This week on XNA Roundup Nick takes a look at Kodu Game Lab, a product from Microsoft Research Labs. Kodu is a programming environment that allows players to easily create, edit and share games with friends, without learning a written programming language.

Click here to download Kodu Game Lab via XboxIndies.com

BIT.TRIP CORE

Wii Points: 600
Game Type: Puzzle
Control Type: Wii Remote
Players: 1-2
Publisher: Askys Games

"BIT.TRIP CORE continues the BIT.TRIP saga in this retro-arcade-style game. BIT.TRIP CORE adds up to an exciting action/rhythm game that's best played while zoning out on the tunes and letting the visuals swallow you whole. The experience is inspired by games from the '80s, but with a modern twist. The game play is entirely new to the series, leaving the single-axis controls of BIT.TRIP BEAT behind in favor of the ability to control two axes. If the difficulty gets you down, grab a friend and play cooperatively with two-player multiplayer. Make it to the end and you'll have journeyed one step further to completing your BIT.TRIP."

Heracles Chariot Racing

Wii Points: 800
Game Type: Racing
Control Type: Wii Remote, Nunchuk
Players: 1-4
Publisher: Neko Entertainment

"The famous Heracles has taken on a challenge like none he has ever faced. Our hero will have to beat his opponents in a race across mythological kingdoms and be the first to reach the top of Mount Olympus. You can play as Heracles and help him return the sacred trophy, or play as one of the other varied mythological characters from Satyr to Poseidon and claim the prize for yourself. Race through three racing cups across 10 courses set in five mythic landscapes. Use awesome fantasy weaponry to defeat your opponents: tridents, fireballs, Zeus's lightning rods and more. Get your friends together for intense two-to-four-player split-screen multiplayer action in Championship, Single Race or Battle mode."

BUST-A-MOVE Plus!

Wii Points: 600
Game Type: Puzzle
Control Type: Wii Remote, Classic
Players: 1-2
Publisher: TAITO

"BUST-A-MOVE Plus! is a simple but hugely addictive puzzle game in which you must try to burst a multi-colored mass of bubbles with your very own bubble launcher. Every time you make a group of three or more bubbles of the same color, they pop. There are two game modes available: 1P Puzzle (players tackle the game's 135 stages in pursuit of a new high score or best time) and Battle (players take on friends or computer-controlled opponents). If that doesn't satisfy your passion for popping, there are a total of 270 extra stages waiting for you in the two add-on-content packs, available for purchase on the Wii Shop Channel. BUST-A-MOVE Plus! is simple to get into and deep enough to keep you coming back for more."

California Games

Original platform: Commodore 64
Publisher: Commodore Gaming
Wii Points 500

"Welcome to California, home of the most radical sports in the world. You're about to hit the beaches, parks and streets of the Golden State to go for trophies in everything from surfing to bike racing. California Games gives you the hottest sports and the most aggro competition. You even have to pick your own sponsor. So pull on those kneepads – you're about to get into the most fun you've had since Mom hid your skateboard. California Games is going to take you from surf to the turf, from the pipe to the parks."

"Pick your path—be it as a rifleman, a steel-fisted tank commander, or ace fighter pilot. Play as a lone wolf or with your friends, coordinating to turn the tide of battle. Whatever you choose, in Battlefield 1943, enjoy the thrill of a fully featured online shooter.

By land, sea, and air! Unleash wide destruction with bombing raids, tanks, or fighter planes launched from aircraft carriers and enjoy one of the best vehicle experiences in any multiplayer game.
Varied locations: Play with 24 players online in three beautiful and destructible locations from the Pacific theatre. Whether you choose Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, or the classic Wake Island, jump into the best balance of infantry combat complemented by land, sea, and air vehicles.
Frostbite-enabled destruction: Watch as the beautiful Pacific islands quickly turn into scarred battlefields as destruction rains upon you and your fellow soldiers as you fight to win the battle!
Ranking, persistence, and squad support: Featuring a deep, persistent ranking system accessible through a fully enabled website, track your stats and follow the leaderboards on the web. Jump directly into a squad to set up private matches and play with your friends."

Battlefield 1943 will be available this Wednesday for 1200 MSP.

For this week only, N+ will be cheaper for Xbox Live Gold subscribers.
For just this week you can buy N+ for only 400MSP.

Click here to add N+ to your download queue.

German publisher Black Inc, part of RTL Interactive, have announced their first digital download title - Ion Assault for the Xbox Live Arcade.

Ion Assault is an isometric shooter with a twist - instead of shooting a rediculous amount of bullets at oncoming enemies, the game instead has your ship use energy particles out in space, whcih you can gather and throw back out at incoming objects and enemies.

