Ant Nation

Wii Points: 700
Game Type: Simulation/Strategy
Control Type: Wii Remote, Nunchuk
Players: 1
Publisher: Konami Digital Entertainment

"The beloved childhood pastime of lazy Sundays spent with a magnifying glass and an ant farm finally arrives in its most mischievous form via the WiiWare service. You must train your colony of Super Ants using a devilishly fun toolset. Zap, torch and manipulate your ants to make them numerous enough and tough enough to survive a variety of increasingly difficult challenges."

Click here for gameplay footage of Ant Nation

Bit Boy!!

Wii Points: 600
Game Type: Arcade
Control Type: Wii Remote, Nunchuk, Classic, or GameCube
Players: 1
Publisher: Bplus

"Bit Boy!!, is a totally new kind of game mix in which one-pixel-hero Kubi rushes through the whole history of videogames in order to save his pixel pals. Players accompany Kubi in this totally crazy-pixellated retro journey and battle hordes of nasty monsters in 4-bit dungeons, 8-bit caves, 16-bit strongholds, 32-bit mazes, 64-bit arenas and 128-bit worlds."

Click here for the trailer for Bit Boy!!

Incoming!

Wii Points: 500
Game Type: Action
Control Type: Wii Remote
Players: 1-2
Publisher: JV Games Inc.

"The goal of Incoming! is to defeat your opponents by destroying their tanks using the arsenal you have at your disposal. Advanced arsenals become available at different levels of the game. Incoming! is great fun for two people to play competitively. Can you defeat your opponent's tanks before they conquer yours? Collect power-ups to give your arsenal that tactical advantage. Your firing must be quick and your aim true to claim victory."

Click here for the trailer for Incoming!

Secret Command
Original platform: SEGA Master System
Publisher: SEGA
Price: 600 Wii Points

"Play as a lone warrior, armed to the teeth, sent on a top-secret commando mission behind enemy lines to liberate your comrades at arms. Released on the SEGA Master System in Europe as Secret Command, players will battle frenzied attacks from enemy soldiers, rocket troops, tanks and other enemies doing everything they can to stop you from saving the hostages. Use your trusty machine gun and a compound bow, equipped with explosive-tipped arrows, to pave the way to victory. Let nothing stand in your path. Play it with a friend in two-player mode for double the fire power."

Pulseman

Original platform: SEGA Genesis
Publisher: GAME FREAK
Price: 900 Wii Points

"When noted 21st-century scientist Doc Yoshimaya fell in love with one of his C-Life artificial-intelligence creations, he uploaded himself into his computer, where her program core merged with his DNA, and half-human/half-C-Life Pulseman was born. Doc Yoshimaya's mind twisted as he emerged back into real life, and he became evil Doc Waruyama. Use Pulseman's ability to harness electricity as a weapon with his Volteccer attack as a means of rapid transport to fight Waruyama's Galaxy Gang across seven crazy stages. Find out why this SEGA Channel classic was widely regarded as one of the best-looking games for SEGA's MEGA DRIVE (Genesis) on release."

"Pirates! Adventure! Monkeys! Relive the hilarious swashbuckling misadventures of the wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood as he attempts to become the most infamous pirate in the Caribbean! Back by popular demand, The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition faithfully re-imagines the internationally-acclaimed classic pirate adventure game from LucasArts in gorgeous HD detail.

"Featuring an all new re-imagined contemporary art style, hand-drawn and presented in 1080p, complete voice over by members of the original Monkey Island™ franchise cast, a re-mastered musical score using live instruments, plus scene-for scene-hot swap to seamlessly transition between Special Edition and Classic modes at anytime."

Secret Of Monkey Island: Special Edition will be out this Wednesday for 800 Microsoft Points.

Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

"Combat revolved! In Madballs in … Babo: Invasion, campaign across distant worlds either solo or with four-player online co-op, taking no prisoners in your wake. Challenge your friends (and your enemies) to see who's the baddest ball on the planet in no-holds-barred 16-player multiplayer arenas with freaky characters or with your own Xbox 360 Avatar! Or really push your limits and try your hand at Invasion Mode where combatants create the very worlds where they wage war. Dozens of unique character classes, weapons, special abilities, worlds, unlocks, secrets, maps, and game modes give you limitless gameplay!"

Madballs - Babo Invasion will be out this Wednesday and will be 1,200 Microsoft Points.

Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

Ikaruga - Deal Of The Week

Starting today, Xbox Live Gold members can pick up Treasure's classic shooter Ikaruga for half the price - just 400 Microsoft Points.

Click here to add the trial version to your download queue via Xbox web marketplace.

