Strong Bad Episode 4: Dangeresque 3

Wii Points: 1,000
Game Type: Adventure
Control Type: Wii Remote
Publisher: Telltale Games

"Move over, generically buff action heroes! Strong Bad is here to show you how it's done in his handcrafted cinematic masterpiece, Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective. You play Dangeresque, a dirty cop in pursuit of a little action and several big sacks of cash. Can our hero stay alive long enough to defeat his archnemesis, save the world, and get the girl? Looks like he's gonna have to jump..."

Target Toss Pro: Bags

Wii Points: 700
Game Type: Sports
Control Type: Wii Remote
Players: 1-16
Publisher: Incredible Technologies

"Target Toss Pro: Bags is a new video game based on beanbag toss-the nation's hottest backyard and tailgate sensation. Bags, or Cornhole as they call it in some parts of the country, originated in the Midwest in the 1960s and has since become a staple at outdoor social events from coast to coast. Bags is a deceptively simple, yet extremely competitive game where players try to toss beanbags into a hole in a slightly raised platform or "box" for points, similar to horseshoes. Whether at a tailgate party or a summer barbeque, the game has become a social focal point, and the unmistakable thud of bags hitting the box is now a universal party sound track."

This week on the 1UP Show, the crew get down and dirty with Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. Check it out! The game is still set for a November release, so check up on it in the upcoming weeks.

Source: GameVideos.com - SSF2THDR Hands On

Do you live in Australia or Japan? Well then you're like me - an outsider to the new Xbox experience. Sure, we'll get to create our own Avatars and install games onto our hard drives, but we're missing out on one important thing - Community Games.

Due to a variety of reasons, of which I believe its due to our more complicated rating systems, we won't have access to games being developed by smaller developers until sometime next year. For now here is a way around it though, and we're here to help with this handy guide.

1. Create An American Gamertag

Logout of your Xbox 360 account and create a new Gamertag. When the option for choosing the country of where you're from, choose the United States. You can also choose Great Britain, which ever suits you.

2. Download Community Games Trials

Once you log into this account, you will now be able to choose Community Games from the Game Marketplace tab. You are able to download trials for all games, give them all a shot.

3. Add Microsoft Points

Unlike Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, Microsoft Points are not region free. You cannot buy your own region specific point cards and use them.

So what can you do? Your best option is to go to one of these two websites:

http://www.microsoftpointsxbox.com/

http://xboxliveuk76.com/

Both websites are not endorsed by Microsoft, but both do sell Microsoft Points directly through their store. You can buy 1600 Point cards and above.

If you're like me and in Australia, the dollar isn't treating you so well, and these cards will be a fair bit more expensive than if you went and bought some local point cards, but we don't have much of an option.

4. Buy Community Games

Once you've got your points in your US account, you can now buy Community games. This will work both through the store as well as through the unlock through the trial modes.

5. Play Games

Once a game has been bought on your system, and both accounts were made on that system, you can now play your community games on your regular old account. Games will now show up in your Games Library section.

Now you can enjoy the new Community Games action with the rest of the world.

High Voltage Software, one of WiiWare's most popular and most active developers, have announced a joint venture with Yuke's Company Of America to bring a new game titles Evasive Space to the platform.

Coming this January, Evasive Space has you piloting a rocket ship through 20 missions spanning 5 different environments. It's a top-down shooter that also uses your Wii Remote extensively. Right now it's sounding like a mix of Geometry Wars Galaxies and Shred Nebula on Xbox Live Arcade.

The game will also support 4 player multiplayer locally, and have online leader boards for players to go for their best times. Yuke's previously worked on Double D dodgeball for Xbox Live Arcade, and have also announced BPM Racing for WiiWare as well.

Like BPM Racing unfortunately, there were no screenshots released with this announcement. High Voltage Software have a fairly good track record, but we are also still waiting for any news on their other projects - Animales de la Muerte, Hot Rod Show, and a European release of Gyrostarr.

In just two days, the "New Xbox Experience" will be downloaded by millions of Xbox 360 users, and with that comes the XNA Community Games section, showcasing indie and hobbyist titles which will cost 200-800 points ($2.50-$10) to download.

