Get ready for more nuts and more bolts action as Rare gears up (pun intended) to release the first major add-on pack for Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts: Lord of Game’s (L.O.G.’s) Lost Challenges. Slated for an April 7 release, the add-on will feature 12 new challenges, 7 new multiplayer games and the chance for gamers to add 250 achievement points to their gamerscore. Oh, and I should mention that gamers who complete L.O.G’s challenges will be rewarded with a new version of Klungo’s Arcade Game. All this for what, only 400 MS Points ($5.00)?! Sounds like fun to me. Read more!

Just in time for Super Bowl Sunday a new series of trailers kick off the new year for the highly anticipated Blood Bowl from French-based game studio, Cyanide. In what could very well be the answer to the prayers of those who long for a new Mutant League title, Blood Bowl pits teams of Humans, Orcs, Goblins, Haflings and many other fantasy creatures against one another in a football fashioned style of gameplay.

Based off of the 1987 Games Workshop board game and the 1995 PC release, Blood Bowl is being recreated and reinvisioned for the PC, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and the Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Check out the latest trailers and screens at www.bloodbowl-game.com

Hit the jump for the official press release. Read more!

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.

Read more!

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.

Read more!

Sporting a frighteningly garish color-scheme, Konami’s new Beat’n Groovy is set to deliver a scaled-down version of the complicated and often expensive Pop’n Music experience in a more affordable and simple XBLA game. The game uses five buttons rather than nine, and you use the standard 360 controller to play. And yes, the game is explicitly marketed for the US audience (no word on JP/EU release).

As of now this information is coming from an anonymous source through bemanistyle, so we won’t know about release dates or pricing for a while. However, there is already some very good news about the tracklist. Some artists already listed are good-cool, DJ Taka, Ryu, and Orange Lounge, making for a star-studded line-up of bemani favorites. I was so relieved when I didn’t see “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” on the tracklist (even Samba de Amigo is going to have it. Ugh).

[bemanistyle.com]

While the standout indie game, Braid, has been both a critic’s darling and has garnered a large fanbase online, creator Jonathon Blow says he isn’t planning on creating a sequel to Braid no matter “how many copies it sells,” and also isn’t eager to release DLC like new level packs or anything of the sort. He offered the possibility of expanding the game “maybe in five years when I’m motivated,” so we shouldn’t hold our breath.

It turns out his reasons are partially financial. Blow admits he doesn’t even know if he’ll break even from Braid’s sales, given the scant royalties XBLA titles receive. It’s a shame that XBLA, a platform for truly original and exciting games, could treat its creators so poorly. I hope things aren’t truly that bad for independent developers, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

[Joystiq]

In a move to trim down the “growing — and even intimidating — list of XBLA titles” Microsoft has announced that they plan to start pulling titles from the service that score a Metacritic rating of less than 65 and have a conversion rate of less than 6% (That is, less than 6% of players who downloaded the trial versions converted to the full version).

At first glance this seems like a good idea. There are currently 130 arcade games available on the XBox Live Marketplace and I’ve found less than half of the demos I’ve downloaded to be worth purchasing. However, this presents a problem for the Cult Hit. 6% may seem like a small number, but with the XBox 360 approaching 20 million units sold, the number starts to get a little more daunting.

I think the idea has more flaws than merits. Being a digital distribution service, combined with the fact that Microsoft puts file size limitations on these games, it’s hard to make an argument that they might need the space. They’re certainly not taking up any shelf room. Instead of blaming a cluttered game list on copious amounts of arcade games Microsoft should instead think about redesigning their XBox Live Marketplace to accommodate for higher quantities of products. Perhaps the thought of a “Search” option never occurred to them.

See Also: Long Tail Economics

[ Wired ]

Well, the day that many of us gamers have been waiting for is nearly upon us. One of the best shooters of all time is finally getting re-released on the venerable Xbox 360 via the live arcade. With full co-op, a unique “polarity” system, and the ability to record and share replays, it will be sure to please any shmup fan. All in delicious 720P! It will be available April 9, 2008 at 9:00 AM GMT, for 800 Microsoft points.

[Major Nelson]

Taste the awesomeness, bitches!

At Microsoft’s big pre-Tokyo Game Show press release, some upcoming titles were announced for Xbox Live Arcade. Among them are fan favorites Rez and Ikaruga. Yes, you heard me right. Not a What-If, not a dream, not an Alterna-Universe story. Two sought-out games, both from a collector’s and hardcore gamer’s point of view, are going to come out by the first quarter of 2008. According to the press release on Rez in Japan,

“We are excited to announce that Rez will be given a new life, this time in digital form,” said Mizuguchi. “The game will be presented in hi-definition and will be accessible to those who did not have a chance to experience Rez the first time around.

Rez will be presented in HD and in 5.1 Stereo, while Ikaruga’s upgrade is yet to be determined, apart from spiffed-up graphics. At least now we don’t have to pay up to our noses for these two games now. Plus, it gives me more time to think of many other possible releases. Radiant Silvergun, anyone? It’ll be $492 dollars less on Live Arcade.

[News by Kotaku]

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