It's been almost a year since we last last saw TOW: Things On Wheels, Load Inc's semi-sequel to Mad Tracks on Xbox Live Arcade. It had it's complete splash page up on Xbox.com, had the developers claim the game was in submission back in December, and then we heard nothing. Now we know why it was absent - SouthPeak Interactive decided to not publish the game anymore.

According to a new entry into the ESRB's database TOW will now be published by Focus Home Interactive, who are also publishing Le Tour De France 2009 to the Xbox Live Arcade.

There really hasn't been any new Kart racers available on the Xbox 360 since the original Mad Tracks game, and outside of the upcoming Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing it doesn't have much other competition. Hopefully they pull it off.

Source: ESRB.

Is a new Soccer game on its way to the Xbox Live Arcade? Quite possibly, according to Korea.

A new game being published by Microsoft's Korean handle has been rated on Korea's Game Rating Board - dubbed Soccer Genesis. Currently nothing is known about the game, but like almost all of Microsoft Korea's entries into the system, it'll most likely be for the Xbox Live Arcade.

The image I've used is a little misleading, admittedly. Anyone remember playing World Cup Italia '90? It's not held up, that's for sure.

Source: Korean Game Rating Boards - Soccer Genesis

The super special edition of Modern Warfare 2 has been unveiled - which not only includes an art book and fully functional night vision goggles, but also a code to download Call Of Duty Classic, coming to the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

We originally reported that the game was rated by the ESRB and PEGI rating boards back in March, and outside of its existence we don't know much more about the ports to the XBLA and PSN services.

Source: Twitter - @fourzerotwo - Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition unboxing video

This week marks the release of Madballs In Babo: Invasion, a sequel to a popular PC title, now making its way onto the Xbox Live Arcade.

It's a game with a lot of features that that we don't see too often on Xbox Live Arcade - namely the use of Avatars and the ability to play the online multiplayer via the trial version. We contacted Scott Simpson, President & CEO of developer Playbrains to discuss their first title and how to get other games to support these kind of features.

How did Playbrains become involved with Babo Violent?

Scott Simpson: We were working with David and Marc (principle creators of BV2) on another project. We were interested in starting up a proper game studio to put out our own games, so we acquired BV2 and brought the guys on board to make a bigger and badder Babo game and have it be our flagship title. Really, we couldn’t be happier how the game has turned out.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

Developer: LucasArts
Publisher: LucasArts
Genre: Action
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: Not available in Japan and Korea
File Size: 533 MB

Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

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

MadBalls in… Babo: Invasion

Developer: Playbrains
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Genre: Action
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions
File Size: 240 MB

Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

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

Tour de France 2009 - The Official Game

Developer: Cyanide Studio
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Genre: Sports Games
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: Not Aval. Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand
File Size: 271 MB

Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

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

Ikaruga - Deal Of The Week

Starting today, Xbox Live Gold members can pick up Treasure's classic shooter Ikaruga for half the price - just 400 Microsoft Points.

Click here to add the trial version to your download queue via Xbox web marketplace.

Wolfenstein 3D

Wolfenstein 3D Initially released at the beginning of June, but was also not available in several different places. Now a month and a half later, the game is now available in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan. It is still not available in Japan or Germany.

After exhausting almost all of the Turbografx library onto the Wii's Virtual Console, Hudsonsoft has set its sights on a new platform - the PlayStation Network, starting with 4 classic titles now available on the PlayStation Network in Japan.

As part of the "PC Engine Archives", Bomberman '94, New Adventure Island, Devil Crush and Sengoku Mahjong with more on the way. Each is ¥600, or $6USD each, which is exactly the same as their Virtual Console prices.

The games are not just playable on the PlayStation 3, but are also playable via PSP. The titles, much like PSOne Classics, come as is, and do not include any Trophies.

While there is currently nothing to suggest that North America or Europe will get Turbografx Games, we expect an announcement in the near future.

Source: PC-Engine PlayStation Store

Keen Software House have revealed that their new game Miner Wars will be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade.

Dubbed as a 6DOF (Six degrees of freedom) underground space shooter, you travel around the space system, collecting ore, go mining and drilling... wait, what?

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. It's a novel idea surely, but I can't seem to get my head around this kind of "game". I've never seen a game like this before, but I'm not quite sure how this really... works. Hopefully closer to release we'll get a better look at this bizarre title. In the meantime, check out the official website for more screenshots and videos.

Last week they had 'Splosion Man and Shatter, and continuing the digital games tip 1UP's Game Night focuses on Chair Entertainment's Shadow Complex this week.

The game is set to be released on August 19th, so if you're worried about spoilers I'd suggest giving this a pass. If you're on the fence, check out the first 30 minutes of the game above.

