Double Six Studios have let us know that they've released new footage of their upcoming PlayStation Network exclusive title Burn Zombie Burn!

The videos show several different mechanics used in the game. Burning a Zombie before you shoot them makes the score multiplier go up - but they'll become more dangerous this way. If you lose a life, you'll lose all your powerups and start at square one.

The game also does not use a dual stick movement system, citing that weapons like the baseball bat wouldn't work in that sort of environment. Other weapons available in the game include chainsaws, lawnmowers, a brain gun and dance gun.

The video below (and a second one, which you can view further down) show off just two of the six levels that will be available in the game. It should be getting a release very soon.

Niki: Rock and Ball

Wii Points: 500 Wii Points
Game Type: Puzzle
Control Type: Wii Remote
Players: 2
Publisher: Bplus

"Are you in love with those unforgettable arcade classics where the only goal is to vanquish all opponents to reach the next stage? Niki - Rock 'n' Ball is a new interpretation of those games with a completely innovative and unique gaming mechanism. Roll along with Niki through fantastic worlds, find all the ZeLeLi pearls, and liberate your village from cuddly-yet-evil monsters before it's too late. Timing is everything. Jump in the nick of time to avoid landing amid barbs. Hop across the stages thanks to the realistic gaming physics. Snap on the ZeLeLi amulet, transform yourself into Niki Rock, and force even the most obstinate monster to its knees. Explore all the stages and win valuable medals while dribbling through them, alone or with a friend. Use familiar controls in Retro style, or experience novel controls in the Wii style."

Back in September we interviewed developer Beatnik Games about their upcoming multiplayer brawler Plain Sight, being developed in XNA and planning to become an Xbox Live Arcade title or be released in the Community Games channel later in 2009.

This past week they've released their open beta version for the PC, allowing players across the world to jump around, slash at other combatants, get vertigo from the Mario Galaxy style gravity, and then blow yourself up to cash in your points.

You can download the beta here. There have been quite a few people online so you should be able to find a game - if not grab a few friends and give it a go, or go to their website and go to their forums.

Last year Number None's Xbox Live Arcade title Braid blew on to the scene during Microsoft's Summer of Arcade, proving that it doesn't take a hundred people to make a spectacular game.

It has been 5 months since Braid was released. Blogs across the world have hung on every word that designer Jonathon Blow has had to say. But just what is he up to right now?

Chris Remo of our sister site Gamasutra talks in-depth with Jonathon Blow about his thoughts on the video game industry, where Braid may be heading to next, and his next project may be.

To read the full interview, click the link below.

Source: Gamasutra - Jonathan Blow: The Next Phase

[Our friend Terry Sirup over at Xboxlivearcade.com has got in touch with developer Twisted Pixel games about last week's Xbox Live Arcade title The Maw. Frank Wilson lets us find out the workings behind their first foray into creating a new IP.]

The digital download circuit, despite being herald as the next step in the evolution of game platforms, has had a rough ride. Games like Castle Crashers, Braid and Geometry Wars have found their core audience on Xbox Live Arcade, other quality titles like Shred Nebula and PowerUp Forever have had a little difficulty finding theirs.

Last week's release of The Maw was quite a gamble for developer Twisted Pixel. A 3D platformer with a brand new IP featuring cartoony graphics and a "one-eyed purple beast of the apocalypse". Certainly not for what most people would consider the Xbox 360's demographic. Still, as of writing this the leaderboards are showing that an incredibly healthy 34,212 people have played the game which is fantastic news.

Terry Sirup of XboxLiveArcade.com has shared with us his interview with Frank Wilson, the Chief Technology Officer of Twisted Pixel about the people behind the game, getting the title onto the Xbox Live Arcade in the first place, and the future of The Maw:

FunTown Mahjong brings the traditional Chinese board game to Xbox 360, with a well-balanced design and unique style that is sure to keep you coming back for more. Play against friends over Xbox LIVE, or take on the challenge of the A.I. opponents. With a tutorial for new players and featuring the 16-tile Mahjong rule set, FunTown Mahjong is great for Mahjong players of all experience levels. Get ready, you'll need strategy, wisdom, and luck to win!

