Hothead Games has revealed that its webcomic-inspired downloadable RPG Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One will be available for PC and Xbox 360 beginning next Wednesday, May 21.

The downloadable game will sell for $19.95, or 1600 Microsoft Points. The PC, Mac and Linux editions will debut on Greenhouse, while the Xbox 360 version will be released through the console's online Xbox Live Arcade.

Microsoft sent over a few new screenshots of Wanako Studios' Assault Heroes 2, reminding us that the downloadable Xbox 360 title is slated for release this week. Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the sequel follows up on the original Assault Heroes with more levels, dinosaurs, and outer space stages. It will be available for download from the console's online Xbox Live Marketplace beginning this Wednesday, May 14.

Microsoft has announced that Hidden Path Entertainment's virtual rendition of the Wits & Wagers board game is this week's sole Xbox Live Arcade release.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), Wits & Wagers is said to be all about "making educated guesses, playing the odds or just knowing the interests of other players." As a bonus, you get to pick a odd-looking dancing avatar of your very own.

Containing 700 questions and compatible with the Big Button Pad that comes packed with Scene It? (X360), the game supports up to 4 players offline and 6 players online. It will be available for download from the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Marketplace beginning this Wednesday, May 7.

Capcom today announced a new expansion to A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games' downloadable shooter-RPG hybrid Rocketmen: Axis of Evil (PS3, X360).

Entitled Rocketmen: It Came from Your Uranus, the expansion will include three new levels, three weapons and two new subweapons, and a host of new enemies for the original game, which debuted on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network earlier this year.

The expansion is priced at 400 Microsoft Points ($4.95), and is scheduled to hit the Xbox Live Marketplace on May 14 and the PlayStation Store a day later.

Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb revealed that no new titles are coming to the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade platform this week, due to tomorrow's release of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360).

"There is no Arcade title being released this Wednesday," Hyrb wrote on his blog. "My guess is most people will be busy with another game this week."

Though it remains unclear which of the several XBLA titles currently in development will hit next month, Capcom previously confirmed that Bionic Commando Rearmed is aimed for a May release.

Valve's attempts to sell the wit-driven puzzle effort Portal separately through the online Xbox Live Arcade were shot down by Microsoft, the studio has revealed.

Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said that the critically acclaimed title—awarded 2007 Game of the Year by the Shacknews staff and our readers—was held up by restrictions such as Xbox Live's recently increased 150 megabyte file size limit.

"We'd love to do that. Right now it's something we'd love to do. I'd love to sell Portal on Xbox Live," Lombardi told GamesIndustry. "[But] the platform holders... Read more

Sierra Online's electric rendition of the strategic card game Lost Cities will be this week's new Xbox Live Arcade title, Microsoft has revealed.

Adapted from Reiner Knizia's award-winning card game of the same name, Lost Cities is built for two players and tasks competitors to play cards in strategic sequences to score points.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), Lost Cities will be available for download from the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Marketplace beginning this Wednesday, April 23.

Update: Namco has confirmed to Shacknews that the Xbox Live Arcade edition of Soul Calibur will be based on the Dreamcast edition of the title, not the less-fondly remembered arcade edition.

Original Story: The first entry in the Soul Calibur series of fighting games is heading to the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Arcade, Namco representatives announced at a press briefing yesterday.

Soul Calibur on Xbox Live Arcade will be presented in HD resolution, and feature all of the standard arcade, training, story and survival modes from the original.

Though online leaderboards will be available, only the original game's local offline multiplayer is planned for inclusion.

The downloadable title is expected to arrive this summer, most likely in advance of the July 29 release of Soul Calibur IV on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Namco Bandai yesterday announced a new downloadable game titled PowerUp Forever at its press event in San Francisco. The space shooter is set for a summer release on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.

While I didn't get my hands on the Stardust HD-esque title, I did get to see an alpha version of it being played. From what I saw, I would judge it as one of the most promising titles within the Namco lineup.

Players will steer a fractal-based ship around a procedurally-generated level, firing away at various enemies. The visual style was very impressive, featuring whispy fluid dynamic-based shield effects that swished around the ship and the various enemies. Combat consists of shooting standard space shooter lasers and triple-shot guns using the right analog stick, with a full 360 degree field of fire. Nothing too exciting yet, but wait--there's more.

