Cue Sports: Snooker Vs. Billiards

Wii Points: 800
Game Type: Sports
Control Type: Wii Remote
Publisher: Hudson Soft

"Grab your Wii Remote and take a shot at this virtual billiard game! Enjoy “Matchups”, playing classic favourites such as “Snooker”, “9 Ball”, “8 Ball” and “Rotation”, as well as walk-through trick shots in “Puzzle” mode. Connect to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to go head-to-head with your friends or even hustle opponents across the world in Nintendo WFC Matchups."

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..."

Art Style: CUBELLO

Wii Points: 600
Game Type: Puzzle
Control Type: Wii Remote
Publisher: Nintendo

Art Style: CUBELLO mixes the strategy and feel of a traditional puzzle game with the precision and reflexes required in a shooter. As each stage begins, various colored cubes form into one large object called a Cubello, which floats and rotates as you play. Launch additional cubes from your magazine and try to connect four or more of the same color, removing them from the Cubello and eventually leaving only its core. Take on the challenge of either Stage or Endless mode and watch what happens when Bonus Time is activated. The straightforward controls and goal ensure that anyone can play, while offering enough depth that even advanced players will find themselves quickly addicted to the unique world of Art Style: CUBELLO.

Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam

Wii Points: 1,000
Game Type: Virtual Toys
Control Type: Wii Remote
Players: 1-2
Publisher:Virtual Toys

"Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam is a frenetically active cooking game in which you must serve food to your customers as quickly as possible. This could be a simple task, but the customers aren't very patient, and you'll find a multitude of annoying insects that make the noble mission of satisfying your small gourmets' stomachs much more difficult. In the game's Career Mode, your goal is to become the best chef in the city. To do so, you have to prove your worth by cooking in four fantastic restaurants: the Hot Dog, Hamburger, Pizza and Mexican Restaurant.

"Enjoy playing Yummy Yummy with your family, serving delicious food to the most surprising characters: vampires, ninjas, extraterrestrials and mafia thugs. Put on your chef's hat, sharpen your knives and turn up the heat."

A nice surprise this week for those in North America - you get NinjaBee's Boingz along with Sudoku Challenge from Digital Leisure.

Wii Points: 1,000
Game Type: Puzzle, Platformer
Control Type: Wii Remote, Nunchuk
Players: 1
Publisher: RealArcade

"Stretch, flex and flick your way to freedom. A truly mind-bending experience, Boingz introduces you to cute, colorful, stretchable friends lost in an alien world, searching for the magical gates that will take them home. Boingz springs to life with 30 levels of puzzle-platforming fun. The Boingz are bendy little critters that can be pulled, stretched and flicked from place to place like rubber bands. It's a team effort, as all the Boingz will have to work together to unwind the game's puzzles. What's more, many of the Boingz have fallen into a deep slumber, and you'll have to lead the stronger Boingz to find and wake up their sleepy friends. Explore surreal landscapes, sail through the air like a trapeze artist, walk along the seafloor, and collect the Twinklies to power up your elastic-powered flights."

Sudoku Challenge!

Wii Points: 500
Game Type: Puzzle
Control Type: Wii Remote
Players: 1
Publisher: Digital Leisure Inc.

"Now's your chance to play the brain-busting puzzle game taking the world by storm. With over 100 million Sudoku puzzles, you'll never see the same puzzle twice in Sudoku Challenge! You can select the classic nine-by-nine Sudoku game boards as well as Grand Sudoku, which challenges you to complete five intersecting Sudoku boards simultaneously. Just a beginner? Don't worry-with three difficulty options, even a novice player can complete a Sudoku with ease. But if you're a seasoned pro, challenge yourself in Expert mode and test your true skills. It's time to get your thinking cap on and see how many Sudoku puzzles you can conquer."

[Continuing the XNA Community Games coverage blowout by other means, Gamasutra's Christian Nutt recently got to chat to Weapon Of Choice creator Nathan Fouts, who has a really interesting story to tell about his Xbox 360 egalitarian game debut - and his game is really retro-creepy cool in the best 'programmer art' fashion, too!]

The XNA Creators' Club is being touted as a way for semi-pro and amateur developers to bring their designs to the masses via XNA Community Games, which launch alongside the New Xbox Experience today.

At its recent San Francisco XNA Community Games event, however, it became clear that a lot of the developers who have created the most polished and ready-for-market games on the service actually do have professional backgrounds.

At the event, we had a chance to speak with Nathan Fouts, founder and president of Mommy's Best Games (as well as its only full-time employee.) His game, Weapon of Choice, is a neo-retro throwback that brings to mind classics like Contra while embracing contemporary design choices.

Despite its hardest-of-hardcore looks and (nearly) one-man creation, it sprang not from the mind of an enthusiastic amateur, but a seasoned professional.