The Last Guy
The Last Guy – Bonus Mission

Price: £1.59 / €1.99

"Three new missions are now available, with new VIPS to rescue in Santa Fe Plaza (US), Ostermalm (Sweden) and Nagoya Castle (Japan). There are also eight new trophies to be won too."




Trash Panic
Trash Panic Demo

"Trash Panic is a frantic puzzle game at the best of times, but in this demo you have three minutes to clear all the trash for this specially developed level – better get cracking, there’s not a second to waste."






PSOne Classics
Disney’s Tarzan

Price: £3.99 / €4.99

"Join Tarzan and his friends in this action-packed adventure, ride elephants and tree-surf as you journey through the jungle. Great fun for all the family."

For this week 7 titles are on sale, save up to 50%!

WipEout HD (was $19.99, now $14.99)
Flock! (was $14.99, now $7.49)
Savage Moon (was $9.99, now $4.99)
Crash Commando (was $9.99, $4.99)
PixelJunk Eden (was $9.99, now $4.99)
Brain Challenge (was $9.99, now $4.99)
3 on 3 NHL Arcade (was $9.99, now $4.99)

Namco Museum Essentials
Namco Museum Essentials (Demo available)

Price: $9.99

"Namco Museum Essentials brings the arcades to your living room with five classic games and a brand new arranged Xevious title. Challenge your friends’ high scores and unlock NM Stamps, PlayStation Home rewards and trophies as you re-live the sights and sounds of the 80’s."

PSOne Classics
Spec Ops: Ranger Elite

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."

Final Fantasy: My Life As A Darklord

Wii Points: 1000
Game Type: RTS
Control Type: Wii Remote
Players: 1
Publisher: Square Enix

"Introducing a new hero – or should that be villainess? The daughter of the Darklord! Set fiendish traps for any adventurer foolish enough to cross you, then send in your monstrous minions to finish the job!

"Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord puts you in the highly fashionable shoes of the Darklord's daughter, a malevolent little miss charged with dispatching intruding do-gooders by strategically placing traps and monsters around the tower she calls home. It's a real time strategy game with a devilish twist!"

Click here for the official website, and a trailer for the game.

M.U.S.H.A

Original platform: SEGA Genesis
Price: 900 Wii Points
Publisher: SEGA

"MUSHA is a SEGA GENESIS game that shooter fans favor for its intense and exciting gameplay. Players must control Terri, a girl who pilots a MUSHA (Metallic Uniframe Super Hybrid Armor). Terri's goal is to eliminate Dire 51, an Intellicomputer that has gone out of control and is planning an offensive attack upon humanity. Use special weapons like the Vanishing Buster, Blazing Beam and Defensive Detonator, along with offensive options that allow six types of formation fire. Battle through seven exhilarating levels to finally reach and destroy Dire 51 once and for all."

Smash Ping Pong

Original platform: Original Nintendo
Price: 600 Wii Points
Publisher: Konami

To quote NintendoLife: "It suffers from exactly the same thing that makes almost every other NES sports game so bad - It's just so incredibly boring! The only reason you'd possibly want to buy this is because there are two Nintendo cameo appearances, but overall, for 600 Wii Points it's not worth the price of admission at all."

Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2 was released way back in October '08. Being the second of a, presumed 4 part series we had to wonder - where's Episode 3? There had been talk of this episodic series following a 4 month turnaround, but now it's gone the way of Half-Life.

So Joystiq got in contact with a Hothead representative, in which the response was "It [Episode 3] is still in development.", so good news. While the first episode did very well, with the game currently sitting at around 70,000 players on its leaderboards, its sequel has only been able to garner over 20,000 players in 9 months time. With the Penny Arcade Expo popping up in September we could certainly see its announcement, or even possibly its release around the same time to boost sales.

There have also been many advances in the Xbox Live Arcade since the two games were released - both had limitations of being below 250MB while recent releases such as Battlefield 1943 and Secret Of Monkey Island are well over 500MB each. With no boundaries on file size across all platforms we could see some considerable changes to the design of the game. All speculation of course.

Source: PSA: Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 3 still in development

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 2K Boston, Radical Entertainment 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:

After being released on Xbox Live Arcade back in April, it was somewhat confusing to see Crystal Defenders only get released on the PlayStation Network in Japan. Now months later, the game is finally getting released next week in Europe.

The PlayStation Network version is exactly the same at the Xbox Live Arcade game - it features high definition artwork based on the Final Fantasy Tactics A2 game, and includes all 3 parts of the Crystal Defenders saga. While no price has been set, expect it to be £6.99 / €7.99.