If you've been itching for a new, fun side-scrolling shooter, Postal Panic is a game you don't want to pass up. It takes the side-scrolling action of an arcade shooter and throws in some upgrading, a wacky story line and an even wackier set of enemies. Instead of the typical outer space setting, you play the role of a postal worker (in some crazy alternate dimension) who pilots a fully-armed, mail delivery ship.

Rollercoaster Rush is a cute little action game written in flash. The goal of the game is to operate a rollercoaster. You are in charge of balancing the ride between fun and exciting and scary. The riders will get scared away when the rollercoaster crashes into the track.

The game controls are real simple, but the game is not that simple. The player users the right arrow on the keyboard to make the rollercoaster go and the left arrow on the keyboard to make the rollercoaster stop. Players will need to use the brakes on some of the tracks that have short little bumps and cause the rollercoaster to take air. If the rollercoaster gets too much air, it will crash into the track scaring away riders.

Every time the riders like the ride you gain stars. Three or more stars on one track will open new tracks. The more riders you have the easier it is to gain stars, but the more difficult it is to control the rollercoaster. Crash into the track and you lose riders, but you never lose all of the riders. There is always one person that will ride your rollercoaster no matter how horrible you operate it.

Rollercoaster Rush is a different and entertaining flash game. I like new and creative flash games and this game falls into that category. If you are looking for a fun way to waste some time, check out Rollercoaster Rush.

Big Fish Games and Glu Mobile have announced a spin-off of the Mystery Case Files series for mobile phones, called Agent X. The game will transplant the familiar seek-and-find experience to the mobile phone, letting players take on the role of detectives solving mysteries by finding hidden clues. The game will also include weekly updates that provide a steady stream of new content, and a leaderboard where users can post and compare high scores. Agent X launches today on carriers across North America. Click here for more information and screenshots.

Handmark announced the release of exclusive games and applications for the BlackBerry Smartphone. Bible Translations and Ringtone Junkie will be the first two applications available and the Astraware games collection will follow in August.

“A rapidly growing number of BlackBerry users are turning to Handmark for their mobile information and entertainment needs,” said Cassidy Lackey, VP of Handmark Studios. “Astraware, the Handmark Game Studio, focuses on providing only the best mobile content, and we are pleased to bring these new, quality titles to BlackBerry.”

Astraware plans to release the first game, Platypus, in the third quarter of 2008. Astraware Solitaire, Astraware Sudoku, Astraware Casino and Astraware Boardgames will be released in Q4 and after. Mobile phones users will be able to obtain their favorite games from either Handmark or Astraware directly.

Press Release Follows:

Orlando, FL - Wireless Enterprise Symposium 2008 - (May 13, 2008) - Handmark(R), a global leader in mobile media, today announced new, exclusive applications for BlackBerry(R) smartphones including Bible translations; a new ringtone application, Ringtone Junkie; as well as best-selling games from Astraware(R), the Handmark Game Studio.

“A rapidly growing number of BlackBerry users are turning to Handmark for their mobile information and entertainment needs,” said Cassidy Lackey, VP of Handmark Studios. “Astraware, the Handmark Game Studio, focuses on providing only the best mobile content, and we are pleased to bring these new, quality titles to BlackBerry.”

Bible Translations for BlackBerry Smartphones - AVAILABLE 5/28
This is the first Bible product designed by Handmark specifically for BlackBerry smartphones. The application offers unlimited wireless access to 16 Bible translations including four of the five most popular modern translations. The Bible product for BlackBerry smartphones will be available May 28 at www.handmark.com.

Ringtone Junkie - AVAILABLE 5/28
Ringtone Junkie is a new and improved ringtone management application, developed by Handmark, providing access to thousands of popular MP3 ringtones. The application enables customers to download, store, access, and assign custom ringtones to contacts in their BlackBerry Address Book. Ringtone Junkie will be available May 28 at www.rtjunkie.com or www.handmark.com for a one-time purchase of $19.95.

Astraware(R) games - AVAILABLE by 8/31
Astraware, the world-renowned UK-based game developer, will expand its reach by releasing its first games for BlackBerry smartphones in Q3 2008, including Idigicon’s highly acclaimed Platypus. Flagship titles Astraware Solitaire, Astraware Sudoku, Astraware Casino and Astraware Boardgames will follow from Q4 onwards. These titles will be available at www.astraware.com or www.handmark.com.
To receive updates on the latest Handmark releases, go to www.handmark.com  and sign up for the Handmark e-newsletter.

