Sega's spring Crush
Crush for PSP
(Credit: Sega)We speak not of Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog's romantic obsession with gold rings (creepy as that may be), but of Crush, an upcoming platform and puzzle game for the Sony PSP that we saw at Sega's spring press event here in NYC.
This puzzle game caught our eye with its unusual 2D/3D design. Players traverse the find-the-exit levels by temporarily "crushing" the game's geometry down to a 2D view, allowing the main character to get to otherwise impossible-to-reach places. It's similar in some ways to Super Paper Mario for the Wii, and also reminded us of two other PSP puzzle games that are coming out later this spring, PQ2 and Cube.
Virtua Tennis 3
(Credit: Sega)Also of note at the Sega showoff was Virtua Tennis 3 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. This series always manages to be at the forefront of photo-realistic graphics, and the latest installment is another step toward the far end of gaming's uncanny valley.
Virtua Tennis 3 is set for a March 20 release, and Crush will be released sometime this summer.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
