PC gaming website Rock Paper Shotgun have got an exclusive look at Multiwinia - the multiplayer version of Darwinia, which will both be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade in a single package! Check it out!

Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun: RPS Exclusive: Multiwinia Hands-on

Load Inc. have sent us a few new pictures of TOW: Things On Wheels for the Xbox Live Arcade. Not in game unfortunately, but instead showing off the first 5 cars out of 12 that will be available in the game.

You can check them all out here!

On another note, XBLArcade have had a chance to chat with Denis Bourdain, the VP Big Wig at Load Inc. Check it out here!

3 small Wii updates have popped up for the Virtual Console and Wii Ware on the German rating boards - International Karate+, Cybernoid, and the WiiWare title Midnight Bowling!

International Karate+ is the sequel to the game with the same name, sans plus sign, and Cybernoid is another game that seems to be on many wishlists. Both games are the Commodore 64 versions, it seems.

Midnight Bowling, much like the recently released Block Breaker Deluxe, was originally a mobile phone game made by Gameloft. This version will almost certainly be reworked for Wii controls, but why bother even doing it if the console comes with a Bowling game already? Guess it didn't stop 'Brunswick Pro Bowling' from being released...

Source: USK Rating Board

Update: Despite the excitement of Street Fighter II HD Remix Beta being downloadable just 12 hours ago, it appears that the switch has been turned back off. Don't worry, it's only another two days away anyhow!

I don't know why, but apparently the 'SSFIITHDR' Beta is now up on the Xbox Live Arcade! It should have been up in a few days, but it's up now! Maybe it's a mistake, so grab it quick before they take it down!

To get it, simply buy Wolf Of The Battlefield: Commando 3 (which I think you should have, it's a great game), scroll down to 'Super Street Fighter II HD Remix Beta' and start a-downloadin'. Remember, this Beta is not included in the PlayStation Network version.

The Beta has a single background, and allows players to choose Ryu or Ken. You can play both Online AND Locally!

Get your Street Fighter on! I've taken a few pictures with a camera if it's accidentally popped up.

In today's North American Wii store update, the previously announced Gyrostarr has been released for WiiWare!

"Gyrostarr challenges you and up to three additional players to pilot your ships through a series of twisting, turning technoplasma tracks while battling a variety of deadly alien foes at ever-increasing speeds. While fighting and maneuvering, you must collect enough energy to activate the ancient warpgate at the end of each track. Succeed, and you can journey to the next, even deadlier track. Fail, and the gate will slam shut, destroying your ship."

Check out screenshots of Gyrostarr here!

Alongside Gyrostarr are two Virtual Console games - Alex Kidd in Miracle World from the Master System, and Burning Fight from the Neo Geo. As an Aussie who grew up on Master System, Alex Kidd is one of the better MS games. If you've never experienced Alex Kidd before, there's no better time. Well, until they release Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, but they're such different games anyway.

Continue reading for the full press release.

Looks like we were right on the money - another two releases this week!

Based on the popular and twisted Web series, Lumpy and his accident-prone friends face one gory, horrible disaster after another in Happy Tree Friends False Alarm! Armed with a helicopter pack, Lumpy rescues his pals by blasting open areas where they may be trapped with flaming napalm or explosive nitro, or he can put them into a deep freeze if they are about to stumble into danger. Try to keep the friends from peril in ten exclusive disaster-filled scenarios, each with three frantic levels, and brand new cutscenes.

* Playable Happy Tree Friends characters: For the first time in 3-D, control Lumpy who must save his Happy Tree Friends such as Cuddles, Toothy, and Flaky from life-threatening disasters!
* Exciting disaster levels: SEGA and the creative minds behind Happy Tree Friends have teamed up to create ten original and engaging disaster scenarios including Mine Shaft, Candy Factory, and the Museum. Hazardous items abound to surprise and challenge the Happy Tree Friends as they try to escape.
* Gameplay true to the franchise: Experience non-stop hilarious action Happy Tree Friends-style where their accident-prone universe means gore and mayhem are inevitable.
* Exclusive Happy Tree Friends content: Check out the cutscenes created exclusively for the game.
* Xbox LIVE® Arcade features: Use the leaderboards to compete with friends, track your progress as you advance through Story mode, and earn new Achievements.