* Classic gameplay: A clear scoring system and the standard 16-tile Mahjong rules provide a classic gaming experience.
* Great visuals: The vivid audio and visuals keep you in the game, and give you the ability to change background images and tiles.
* Easy to learn: The simple tutorial mode gives you all the information you need for those new to the game.

Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

More levels for last week's Xbox Live Arcade title The Maw are on the way. Kotaku reports that 3 new levels will be released over the coming weeks, each for 100 Microsoft Points.

One level, titled Brute Force, will fill in some moments between the second and third level and will involve a new enemy type. River Redirect has the two characters douse a raging fire in their path, and The Speeder Lane sees Frank and The Maw stealing a speeder and breaking through the blockade.

It may seem a bit surprising to see downloadable content so quickly after the release of the game, but if we're going by the fact that the postmortem for the game appeared in the December issue of Game Developer Magazine, and giving a few months between completion and writing the article you could say that the game has been complete for at least 5 months.

Plenty of additional development time to make new levels. Hopefully we'll hear from them soon.

Source: Kotaku: Three New Levels Coming to The Maw Via DLC

On the heels of Funtown Mahjong showing up on the Xbox.com database, in which we only know its release through FunTown's Taiwanese press release, a new contender for release has shown up on Xbox.com - R-Type Dimensions.

The addition of the game onto Xbox.com usually means the game is set to be released in just a few weeks time, though there are some exceptions.

Next week's slot has already been taken by 3-On-3 NHL Arcade from EA, so don't expect it just yet, unless they're planning for a two-release week.

On a side note, I'm hoping that Lode Runner, Tozai's other Xbox Live Arcade title makes it out soon. It was announced over a year ago at CES, while R-Type Dimensions was only announced back in October. I hope everything is on track.

Source: R-Type Dimensions Xbox.com splash page

Kotaku's inside sources at Sony have split a few beans out of the PSN jar. While usually tight lipped about statistics, Kotaku was able to gain knowledge of a single week of PSN data, which gives us a little bit of insight into the world of digital downloads on the PlayStation 3.

The statistics given to them describe the top 3 games downloaded during the 16th to the 22nd of February. Those games are:

1. Super Street Fighter II: Turbo HD Remix
2. Mortal Kombat II
3. Suikoden (PSOne Classics)

Now this is an interesting list, assuming its all accurate. All three of these titles did not come out this year - in fact Mortal Kombat II was released back in April 2007. The list for the week is also vastly different to that of the list of top PSN titles for 2008, in which none of these titles were a part of.

More interesting is that the games released this week, GTI Club+ and Magic Ball, are not in the list. Either Mortal Kombat II is the UNO of PSN (not likely according to previous data) or it neither game sold well at all.

The one piece of data that did make sense was the all time top downloaded Game – PAIN, which fits with the data we have.

It's a small hole into the world of the PlayStation Network but it only brings up new questions. February will be a huge month for the PlayStation Network with Noby Noby Boy and Flower both getting releases. Regardless, I do hope that whoever is releasing this information continues to do so.

Source: Kotaku - Open Up For A Strong Dose Of PSN Stats

The official Banjo-Kazooie blog has revealed the first screenshots of Banjo-Tooie for Xbox Live Arcade, complete with the resurrection of the true realization of the Stop 'n' Swop.

"As with the XBLA release of Banjo-Kazooie, you can expect all the fully-featured fun from the original game. But there’s more – 4J Studios have dredged the Banjo team’s collective memory and implemented the original plan for Stop ‘n’ Swop, for the first time on any platform ever and after many long years of waiting. Without going into too much detail, the Stop ’n’ Swop items collected in Banjo-Kazooie will ‘magically’ appear in Tooie, resulting in... well, you'll just have to find out. What could be cooler than that? Nothing, that’s what – not even Kazooie turning into a dragon."