The game will offer four scenarios, each with different enemies, bosses and backgrounds. You will also be able to use several different powerups, such as speed boosts, temporary black holes and a larger particle radius. The game will also include multiplayer modes.

The game is supposedly coming out this "summer", and will be priced at 800MSP. While the amount of things going on in the screenshots might be a little crazy, watching the trailer gives you a bit more of a perspective. I just hope it doesn't fall into the same trap that Shred Nebula and PowerUp Forever fell into last year.

Source: Ion-Assault.com

What is that you say? Some sort of eye gouger disguised as a pen? Why no, that's just Grapple Buggy's patented pickle picker, one of the many neat little trinkets Nathan Fouts of Mommy's Best games gave me during my E3 demo of his upcoming game.

What else did this traveling salesman have in his bag of magic tricks? Read on.

Battlefield 1943

Developer: EA DICE
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Genre: Shooter
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points
Availability: Not available in India or Korea
File Size: 559 MB

Click here to go to the official Xbox.com splash page.

Click here to add the game to your queue via Xbox web marketplace.

Band of Bugs - Tales of Kaloki

Price: 240 Microsoft Points
File Size: 23 MB

"Download the Tales of Kaloki expansion pack and experience some of the most game-changing DLC available. With a host of new features including spaceships, lasers, robotic villains and more, the new campaign launches your Band of Bugs game into the stars."

Click here to add the game or the DLC to your queue via Xbox web marketplace.

N+

For this week only, N+ will be cheaper for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. You can now buy N+ for only 400MSP.

Click here to add N+ to your download queue.

Team 17 have been hinting at it for quite a while, but they have finally revealed the first 3 screenshots of Alien Breed Evolution, their return to their classic Amiga title released 18 years ago.

There was no specific mention of which console this game would be coming to, but clearly it's coming to either the Xbox Live Arcade or PlayStation Network - or maybe both!

Team 17's facebook claims that more screenshots and trailers will become available later this Summer, so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out the screenshots here.

This week on 1UP.com's weekly Game Night show featured 2 new digital download titles - Shatter, Sidhe's upcoming PlayStation Network title that breaks the walls away from Arkanoid style games, and 'Splosion Man - a game where parkour meets nuclear detonation.

You can watch 'Splosion Man in action in the video above, and check out the video for Shatter after the jump.

Over the past week we've had several dates for upcoming games be unveiled - and instead of discussing each one we've compiled a handy list of them all. How much money will you be throwing as developers this month? August is only going to get worse too.

The Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition will be available on Xbox Live Arcade on the 15th of July - that's next week! The game will be 800MSP, or $10.

European WiiWare players will be getting Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A Darklord on the 17th of July. No North American date has currently been set, but we expect it to be very close afterward. My Life As A King was 1500 Nintendo Points, so we would expect the new game to be about the same amount.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time Reshelled will be available on Xbox Live Arcade the next week after, on July 22nd, for 1200MSP.

A day later for the PlayStation Network, Shatter will be available in North America, for the low price of $7.99

Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 will be available for the Xbox Live Arcade on July 29th, the PlayStation Network date is to be announced soon. The game will cost 1200MSP, or $14.99

The rest of the Summer of Arcade is as follows - 'Splosion Man on August 5th for 800MSP, Trials HD on August 12th for 1200MSP, and Shadow Complex on August 19th for 1200MSP.

In a more general sense, it has been unveiled by the European PlayStation Blog that Zombie Apocalypse and TV Show King will be available during the next couple of months. We're still unsure when Fat Princess will finally roll in, but hopefully it's soon - the fanboys are getting a little feral about it!

Hearing about those server woes for Battlefield 1943 after the Xbox Live Arcade release hit? Well there is a reason for that - it's incredibly popular.

As of a day after its release the Leaderboards for Battlefield 1943 are currently over 80,000 strong, and that number continues to climb rapidly. I'd say that Battlefield 1943 is quite possibly the fastest selling XBLA title that we've ever seen - in comparison almost all of the Xbox Live Arcade titles for June have struggled to sell over 10,000 each, and this has octupled that in a day.

Congratulations to DICE for such a smash hit. Now to see how well the PlayStation Network version goes!

Battlefield 1943
Battlefield: 1943 (Demo Also Available)

Publisher: EA
Developer: DICE
Category: First Person Shooter
Price: £9.99 / €12.99 (Bundled with Theme)

"Pick your path - be it as a rifleman, a steel fisted tank commander, or ace fighter pilot dog fighting to protect the skies. Play as a lone wolf or with your friends, coordinating to turn the tide of battle. Whatever you choose, in Battlefield 1943 you get to enjoy the thrill of a fully featured online shooter."