Happy Tree Friends is developed by Stainless games, and will be released worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points.

Click here for screenshots of Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm

Click here for the Xbox.com splash page

All aboard! Travel from coast to coast and visit all the stops on the exciting train adventure Ticket to Ride. Plan your routes and connect your cities across the country to become the ultimate traveler. Earn points as you claim your tracks and complete your tickets for your chance at the big score. From sea to sea, crisscross the nation as you build the longest route and take home the prize. It's hours of fun for your family and friends. Who will come out on top when the steam clears? Get your Ticket to Ride and see!

* Variable difficulty levels: Either locally or in Xbox LIVE® matches, choose Easy, Medium, or Hard A.I. opponents to challenge your gaming skills.
* Multiplayer: Play with up to three of your friends on a single console, or take on Ranked or Player matches over Xbox LIVE with up to five players.
* Leaderboards and achievements: Post your Xbox LIVE match results to the leaderboards. Follow game stats for each player such as Highest Score, Total Trains Played and their Time Spent Playing. And track your progress with twelve new achievements.
* Camera support: See yourself and your friends during gameplay with Xbox LIVE Vision Camera support.

Ticket To Ride is developed by Next Level Games, and will be released worldwide, except for Hong Kong and Korea, for 800 Microsoft Points.

Click here for screenshots of Ticket To Ride

Click here for the Xbox.com splash page

After the preview of Rocket Riot over at Team Xbox last week, they've got a bunch of new videos available as well!

Watch as your little legless fellow fly around a pixelated play field shooting rockets!

Source: Team Xbox - Rocket Riot Exclusive Videos

GamerBytes' big brother Gamasutra have posted some excerpts from the latest Game Developer Magazine, in which they get behind the scenes with Square-Enix on Final Fantasy's WiiWare Debut - My Life As a King.

"Very early in the development cycle, for example, we invested a lot of time iterating our battle system and the battle report design. We thought at the time that the game would be fun if the battle reports were interesting. We focused on trying to make the battle reports as short as possible while also fun to read.

"Two or three months after we thought we were done with the battle system, we finally had the rest of the game in place. That was when we realized that anyone playing this game was not going to read the battle reports.

Check out the whole article here.

The ESRB website has updated! So much for unannounced games not popping up - two completely unknown titles have popped up in the latest update, as well as a slew of previously known titles.

The 'big' unknowns are Target Toss Pro: Bags and Wild West Guns for WiiWare. Want to know what the heck TTP:B is? Don't get too excited.

As Siliconera points out, Target Toss Pro is an arcade game made by the same guys as Golden Tee Golf. You know, that trackball golf game in pubs? TTP also uses a trackball, in which you toss bags into a hole. Riveting stuff! Just look at the Arcade trailer, aren't you excited?! This is assuming that it's a WiiWare title, of course. You're pushing it even there.

Wild West Guns is by Gameloft, and from what I can tell it was not originally a mobile phone title, so it looks like they may be moving onto original content!

Other titles such as Cribbage have been previously brought up on the OFLC. An interesting choice to be sure for the Xbox Live Arcade. World Heroes 2 for Virtual Console, the sequel to a game already up on the service, and the EA Sports Live Draft Tracker, mentioned last week.

While not WiiWare, the Australian Classificiation website has rated two new titles - Dig Dug by Namco and Chase H.Q. by Taito.

While Dig Dug is already out in America on the Virtual console - it's another one of those games that originally never got published outside of Japan. Chase H.Q is also interesting because it's under similar circumstances - from what I can tell, the NES version also never came out anywhere but Japan.