Here is your weekly Minoto’s Point’n’Click Adventure game! Today, Box of Sparrow!

If you enjoy this game, don’t forget to check out Elephant’s Artist, Bear Catcher, Rabbit’s Rocket, Volume of Certain Crab, Flowers from HARAPEKO, The Four Seasons of Castle and Wonderful Sea by the same author!

Have fun!

On the surface, Newsblaster is a simple bubble-popping game a la Bust-a-move. But, as part of MSNBC.com's NewsWare initiative, the game also lets you collect breaking news headlines as they fall from the screen for extra lives and power-ups - and if you're interested in the headline you can click it and follow through to read the entire article. Click here to play Newsblaster, or click here to play its sister game, a brick-buster called Newsbreaker.

A game that combines wordplay with Sokoban-style block pushing? Are they mad?!? Arrange blocks with letters to form words by sliding them into place. Luckily, Alphabox recognizes solutions apart from the one intended, so sometimes you can get creative and mix the letters around, saving a few moves. A level editor extends the replay value of this innovative puzzler.

Sometimes, when it's raining, I go outside and sit where I'm sure to get wet. Aside from the free shower, sitting in the rain is a great way to de-stress if Yoga just isn't your thing. Unfortunately, unless you live in Seattle, it doesn't rain every day; but rain or shine you can always find something to help you relax in the latest Mercedes-Benz Mixed Tape, available as a free download and updated every 8 weeks.

Our Nintendo DS casual games contest has been moved back to the 1st of June instead of the 15th of May as originally posted. This will give gamers a nice even boundary to know when the contest will start and end.

From June 1st until June 30th you’ll have a chance to win a Nintendo DS and six DS games. This date is official and set in stone (this time). As we said before, the prize includes:

The DS is the crimson & black variant, the most stylish on the market, and the games are being given out courtesy of PlayFirst, Atlus, MumboJumbo, Casual Gamer Chick and Conspiracy Entertainment.

The games include:

• PlayFirst’s Diner Dash: Sizzle and Serve
• Conspiracy Entertainment’s Best of Test DS
• Atlus’ Panzer Tactics
• Battleship/Connect 4/Sorry/Trouble (4-game pack) from us at Casual Gamer Chick
• MumboJumbo’s Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
  
• MumboJumbo’s Chicken Hunter

MumbJumbo passed on to us, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, instead of LUXOR so that’s changed from our original announcement as well.

By playing a variant of our MoneyWheel game, you’ll be able to win points to buy tickets for the contest raffle. The more points you get, the more tickets you can buy with your points and the better your odds of winning will be. We encourage everyone to sign up and play so that we can provide proof to our partners that Casual Gamer Chick is the premier partner to work with and give us a chance to run another contest in the future for more prizes.

You’ll find a post, a banner and a way to enter the contest on June 1st or sooner. Keep checking up!

This week, we’re looking at flash games that celebrate the joy of motion. These are games that have created a control dynamic or movement dynamic so liquid, fun, and relaxing that they are a joy to play, regardless of your score, or whether you win or not.

This week we’re reaching into our grab-bag of puzzle games based on understanding of motion and space. They are all deceptively simple, but endlessly fascinating.

Let's get Flash Friday rolling again with three games that are all about little - and big - round balls. Shuffle Snake Bites, Filler and TriggerBall will give you something new to play with.

There is no doubt the casual game market has entered the mobile phones in full force, very few mobile phones have the power or bandwidth for intense hardcore games. Although classics like DOOM, Quake, Wolfenstein 3D and others have made the mobile step, today, we’re more intrigued with casual games on the mobile game platforms.

Movaya, publishes mobile games for a variety of phone platforms and MPowerplus takes an “iTunes” approach to gaming on mobile devices. Combining the two technologies will help both companies distribute product to more consumers and a user friendly manner. Let’s face it, most mobile platforms have old school ugly interfaces and clunky mechanics.

Besides the iPhone and some of the up and coming phones, we’ve been strapped to old technology in the United States for far too long. Perhaps companies and partnerships like this will make working on these archaic systems a bit more pleasing.

Read on for full press details.

RESTON, Va. and SEATTLE ─ May 00, 2008 ─ Mpowerplayer (www.mpowerplayer.com),
the leading provider of online mobile game trial and merchandising for the wireless industry, and Movaya (www.movaya.com), the complete web-based, e-commerce software platform for mobile-content transactions, today announced a partnership to integrate Movaya’s PlugNPlay purchasing solution into Mpowerplayer’s desktop arcade.