Though Fouts left Insomniac Games to found his own company, Insomniac CEO Ted Price, when recently asked, called him "an instrumental part of Resistance: Fall of Man... one of the most creative programmers I've ever met."

What is it that drove Fouts to leave his job at one of the most successful independent developers in the country and strike out on his own, and why through XNA Community Games? The answers may surprise you.

Right, so we know that Hudsonsoft are at work with Pit Crew Panic on WiiWare, they just released Cue Sports in Europe and we know Snowboard Riot is on the way, so what's next on the list? Well accoriding to both German and Australian rating boards it will be a variant of Samegame.

Samegame is a classic PC puzzle title where you clicked collections of blocks of the same colour to remove them from a screen of blocks. The goal is to remove all or as many blocks as possible while also taking out large clusters at a time.

It's a nice fit to the Wii, though whether they will release it for a smaller amount of points, or be able to make it robust enough to warrant a higher price point is left to be seen.

Microsoft have revealed that on December 15th, developers from three new regions can now submit their titles to XNA Community Games - though you can't yet play Community Games in those regions, disappointingly.

According to the official release: "Beginning on Dec. 15, independent, student and hobbyist developers in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand will have the opportunity to distribute their titles on the new Xbox LIVE Community Games Channel and potentially share in the profits from their creations."

"For developers like team Gambit of Singapore that created the 2008 Dream-Build-Play first place winner “CarneyVale: Showtime,” this offers the unique ability to develop games using Microsoft’s free XNA development toolset, share them on a console like never before and potentially turn the hobby of game-making into a full-fledged career."

"An XNA Premium Creators Club Membership, which is only $99 (USD) a year, will allow game makers to participate in the multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry. For Xbox LIVE members, it means more diverse and innovative titles that are only available on Xbox 360."

Source: Team Xbox

[UPDATE: To be clear, this is only allowing developers to RELEASE games, while you still won't be able to play these games in those territories until early 2009, as far as we can work out. We'll get more response from Microsoft on this if we can.]

[With so many downloadable console games coming out each month, it's hard to keep up. That's why here at GamerBytes, we take a look back at the previous month and decide on the top games that were released during the period. The month of October was packed for WiiWare - let's have a look at the highlights.]

It was a puzzler's dream this month for Wii owners. Despite many lackluster additions to the genre on WiWare, October was the month where things started to really roll. World of Goo, Tetris Party, and the numerous Art Style games made puzzlers fun again.

Here's our picks for the top titles of the month:

World of Goo (1,500 Wii Points)

World of Goo is an award-winning, physics-based puzzle/construction game made entirely by two guys. Grab living, squirming, talking globs of goo to build structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins and giant tongues. The millions of Goo Balls that live in the beautiful World of Goo are curious to explore—but they don't know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious. World of Goo Corporation is contractually obligated to state that everyone is a winner, and is enthusiastic to celebrate everyone's Goo building opportunities equally.

[Continuing the previous month round-ups at GamerBytes, we take a look back at the previous month and decide on the top games that were released during the period. And there's plenty of neat stuff for Xbox Live Arcade during October - let's check it out.]

October was strong for the Xbox Live Arcade, you can't really go wrong with any of these games. Capcom brought the goods with Mega Man 9 and Age Of Booty, while Valve's masterpiece Portal made its way for those that missed out on The Orange Box. Best to get all of them, frankly.

Here's October's top XBLA titles:

Mega Man 9 (800 Microsoft Points)

The original 2-D classic Mega Man returns in Mega Man 9 for Xbox LIVE® Arcade! This latest Mega Man title brings the series back to its old-school roots with retro action platforming gameplay and classic 8-bit graphics and sound. Relive the Mega Man experience with classically inspired bosses, each with their own unique weapons and weaknesses.

Set after the events of Mega Man 8, multiple riots have sprung up all over the world. While many people suspect that this is another plot from Dr. Wily, Dr. Light is stunned to recognize that some of the robots rioting on the TV screen are his own creations. Even more stunning, Dr. Wily appears on television to proclaim that Dr. Light is the evil mastermind behind these latest catastrophic incidents and it's up to Mega Man to clear his creator's name!

[Now we've looked at WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade, let's turn our attention to some of the best titles last month for PlayStation Network on the PS3- looks like the system is getting up to speed further in terms of digital titles.]

A bit of a catchup month for the PlayStation Network. With the release of some of the Xbox Live Arcade's best titles like Prince Of Persia Classic and Puzzle Quest now available on PSN, the XBLA's lead begins to shrink a little bit. Coupled with the release of the exclusive SOCOM Confrontation onto the populace and a new battle racing game, it's all about variety for the PlayStation Network.

Here's the top titles for October:

Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars ($14.99USD, NA only)

Get ready for non-stop action as you take control of a rocket-powered super car! It is a sport like no other, where supersonic cars jump, flip, and rocket boost their way to victory! A Demo is also available.