Chase H.Q did come out on other formats - for the Commodore 64 and the Master System but are usually written as 'Taito Chase H.Q', and considering both got rated at the same time, along with the rating of Super Mario RPG - Legend Of The Seven Stars a week or so ago, it looks like Nintendo might be ramping up for another 'Hanabi Festival'. Chase H.Q hasn't even been mentioned for a Japanese release either, so this is a bit of a surprise.

Source: OFLC - Office of Film and Literature Classification Updates

Gametrailers have uploaded this new trailer for Yuke's first Xbox Live Arcade title Double D Dodgeball. No ingame footage, but at the very end claims that it will be released July 30th, 2008!

But wait a minute, isn't the other Dodgeball game, Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball ALSO being released next month? It was already delayed by a few months since they initially announced it would come out, delaying it any further could possibly be more damaging than releasing it straight. If DDD is coming out at the very end of the month, PvsN should have a head start.

It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be. Is anybody interested in either? Leave some comments on this post!

Source: Next-Gen.Biz - PREVIEW: PixelJunk Eden

N-Europe have gotten word that Oxygen Games's WiiWare title - Pirates: Key of Dreams - should be coming out in July!

While currently not up on the European rating boards, it has shown up on the Australian classification website, so it may very well come out in Europe first.

Check out N-Europe's preview of this WiiWare title here. Video courtesy of WiiWare World. Reminds me a little bit of Overboard aka Shipwreckers on PSOne...

Source: Pirates WiiWare coming in July!

N+ developer Metanet Software have updated their blog with some good news - The 3 downloadable level packs are now in submission over at Microsoft!

We just submitted three downloadable levelpacks for N+ XBLA (one of which is free), we’ll be posting with more details as soon as we get a launch time. In total there will be over 750 new levels! The multiplayer maps in particular (over 300 of them) are a lot better than the ones that came with N+, since we’ve had more time to learn what works. We made sure to include more co-op maps, since they’re apparently quite popular.. these ones are even harder, so start practicing!

There’s also a small bonus in each pack which will remain secret for now.. or will it?!

I assume they won't come all out straight away, probably separated by a few weeks each. Might be time to get back into N+ again. I got up to the 42nd group of levels I think, quitting out of frustration. Might try and get those multiplayer achievements too...

Source: Metanet blog - “The time has come,” the Walrus said..

In a strange change of pace, Square Enix have put their guard down and decided to release some PlayStation One titles on the PlayStation Store!

Today they will release 6 PSOne titles in Japan:

Before Square have been very reluctant to release anything digitally, previously saying that "We feel that the Japanese game market still requires media" being the reason why they have not used the Virtual Console to its full advantage. In reality it probably came down to that they can make far more money remaking these games for handhelds.

Though it didn't stop them from releasing King's Knight, Super Mario RPG (coming soon!) and ActRaiser for Virtual Console, those games probably weren't getting the Final Fantasy III treatment anyhow. Einhander and Xenogears? Could easily be PSP 'remake' fodder ala Final Fantasy Tactics.

But they've gone and done it - they're releasing them on the PlayStation Network! Now the question is - do they intend to do the same for European and American audiences? It'd be great to see if Tobal No. 2 could finally get a release of sorts to English audiences.

Source: NeoGAF Forums

Happy Tree Friends False Alarm™

Developer: Stainless Games Ltd.
Publisher: SEGA of America
Genre: Strategy and Sims
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions except Japan, Korea, Taiwan

Click here for screenshots of Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm
Click here for the Xbox.com splash page

Ticket to Ride™

Developer: Next Level Games, Inc.
Publisher: Playful Entertainment, Inc.
Genre: Card and Board
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: Everywhere but Hong Kong and Taiwan

Click here for screenshots of Ticket To Ride

Click here for the Xbox.com splash page

To gain access to the Beta:

Step 1: Buy Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 for 800 MS Points (aka "render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's")

Step 2: Select the “SFII HD Remix Beta” option on the main menu of Wolf

Step 3: You will be taken to a download blade where you can confirm your download (this will not be visible until the code is live on Arcade tomorrow)

Step 4: Once the Beta has finished downloading, head to the “Games” blade on your 360

Step 5: Fire up SSFIITHDR in the Demos section on the Games blade and enjoy the online multiplayer goodness!