“Mpowerplayer’s user base of consumers wanting to test drive mobile games from their PC continues to grow,” said Joe Ariganello, vice president of business development at Mpowerplayer. “Movaya’s plug and play has clearly emerged as a perfect complimentary platform to integrate purchasing into our desktop mobile arcade, making the purchase process seamless and easy for seasoned or new mobile game consumers.”

“Mpowerplayer’s offering to consumers interested in mobile games is a natural fit for our PlugNPlay platform,” said Phil Yerkes, CEO of Movaya. “Our technologies complement each other and give publishers more options to help drive sales and deliver mobile games to more and more consumers.”

Aces Texas Hold’em No Limit and Aces Blackjack by Concrete Software (www.concretesoftware.com) will be the first titles enabled with Movaya’s PlugNPlay technology at the Mpowerplayer arcade, with several new titles planned to be added soon.

About Mpowerplayer
Mpowerplayer is the number-one consumer destination in the world for online demos of mobile games. The company’s proprietary software solutions enable mobile content providers to better merchandise, market, and interact with a targeted user audience of mobile consumers. To promote your content to a growing audience of enthusiastic mobile consumers, or for more information, visit www.mpowerplayer.com or email info@mpowerplayer.com.

About Movaya
Movaya (www.movaya.com) is a Seattle-based technology company, whose mobile content management and distribution software system allows mobile content publishers and online retailers to effortlessly extend their businesses to the growing off-deck mobile content marketplace. Movaya PlugNPlay is the company’s flagship product, which brings together Mobile Game and Application Publishers, Online Retailers and consumers in one marketplace for Mobile goods. Movaya is powering the off-deck, mobile industry.

A hard boiled detective. A series of nefarious jewel heists. Hundreds of random clues and a cast of seedy characters. Oh, and a match-3 game that’s pretty gosh darn clever. It’s Puzzle Detective.

Sometime back I was trying to buy Raph Koster’s A Theory of Fun for Game Design. It’s been sold out at every book store I’ve visited, including Amazon. Hopefully a new printing will be made soon. While looking at the website, I noticed I could order the book through O’Reilly.com. It didn’t say it [...]

Fans of the long-running Nancy Drew adventure game series will be pleased to hear that the newest game has just launched. Click here to download Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek. Like many larger games, there's no try-before-you-buy demo for this one, but our review is coming soon so stay tuned!

WiiWare has been talked about by everyone since the announcement by Nintendo that they were offering the service. Today is the day it all happens, WiiWare is finally available to Nintendo Wii owners that have their Nintendo Wii connected to the Internet.

WiiWare allows developers an easier entry point for developing console games. Console games have been notoriously expensive to develop, but now that expensive barrier has been taken away.

“WiiWare is to the video game industry what independent films are to Hollywood,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “WiiWare lets developers experiment with new ideas and experiences. Combined with our collection of classic Virtual Console games, Wii provides one-stop shopping for the greatest games of the past – and the future.”

WiiWare launches with six different available games. The six launch titles are Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, LostWinds, Defend your Castle, Pop, V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack, and TV Show King. As you can see the titles range in genres of games and can be downloaded using Wii points. The Wii points can be bought from the Wii Shop channel or from retail stores.

Press Release Follows:

REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nintendo’s Wii™ console has already changed the way people play games. Now its new WiiWare™ service decisively tears down limitations for how developers create games – and the way people receive them.

Starting today, Wii owners with an Internet connection can download new, creative games from a wide range of developers, from large publishers to indie shops. By reducing the barriers that make console game development prohibitively expensive, WiiWare showcases original ideas in the most democratic environment in industry history, connecting the people who make games more directly with the people who play them.

WiiWare frees developers from the traditional constraints of video game development. WiiWare lets developers experiment with big ideas and small budgets to the benefit of players everywhere. Newer, smaller teams now have an outlet for their creative ideas. The constantly growing WiiWare library will have a regular flow of unique video gaming experiences consumers might not otherwise have access to.

“WiiWare is to the video game industry what independent films are to Hollywood,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “WiiWare lets developers experiment with new ideas and experiences. Combined with our collection of classic Virtual Console games, Wii provides one-stop shopping for the greatest games of the past – and the future.”

WiiWare games are easy to download. Just go to the WiiWare section of the Wii Shop Channel, find the game you want, redeem Wii Points™ and start the download. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. New games, at various Wii Point values, will be added to WiiWare on Mondays. The newly launched Nintendo Channel on Wii will let people view videos of and read information about WiiWare games and other Nintendo products. Users also can see player opinions to help them decide what to play next.