Banjo Tooie has now been slated for release in April. I never got past Grunty Industries when I played it on the Nintendo 64, so I'll definitely be getting into this game when it comes out.

Click here to check out the rest of the high resolution screenshots of the game.

FunTown Mahjong

Developer: FunTown
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: Card & Board
Price: 800 MSP
Availability: Not available in Korea

Click here for the Xbox.com splash page.

Click here for the Microsoft online marketplace page to download the demo.

FunTown Mahjong - Chinese Festival DLC

"Visit the temple and play Mahjong during the Chinese New Year to bring good luck for the whole year."

Price: 160 MSP

Click here for the Microsoft online marketplace page to download the demo.

[Every week GamerBytes' editor Ryan Langley passes along the top console digital download news tidbits from the past 7 days, including brand new game announcements and scoops through the world of Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and WiiWare.]

This week's releases include FunTown Mahjong for Xbox Live Arcade - a quite serious take on the rules of Chinese Mahjong, unlike the recent PSN title Mahjong Tales, which was based on the more American known Mahjong Solitaire.

WiiWare got Niki: Rock & Ball, an arcad-ey game in the vein of Pang! or Snow Bros.. Nothing for North America on PSN this week, but Europe finally got the first episode of Penny Arcade Adventures.

The big stories this week were that Square-Enix are taking digital download very seriously, with their iPhone Tower Defense game Crystal Defenders making its way to every console, and their Taito division working hard on Bubble Bobble Wii.

Xbox Live Arcade

FunTown Mahjong Now Available On XBLA
Popular Chinese game now available. Now, if only I knew how to play it...

Interview: Twisted Pixel On Creating The Maw
Our friend Terry Sirup over at Xboxlivearcade.com has got in touch with developer Twisted Pixel games about last week's Xbox Live Arcade title The Maw. Frank Wilson lets us find out the workings behind their first foray into creating a new IP.

Gamasutra Interview: Jonathan Blow: The Next Phase
Gamasutra talks to Braid creator Jonathon Blow about what he's up to next.

The Maw To Recieve New DLC Levels
Three new "deleted scenes" are on their way in the coming months.

PlayStation Network

EU PSN Store Update - Penny Arcade Episode 1
After a few months of delays, the first episode of Penny Arcade is now available on the European PlayStation Network.

Age Of Booty Update In February - Trophies For PSN, Avatars For Xbox 360
Big updates for Age Of Booty next month to coincide with the PC release.

Noby Noby Boy Scheduled For Mid-February
The most bizarre PSN game to date, and out in less than a month's time.

WiiWare

NA WiiWare Update: Niki: Rock & Ball
A single release for this week's WiiWare roundup - a 2D single screen platformer which includes... rocks and balls.

Square Enix To Release Crystal Defenders On All Platforms
The popular iPod/iPhone Tower Defense game is making its way to everything under the sun.

Bubble Bobble Remake Coming To WiiWare - 4 Player Chaos Included
First screenshots of Bubble Bubble Wii are in the latest Famitsu magazine.

Pole's Big Adventure - NES Action On WiiWare
Sega is making a sarcastic Famicom game. You heard me.

Super Meat Boy Heading To The Wii
Can everyone's favorite piece of meat save his girlfriend once more on WiiWare?

With the recent announcements of Crystal Defenders R1, Yosumin Live, Space Invaders Extreme, Bubble Bobble Wii, Rainbow Island Wii and Arkanoid Live, you'd think that Square Enix were pretty much set for the rest of the year. But according to 1UP.com, they might have another ace up their sleeve.

1UP are claiming that Final Fantasy IV: The After may be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade. The After is the mobile-only semi-sequel to Final Fantasy IV currently only available in Japan.

Their reasoning behind this rumor is a URL, specifically this one:

http://www.xbox.com/ja-JP/games/f/finalfantasy4/

It goes to absolutely nothing. The entire reasoning behind it is that going to it will redirect to a URL with a /details.page/ supplemented at the end. Going to other URLs which don't exist will not add the /details.page/ to the end.