Those who have been lucky enough to get into the NXE preview have been able to check out the current crop of XNA titles, with new games popping up everyday. For the few days left before it's released we'll be looking at each title that pops up, and and give you a little overview of each from the trial.

Today we look at ten titles to show up on the service - each of which has a timed, free demo. Some are good, some are bad, but it's all a part of seeing what can be done with just a couple of guys (or gals) in a short amount of time.

In some case, it seems like the creators got quickly bored with the project and released it anyway, but most of the initial XNA Community Games titles are interesting, and show what kinds of games can be made with XNA and the Xbox 360.

The New Xbox Experience is an interesting beast - it's bringing in a whole new style of the Xbox 360. The Community Games feature is great and has a lot of potential - but there are a several things which may end up hindering the experience.

The 5 points below describe some strange choices I've seen with the Community Games experience, and they range from being understandable to being very unnecessary. Let us know in the comments what you think of these currently implemented rules.

1. Community Games require you to be online in order to play them.

This includes games you've bought as well. Trying to get into a game while offline will prompt a "Please sign into Xbox Live" message.

Why this in a part of this system baffles me - it doesn't make any sense. That means if you lose your internet connection you cannot play any Community Games at all.

2. Outside of online play, XNA creators cannot send or receive any information.

What does this mean? No instant leaderboards. Consider just how many different puzzle games will come out of this. It's going to be pretty crazy, and getting high scores are an integral part of that experience now. Online games will also not be able to keep tabs on everyone who bought their games.

A way around this is with games like Lines. Lines has a simple password system that will show up in the game which you then plug into their website. It's about as good as it will get.

3. Community Games do not show up in "quick launch" menu.

One of the new features in the NXE is the quick launch menu. This menu is selectable when you press the Xbox button during a game. From it you can select XBLA titles and it will skip the dashboard altogether. Community games however, do not have the same luxury - you must get them from the dashboard.

4. There is no current way to directly update your game.

Currently there is no way for creators to patch Community Games. There is only one option - to take down the game and resubmit it. That means a few days of downtime, but it also means that to get the updated version you must download the full game again.

5. No Avatar Support.

In order for an Xbox 360 game to include Avatar support, the game must be certified for Xbox Live Arcade. Community Games do not have access to this library, as Avatars requirements make them only available to do E rated activities. As Community Games are unrated, this can't be regulated.

"Place your customized Xbox LIVE® Avatar in the medieval world of A Kingdom for Keflings, a new city-building game from NinjaBee. Play as your Avatar or choose from other friendly giants as you teach the local Keflings how to collect and convert resources to customize your kingdom. Educate and train your Keflings to become workers, scholars, even Mayor of the city! Build your kingdom alone or cooperatively with up to three of your friends online. The more you build, the more buildings you unlock and the more Keflings you attract, so start building today!"

Keflings will cost 800 Microsoft Points.

Click here for screenshots of A Kingdom for Keflings.

Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

Announced back in Feburary, Hidden Path Entertainment's Defense Grid is about to get its PC release - due out in December. They're still planning for an Xbox Live Arcade version sometime next year, so here is a sneak peak at this upcoming Tower Defense styled game.

Source: Vimeo: Defense Grid HD

RealNetworks has revealed their latest title Tiki Towers for WiiWare - a game about construction, destruction, problem solving, and monkeys!

In a similar vein to the recently released World Of Goo, Tiki Towers has players building bridges to reach goals - but with a few twists. You must work with your monkey friends to build towers out of native materials such as bamboo poles, coconuts, and vines, as well as battle enemy chieftains who are bent on destroying your creations.

Monkeys can also be given special abilities similar to Lemmings, where they can chant for "BananaMana" to cast counter-attack spells against the chiefs.

The game will support single player and a two-player cooperative mode. The game is set to be released on December 8th - and will also be released on iPhone and Java Phones on the same date. The Java phone version, in video here, looks to be a lot closer to World Of Goo, and also looks like a lot of fun.