Today, the inaugural lineup of WiiWare games is just a taste of things to come:

FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: My Life as a King™ (Square Enix, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, 1,500 Wii Points): FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King takes a legendary franchise and launches it into the realm of simulation gaming. Players are challenged to rebuild a kingdom, leading its young king on a path of discovery through an adventure bristling with mystery and intrigue.

LostWinds™ (Frontier Development, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): A fresh, enchanting platform adventure that puts the power of the wind in the palm of your hand – from raging tornados to the gentlest breeze. You’ll wield your Wii Remote™ controller to power Toku’s jumps and glides, suspend and smash enemies, meet friends and solve puzzles using LostWinds’ novel, intuitive and playful control system.

Defend your Castle™ (XGen Studios, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone – Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): Defend your Castle takes place on a grassy plain surrounded by invaders. You are the commander of your castle, and it is your duty to fling the invading enemies sky-high, watching them plummet to their demise. As you progress, add powerful spells and upgrades to your arsenal for repelling the attacks. How long can you hold them off?

Pop™ (Nnooo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 700 Wii Points): Pop bubbles to score points and stop the timer from running out. Pop can be enjoyed by anyone – casual gamers can simply play to pop bubbles and keep the game moving, whereas advanced players will need to pick their shots rapidly and accurately and generate combos to maximize their score.

V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack™ (High Voltage Software®, Inc., 1-4 players, Rated T for Teen – Simulated Gambling, 700 Wii Points): V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack re-creates the casino experience, with fully animated players and a realistic Las Vegas dealer. Single players can increase their bankrolls, while multiple players can engage in a head-to-head mini-blackjack tournament.

TV Show King (Gameloft, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): TV Show King transforms your living room into a real TV quiz show studio where you’ll face the challenge of answering more than 3,000 questions across six different categories. Compete against family and friends and use your Wii Remote controller in original ways to make it to the finals to see who can win the greatest amount of cash in one final, deciding duel.

For more information about WiiWare, visit WiiWare.com. Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

ShoOot 3 is the next installment in the ShoOot arcade game series created by Tonypa.

Your goal here is similar to the previous episode: destroy as many circles as you can with your square that moves randomly from one point to another.

Rotate your square with your mouse and click to fire.

This game is not exactly the most exciting one you’ll ever see, but if you are looking for a basic and quick shooter, ShoOot 3 is a fun 5 minute diversion.

Have fun!

Advocates of video and computer games have made innumerable claims about the benefits of interactive entertainment. From easing the pain of cancer to improving hand eye coordination, games are said to be good for more than sucking away your free time and emptying your bank account. Now some are arguing that a new category of games can actually sharpen your acuity through mental exercises. Grubby Games, creators of the Professor Fizzwizzle series, tackles the genre with their latest release: The Amazing Brain Train!

Airport Mania fans may wonder if First Class Flurry attempts to clone Airport Mania's success, but that would be comparing apples to oranges. Or should that be comparing supersonic jets to gliders? Anyway, Airport Mania involves directing and taking care of planes while First Class Flurry, like most traditional time management games, has players controlling a young girl - in this case, a flight attendant.

For this week’s Thousander Club update: Game Hours: 409.25(previous two years) + 74.25 (current year) = 483.5 / 1000 Game Ideas: 710 (previous two years) + 35 (current year) = 745 / 1000 I’m still trying to eliminate dependencies in my custom-built libraries. I was using libSDL 1.2.11, but someone complained that PulseAudio support was missing, so [...]

The next Swords and Sandals installment is coming soonish. We’ve not yet announced a launch date, it’s a big project and there is still a bit to go. For the fans though, here’s a little teaser video. there are a few more on Youtube.com

You’ll notice that the biggest change to the game is that it will be full multiplayer.

We’ll let you know when there is more to see.

A fast-paced, single-player mouse avoidance game where your only goal is to survive as long as possible. Dodge angry red buggles and collect mysterious blue boxes to obtain a high score. Catch the little green buggles to become the mighty devourer, destroyer of red buggles! Eat them all! Muhahaha!

This morning another piece of Nintendo heaven arrived at my door. A box-fresh Wii complete with Wii Sports and the dodgy Wii-mote control strap. It’s set to shake up my family’s gaming habits by bringing us all together for some serious bonding. But that’s not until Christmas Day. Until then the Wii belongs exclusively to Mii.

A review of Argos’ advergame on Adverblog with a revealing comment on the relative size of UK retailers:

I have no idea who Argos is, and the site isn’t innovative at all in graphics and interactivity, but it’s based around toys from the ’80s, and this is enough to grab my attention.