Now that's a little bit of a stretch for a rumor. For one the URL includes finalfantasy4. Current URLs for Final Fantasy XI and XIII use roman numerals. Why would IV suddenly use a 4 instead? Secondly, outside of some very early digital download titles, all XBLA titles include "xboxlivearcade" at the end of their URL. This does not.

So for the moment, take this with a big grain of salt. My only thought as to why this is a story is because 1UP may know something that we don't, and was trying to find any internet evidence they could. Not that it's something obvious which should be done over WiiWare, PSN and Xbox Live Arcade, as that would follow the trail of Crystal Defenders, but as of right now there's nothing concrete.

Source: 1UP.com - Mystery URL At Japanese Microsoft Site Suggests 360 Final Fantasy IV

Along with the R-Type Dimensions splash page, we now have another addition to the site - Wideload's Texas Cheat'em.

The game was announced earlier in the month, but not a whole lot was known about it - no screenshots were available either. With the splash page now up we can actually see the game now - check out some of the screenshots here.

Texas Cheat'em will allow players to "use one of 15 available cheats to give yourself an advantage", including X-Ray vision, stealing other people's chips, or folding your hand for free.

The game allows eight players to play online, and includes full Avatar support. It will also be coming to the PlayStation Network.

[Edit: 1UP's Matt Leone has just posted an exclusive preview of the game. Click here to view it.]

Source: Texas Cheat'em Xbox.com splash page, thanks to CHR_AeON for the heads up.

It has been revealed, through the US PlayStation Blog and European fan site TheSixthAxis, that Savage Moon and SuperSonic Battle Cars are coming out this week to their respective regions.

Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars lets 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! Previous released in North America late last year, it will be available in Europe for £7.99.

Savage Moon sees you protecting a remote off-world mining facility from waves of ravenous space bugs, looking to consume everything in their path. A Tower Defense game more on the darker side - and only for $9.99.

Source: TheSixthAxis, US PlayStation Blog

We haven't done an analysis fo the weekly Xbox Live Arcade and XNA Community Games for a while due to time constraints, but with the release of the PlayStation Network statistics it's good to have a look at some other statistics.

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1 The Maw (NEW)
2 Castle Crashers (-1)
3 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (--)
4 Worms (-2)
5 UNO (-1)
6 A Kingdom for Keflings (-1)
7 Braid (-1)
8 Banjo-Kazooie (-1)
9 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (--)
10 Bomberman Live (--)

With the release of The Maw we've finally seen a game that isn't Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix or Castle Crashers make the top of the list. They're not too far behind though, with both hitting the second and third spots. The rest of the list isn't too surprising though with a lot of more recent, quality content - but UNO, Mortal Kombat and Bomberman Live continue to sell incredibly well.

Top XNA Community Games (Full Versions purchased)

1 RC-AirSim (NEW)
2 Golden Royal Blackjack (-1)
3 CarneyVale Showtime (V) 400
4 Ocean Scenes (NEW)
5 Air Legends (-3)
6 Groov (-3)
7 Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp (-3)
8 Foosball For Two (+3)
9 Weapon of Choice (-4) 400
10 Colosseum (V) 800

XNA Community games are just so... bizarre. The amount they change each week, accompanied with the strangest games making it to the top of the list makes it practically impossible to see any sort of pattern. For example, CarneyVale Showtime went from being out of the list to back in third spot. It's all over the shop.

It's also worth noting that the majority of games on the list are those at 200 MSP. Only three of the titles (CarneyVale, Weapon of Choice and Colosseum) are above that threshold. This follows a very iPhone styled system where the majority of iPhone apps that sell are those at the lowest price point.

Now if they're actually selling well is another matter altogether. With a game like CarneyVale bouncing around like it did, it could mean that everything is selling very similar numbers with little disruption. Until we get some real numbers from developers in the coming months, we're really not sure.