Zen Studios' first foray into the PlayStation Network is The Punisher: No Mercy, a straight up first person multiplayer game featuring Marvel's classic character. The first video of it has been released - check it out above.

A great week for PlayStation 3 owners - and early to boot. Street Fighter II HD and a ton of price reductions, there's plenty to buy for Americans this week.

Price Promotion

The Last Guy, PixelJunk Eden, echochrome (PS3), Novastrike, and Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 are temporarily priced at $4.99. Promotion ends 12/4/08.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix ($14.99)

"The original MMA series is back! SFHD Remix receives a whole new look while improving on the innovative fighting system of the original game. Updated with 1080p HD redrawn art and online support, the game offers a unique experience that appeals to new fans and Street Fighter purists alike."

File size: 303 MB

Brain Challenge ($9.99)

"Boost your brain and relieve stress through 25 Visual, Memory, Logic, Math, and Focus mini-games. Choose your favorite coach and get detailed evaluations of your performances in personal training sessions. Compare yourself with other players online and/or offline in 3 delirious multiplayer modes. Thanks to the special Kid Test and Senior Test modes, gather all your friends and family around the game."

File size: 220 MB

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Genre: Action
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points

Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

GameVideos and 1UP don't tend to do review crews on downloadable games, but considering they gave the game an A+ they made an exception. Watch Ryan Scott chat with Greg Ford about the latest version of one of their favourite games of all time.

Source: GameVideos

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 2K Marin, Insomniac, Recoil Games, Relic Entertainment, NCsoft and more.

Each position posted by employers 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, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

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

Gamasutra.com - Game Industry Jobs

2K Marin: Systems Designer
"2K Marin is looking for a dedicated, passionate and personable Systems Designer to join the team working on Bioshock 2. As a Systems Designer, you'll be the man in the middle of the million moving parts that transform high-level gameplay concepts into concrete player experience (and back again). "

Insomniac Games: Programmers - North Carolina Office
"Insomniac Games, an independent videogame developer ranked among the top 10 best small companies to work for nationally and locally, is opening a North Carolina-based development studio. Our NC studio will blend our experience and proven track record of hits with the tenacity of a start-up. Expanding to the Triangle also allows Insomniac to maintain an ideal size in Burbank while offering an East Coast alternative to attract and retain the best in the industry."

Recoil Games: Lead Programmer
"RECOIL GAMES and RADAR GROUP are co-producing EARTH NO MORE, a groundbreaking original IP action-adventure game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. We are now looking for a LEAD PROGRAMMER to become a key member of the company. Setup by industry veterans, we are an English-speaking team spanning seven nationalities based in Helsinki, Finland, a country known for its high standard of living, beautiful nature and a modern way of life."

Relic Entertainment: Senior Tools Programmer
"At Relic Entertainment we are developing an original game for PS3 and Xbox 360 and continue to build on our history of award winning games - games like Company of Heroes, Dawn of War, and Homeworld. Experience freedom of creativity and know your contribution is valued and recognized by the Relic team and also by gamers and industry experts around the globe."

WorldsInMotion - Online Game Jobs

NCsoft NorCal Studio: Powers Designer
"NCsoft is looking for talented individuals to be a part of the world's leading developer and publisher of online PC games. Makers of the world's most popular online game franchise, Lineage, NCsoft has also created many other award winning and groundbreaking products such as City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa, Aion and Dungeon Runners in addition to various casual games via its game portal, PlayNC.

GamesOnDeck - Mobile Game Jobs

Nokia: Director Of Engineering - Games
"Services & Software will play a leading role in shaping Nokia’s growth and transformation, generating new revenue streams based on software and services. The Services & Software Unit’s portfolio of services creates opportunities for people to connect to each other and the things that matter to them."

To browse hundreds of similar jobs, and for more information on searching, responding to, or posting game industry-relevant jobs to the top source for jobs in the business, please visit Gamasutra's job board now.

With the PlayStation Network bringing some games down to a lower price point for over the Thanksgiving weekend. Now new Xbox Live Arcade is joining in as well, with 7 classic titles now going up for cheap - this weekend only.

Oddly 3 of the 7 games were originally published by Sierra, which is now owned by Activision Blizzard. This is the first time we've seen them acknowledge anything Sierra has ever done, so tops to them. Should have added Switchball in there for good measure - more people need to play it.

From the list, I highly suggest giving Rez HD and Golf: Tee It Up a go.

Rez HD was 800 Points now 500 Points
Arkadian Warriors was 800 Points now 500 Points
Assault Heroes was 400 Points now 250 Points
Catan was 800 Points now 500 Points
Brain Challenge was 800 now 500 Points
Boogie Bunnies was 800 Points now 500 Points
Golf: Tee It Up! was 800 Points now 500 Points

This week, GamerBytes had a look back to pick out the best digital download titles released in October. It was quite a packed month for all, and we're here to help you in case you missed out on a few.