The game is being developed by Republic of Fun, and going by their blurry screenshots may also have some other downloadable games in the works as well.

You can check out a ton of new screenshots of the game here. Be on the lookout for more information in the few weeks before it launches - it could be something to look forward to.

Today we bring you the second set of XNA Community Games that are gearing up for tomorrow's release of the New Xbox Experience.

There's 10 more games to look through here . It appears that over 30 games will be available on Community Games at NXE launch now - so think of these posts as a helpful shopping guide when searching through every single Community Game available.

The next update will include not only the final selection of XNA Community Games, but GamerBytes' top games that you should really consider buying. It's going to be a very big market - get ready to swim through it all.

Within the New Xbox Experience are some new tools available to publishers. One is this new "store" mode allowing for games which have an event occuring to advertise it. The one currently up is for Street Fighter II HD Remix - which also spills the games' release date.

Street Fighter II HD Remix will be available on the Xbox Live Arcade on the 26th of November, and we can assume it will be available for the PlayStation Network on the 27th.

The week after will also include a new Street Fighter II styled deck for UNO on XBLA, and at some point in the future PAIN will be adding several Street Fighter characters to their selection of downloadable content to play as.

Here we are, the final selection of games that will be available to you from day one. This time we've got a little more than 10 titles, pushing it past 30 seperate titles on day one. That is an awful lot of choice.

Titles can go up at any time, so it's difficult to keep track. We'll continue keeping you informed with every new game that comes available, hopefully with a little commentary to give you a bit of an idea of what each game is like.

This completes our list. But which ones are the best of the lot? Which ones stand out? Check out GamerBytes later today for our top 5 launch titles for XNA Community Games.

So you've downloaded the New Xbox Experience, you're flipping through the Games Marketplace. You spot Community Games and you click on it. You're suddenly faced with over 30 different titles. You're overwhelmed! What do you do?

Here we have our handy Top 5 (+1) guide to the XNA Community Games. Now this is all just personal opinion - you should really try out every single title there right now, but we feel that this is the standout for first day downloads.

If you've missed it, here is everything you need to know about Community Games:

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 1

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 2

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 3

5 Things You Didn't Know About Community Games

How To Play Community Games When They're Not In Your Region

And now, continue reading for GamerBytes Top 5 Launch Community Games.

Hoo boy, what a week. Today starts a bright new day in the Xbox's future - the New Xbox Experience is live. And with that comes the XNA Community Games - in one day 30 new titles are now available for download, and that number continues to climb every day.

It's almost overbearing, so to help we at GamerBytes have created an in-depth guide to everything Community Games. What games are available, how to download them, and what we think are the best new titles available.

Not to say the other consoles didn't miss out - Age of Booty is now available on the PlayStation Network, and RealNetwork's new WiiWare title Tiki Towers looks very interesting too.

XNA Community Games

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 1

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 2

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 3
Each of the above articles takes a look at all the games that are available right now for XNA Community Games.

5 Things You Didn't Know About Community Games
Did you know that you have to be online at all times in order to play XNA Community Games? That and more inside/

How To Play Community Games When They're Not In Your Region
Live in Australia, Japan or another country which doesn't have access to XNA Community Games? Come in here to get your way around this barrier.

XBLA

This Week On XBLA - A Kingdom For Keflings
Along with the XNA Community Games becoming available, NinjaBee's own Kingdom of Keflings is being released. It's also the first XBLA title with Avatar support.

EA Creating NHL Arcade For XBLA?
German classification website hints at EA making an Xbox Live Arcade Hockey game. Will it be more like Mutant League Hockey or Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey?

ESRB Add Summaries To Their Website, Releasing New Information On Unannounced Games
The ESRB has now added little descriptors to each game that gets rated through their system, which means those leaked game names now have a little bit more about them available!

PlayStation Network

NA PSN Store Update: Age Of Hoff
The PlayStation Network has finally gotten its hands on Age Of Booty. Buy it now! PAIN also updated with the brand new Movie Lot stage and downloadable David Hasselhoff.