Maybe the game will change that…

A well crafted idea for Logitech: http://www.ballbalancer.com/

Smart but a little over-cooked game for Argos: http://www.goodgamegoodgame.com/

Whack-a-mole re-skin for the National Christmas Tree Association*: Attack of the Mutant Artificial Christmas Trees

*only christmas trees can join.

The more virals there are, the harder it is to get noticed. And as we get desensitized to the extremes of the funny, the fleshy or the foul items that crash into our inboxes our own criteria for what IS and what ISN’T worth forwarding on get ever more refined and hard to meet.
But this makes the cut for me.

Meal Or No Meal? is an advergame made to promote a handy new auction service called Price Your Meal where the items on offer are tables in restaurants. It’s a highly satirical take on Deal or no Deal, the TV quiz show for which we have Noel Edmonds to thank. I’ve not seen much of Deal or no Deal but I can safely say this is much better.
What is so impressive is the lengths to which the fellas at Chunk have gone to with the dialogue, video and production quality (the casting of the host is borderline genius - he should be on telly). All for an advergame. The bar just got a little higher.

I got sent this by the creator of this game Roadie Runner. It’s a frogger-type game for Make Roads Safe, a group that campaigns to reduce road deaths globally. There are 3 charming things about it: its simplicity, the graphics for the vehicles and the Dirty Pretty Things soundtrack. Have a look and remember to sign the petition.

A smart, well produced Sonic derivative for the School Food Trust - called Snack Dash. I find it a little too hard - but then again, I’m not 12 years old anymore.

Aygo is a weeny car that Toyota make and this is a game about it.

Big, Flat and Twisted is not a game about the Millenium Bridge. It’s for Capri-Sun and it’s very good.

This is an interesting list posted on e-consultancy but created by the folks at AzACreations. Apart from the slightly alarming thought that there are even 10 ways to make mistakes with viral marketing, this is a handy list for advergame creators:

1. Neglecting promotion and seeding
Utilise mailing lists, press releases, forums and invest in banner impressions or PPC.

2. Failing to create an incentive for users to pass it along
Make the content itself good/funny – according to AzACreations, 88% of web users say they have forwarded on jokes or cartoons.

3. Failing to capitalise on a campaign that proves successful
If your campaign starts to take off, ask yourself whether you can get any further publicity, further monetise incoming traffic or use it to generate leads.

4. Trying to copy a popular viral campaign when it doesn’t fit your aims
If a campaign isn’t suited for you, you will end up with something that’s out of synch with your brand.

5. Failing to integrate viral campaigns with other marketing efforts
Implement the concept of viral marketing to other campaign processes, and test out different types of viral campaigns.

6. Using a sledgehammer rather than a fine scalpel
Simple ideas, such as email signatures, often produce better results.

7. Failing to understand the SEO value of viral marketing
Try designing viral pieces around your important keywords, and provide users with easy means to link to your application or site.

8. Forgetting to ask the user to take action
Encourage them to submit an email or sign up for a newsletter, as well as adding the application to their website or blog.

9. Not making it easy enough for users to forward content
Use send to friend forms, single button clicks etc.

10. Confusing your marketing message with ‘the hook’ that will attract users
Don’t be too self promoting.

Only one thing I would add - use a specialist.

The following games are available from Game Du Jour this week. The games are all offered a significant price cut, which is represented by the percentage after the game name.

Monday May 12 Pick11 50%

The objective of Pick11 is to clear the game field by summing the open tiles to reach a total of 11 points. A completed combination will disappear. You will advance to the next level after all the tiles have been cleared. All tiles on the table are arranged in six levels. You will get a different bonus for the combination of 11 points depending on the level it lay on.

Tuesday May 13 Brainiversity 60%

To stay fit and healthy we should regularly exercise our bodies. And the brain is no different. According to research the use of brain training programs and games can have a positive impact on your mental fitness. Brainiversity is a brain training game designed to stimulate your brain with 16 different activities covering Language, Memory, Math and Analysis. The game includes a Daily Exam mode that records your daily workouts - the results of which are viewable on a monthly chart. You can even compare your results with other users on the same computer.

Wednesday May 14 Pet Shop Hop 40%

Pet Shop Hop: herding cats is nothing — try running an entire pet store! For decades your family business has offered pretty fish, cuddly kittens, furry rabbits, adorable puppies, and feathered friends to customers from the neighborhood. Times are changing though, and now MegaPet Superstore is threatening to put you out of business. Grow your modest pet shop into an exclusive boutique and increase profits to avoid being gobbled up by the competition!

