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In these belt-tightening, penny-pinching times, it literally pays to have a nose for the bargains. That's where we, or rather Gamefly, comes in. The game rental outfit has a broad selection of used Wii software for low, world banking crisis-friendly prices, and we chose ten of the best sub-$20 games to tempt you. Thar be bargains ahead!

• Baroque for $12.99
• Battalion Wars 2 for $17.99
• Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy for $9.99
• Dewy's Adventure for $13.99
• Geometry Wars: Galaxies for $16.99
• Mercury: Meltdown Revolution for $15.99
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams for $12.99
• No More Heroes for $17.99
• Sega Superstars Tennis for $9.99
• Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure for $17.99

There's actually a ton more we could have mentioned, including Super Mario Galaxy for $32.99, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for $30.99, and Metroid Prime 3 for $26.99. Sadly, "One hundred and fifty-eight for under forty-two" just doesn't work as a headline. Hit up the "Source" link for the full set.


[Thanks, William!]

Wii Fit is selling like gangbusters in Britain, where it accounts for half of all Wii software sold in the last week, and has given Nintendo its first one-two finish in the All Formats Chart since 2003. And guess what? It's more or less the same story throughout the rest of Europe.

The Irish are shedding the Guinness pounds, the Germans are working off those brätwurst, and Sweden ... well, we don't really have a lazy, go-to food stereotype for the Swedes. Anyhow, the point is: they're all loving it, and if Wii Fit doesn't appear in a chart (see: Spain, Denmark), it's probably because a country hasn't got it yet, or the charts have fallen behind.

Mind you, don't expect any of this Nintendo dominance to last: next week's charts are guaranteed to be all about one game (yet we suspect Wii Fit might give you have better legs than GTA IV in the long-term). Lean past the break for this week's European charts.

You'll have to forgive our convoluted title -- really, it couldn't be helped. If it's not immediately clear, and we very much doubt that it is, GameStop has two great DS online and in-store deals this week:

• Touch Detective 2 1/2: $9.99, our review
  
• Sega Superstars Tennis: $14.99, metareview
  

Which both add up to $25 (provided that you round up)! See what we did there? Two-and-a-half $10 bills? $25? Come on!

Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.

While yours truly had trouble tracking down a copy of Mario Kart Wii on the high street (for our review), it appears plenty of others around Europe had no such problem.

Bar Denmark (where it has now dropped to fifth), the title sits at the top of every European chart, and we suspect it might even be influencing the sales of other games. Surely the rise of Mario Kart DS to 8th in Ireland, 8th in France, and 7th in Germany can't all be a mere coincidence? By our reckoning, Mario Kart Wii has ramped up Europe's interest in Mario Kart generally. Fortunately, Mario Kart DS is the bee's knees!

Finally, this week's overachiever award goes to Sega Superstars Tennis -- despite the Wii version's lack of online play, Sega's tennis/blue skies extravaganza climbed to fourth in the UK. Head beyond the break for more European chartage, and please accept our humble apologies for the lack of a Spanish top ten -- that should be back next week.

Despite our enthusiasm (and the enthusiasm of Sega fanboys everywhere) over Sega Superstars Tennis, a release that drips with fan service, the game failed to inspire consumers to rush out and buy the game like they did with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games? Not enough Mario, perhaps? Or olympics?

Whatever the case, slow sales for the tennis title has given GameStop early cause to slash its prices for Sega Superstars Tennis across all platforms, and you can now buy the Wii game for as little as $19.99. It's a great bargain, considering the game was released only a month ago! You can order Sega Superstars Tennis through GameStop's online shop, but why not save a few bucks and pick it up at one of the retailer's local stores?


[Via GameStop circular]

Have you always had a dark fantasy about watching Space Channel 5's Ulala play hot, sweaty tennis against Sonic's squeeze Amy Rose? If so, you repulse us, and we think everybody would be more comfortable if you'd just leave. Seriously, there's a back door, just slip out. No, no you can't say goodbye to everyone, just get out.

But before you go we also have good news for you! There's a demo for Sega Superstars Tennis on Xbox Live, so you can fulfill your primal, forbidden urges gratis. ... But you probably need to pay to watch it, don't you? Otherwise it's just not wrong enough. We just threw up in our mouths a bit, thanks so much for that.

Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.

Unlike reigning full beard freestyle world champion Elmar Weisser of Germany (who we admire fiercely), we have mixed feelings about this week's European sales charts.

For example, while we're heartened by the success of debutant Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (5th in the UK, and the Wii edition supplemented sales of other versions across Europe -- not bad for a game that appeared on every other console last October), we're irked by the flat performance of House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return (15th in Britain, and nowhere to be seen in the charts of mainland Europe).

Europe, if you're reading, stop buying Game Party (7th in UK), Smarty Pants (10th in Spain), and Mario & bleeding Sonic (high everywhere) and let's get something half-decent up there for a change. Sega Bass Fishing should make next week's chart, so that'd be a good place to start -- let's have that top ten somewhere, please. Sigh. At least Elmar will never fail to impress us. Click on for the charts.