Twisted Pixel has announced today that their first XBLA title - The Maw - will actually have a decent soundtrack!

The Maw soundtrack will be composed by Winifred Phillips, who had previously worked on the recent Speed Racer title and also contributed to the original God Of War soundtrack. The game will contain a "vibrant jazz soundtrack" that will respond to the players actions during play.

Maybe not so much like Dig Dug, but from the sounds of it this might be a good way to get a full soundtrack out of a small file size. It's ambitious, that's for sure.

Along with the press release, Twisted Pixel also released 4 brand new shots of The Maw. Check them out here, or continue reading for the pictures and the full press release.

Enjoying Toki Tori on WiiWare a lot? Then why don't you go download the soundtrack! Two Tribes has now released all 5 themes in the game for your enjoyment.

Download them here from Tokitori.com

We're actually getting some pretty good soundtracks out of these downloadable games. Other soundtrack releases of the Bionic Commando Rearmed and PixelJunk Monsters have been great. Hopefully we'll see more of these in the future.

Again, I've been a little lax lately.

LIVE Activity for week of June 2nd

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1 Aces of the Galaxy (NEW)
2 Penny Arcade Episode 1 (-1)
3 UNO (+1)
4 DOOM (+1)
5 Buku Sudoku (-3)
6 Warlords (-3)
7 N+ (--)
8 Worms (+1)
9 Marble Blast Ultra (V)
10 Bomberman LIVE (V)

LIVE Activity for week of June 9th

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1 Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 (NEW)
2 UNO (+1)
3 Aces of the Galaxy (-2)
4 DOOM (--)
5 N+ (+2)
6 Worms (+2)
7 Penny Arcade Episode 1 (-6)
8 Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting (V)
9 Marble Blast Ultra (--)
10 Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (V)

LIVE Activity for week of June 16th

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1 Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 (--)
2 Elements Of Destruction (NEW)
3 Sealife Safari (NEW)
4 UNO (-2)
5 DOOM (-1)
6 N+ (-1)
7 Worms (-1)
8 Marble Blast Ultra (+1)
9 Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (+1)
10 Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting (V)

Continue reading for some in-depth analysis of these numbers.

Wired.com's own Chris "Kobun Heat" Kohler had a chance to look at the XNA Creators Club on Xbox Live Arcade - the club where people can upload and share their games to those currently in the community.

Right now it's only for those who pay the $100 a year fee, but soon - possibly at E3 - it'll be opened to the public and allow anyone to view some of these projects.

Chris looks at several games, including the previously shown Jellycar and Little Gamers, as well as many others. He's a little unsure at just how well it will take off though:

"The system is proving to be of dubious merit. On the one hand, recruiting subscribers as crash-testers is a good way to crowd source bugs out of existence. On the other hand, recruiting them as amateur intellectual-property lawyers is an excellent way to let copyright-protected content slip through. One game, BlockBuster, ganks an introductory screen right out of the Atari 2600 version of Breakout."

Check out the full story below.

Source: Hands-On: User-Gen Xbox Games Are Rough But Promising

Siliconera has had a great interview with Ken Koyama, Product Manager at Yuke’s America, about their upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title Double D Dodgeball.

In the interview they discuss how the game plays, how the game is being developed in Japan - a rarity on the XBLA, the battle between it and the upcoming Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, and what their thoughts are on the PlayStation Network and WiiWare.

Do you think Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, which is graphically the exact opposite of Double D Dodgeball’s retro feel, is a competitor?

I think our games are completely different. I’m not quite sure what kind of game Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball is, but I do know there's is 3D, ours is 2D. I think the gameplay styles are going to be completely different. We have Eastern rules, I’m not sure if they have Eastern rules or not. I think it’s going to be good for people who like dodgeball because you can get two different versions of dodgeball. I think people are going to get different experiences from each game.

Check out the whole interview below.