In a fantastic twist, as the player takes down parasitic monsters and bosses, the fractal ship grows in size. And while the ship may... Read more

Microsoft has revealed that Treasure's long-awaited Xbox 360 port of its top-down arcade shooter Ikaruga will finally debut on the console's online marketplace this Wednesday, April 9.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the notoriously difficult shooter has one or two players fighting against legions of black and white-colored foes, with the ability to swap between the two colors. Players can absorb bullets of the same color as their ship and dole out extra damage to enemy craft of the opposite color.

The Xbox Live Arcade rendition sports a number of new features, including online co-op play, worldwide leaderboards and the ability to share gameplay movies.

Developed as spiritual sequel to Treasure's equally-infamous shooter Radiant Silvergun (ARC, SAT), Ikaruga previously received arcade, GameCube and Dreamcast releases, though the GameCube verion was formerly the only one to make it to North America.

Citing a reduction in faithful arcade ports on the platform, Microsoft has rejected two ports of two old-school arcade-style vertical shooters as candidates for release on the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox 360 Fanboy reports.

Speaking with Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Masaki Sakari of porting studio 5pb noted that the rejection of those titles—ports of Cave's Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label X and Ketsui X—prompted a move to a more traditional retail release.

"They rejected all of our proposals saying, 'We are going to cut down faithful arcade ports,'" said Sakari. "We felt so frustrated. We wanted to show them that their decision was wrong. So we switched our two most promising projects into retail."

Despite the recent release of Warashi's Triggerheart Exelica and the upcoming edition of Treasure's Ikaruga on XBLA--both arcade shooters--the shift most likely represents Microsoft's desire to move away from the recent flood of straight ports that have hit the platform, many of which were developed by Backbone Entertainment for a number of different publishers.

That said, recent releases show that Microsoft clearly has no qualms approving reimagined or enhanced versions of existing franchises, such as Mr. Driller Online and Bionic Commando Rearmed, for an Xbox Live Arcade release.

A new entry in Namco Bandai's colorful and long-running block-buster series Mr. Driller will be this week's Xbox Live Arcade release, Microsoft has revealed.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), Mr. Driller Online will be downloadable via the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Marketplace beginng this Wednesday, April 2.

Requiring players to carefully dig through trenches of colored blocks without being crushed or running out of air, the puzzle-action title sports both six playable characters across its single-player and four-person online multiplayer modes.

For more on Mr. Driller Online's various modes, check out the images of its basic rules.

A new listing on the Entertainment Software Rating Board's website reveals that a downloadable version of Introversion Software's lo-fi action-strategy hybrid Darwinia (PC) is coming to the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade.

The listing uncovered on the ESRB's website notes an Xbox Live Arcade version of Darwinia alongside its Windows PC counterpart. An XBLA port of the title has been rumored as far back as 2006, but both Microsoft and the developers have remained quiet about Darwinia's appearance on the platform.

Mixing elements of strategy, action, God games and other genres, Darwinia tasks players with guiding artificially intelligent beings to safety inside a highly stylized and Tron-like computerized environment. The game was developed by indie developer Introversion, whose other PC works include DEFCON and the hacker sim Uplink.

No official announcement of Darwinia on Xbox Live Arcade has yet been made. Shacknews has reached the developer for confirmation, but has not heard back as of this writing.

Slapdah Games' color-matching puzzler TiQal will be this week's sole Xbox Live Arcade release, Microsoft has announced. It will be available for download from the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Marketplace beginning Wednesday, March 26, at 1 AM PDT.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the color-coordinating puzzle game features 120 Mayan-inspired stages, 14 different power-ups, and competitive and co-op play for two players, both online and off.

Microsoft also revealed that a free automatic update to Atomic Elbow's marble-roller Switchball will debut on Wednesday, providing owners of the Xbox Live Arcade title, which arrived last fall, with "enhanced graphics for a smoother gameplay experience and enhanced leaderboards."

