It's looking to be a puzzling week for Xbox 360 owners, as Square and PopCap's puzzle-RPG Gyromancer will hit alongside Backbone's downloadable adaptation of action-puzzler Diner Dash on Xbox Live this Wednesday, November 18.

Gyromancer will sell for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), with a PC edition due on Steam the same day at the same price. Diner Dash, meanwhile, will sell for 800 Microsoft Points ($10), with WiiWare and PlayStation Network versions also in development.

The Peggle Xbox Live Arcade downloadable content bringing PC sequel Peggle Nights' sixty levels of peg-pinging fun will arrive on November 18, PopCap has revealed.

The Nights DLC will run 400 Microsoft Points ($5)--nearly doubling the game's level count for half its original price--with PopCap's Garth Chouteau further telling Shacknews that "you have to admit Marina is the sexiest electric squid in videogamedom!"

Originally slated for December, EA Tiburon's downloadable five-on-five football game Madden NFL Arcade has now been bumped up to a Thanksgiving week release. The powered-up race to 30 points will hit PlayStation 3 on Tuesday, November 24--the PlayStation Store is updating early that week due to the holiday--while the Xbox 360 edition is due Wednesday, November 25. Both will sell for $15 (1200 MS Points).

Cyclone Zero's musical puzzler 0D Beat Drop and A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.'s retro-inspired arcade title NBA Unrivaled are due to hit Xbox 360 this week as Xbox Live Arcade downloads, as is Blitz Arcade's mini-game collection Encleverment Experiment.

Inspired by the "old school look and feel of the arcade classics," NBA Unrivaled will deliver this season's current rosters along with two-person online and offline multi at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). It looks to draw quite heavily from Tecmo Super NBA Basketball, as publisher Tecmo put out screenshots comparing the two.

Unrivaled is also due out on PlayStation 3 at $15, though no exact word as to when.

0D Beat Drop, meanwhile, is priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10)... Read more

Following up on Telltale's revelation that Wallace & Gromit's remaining three downloadable adventures are due to hit Xbox Live Arcade on November 4, Microsoft has confirmed that the trio represents the entirety of this week's XBLA releases.

Each episode (The Last Resort, Muzzled!, The Boogey Man) will go for 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the same price the first carried when it arrived back in May.

The four-part adventure series was also released on PC, with a downloadable demo of the first episode (Fright of the Bumblebees) available over on FileShack.

Telltale Games has announced that the final three chapters of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures--its four-part episodic adventure series based upon the claymation duo--will finally arrive on Xbox Live Arcade on November 4, following lengthy setbacks.

While the first episode hit XBLA in May, later episodes have only been released on PC, where the series concluded in July. Microsoft had dated the second episode for a September 8 XBLA release, only to retract the announcement mere hours later.

The release of the remaining episodes--'The Last Resort,' 'Muzzled!' and 'The Bogey Man'--for 800 Microsoft points ($10) apiece coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the celebrated British clay man and dog's first animated short 'A Grand Day Out.'

A PC demo for the first episode 'Fright of the Bumblebees' is available on FileShack.

Taito's revamp of multi-colored platforming classic Rainbow Islands and Dark Energy's hellish take on billiards will grace Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday, October 28.

Both Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! and Inferno Pool will run 800 Microsoft Points ($10), according to Xbox Live programming director Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb.

On the multiplayer front, Inferno Pool sports online and offline play for four players, while the Islands' rainbow-dropping enemy-crushing ways are limited to two local players.

Arriving on Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday will be Petroglyph's turn-based strategy-collectible card game hybrid Panzer General: Allied Assault and a port of PC tower-building puzzler Tower Bloxx Deluxe, priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10) apiece.

Spawn of the classic PC strategy series Panzer General, Allied Assault sports online multiplayer and such WW2 battles as Utah Beach, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. A board game is also in the works, due to arrive in January 2010.

It's the week of the adventure game double-act on Xbox Live Arcade, with dynamic duos Axel & Pixel and Sam & Max both arriving in XBLA titles of their own on Wednesday.

Silver Wish Games' artist and dog duo Axel & Pixel debut in a gorgeous surreal eponymous adventure, while the veteran dog and hyperkinetic rabbity thing partners star in the collected second season of Telltale's episodic Sam & Max adventure series.

Axel & Pixel is priced at $10 (800 Microsoft Points) while Sam & Max Season 2 will run you a tidy $20 (1600 Points)--$15 cheaper than the original PC release.

It's looking to be another loaded week for Xbox Live Arcade, as Microsoft has confirmed that color-matching bubble-buster BUST-A-MOVE Live! and the soccer trivia of Football Genius will arrive alongside Military Madness this Wednesday, September 30.

Each of the downloadable Xbox 360 titles will sell for 800 MS Points ($10). BUST-A-MOVE Live! sports two-person online and offline multiplayer, while Football Genius and the Moon-based strategy title Military Madness support up to four players online and off.

A flurry of minor Xbox 360 tidbits emerged from platformer holder Microsoft this morning, so, in the interest of efficiency, we're rolling all of it together into a big news katamari. First up is word that a 578MB demo for Raven's Wolfenstein, which hit stores back in August, is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. As usual, it's exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members for a week--Silver folk will be able to give it a go on September 30.