Ah, there's nothing like the smell of a fresh demo on a Friday morning. Today's Marketplace offering is none other than Sega Superstars Tennis. The demo offers single player and local versus multiplayer. The game brings together plenty of Sega "superstars" (Amigo? A superstar? Really?) for some friendly tennis action and tennis based mini-games. Taking a cue from Nintendo, the game focuses infuses typical tennis mechanics with fantasy court settings and the ability to enter Superstar Mode, which grants special powers to each character. The demo doesn't last very long, but new features are unlocked through successive play-throughs, so give it a shot.

The SEGA marketing folks just announced that a SEGA Superstars Tennis demo will be headed to the Xbox Live Marketplace in the near future, as soon as it passes Microsoft certification. Though, the demo may be end up being restricted to North American Live subscribers seeing that such restrictions have been implemented on the PSN Store where the demo has already been released. SEGA also felt the need to rub some salt in our scabbed over Bloodshot demo sore by mentioned that the Condemned 2: Bloodshot demo should be making an XBLM release soon'ish as well. To date, the Bloodshot demo has been "coming soon" for over two weeks. Anyone willing to bet that we don't see either SEGA promised demo until mid-April?

Many of you are likely eyeing up Sega's Superstar Tennis as a means of primary enjoyment with your Wii this weekend. Of course, Brawl is out and will likely remain a constant source of enjoyment in the life of all us Wii lovers out there, but that doesn't mean we should neglect the new titles. We shouldn't ignore them.

Will you be checking out Sega Superstar Tennis? Will you be checking out one of the other releases this week? What will you be playing?

Sega's decision to release Sega Superstars Tennis in March was a bold one: Many companies moved their releases out of the way of Nintendo's major offering -- and those games aren't competitive multiplayer games starring a cast of iconic video game company mascots from different games, battling on a variety of stages inspired by the games from whence the characters came.

No, we don't think Sega Superstars Tennis is a direct response to or an attempt to compete with Super Smash Bros. Brawl -- if it were, we wouldn't see Sonic in Nintendo's game. Sega Superstars Tennis is a smaller release, meant, we would guess, to bridge the gap between "casual gamers" and Sega superfans. Or, to be more cynical, to be a Virtua Tennis sequel without the likeness rights. Did Sega and Sumo Digital serve up an ace or a fault? Or is the game best analogized by some other tennis term? The reviews seem to range from the ecstatic to the nonplussed. Hit the post break for reviewers' opinions!

Sega and Sumo Digital may have served up a worthwhile tennis option for the Wii, but can the DS title rock the court? From the early reviews, it looks like the character roster is the best thing the handheld has going for it, though there are some solid gameplay mechanics buried beneath the fanservice.

IGN: 69% -- Solid, but too easy. "If you replaced the traditional tennis courts with ones taking place in such SEGA universes as Sonic the Hedgehog's Green Hill Zone, the Nights dreamworld Nightopia, and House of the Dead's Curian Mansion, and then replace the professional athletes with Sonic and Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog, AiAi from Super Monkey Ball, Beat from Jet Grind Radio, and Ulala from Space Channel 5, you'd get SEGA Superstars Tennis. And that's exactly what Sumo, the developer of Virtua Tennis, has done for SEGA ... But compared to other tennis games, it feels more automatic than it should be."

GamePro: 45% -- This is on the DS why? "The final thing to keep in mind when avoiding Sega Superstars Tennis for DS is that the game looks better on consoles. Also, the play style isn't really suited to handhelds, since there doesn't appear to be a way to save your progress in a tournament. While the character roster has potential, the tennis here is just too gimmicky and frustrating to recommend."

Nintendo Power: 80% -- The Nintendo magazine found themselves immersed in a solid experience -- for both tennis and Sega fans. "The default button-based control scheme is less forgiving than that of the Mario titles, calling for more precision and tighter timing -- either a welcome challenge or a minor frustration, depending on how much you mind AiAi acing one past you ... Control issues aside, Sega Superstar Tennis is swimming in clever game references and should be fun for even a casual Sega fan."

This week, there are a lot of DS games headed out all around the globe, but it's particularly a great week for those of you who keep your eyes peeled for interesting Japanese releases. Not the import type? That's okay -- there's a lot of other games to consider, and some that aren't even quite games, per se.

• Diary Girl
• Fantasy Aquarium by DS
• GoPets: Vacation Island
• Lost in Blue 3
• Sega Superstars Tennis

This week sees the release of a couple of high-profile titles on the Wii, both of which we were hoping would include online play. Reality, however, is different. Still, these titles are interesting nonetheless.

Releases for the week of March 17th:

• Sega Superstars Tennis
• Worms: A Space Oddity
• George of the Jungle
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
• WWII Aces

So who's planning on picking any of these up?