Source: Siliconera >> Yuke’s talks digital distribution and Double D Dodgeball

Like the past few weeks, Shard on NeoGAF seems to be right on the money! It looks like Schizoid, the "most Coop game ever", and the Dreamcast classic Soulcalibur may be coming out next week as the Xbox.com splash pages have popped up!

Check out the Schizoid splash page here, complete with new trailer!

Check out the Soulcalibur splash page here!

It will be VERY interesting to see how these games do on the marketplace. On one hand, Schizoid hasn't been talked about for some time, but considering it's the "most Coop game ever" it may do incredibly well on the Xbox Live Arcade, as the best XBLA games have some sort of online component in them. Soulcalibur is a huge favorite, and with the fourth iteration coming people will get excited by this. But on the other hand, it has no online play, and frankly looks as quick-and-dirty as you could possibly get.

Can't wait till next week!

With the PSP retail version of Echocrome closing in to European stores next week, it looks like Sony will be releasing the PSN version at the same time, according to Eurogamer.net.

Looking at the European release calendar, Echocrome is set to come out next week, along with Wolf Of the Battlefield: Commando 3 - finally for European PlayStation gamers.

According to the release list - Siren Blood Curse, Elefunk, Buzz Junior Jungle Party PSN and PixelJunk Eden might be popping up all at once. That's not counting the possibility of FINALLY getting WipeOut HD and hopefully a worldwide release of Bionic Commando Rearmed! Who knows what Sony have up heir sleaves for E3 too!

July looks like a big month for PlayStation owners, now all the have to do is keep it up! Easier said than done. "Buy Buy Buy!" says Sony Computer Entertainment.

Source: Eurogamer.net - echochrome out in Europe next week

In an incredibly bizarre situation, the upcoming World Of Goo game for WiiWare will only be appearing as such in North America - it will not be released as a downloadable in Europe!

Instead, Europe will have to deal with a retail release, different to that of NA. WiiWare World has the scoop:

"Our European publisher, RTL Playtainment, is planning to release both the Wii and PC versions as retail titles. We're going to add some extra content to the European version that won't be available in North America or Japan."

2D Boy, the creators of World Of Goo, went on to say that the European retail release will be different, with more levels and other exclusive content that the NA release will never get.

Continue reading over at Wiiware World.

Being in Australia I was really hoping for the WiiWare release of this game. Now it looks like I won't get it, and even the supposed "cheaper, but not that cheap" price for the retail release has put me off that almost straight away. This is only a singular case, but this sort of thing really should not happen, and I hope doesn't happen again.

While a little similar to the Echocrome PSN / PSP business, at least both versions are being released for buyers to decide which version they want.

Well it's official - Mega Man 9 is coming out - and on WiiWare!

While previous rumors made it look like it would only come to Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network - Nintendo Power magazine has gotten its hands on the WiiWare version, complete with screenshots and interview!

The game looks EXACTLY like a NES game, down to the wire. The game is being made by IntiCreates, who has made the Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX games for GBA and DS, and cut their teeth on a NES-esque level back in the second ZX title.

They've even announced the Robot Masters for the game - Magma Man, Galaxy Man, Jewel Man, Concrete Man, Hornet Man, Plug Man, Tornado Man and Splash Woman! It will certainly be interesting what this 'Splash Woman' looks like.

While this only mentions WiiWare, there still is a very good chance that this will also be making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation network as well.

My main concern right now is that the game contains a lot of blacks - like the whole background might be black. It was like that in old NES Mega Man games, but now with LCD screens this can cause a lot of ghosting. The game should be a great return to form for classic Mega Man games.

I can't wait to hear more! Check out more about the game, including screenshots, below:

Source: Protodude's Rockman Corner - RM9 Officially Confirmed

Not a whole lot came out this week on the PlayStation Store in Europe and North America. NA got just the new PAIN update, allowing players to buy the new 'Nigel' character for a whole dollar.