But before you can snag the demo, you'll need to apply the new Xbox 360 system update that hit this morning, which you'll be prompted to do the next ... Read more

Microsoft has announced that Coreplay's space shooter Ion Assault and CXTM's side-scrolling beat 'em up The Warriors: Street Brawl will debut on Xbox Live Arcade alongside Nhilistic's Zombie Apocalypse this Wednesday, September 23.

All three of the downloadable Xbox 360 games are priced at 800 MS Points ($10). Furthermore, each game sports offline multiplayer for up to four players, with The Warriors: Street Brawl and Zombie Apocaylpse offering online co-op for up to four players as well. Ion Assault also features online co-op but only supports two players.

Taito's BUBBLE BOBBLE Neo! and EA LA's Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Commander's Challenge will be this week's downloadable Xbox Live Arcade releases.

The announcement came from Xbox Live programming directory Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, who specified that each Xbox 360 download will sell for 800 MS Points ($10).

Both will arrive this Wednesday, September 16, with BUBBLE BOBBLE offering a four-player high-def revamp of the bubble-bursting classic while C&C: RA3 Commander's Challenge packs the 50 missions found in the strategy game's PC expansion.

Update: More details and the first screenshots of Lucidity have arrived, with LucasArts specifying that the downloadable game will hit PC and Xbox 360 on October 7.

The company also noted that the "puzzle platformer" was crafted by the same internal team responsible for the recent Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition remake.

Original: After months of rumors about a new original effort dubbed "Lucidity," LucasArts today officially revealed the project. Coming to PC and Xbox 360... Read more

The second episode in Telltale's Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures series won't be arriving on Xbox Live Arcade tomorrow after all, Microsoft has clarified. While the platform holder had initially slated the Xbox 360 download for release this week, the company has now revealed that Gromit "will release at a future TBD date."

The week's other XBLA release, Sonic & Knuckles, is unaffected by the delay.

This Wednesday's batch of Xbox Live Arcade releases will be the the second episode of Telltale's Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures adventure series, titled 'The Last Resort,' as well as the previously-announced Sonic & Knuckles, Microsoft has proclaimed.

Costing 400 Microsoft Points ($5), platformer port Sonic & Knuckles will also replicate the Sega Genesis original's 'stacking' capabilities by making the echidna playable in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 if you own them on XBLA, and revamping Sonic 1's Chaos stages.

The Last Resort continues the Grand Adventures of England's favourite plasticine man and dog for 800 MS Points ($10), seeing them open a water park in their cellar. Zany!

Microsoft and Frito-Lay, which produces the Doritos brand of flavored "tortilla chips," have once again paired to turn a user-submitted pitch into a free Xbox Live Arcade game.

Whereas 2007's original "Unlock Xbox" contest saw one idea transformed into an actual game--the dinosaur-themed Dash of Destruction--this year's contest will see two pitches become free Xbox 360 downloads, with both expected to arrive in the fall of 2010.

"Many of the people who love Doritos also love gaming," said Frito-Lay marketing VP Ann Mukherje. "This innovative program gives our fans a chance to live their dreams."

Those in North America can submit their video pitches to the contest's site until October 9, 2009. Ten quarter-finalists will then be selected, with online voting running from November 29 through December 31, 2009 and the "fan-selected grand prize winner" further receiving a $50,000 "dream assignment as Doritos Gaming Consultant."

Microsoft today dubbed Chair Entertainment's action-adventure game Shadow Complex "the most downloaded single-player title in Xbox Live Arcade history," as the Metroid-inspired game sold over 200,000 copies in the week after its August 19 release.

Priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), the downloadable Xbox 360 game has drawn high praise from a variety of outlets, including Shacknews. Much like Metroid and Castlevania, the side-scroller has players exploring a large map and finding new gadgets along the way, which then allow one to open up new areas and backtrack to uncover bonuses.

"Shadow Complex has raised the bar for downloadable games," said Microsoft's Scott Austin. Mike Capps, president of Chair owner Epic, added that "we're so proud to have Shadow Complex join the Epic portfolio" and urged folks to "give the demo a try."

Canalside's piratical action game Yo-Ho Kablammo and Hidden Path's strategy effort Defense Grid are this week's two Xbox Live Arcade releases, Microsoft has affirmed.

Yo-Ho Kablammo sees players blast foes with cannons and other power-ups across its single-player and multiplayer (both online and off) modes in an attempt to rule the seas.

Defense Grid: The Awakening, meanwhile, has players strategically building and upgrading defenses to hold off ever-increasing waves of invading enemies. The Xbox 360 edition packs all of the content found in the PC release, plus a few new levels.

Both Xbox 360 downloads are due Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 800 MS Points ($10) a pop.

Publisher Take-Two today announced that it is bringing two independently-developed games, one all about pie theft, to the Xbox 360 as Xbox Live Arcade downloads.

First up is Axel & Pixel, due this fall. Developed by the Czech-based Silver Wish Games, the point and click adventure tells of the surreal exploits of an artist and his dog.

The Odd Gentlemen's The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom will follow in early 2010 with its time-shifting, pie-stealing gameplay. Seriously. You alter time... Read more