London 2012 (video game)

London 2012: The Official Video Game is the official Olympic video game of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. It was published by Sega and developed by Sega Studios Australia, making this the first Olympics title to be developed in-house by Sega. The iOS and Android versions were developed and published by NEOWIZ.

London 2012
European Xbox 360 cover art
Developer(s)Sega Studios Australia
NEOWIZ (iOS, Android)
Publisher(s)Sega
NEOWIZ (iOS, Android)
Platform(s)
ReleaseiOS
19 June 2012
Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
  • NA: 26 June 2012
  • AU: 28 June 2012
  • EU: 29 June 2012
Android
10 October 2012
Genre(s)Sports (Olympic)
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

It is also the second official video game based on the 2012 Olympics, the other being Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The game features 37 countries, and 31 events. New disciplines included 10m Synchronised Platform Diving, Trampoline, Beach Volleyball and Keirin.

The game features an online mode for players wishing to compete with other challengers worldwide. The "national pride" is a ranking system in the online mode, where the players have the possibility to collect medals for their favourite country.[1]

It is compatible with PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect for certain events in the party mode.[citation needed]

London 2012 is the first Olympics video game to include cooperative events in the local multiplayer mode.

Disciplines

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These events are in the game:[2]

Archery (held at Lord's)

Aquatics (held at the London Aquatics Centre)

  • 3m springboard diving
  • 3m synchronised springboard diving[N 1][N 2]
  • 10m platform diving
  • 10m synchronised platform diving[N 1][N 2]
  • Swimming – 50m freestyle
  • Swimming – 100m backstroke
  • Swimming – 100m breaststroke
  • Swimming – 100m butterfly
  • Swimming – 100m freestyle

Gymnastics (held at The O2 Arena)

Shooting (held at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich)

Track and field (held at the London Stadium)

Other sports

  1. ^ a b c Only playable in local multiplayer mode
  2. ^ a b c d e f Included in an Olympic video game for the first time

The game therefore includes 8 of the events from the decathlon (only missing pole vault and 1500 metres).

Nations represented

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Reception

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London 2012 received "mixed or average reviews" on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[16][18][17][19]

Chris Schilling of IGN said of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions that "Sega's celebration of the year's biggest sporting event is better than you might expect." In his opinion, the events of both versions would not hold up too well in the long term, but that is not really what an Olympics game is about. He praised the online and offline multiplayer mode.[8][9] The German PC game magazine GameStar criticized the gameplay, because it is almost impossible to play it with the mouse and the keyboard, so the player is forced to get a gamepad to play London 2012. They also mentioned that the gameplay of the events would not be different from each other and that the AI of the computer opponents is not balanced.[20]

The Digital Fix gave the PS3 version seven out of ten and said it was "a fine example of an Olympics type game. The presentation is excellent, the events are more varied than you might expect and the subtleties of controls mean you'll have a wonderful time as you begin any experience with the game."[21] Metro gave the Xbox 360 version a similar score of seven out of ten and said it was "Not just an Olympics tie-in but a proper sports game, with the majority of events finding a good balance between realism and enjoyment."[15] However, Digital Spy gave the same console version three stars out of five and said, "There are lots of events that can be enjoyed time and time again, although far less than the 46 advertised. Motion controls add very little, but do at least offer new ways to experience the game, alongside a plethora of game modes. While London 2012: The Game may fall short of Gold, it's certainly deserving of a respectable Bronze."[14]

The game held the top spot of the UK All Format chart for three weeks following its release.[22] It reached number 9 in the PS3 PAL downloads chart.[23] As of May 2013, the game has sold 680,000 copies in the US and Europe.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Nichols, Scott (31 May 2011). "Sega announces London 2012 Olympics game". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  2. ^ Puig, Juan (12 July 2012). "Análisis de London 2012". Eurogamer.es (in Spanish). Eurogamer. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  3. ^ Harmon, Josh (2 July 2012). "EGM Review: London 2012 (X360)". EGMNow. EGM Media, LLC. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  4. ^ Minkley, Johnny (29 June 2012). "London 2012 Review (Xbox 360)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  5. ^ "London 2012 (X360)". GamesMaster. Future plc. September 2012. p. 100.
  6. ^ a b James, Lucy (20 July 2012). "London 2012 Review (PS3, X360)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  7. ^ Workman, Robert (18 July 2012). "London 2012: The Olympic Games review (X360)". GameZone. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  8. ^ a b Schilling, Chris (29 June 2012). "London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games PS3 Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  9. ^ a b Schilling, Chris (29 June 2012). "London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games Xbox 360 Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  10. ^ Davies, Emma (3 July 2012). "London 2012 PS3 review – can the official tie-in bring home the gold?". PlayStation Official Magazine – UK. Future plc. Archived from the original on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  11. ^ "London 2012". PlayStation Official Magazine – Australia. Citrus Media. September 2012. p. 74.
  12. ^ Reyes, Francesca (20 July 2012). "London 2012: The Official Videogame of the Olympic Games review". Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  13. ^ Cowen, Nick (29 June 2012). "London 2012 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games Review (X360)". VideoGamer.com. Resero Network. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  14. ^ a b Martin, Liam (27 June 2012). "'London 2012 - The Official Videogame' review (Xbox 360): Bronze medal". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  15. ^ a b Mr. Pinkerton (27 June 2012). "London 2012 review - The Official Video Game Of The Olympic Games (X360)". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  16. ^ a b "London 2012 - Official Mobile Game for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  17. ^ a b "London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  18. ^ a b "London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  19. ^ a b "London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  20. ^ Wittluski, Thomas; Witt, Malte (2 July 2012). "Olympische Spiele: London 2012 im Test - Quicktime-Olympiade". GameStar (in German). Webedia. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  21. ^ Howard, Luciano (24 July 2012). "London 2012: The Official Video Game [of the Olympic Games] Review (PS3)". The Digital Fix. Poisonous Monkey. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  22. ^ Burgess, Robert (14 August 2012). "UK Chart: Three Weeks At The Top For London 2012". Gamebrit. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  23. ^ "PlayStation Store PAL Charts: September 2012 – PlayStation.Blog". 4 October 2012.
  24. ^ Purchese, Robert (10 May 2013). "Aliens: Colonial Marines managed 1.31 million sales". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
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Preceded by Official videogame of the Summer Olympic Games Succeeded by