Along with that, we check out more Community Games on XNA, interview Nathan Fout on his game Weapon of Choice, see what the indie PC creator behind Platypus is up to, check out the new Punisher game for PSN, and see what High Voltage Software are up to next.

October Picks

October's PSN Picks: 'Confronting Rocket Powered Cars'
We remind ourselves about Rocket Powered Battle Cars, SOCOM Confrontation, Puzzle Quest and Prince of Persia Classic for PSN

October's XBLA Picks: 'Rain-Slick Booty'
We look back on Mega Man 9, Age Of Booty, Portal and Penny Arcade Episode 2 for Xbox Live Arcade.

October's WiiWare Picks: 'Building Up Structures'
It's all about building towers with World of Goo, Rotohex and Tetris Party this month, with a slice of Strongbad on the side.

XBLA

Banjo Kazooie XBLA Delayed, Bonus Cards Troubles
Banjo Kazooie XBLA is now coming out next week, citing pre-order card troubles as an issue.

Cletus Clay For XBLA - From The Makers Of Platypus
A high-definition claymation game featuring rednecks? Sign me up.

Today In Community Games - Snakes , Crystals and Sin Waves
10 more XNA games are added to the list- find out which ones are worth your while, in our handy guide.

Q&A: From Resistance To... XNA Community Games?
We talk to Nathan Fout about what it's like going from giant developer to a husband and wife team.

PlayStation Network

NA PSN Store Update - Street Fighter II HD Remix, Brain Challenge and PSN Bargains
An early release for the PlayStation Store this week - get your hands on Street Fighter II, Brain Challenge, and now with bargain prices for the Thanksgiving holiday.

First Video Of The Punisher: No Mercy
Zen Studios' first PlayStation Network title is unveiled in video form - play as The Punisher in this online multiplayer FPS.

WiiWare

NA WiiWare Update: Boingz And Sudoku
This week on WiiWare North America, get the chance to twang little critters around the place, all in the name of fun.

EU WiiWare Update - Strongbad, Cue Sports, Cooking Jam And Cubello
Big WiiWare update for Europe this week - including the first of the Art Style games making its way here.

Evasive Space Screen Shot Blowout
High Voltage Software's new title Evasive Space mixes classic top down shooting with maze gameplay.

Scottish Developers Denki have revealed that they are working on an Xbox Live Arcade title, and as well as a retail Wii title.

Denki has been working on DIRECTV titles for the past few years, but previously worked on two cute and niche puzzlers for the Gameboy Advance - Denki Blocks, a standard puzzle game, and Go! Go! Beckham, a great puzzle platformer where you play as super-deformed David Beckham in a fantasy land collecting coins and eggs. You heard me. It plays like a more puzzle based Marko's Magic Football.

Hopefully we'll hear more soon.

Source: Developmag - INTERVIEW: Denki

The upcoming PSN title Crash Commando was previewed this week's on UK game show Start Select. Though the online play wasn't available, they had a good bit of fun with the single player missions. The game should be getting released in December. The preview starts about 5 minutes in.

With Thanksgiving upon the USA 1UP.com have decided to not have a normal show this week. Instead is the first LTTP Show, looking back on some top games of the season which may not have gotten the coverage they deserved.

The first segment was Peggle Nights, the sequel to the casual sensation on the PC. During the segment they start to discuss Peggle for Xbox Live Arcade, with some footage from the game.

One interesting point made was that the XBLA version includes not only the original levels from Peggle, but also includes some - or all - levels from Peggle Nights. Considering it's been revealed to cost 800 MSP, it will be an absolute bargain when it comes out for XBLA early next year.

Age of Booty (Demo also available)

Fight for pirate supremacy in this game of strategy and cannon-blasting action that’s fun for all ages. Sail the high seas alone or with friends as you build your pirate empire by plundering villages, sinking ships, and sending your enemies to the briny deep! Upgrade your ships with new, more powerful weapons, and explore 25 different maps or create your own to share! With so many features, Age of Booty is a treasure chest of fun! Download the game today!

File size: 44 MB

Click here for the official US PlayStation Site Age of Booty page

GTI Club + (Demo Only!)

Back in the day, the GTI Club: Rally Côte d'Azur arcade game was a huge hit due to its frantic, fast paced gameplay.

Brought up-to-date on PLAYSTATION 3 for PlayStation Network using the latest technology, the game has been revitalised with stunning visuals and support for eight players online."

The game sees you get behind the wheel of a number of small, powerful hatchbacks, all packed with typical European GTI charm. They’ve been carefully balanced for competitive racing, so expect a constant barrage of barging and overtaking action.