Thursday May 15 Solitaire Epic 50%

Solitaire Epic features over 110 fun levels and three different solitaire games in one: Klondike, Tri Peaks and Matching! In Tri Peaks you match cards ranked one higher or lower than your playing card, trying to remove every card on the play board. When playing Matching, your goal is to remove all cards by matching identical ranks. And in the old favorite, Klondike, you organize cards in alternate color suits to clear the board.

Friday May 16 Snakylines 70%

Explore Crocodile Island lost in the ocean to find the treasures hidden by an ancient civilization in a mysterious and delightful ice cave high in the mountains. Place the colored balls four across, vertical, or diagonal in one of two game modes.

Saturday May 17 CrazyTrain 50%

In CrazyTrain a small fast running locomotive is on its way. Your goal is to help him overcome all obstacles and gain as many points as possible.

Sunday May 18 Mahjong Epic 50%

Playing Mahjong Epic could not be simpler! You goal is to remove all the tiles on a board. To remove them, you just click on pairs of identical tiles. Some tiles cannot be removed. If a tile has another tile on top of it, or it has tiles on both its right and left side, that tile is locked, and cannot be removed. If you get stuck, you can undo your moves all the way back to the start again!

If you see a game you like, head over to Game du Jour on the right day and pick up the game dirt cheap.

If you've ever longed for a game to bring it on with animal-on-animal warfare, as in the tradition of Red Wall, you've come to the right place. Brute Wars is a turn-based RPG tactical strategy game where you pit your team of six creatures against opposing squads. The placement and order of their attacks adds up to a highly nuanced and rapid game of tactics that you won't want to miss.

Nintendo announced the release of WiiWare, a service on the Nintendo Wii for developers to get their games to the masses that use the Nintendo Wii. Many smaller and independent developers have announced games for release on WiiWare, but now a major developer is releasing a game on WiiWare. Ubisoft announced they will be releasing Protothea on WiiWare.

Protothea is a top-down shooter game. Players have to save Earth by destroying an asteroid. The Wii Remote and the Nunchuck are used to fly the ship. Players have their choice of 8 different types of missiles and 2 types of air to surface missiles.

Protothea was developed by Sabarasa and Digital Builders and was an Independent Game Festival finalist back in 2005 when Protothea was released for the PC.

Ubisoft has not said the price of Protothea.

Thanks Gamespot

If something considered "retro" gets remade, is it still considered retro? Such is the question to ponder while playing Arcadia Remix, the juiced-up retro remake of Gamelab's multitasking classic, Arcadia. This newer version adds to the retro insanity with more mini-games and gameplay features to make your head explode in a neon rainbow.

The biggest headline this week was RealNetworks' announcement of plans to spin off its casual games division into an independent company. Also, Gamelab's K. Thor Jensen writes a casual games business primer called The Truth About The Biz of Casual Games, Microsoft introduces the Popfly Game Creator as an alternative to building games in Adobe Flash, and Steven Spielberg collaborates with EA to launch BOOM BLOX, a casual game for the Nintendo Wii. These headlines and more in our weekly roundup.

Two heavy-hitting adventure games hit the casual scene this weekend, one a re-release of a classic point and click title, the other an exclusive from a seasoned adventure development studio. Each one spins an unforgettable tale using famous crime novel monikers everyone should recognize. Although the titles take strikingly different gameplay approaches, each one offers a deep mystery experience wrought with hidden agendas, misleading clues, and plenty of riddles to solve.

This Mother's Day (through 5/16/08), save BIG on all casual game downloads from Big Fish Games. Take your pick. The whole inventory is on sale. Be sure to use the coupon code above when ordering to receive your discount.

Apple has filed a patent for a 3D game controller to work along side the AppleTV product. Presumably, Apple wants to get in on the Wii action by creating a controller with similar properties to the Wii remote. This patent comes, somewhat, as a surprise but earlier there were whisperings stating Apple wants to build its AppleTV into a multi-purpose device.

Unlike Microsoft, Apple doesn’t have a gaming console to sneak “multimedia” functions into the home, requiring users to purchase the AppleTV with the idea of capturing the segment Microsoft is heading towards. Apple has apparently chosen to go the reverse rout of Microsoft by introducing the media product first and then bringing gaming into the picture where Microsoft did the opposite.

