4. We will announce the winner on our Twitter feed once eligibility is confirmed.

Make Sure We’re Following You on Twitter

If you are currently following us on Twitter, please be sure that we are following you as well. You can do this by making sure that SEGA is in your “followers” list, or by going to DoesFollow and typing SEGA in the first blank, your Twitter username in the second, and pressing the “check” button. You can reverse this to be sure that you are following us. If you are following us, but we’re not following you, please send a message to @SEGA and we will follow you. This is important, because only people we follow can send us direct messages (DMs), and DMs are the only way to enter the giveaways.

How to Send Direct Messages on Twitter

There are a few ways to send us a Direct Message on Twitter. The easiest way is to go to our Twitter page and select “message” under the “Actions” heading in the side bar. If you do not see “message”, this means that we are not following you. Please send a message to @sega to let us know, and we will follow you. When you click “message” you will be taken to a window where you can type a message and press send.

You may also select the “direct messages” tab from your Twitter homepage, and select SEGA from the drop-down menu at the top of the page. Again, if you don’t see our name there, it’s probably because we’re not following you. Let us know, and we’ll follow you.

There are also many Twitter clients that you can use instead of using the website. These include TweetDeck, Twitteriffic, Tweetie, and Twhirl. Each of these programs works differently, so you’ll want to figure out how to send a direct message on the program you use. If you want to send us a test message, we’ll let you know if we received it or not.

Today is the day, The Conduit is out now and available in stores across the country, quickly being picked up by everyone looking for one of the best experiences currently available on the Wii! Reviews have been coming in with high marks from IGN and Gamesradar, with other reviews to hit as the week goes on. I expect most reviewers are taking the time to check out the full Single player components and dig deep into the extensive Multiplayer.

We are overjoyed with the community response for The Conduit and want to thank all of our fans for their continued support. Today is your day, go out buy the game, and have fun! This is your time to see everything we’ve been showing you first hand. If you aren’t already a member, don’t forget to head over to our Forums and meet up with other Conduit fans, exchange friend codes, create rivalries, and discuss the game we’ve been waiting for on the Nintendo Wii.

Today is Sonic’s 18th Birthday! Leave your birthday wishes and Sonic memories in the comments below.

If you’re an old school SEGA fan, GameWorks is one place you absolutely have to visit at some point in your life. For those who aren’t already aware, GameWorks is just one part of the great big company that is SEGA, only they exist here in America separate from our publishing branch (where I work), and focus on arcades, parties at said arcades, and very very cool arcade machines.

One summer a couple years back, I took a trip to Las Vegas to visit a friend of mine, and she took me to the Gameworks there. (My first time.) At first, I wasn’t quite sure if I was seeing things correctly. I took another look at the game card, squinted at the SEGA logo, blinked twice – still there. I wasn’t dreaming. Sonic UFO plushies, SEGA arcade games galore, and Outrun! It was almost something like Mecca for SEGA fans, or would have been if there had just been a few Dreamcasts plugged in somewhere.

Now, from this Friday to Sunday, Gameworks at Long Beach is hosting  a special tournament across three games – Maximum Tune 3, Need For Speed Underground, and (The SEGA Fan favorite), Outrun 2 SPD. Entry is $3 for a race, and the winner goes him with $150 in cash.

So, if you think you’ve got the courage and the skills to drive your girlfriend around like no other, head on down this weekend and go head to head against the best of the best. (Or maybe just mediocre, which is still good for your chances.) While you’re there, don’t be afraid to check out all the other sweet stuff that SEGA fans can enjoy.

If anyone here enters, be sure to let us know what you thought! Snap some cool pics of the event and I’ll also get them featured here on the blog.

Good luck, everyone!

The Conduit is nearly here. Tomorrow the game ships to stores and soon players will be online fragging their brains out with what everyone has been calling the best Wii experience to date. I’m excited, I hope you are too.

Special Edition Unboxing Video

Last week I was given access to the final Special Edition box for The Conduit, straight from Gamestop and hopefully what you’ll be picking up in the days to come. With a flip camera in hand, I took a bit of video to show off what the box includes and how it differs from the normal boxed edition. This video is somewhat of a work in progress, we’re using handheld cameras to try and show off stuff in the moment and the quality could definitely be improved. That said, the video does give you a chance to check out the Special Edition a bit early, which is definitely a bonus! Enjoy.

New Trailer – Washington DC Monuments

In addition to the Unboxing video, we also have a new trailer highlighting some of the fun to be had whilst visiting Washington DC in your Conduit travels. First time in the city? Oh, you are in for a treat as the tour covers all the major landmarks, and a few others that have been hidden from the general public.

If you haven’t yet pre-ordered The Conduit, remember that this is the only way you’ll get your hands on the Special Edition. Head on over to Gamestop.com or to your local retailer to get your hands on a piece of Wii history, courtesy of Sega and High Voltage Software.