Europe got the demo of Wolf Of The Battlefield: Commando 3 - not the full game as that's next week, the PAIN update, as well as Pursuit Force for PSP now downloadable for £14.99. You can also finally download the Metal Gear Solid database!

Japan, outside of the previously announced PSOne titles got to see the release of Shiki-tei - a 'non-game' garden simulator now available for the Japanese equivalent of 15 bucks. Check out the Japanese website here.

Continue reading for the entire list of updates.

Source: NeoGAF forums - PlayStation Store 06/26/08

Namco have released this new trailer for the XBLA version of the classic Soulcalibur game. Along with the splash page popping up yesterday, it's looking very likely that this game will be released next week!

Source: Gametrailers.com - Soulcalibur Trailer #2 HD

Nintendo Wii Fanboy have gotten word that Hudson is currently in early planning stages for a new Adventure Island game!

In a conference call with Takahashi Meijin, the real life Master Higgins, he mentioned that he is "currently concerned with "forcing" waggle controls into the game", saying that it might "change what the game is about". He stated that the game is "probably" just for WiiWare.

Hudson have been on quite a roll lately with WiiWare. Star Soldier R, Alien Crush WiiWare, Bomberman Wii, My Aquarian, and now Adventure Island? All we need now is a new Bonk game, a new Military Madness / Nectaris game, and you're pretty much set!

It's interesting that Hudson are taking such a liking to WiiWare compared to other formats. After the huge success of Bomberman Live! and Omega 5 on Xbox Live Arcade, it would be great if they started doing some across the board releases sometime. I guess that's the Japanese company in them!

Source: WiiFanboy - Takahashi Meijin: Hudson planning Adventure Island sequel

This week on GameSpot's On The Spot show, they have a look at a whole slew of downloadable Xbox Live Arcade games, and a long awaited PSN game!

Firstly they show off a little bit of SOCOM Confrontation for PSN, with some of the GameSpot guys having a go at shooting a real gun. No new footage as far as I can tell though, but has some of the developers discussing the weapons available to you.

Ricardo Torres gets a shot at Schizoid for XBLA [more evidence that it'll be coming out next week...]. Poor guy tries to do the Uber Schizoid mode - the mode where you control BOTH ships. He doesn't do so well, you definitely need to concentrate to play that mode!

Then they have a go at one of this weeks XBLA releases - Happy Tree Friends! Showing off some of the carnage you can cause, and how to complete a level or two.

You can watch it through the player above, or download it here.

Todays EU update brings 5 new titles to the Virtual Console - all of them pretty good too!

- Cybernoid (Commodore 64) [500WP]
- Summer Games 2 (Commodore 64) [500WP]
- Super Fantasy Zone (Mega Drive) [800WP]
- King of the Monsters (Neo Geo) [900WP]
- Pac-Attack (Super Nintendo) [800WP]

Australians will have to miss out on Cybernoid and Summer Games 2, unfortunately. Keep the good games rolling, NOE!

Yuke's have released the first trailer for Double D Dodgeball for Xbox Live Arcade. Check it out above, or you can download it from Gametrailers.com.

Source: Gametrailers.com - DDD Trailer

SOCOM: Confrontation has been given a new preview over at 1UP, IGN, UGO and Gamespot, showing off 3 maps - Crossroads, Quarantine and Kasbah. Along with the previews, Sony have released fly through videos of two of them, and there is a couple of new game play footage floating around too!

Previews

1UP.com - 'Previews: SOCOM: Confrontation - Rocking the Kasbah with my Sixaxis' by Thierry Nguyen

IGN.com - Pre-E3 2008: SOCOM: Confrontation Hands-on by Jeff Haynes

GameSpot - SOCOM: Confrontation Hands-On by Shaun McInnis

UGO - Socom: Confrontation Preview by Locke Webster

Videos

GameTrailers.com - SOCOM: Confrontation - Kasbah Multiplayer Gameplay HD
GameTrailers.com - SOCOM: Confrontation - Quarantine Multiplayer Gameplay HD

Continue reading for a fly through of Quarrantine.