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We here at Dark Diamond (I say that like we have a central office) know that times are tough. With home foreclosures on the rise, stocks hitting an all-time low, companies conducting massive layoffs and soaring gas prices, which are finally receding after reaching an all-time high (averaging over $4.00 a gallon), one would be foolish not to see these as tumultuous times. And now that the holidays are upon us, shoppers must think wisely and spend frugally when shopping for gifts for the perfect gifts their family, friends and loved ones. But fear not consumer, for we are here to help you save some time and some green with Dark Diamond’s Holiday Gift Guide – 2008 Edition.

Now before you hit the jump get comfortable: grab a cup of Egg Nog or hot apple cider, put on Christmas With the Rat Pack and let the 1080P Virtual Fireplace blaze away.

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ZEN Studios announced yesterday that they are working alongside Capcom to release a Street Fighter II themed table for Pinball FX, available on the Xbox LIVE Arcade. While at first this downloadable table (decked out a la Super Street Fighter II Turbo) may seem like a great way to get your fix while you wait for Street Fighter II Turbo HD and/or Street Fighter IV, but upon closer inspection it would appear that this is the equivalent of Capcom leasing out their IP to make a pair of Street Fighter Velcro shoes; its a quick cash in that is riding the on the wake of the Good Ship Street Fighter IV. All aboard? Toot, toot!

Hit the jump to read more and to check out some screens from the Super Street Fighter II Turbo Pinball FX table.

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Well, this is the second instance where I find myself extremely jealous of you PLAYSTATION®3 owners out there (the first being Little Big Planet). In a quasi-Halloween surprise EA announced that a “special” Mirror’s Edge demo will be jumping onto the PlayStation® Store October 30th (that’s today kiddies), and landing on the Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace on October 31st.

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A Dark Diamond Exclusive

Earlier this year developer SpiderMonk Entertainment unleashed onto the gaming world Roogoo. A cute n’ cuddly story-driven puzzle game in which Roogoo, is tasked with saving his home world from the power-hungry clutches of King Moo, his son Prince Moo and their motley crew of followers, the MeeMoo. In order to do so Roogoo must travel across 6 different environments and 45 stages to collect and sort the falling meteors that once brought life, energy and joy to the peaceful world of Roo.

Taking a short Roo-nap from his adventures on both Xbox LIVE Arcade and PC, Roogoo is gearing up for two all-new adventures on the Nintendo Wii and DS.

I caught up with with President/Creative Director, Scott March of SpiderMonk Entertainment to ask him about the wonderful world of Roogoo and what we can expect too see from the upcoming Wii and DS versions of the game.

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This picture shows the sizeable line of eager fans waiting to get their hands on Tales of Vesperia, showing that Microsoft’s console does have a few killer apps when it comes to the land of the rising sun. I’m assuming they’ll also line up for Infinite Undiscovery in much the same way.

Due mostly to this juggernaut release, a “steady stream” of 360s are being sold in Japan now, signaling a change from the old days when lonely dogs would unsuccessfully try to sell Bioshock on the street corners of Japan.

[Destructoid]

Enterbrain’s next entry in its RPG Maker series is coming out for PC, but you’ll be able to export and publish games to an XBox 360 via the XNA Creators Club.  It may be possible to publish said games as free to play XNA Community Games as well.

This could be a boon for doujin game developers who want to gain wider exposure, and also for the fans looking to play more obscure games on 360. It’s hard to say whether this will take off or not, but knowing the persistence and ingenuity of indie developers, this should lead to the production of some quality titles.

[Siliconera]

It is certainly nice to see something that’s not battlefield come out of the fine production studio that is DICE. It is also really nice to actually see some stuff from Mirror’s Edge, a game that looks amazing for such little hype. From what we know, in the utopian future, all electronic communications are monitored for the 1984-esque government, so for a truly secure document to be transmitted, it must be delivered by hand. So, we get all these crazy Asians running on the tops of buildings like madmen. Sign me up!

The Halo 3 TV ad is here, and it still explains nothing, which is good (in a way)!

Dammit, even as a non-Halo fan i still wanna know what’s up with that “fight”!

[Thanks Matanguero]