High Velocity Bowling
High Velocity Bowling Ball Pack 6 - 4th of July Americana

Price: £0.79 / €0.99

"It’s time to bowl – High Velocity style! Spice up your bowling game with this cool pack of six custom “4th of July Americana” theme bowling balls."

High Velocity Bowling Ball Pack 7 - Route 66 Americana

Price: £0.79 / €0.99

It’s time to bowl – High Velocity style! Spice up your bowling game with this cool pack of six custom “Route 66 Americana” theme bowling balls."

Battlefield 1943
Battlefield: 1943 (Demo Also Available)

Publisher: EA
Developer: DICE
Category: First Person Shooter
Price: $14.99 (Bundled with Theme)

"Pick your path - be it as a rifleman, a steel fisted tank commander, or ace fighter pilot dog fighting to protect the skies. Play as a lone wolf or with your friends, coordinating to turn the tide of battle. Whatever you choose, in Battlefield 1943 you get to enjoy the thrill of a fully featured online shooter."

Buzz Junior: RoboJam
Buzz Junior: RoboJam

Publisher: SCEE
Developer: SCEE
Category: Kids
Price: $4.99

"Blast off to a whole new galaxy of fun! Buzz! Junior: RoboJam takes you to a futuristic world where mischievous robots are sent to Robot Boot camp. Now for the PLAYSTATION 3 system, BUZZ! Junior: RoboJam provides 4-way mischievous action. So what are you waiting for? Join in the mechanical mayhem. Compatible with BUZZ! buzzers or PLAYSTATION 3 system controllers."

PSOne Classics
Spec Ops: Stealth Patrol

Price: $5.99

"Immerse yourself in one of the first realistic military tactical combat simulators to be released. Choose your two-man team from a squad of five highly trained specialists: machine gunner, grenadier, rifleman, close quarters specialist, and sniper. Choose to complete your mission through stealth or all-out assault as you’re in control of an elite team of U.S. Army Rangers."

XS Junior League Soccer

Price: $5.99

"GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!!! Go back to basics with XS Junior League Soccer. Everybody can really play as you select from 16 individual players to create your own 5 on 5 match up combos, each with their own bag of special tricks. Play at four real world fields including the baseball field at Sandlot Central, or the black top in Soho Parking."
ESRB Rated E
File size: 43 MB

In this round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in big sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Rockstar, Junction Point Studios, 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:

Karate Phants: Gloves Of Glory

Wii Points: 800
Game Type: Arcade
Control Type: Wii Remote, Nunchuk
Players: 1-2
Publisher: SnapDragon Games

"Grey, lumbering warriors from every corner of the world clash in a grand tournament to determine who among them is the greatest fighter of all time. Choose your fighter and trunk-slap, butt-stomp and barf your way to victory!

"Karate Phants is a 1-on-1 fighting game for 1-2 players featuring characters from Otto Waalkes’ comic strip. Fight your way to the top of the tournament by defeating all the computer-controlled fighters, or duke it out with a friend."

5 Spots Party

Wii Points: 500
Game Type: Arcade
Control Type: Wii Remote
Players: 1-4
Publisher: Cosmonaut Games

"5 Spots Party is a game of skill for all ages based on the popular game of finding five differences. In its three playing modes, the goal is to find the greatest number of differences in the pictures shown. In the party modes, you must compete with other players and find as many mistakes as possible. In the 1 Player mode, you must find the differences before time runs out in order to beat the game’s highest scores."

Bomberman '94
Original platform: Turbografx(Import)
Publisher: Hudson
Players: 1-5
Price: 700 Wii Points

"Bomberman returns to restore peace to the Bomber Planet – which has been split into five parts by the evil Bagular. In addition to the nine members of the Bomber Family, the kangaroo ROOI shows up to lend a hand. Watch out for the eggs that appear when you bomb blocks - jump on one of them, and ROOI will burst out, ready to help you. Each version of ROOI has different special abilities which, if used well, will help you ride to victory. Have a blast in the Battle Game Mode, which has been expanded to ten stages and sports new gimmicks such as bombs that turn according to arrows. You can even partner up with friends for tag team matches."

Zoda's Revenge: Startropics 2
Original platform: NES (Import)
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
Price: 600 Wii Points

"Mike Jones, high-school ace pitcher and part-time adventurer, returns for another exciting escapade, this time travelling not through space but through time. This sequel to StarTropics (also available on Virtual Console) was previously released only in North America, as one of the last NES titles. It follows the exploits of Mike, transported on a journey through history from the Stone Age to the Wild West. Not only will you meet historical figures like Leonardo da Vinci and Cleopatra, you will also face the avengers of Zoda – the alien leader whom Mike defeated at the climax of his first adventure. Could Zoda be ready to rise again?"