In this in-depth Gamasutra postmortem, Capcom's Ben Judd analyzes work on 2D downloadable update Bionic Commando Rearmed, which debuted on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC in 2008.

Within you'll fine the finer details of the game, the pricing struggle that Capcom went through, the insane realisation that having an awful lot of text is not particularly good when you're trying to keep it under budget and release in every single country.

It's a interesting take on a postmortem because most of the things that went right had something pretty wrong about them too.

The Bionic Commando Rearmed crew also had a audio postmortem in their bi-weekly podcast some time ago. You can give them a listen here and here.

Source: Bionic Commando Rearmed Post Mortem

Sony Online Entertainment have announced that several PopCap games will begin be to available on the PlayStation Network, starting with Bejeweled 2 in North America today.

Other titles include Peggle, Zuma, Heavy Weapon and Feeding Frenzy - all which have been released on Xbox Live Arcade prior. Oddly the screens sent out by SOE are 4x3 PC screenshots, so I wonder if PopCap are porting these games themselves or SOE are porting the PC versions.

Either way, there will be a demo of Bejeweled 2 available today along with the full title, so give them a go. The games will also come to Europe later down the line.

Bejeweled 2

Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment
Developer: PopCap Games
Category: Puzzle
Price: $9.99USD

"Experience the classic gem-swapping puzzler! Now available on the PlayStation Network, Bejeweled 2 lovers can now earn over 10 unique PS3 trophies and play Bejeweled 2 on the PSP via remote play. Swap gems to match 3 or more, and delight in four different game modes and explosive new gem types. With amazing planetary backdrops and awesome special effects in 1080p, Bejeweled 2 will dazzle you!"

I've checked out the demo against the XBLA version, and both are exactly the same - so ignore my previous statements that this might be a quick-and-dirty port of the PC version.

Savage Moon

Publisher: SCEA
Category: Strategy
Price: $9.99USD

"This action-packed tower defense strategy game takes you to distant planets where you must defend mining facilities from relentless Insectocyte monsters. Build towers in strategic locations in order to fend off wave after wave of increasingly tough attackers."

Click here for the PlayStation Store page for Savage Moon

Burnout Paradise

Burnout Paradise is now only $19.99 on the PlayStation Store. Now you have no excuse!

In this round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Warner Bros Games, Other Ocean Interactive, Midway Games, 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:

Family Glide Hockey

Wii Points: 500
Game Type: Sports
Control Type: Wii Remote, Nunchuk
Players: 1-4
Publisher: Aksys Games

"Daddy, Mommy, Sarah and Billy are back for more family fun, and this time it's glide hockey. Hone your skills in a gymnasium, a forest park, a beach, an amusement park, even the freezing Arctic. Family Glide Hockey sports appealing cel-shaded graphics and endearing music to go with its friendly, competitive match-ups. Choose between single-player mode, versus mode (up to four players can play), or challenge your skill in engaging minigames such as Glide Hockey Brawl, Glide Hockey Drill and Glide Hockey Tracer."

Click here for the official Family Glide Hockey website.

Pop Them, Drop Them SAMEGAME

Wii Points: 500
Game Type: Puzzle, Action
Control Type: Wii Remote, Nunchuk
Players: 1-4
Publisher: HUDSON SOFT

"Same Game is a simple yet engrossing puzzle game where you clear matching blocks in sets of 2 or more."

"Score high by clearing out more blocks at once. If you manage to clear the entire grid, you can keep on playing with a whole new layout. Getting rid of all those blocks is the key to raking in the points!"

"Adjust the difficulty in a one-player game by trying different grid sizes and numbers of colors. Play it your way!"

"Up to 4 players can face off in any one of 3 multiplayer modes. "Fame Game", the most straightforward choice, is similar to the one-player version. "Shame Game"" turns the tables on the players, forcing them to go for the lowest score. Finally, in "Blame Game", it's a free-for-all as everyone vies for blocks on one big grid."