Joystiq at E3

Although the hubbub may be about the new, downloadable Halo 3 maps socking it to you next month, Microsoft also used today's announcement to remind us that we'll finally be seeing Undertow on the Xbox Live Arcade this week. As you can see from the above trailer, it's basically BioShock meets Aquaman meets shooting things. ... Or something. But this XBLA release got our old friend Stephen Totilo wondering: How do publishers make the most of their 50 XBLA megabytes? He got the answer to his question recently, via a pie chart from developer Chair Entertainment. If you're part of the tiny subset of the human race curious about this sort of thing (yes, that includes us), you can check out the breakdown right here. ...

It's a twofer on XBLA this week, with a new puzzle game and an old fighting game. The puzzle game would be Droplitz, which has players twiddling dials and collecting small, "dinky little balls of indeterminate stuff." We can't help but be reminded a bit of Pipe Mania. Keep in mind that Droplitz is a single-player game only, with the full game running 800. The second game is Garou: Mark of the Wolves, also known as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, which was announced for XBLA by SNK late last week. The game is a port of the original arcade title -- also remembered as one of the last good Dreamcast games -- and features online play for two players. It can be yours for 800. ...

This week on XBLA in Brief, we take the trial versions of both Droplitz and Garou: Mark of the Wolves for a spin. Droplitz is a puzzle game that involves turning lots of dials so that the game's titular droplets make it safely to the bottom of the screen. Garou -- known as Fatal Fury outside of Japan -- is a fighting game from the fine folks at SNK. Watch the latest episode of our XBLA series above and decide if either game is worth your 800 ($10). Download the trial version of Droplitz Download the trial version of Garou: Mark of the Wolves [iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly. [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly. ...

Continuing the sizzling HOT Summer of Arcade lineup, today sees the release of the fan favorite Bionic Commando: Rearmed and gambling addicts favorite Fable 2 Pub Games. We're sure you heard all about each game, so we'll spare you the fluffy details. But you should know each XBLA purchase will set you back 800 Microsoft points, unless you already pre-ordered Fable 2 at participating retailers, then you received the Pub Games for free. What are these participating retailers? Good question, and thanks to the NeoGAF forums, we've posted a list of Pub Games promotion retailers after the break. Now go and enjoy your Rearmed ... you crazy, crazy XBLA kids. ...

Nothing sounds quite as satisfying as disintegrating ninjas and zombies with a stylized 8-bit bazooka. That's probably why THQ's upcoming XBLA Worms clone, Rocket Riot, remains on our radar. First announced last October, the game, developed by Dutch dev CodeGlue, evokes a retro feel that speaks directly to our aging hearts with its 80 "completely destructible" pixel-laden levels. Unlike some recent digital offerings, Rocket Riot also promises to support up to eight players over Xbox Live, or four for those wishing to hash out their differences on the same couch. Rocket Riot is expected to send us diving for cover when it drops like a bomb onto XBLA this fall. ...

We hope you didn't just buy a copy of Radiant Silvergun on eBay, because Treasure's XBLA shmup remake is coming to Xbox Live Arcade soon. On September 14, you'll be able to download Radiant Silvergun for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) like it's no big deal. In addition to the classic vertically-scrolling shooter, the XBLA version includes online 2-player co-op, "Saturn" and "arcade" style game variants, multiple graphical modes, and an optional "Ikaruga" scoring system. And when you get that wrapped up, Guardian Heroes is coming sometime this fall. It's a great time to own the Saturn Xbox 360. ...

We've already reported a Guardian Heroes XBLA release date once, which turned out to have been an error on the part of Microsoft's Major Nelson. Sega announced a new October 12 release date for the updated Saturn brawler today, and we hope it sticks this time. Guardian Heroes will be available on XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). For those of you who got into Treasure games post-Saturn -- or, gasp, have yet to discover the rewards of the Treasure fanatic lifestyle -- you can get a glimpse of what you've been missing in the above trailer. And that trailer doesn't mention the 12-player online play. ...