For months, you’ve been able to get some casual games on the iPod or iPhone so migrating this functionality into the AppleTV wouldn’t be a big stretch. The best bet for concrete rumors is to watch the casual game developers and their projects with Apple as the big Mac company isn’t going to deny, speculate or talk to the rumors about their future projects.

It’s also interesting to note, this patent was filed in November of 2006. That means Apple has been working on the project for almost two years now, or more likely, someone at Apple had a bright idea and patented it.

Many big companies inspire engineers to patent as much as they can and foot the bill for all the legal work. More importantly, they usually pay out bonuses $500.00 to upwards of $5,000 for a successful patent. This could be a design an engineer came up with and was given a sweet bonus to file with the patent office.

Or, it could be real. Who knows.

(Thanks, Blorge.com)

Atibon’s Rival is a new Japanese Room Escape game (in English) created by Bianco Bianco, the author of The Third Space Station Tokio.

Intro: “I defeated a powerful enemy somehow. However, a younger sister was damaged by the fight. The consciousness of the younger sister does not return. I came to this place to help a younger sister. I think that there is some hint in this place…”

Please be patient while the game is loading…

Have fun!

Via EscapetheRoom

RealNetworks is making the move to spin off a casual games unit and may offer 20% of the company to the public in the form of an IPO. This is a significant move for RealNetworks because it takes a moderatly independent group more freedom to pick their own direction and build their own future.

While RealNetworks will be the major player in their financial future, a spin off allows the division to grow as its own company and align itself better with casual gaming industry movers and shakers without being considered a small group inside of RealNetworks–a company which plays in many spaces.

This move shows RealNetworks is serious about the market, believes in future long term growth and is willing to risk it, financially, starting now. Chief Executive Rob Glaser said, “this is a unique situation and I wouldn’t expect to see another one like this any time soon.”

If anyone was questioning the momentum of the casual gaming space, companies are working to end any potential questions by making big moves. EA and others have created units within their company for the casual gaming market now we’ve got to wait and see how the press grows in response to this–casualgamerchick, of course, will be here to report on all the news. Surely more “me too” news sites will break out of these huge moves soon.

(Thanks, businessweek)

Ready to fill your hard drive to the brim? This weekend we've got several commercially produced games released as freeware. That means you get all the polish and production value of a big studio title without shelling out the cash. You'll have to be patient while they download, and the games aren't as friendly to casual gamers as we'd like, but you can't beat paying nothing for a game that used to carry a retail price tag.

This Week’s Selection:

Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet
Hunker down at your flat at 221b Baker St. in London. The year is 1896, and Scotland Yard has called Sherlock Holmes with an urgent request for help.

Wedding Dash
Can you keep the bride and groom happy and Quinn’s business afloat? Pull off the perfect wedding reception in this fast-paced challenge!

Agatha Christie – Peril at End House
Fans of Agatha Christie and great seek and find games alike, rejoice! Hercule Poirot is at it again in another mystery of murderous proportions!

Also Recommended:

Escape the Museum
Help Susan work her way through the rubble of the National Museum of History after an earthquake rocks the city and separates her from her daughter.

Mystery Cookbook
Packed with adventure and brimming with laughs, Mystery Cookbook is a delightful hidden object challenge for gamers with good taste!

Mystery Solitaire: Secret Island
You’re a castaway on Secret Island. Match cards, in more than 60 unique solitaire layouts, and collect clues to find your way home!

If you are looking at great Download Games, you can always check for more information into our Download Games section! We only feature the Best Casual Games available.

Escape Blue Bathroom is a new Room Escape game created by Rhosus.

For an unknown reason, you find yourself trapped in a bathroom with blue tiles. The door is locked and you need a code to open it!

Search for items, and eventually get out of this bathroom!

Have fun!

The Unofficial Apple Weblog mentions that Stuart Carnie mentions that he has a running C64 emulator on the iPhone which means only one thing, that Maniac Mansion on the iPhone is only moments away, and not one of the inferior versions, but the original, and only true version of Maniac Mansion, the C64 version.

Decorating your home is loads of fun. Assuming you have a huge budget, unlimited resources, and all the time in the world. Sandlot's new casual game Eye for Design drops you in the interior design chair with near total control over the inside of each house. You play Cheri, the top grad from a prestigious design school in Paris, working with clients looking to spruce up their abodes. Choose and arrange nearly every element in each room to make the customer happy and earn respect in the interior design world.

Conspiracy Entertainment has partnered with Epicenter Studios, developers of Real Heroes: Firefighters, to bring a new casual title to the Nintendo Wii console. The wii motion controls should fit right in with a game which “puts players in the soon-to-be soot-stained boots of a rookie firefighter who has just been assigned to a busy metropolitan fire station.”