The 1UP Show: A Hard Look At Street Fighter II HD Remix
On the 1UP Show this week the crew have a look over at Super Street Fighter II HD Remix. Remember, it's coming out next week - better bone up on those quarter-circle moves.

WiiWare

NA WiiWare Update: Tossing Bags And Getting Dangeresque
This week's WiiWare titles include the 4th episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, as well as Target Toss Pro: Bags. You read that right.

RealNetworks Announce Tiki Towers - Bridge Building With Monkeys!
Can't get enough bridge building with World Of Goo? Well RealNetworks next title Tiki Towers is going to kick things up a notch. Build bridges for your monkeys to cross while taking care of the evil

Yuke's and High Voltage Software must have read some of the frustration with the lack of screenshots for their upcoming WiiWare game Evasive Space, because today they've released over 100 new screenshots for the game.

The screenshots show off the first 2 acts of the game, having the player fly through several lava landscapes, floating through a Nebula, and through a futuristic maze. It's looking very nice, and appears to control similarly to Geometry Wars Galaxies, but with the level design style of Shred Nebula.

Evasive Space is set to release in January 2009, and will retail for 1,000 Wii Points. You can check out all the new screenshots here.

Microsoft have revealed to 1UP.com that the Xbox Live Arcade version of Banjo Kazooie has now been delayed on Xbox Live Arcade. The game will now be released on December 3rd.

The delay has been attributed to the problems some retailers have been having with preorder cards. Some stores in North America have not been able to get any of their cards, or not enough to fill their pre-orders. MIcrosoft hope to rectify the situation as soon as possible. To give those who have yet to receive the code their two weeks of playtime before release, the game has been delayed an extra week.

Which is fine by me. Most other players will be picking up Street Fighter II HD Remix anyhow.

In this round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section, including positions from RealNetworks, TimeGate Studios, Factor 5, and more.

Each job posted will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, downloadable console games, cellphone games, independent games, 'serious games', and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted in each market area this week include:

Tuna Snax and Squashy Software have revealed that their new title Cletus Clay is now setting sail for Xbox Live Arcade.

"Firstly, I should point out most emphatically that this is indeed a clay-animated game. Which means that all the graphics in the game are made from real clay models - they are NOT CG renders made to look like clay.

"There are a number of reasons why I decided to work with clay and not CG, and I'll try to explain my reasoning in more detail in a later post, but basically it comes down to this: I like to experiment with unconventional methods. And also I think clay models are really neat.

"As far as genres go, it's an action-platformer of the old-school side-scrolling variety, so if you think of games like Contra and Metal Slug you won't be too far off the mark. I'm a die-hard action game fan and I like those kinds of straightforward, fast-paced games where you get to run all over the place making everything explode without having to worry too much about learning complex rule-sets, managing inventory items or getting hopelessly lost. So expect to find plenty of running and blasting, racking up high scores and trying to beat your best time. Lots of things will blow up. There will be armies of baddies, giant robots and grenade launchers and bosses the size of buildings. It's that sort of game."

Squashy Software were previously known for their indie clay-based shooter Platypus which garnered numerous awards. Now they're in high definition, and it looks like they'll be pushing out a quality product. Makes me want to see Skull Monkeys ported to something too, just to see Edd the Head once more.

Source: Cletus Clay Blog

Since Day 1, over 10 more games have popped up in the XNA Community Games cue, and again we've been dealt with a variety of quality. Continue reading for the full list of impressions.

Snake 360

Trial Play: Now we've all played Snake before, you've probably got a version on your phone. This is an enhanced version of that, complete with multiplayer, high score charts, and 100 levels. As a Snake game it's pretty full featured, and if you're a Snake fanatic this might be the thing for you.

Easy Golf

Creator: Barkers Crest
Genre: Sports & Recreation
Price: 800 Points

Trial Play: A nice little Golf game. The graphics are fine, even with a few shadow glitches, and the floaty physics can be a bit off putting, but figure this - it has a course editor. It's a full blown editor which allows you to make exactly what the one guy who made this did. It's very robust with terrain formation and freeways and all you need for a golf course. It's got online play too. For 800 Points it's a pretty good deal.