Listings at the German game ratings board USK and American games rating board ESRB have revealed several previously unknown titles for the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox 360 Fanboy reports.

Among the listings are a downloadable version of the award-winning board game Ticket to Ride, in which players compete to build a railroad network across the countryside.

The title marks the latest addition to the fledgling Xbox Live Arcade board game genre, which includes titles such as Big Huge Games' Settlers of Catan and Sierra Online's Carcassonne.

"I've been assured that Ticket to Ride is absolutely badass," said Shacknews staffer Chris Faylor. "You might not know this, but I'm a board game connoisseur of sorts."

In addition to the board game, the listings revealed a golf game, entitled Golf: Tee it Up!, and an Xbox Live Arcade version of the popular card game Gin Rummy.

Microsoft has announced that the already-released downloadable Xbox 360 editions of Doom and Assault Heroes will join the Xbox Live Arcade Hits program this Wednesday. At that time, the price of both titles will be permanently reduced from 800 Microsoft Points ($10) to 400 Microsoft Points ($5).

The expansion of the Xbox Live Arcade Hits program, which highlights best-selling and fan favorite Xbox Live Arcade games, will occur in place of the usual Wednesday release of a new Xbox Live Arcade title. Microsoft has commented that it plans to update the Arcade Hits lineup on a quarterly basis.

The company also released a list and media of Xbox Live Arcade titles slated to arrive "in the near future." The list and screenshots follow: ... Read more

An expansion pack for the downloadable Xbox 360 version of Infinite Interactive's ultra-addictive puzzle-RPG Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords will arrive this spring, D3Publisher of America has revealed. No price point was specified.

Code-named Puzzle Quest 1.5, the expansion contains four new Hero professions--Bard, Rogue, Ranger, and Warlock--along over 25 new quests, complete with new monsters and bosses, 50 new spells, and 40 new items.

To determine the expansion's official name, D3PA and Infinite Interactive are holding a contest for user-submitted suggestions. The contest, located at puzzle-quest.com, begins today at noon PDT and ends at noon PDT on March 21, with the results set to be announced on April 2.

The next full-fledged entry in the Puzzle Quest series, titled Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, is due out this fall on PC, Xbox Live Arcade, and Nintendo DS.

Gameloft's Brain Challenge and PomPom's Bliss Island mark this week's two Xbox Live Arcade releases, Microsoft has announced. Both titles will be available for download from the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Marketplace this Wednesday, March 12.

Much like Nintendo's Brain Age (NDS), Brain Challenge offers up a daily test of one's cognitive capacity, complete with detailed stat tracking. With a multiplayer mode that supports up to four players, both online and off, the game also features Stress Mode, Creative Mode, and Child Test. Developed by Gameloft, Brain Challenge will sell for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

PomPom's Bliss Island follows the exploits of Hoshi the Zwooph as he tackles 25 separate challenges during the title's nine levels. If you want to see the mystical blue creature crowned champion of Bliss Island, it'll take a small contribution of 400 Microsoft Points ($5)

A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games' shooter-RPG hybrid Rocketmen: Axis of Evil will be this week's only Xbox Live Arcade release, Microsoft has announced.

As revealed last week by publisher Capcom, the game will be downloadable from the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live Marketplace on Wednesday, March 5.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the shooter supports up to four local or online players, and also contains three different character classes and three different playable races.

A PlayStation 3 edition arrives on Thursday, March 6 via the system's online PlayStation Store, where it will sell for $10.

Despite recent buzz over a story in Xbox World 360, Microsoft Game Studios still has no plans to release Rare's Nintendo 64 FPS GoldenEye 007 on Xbox Live Arcade.

"Unfortunately, we were never contacted by the publication to confirm information or participate in the story in any way, as we would have confirmed that we do not have the necessary rights to release GoldenEye on Xbox Live Arcade," said MGS according to Eurogamer.

Rare had previously developed a port of the game for XBLA, but production stalled when Microsoft was unable to acquire the rights to the property from GoldenEye publisher Nintendo.

Microsoft today professed an appreciation of the game's appeal, saying it would "love to release" a port in the future should a deal with Nintendo be reached.