The wii remote will allow you to work with realistic firefighter tools to save people from the deadly forces of fire. Epicenter CEO Nathaniel McClure says the game will be family friendly as the Wii has been intended allowing everyone to play the game as a family. “Because firefighting requires a lot more than dousing flames, Real Heroes emphasizes non-violent, game-integral puzzles that mirror the challenges and on-the-fly choices firefighters actually face.”

It seems the Wii continues to build gaming momentum as each month progresses. At first, it seemed the Wii could be in for a bunch of game flops but lately we’re seeing great quality titles. As long as we get one sweet title every other month this momentum should continue. Right now, we’re eagerly awaiting Boom Blox, a Steven Spielberg casual gaming title. How can the man who created the movie Gremlins let us down?

For the full press release on Real Heroes: Firefighters, read on.

Conspiracy Entertainment Partners with Epicenter Studios to Distribute Wii ‘Real Heroes: Firefighters’

Conspiracy Entertainment, a developer, publisher and marketer of interactive entertainment software in North America and Western Europe, announced today that it has entered into a publishing agreement with Epicenter Studios, developer of Real Heroes: Firefighters (”Real Heroes”), the fire-fighting action game exclusively designed for the Nintendo Wii. According to the agreement, Conspiracy has the rights to market, sell and distribute Real Heroes in the US, Canada, Mexico and South America. Conspiracy expects to begin distribution in the 2nd Quarter of 2009.

Real Heroes emphasizes non-violent, game-integral puzzles that mirror the challenges and on-the-fly choices firefighters face every day. Featuring Epicenter’s proprietary “Thinking Fire” technology, Real Heroes’ blazes will seem almost alive as they not only attack structures, potential victims and firefighters, but also cause unexpected changes to the environments that will suddenly alter the player’s options and strategies. No two scenarios will play out the same way.

“The motion sensing capability of the Wii Remote, combined with Epicenter’s intuitive fire technology, equips anyone to step into the role of rookie firefighter,” said Sirus Ahmadi, CEO of Conspiracy Entertainment. “Not only is this game thrilling, but its realistic action pays homage to the nation’s real firefighters and is appropriate for the whole family.”

Epicenter CEO Nathaniel McClure, “We are favorably impressed by Conspiracy’s flexibility and industry expertise in reaching the North American marketplace. We look forward to a successful product launch next year.”

Keith Tanaka, CFO of Conspiracy Entertainment, said, “We are pleased to add Real Heroes to our product line up for 2009. Designed by some of the world’s top gaming producers, the early buzz on Real Heroes has been very positive. We anticipate a very busy year into 2009, including distribution of this highly-anticipated release.”

About Epicenter Studios

Epicenter Studios, headquartered in Southern California, was founded in March 2007 by talent from, among other titles, the commercially successful, critically acclaimed Call of Duty franchise. Epicenter Studios recently released its first title Critter Round-Up (Animal Panic in Japan) at the Japanese Nintendo WiiWare Launch on March 25th. Critter Round-up was the only game in the group developed by a US team. Critter Round-Up will be available worldwide in May. For more information, visit http://www.epicenter-studios.com/.

About Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation

Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation is a developer, publisher and marketer of entertainment software in North America and Western Europe. The Company develops and licenses properties from several sources, including global entertainment and media companies and publishes software for DVD media, wireless devices, personal computers and video game consoles, including those manufactured by Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation. Conspiracy Entertainment was founded in 1997 and is based in Santa Monica, CA.

Wii IS A TRADEMARK OF NINTENDO CO. Ltd. All other brands and trademarks mentioned in this release are the property of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “Safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. Certain of the statements contained herein, which are not historical facts, are forward- looking statements with respect to events, the occurrence of which involved risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements may be impacted, either positively or negatively, by various factors. Information concerning potential factors that could affect the company is detailed from time to time in the company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Flash-based Pararalyzer from Japanese developer, Heriet, is an adrenaline-based manic shooter if ever there was one. From the opening screen, there is action galore and soon enough amazing bullet patterns criss-cross the screen in a dazzling kaleidoscope of colour. Unleash a seemingly endless stream of bullets toward the equally endless droves of enemies who are bent on destroying you.

They say that good things should never end. Take orange, for instance. The orange is infinite. Scroll down into the orange. It's ok, the orange won't hurt you. Perhaps it would be best just to give into the orange. Play. Grow things, drop things, poke things.