This week, we take a look at a new Monkey Ball-esque puzzler, Mercury Hg. We also mess around with MLB Bobblehead Battle, which is essentially a remixed version of MLB Bobblehead Pros, which came out in July. There are new Xbox Live Arcade games released every week. We realize that our readers are busy, attractive people, and may not have time to download and examine each and every new XBLA game. You've got busy, attractive person stuff to do, after all. Not to worry though, because we've done the work for you, downloading every single trial game and giving you a taste of what to expect. Watch XBLA in Brief every week to see which games deserve a closer look. When you have the time, of course. ...

We've got two cheap games on Xbox Live Arcade this week. First we have the surprisingly entertaining movie tie-in, Real Steel, followed by Treasure's resurrected Sega Saturn classic, Guardian Heroes. There are new Xbox Live Arcade games released every week. We realize that our readers are busy, attractive people, and may not have time to download and examine each and every new XBLA game. You've got busy, attractive person stuff to do, after all. Not to worry though, because we've done the work for you, downloading every single trial game and giving you a taste of what to expect. Watch XBLA in Brief every week to see which games deserve a closer look. When you have the time, of course. ...

All right, so publisher THQ might have been lion about the October release date for the new Voltron XBLA/PSN game, but the wait is almost over for the latest exercise in robo-combinatorics. The downloadable game based on the beloved cartoon (and more beloved die-cast toy) will be released today on PSN, and tomorrow on XBLA. In Voltron: Defender of the Universe, players each control one robot lion, choosing their preferred vehicle based on speed, range, and other unique stats. They then use their color-coded robocat to battle Robeasts in an isometric view. Then, when it's time to combine, players each control their own lion as a component of Voltron. We're looking forward to finding out if we have the skill to do anything but fall over. ...

Without an explanation for missing its Wednesday debut, Ticket to Ride Europe just arrived on XBLA to pick up customers for the weekend. The expansion to the digitized European board game costs 600 MS points ($7.50), which is far cheaper than the $30+ set in real life. We haven't downloaded the Europe expansion yet, but let us know if the red/orange color similarity issue found in Ticket to Ride has been fixed. ...

click to race into the gallery Racing fanatics will get their fix this Wednesday when Sega releases Outrun Online Arcade on XBLA. Featuring 15 different courses, 10 different Ferraris to drive and support for online multiplayer, Outrun Online Arcade will set you back a cool 800 ($10) worldwide (excluding Japan). Who's planning on putting the pedal to the metal? ...

19 Across: Game that's fairly overpriced at 800 ($10). Answer: Merv Griffin's Crosswords, only available in the United States. Oh well, at least the price isn't totally insulting (see: Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader's at 1200 ($15). Still, XBLA deserves better game show adaptations than this. Talk about ending a solid year of Arcade releases on a low note. ...

Several classic Midway games have been removed from Xbox Live Arcade, including Cyberball 2072, Defender, Gauntlet, Joust, Paperboy, Robotron 2084, Rootbeer Tapper, Smash TV and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. The titles have been pulled due to "publisher evolving rights and permissions," according to a Major Nelson tweet, but will remain playable and can be re-downloaded by users that previously purchased any of the games. While Major Nelson didn't expressly say so, it would appear that the disappearing titles are the result of Warner Bros.' acquisition of Midway last year. Warner Bros. now owns at least some of the trademarks involved in the removal from XBLA. You're not alone in suspecting that some of the affected titles were pulled in anticipation of Microsoft's upcoming Game Room (where different versions of the same games could presumably be made available for purchase). After all, the simply emulated Game Room games don't stack up well against their more fully-featured XBLA counterparts. However, Major ...

Is should come as no surprise that this Wednesday, May 14th, Sierra's Assault Heroes 2 will make its release to the Xbox Live Arcade to the joy of arcade gamers worldwide. This 800 Microsoft point sequel builds upon the original Assault Heroes formula by making battles more intense, adding new weaponry, making vehicles hijackable and, of course, co-op gaming. Get excited, because lots of "boom!", "kablaam!" and "sizzle!" is headed to the XBLA this week. ...