The filing of a trademark is hardly proof of a game being in development, but Activision Blizzard has filed for a trademark for Dance Hero with the US Patent and Trademark office.

The trademark was specifically filed for the purposes of “computer game software and related instruction manual sold together as a unit; interactive video game programs; computer game cartridges; computer game cassettes; computer game discs; downloadable computer game software; video game controllers; interactive video game comprised of a cartridge or DVD sold as a unit with a video game controller.”

Fans of party-style gaming might recall the popularity of Dance Dance Revolution which had its heyday shortly before gaming became pandemic and wonder if Activision Blizzard are hoping for a resurgence. It could just be that they’re holding the name in case they want to use it. We have yet to hear anything about Guitar Villain.

If you haven’t heard, there’s going to be a big update to the Xbox Live experience come fall. One of the biggest changes will be the additions of the Avatars. If you have a Wii you’ll know exactly what they’re about; customizable, digital versions of you and your family/friends that you can use to represent you in various games, usually of a more light-hearted and casual nature.

I have to say that for the customization options from what I saw in the video courtesy of Xbox Live’s Major Nelson, they really blow the Miis out of the water. While Nintendo’s tiny virtual people give you a fair amount of options when it comes to the facial arrangements (just look at some damn convincing Robocops and Darth Vaders and tell me that’s not versatility) the Microsoft folks went with what seems to be more of an all-over approach.

Just how involved you can get is hard to tell as the video highlights a little bit of everything, but the Xbox avatars can be given a wide array of outfits from cowboy hats to rings and flip-flops from the video. Even more bizarre options might be possible as some of the pictures put out by Microsoft show avatars in samurai gear or wearing bunny suits.

Likely one of the reasons so many studios create casual games is that they generally have less offending power. I’ve never heard someone rant about the evils of Tetris or blame Dr. Mario for the fondness American culture has for medications. Violent video games offend everyone from parents to teachers and politicians. A short time ago Will Wright, creator of Sim City, the Sims and most recently Spore, admitted to surprise that his newest title had only raised the eyebrows of militant atheists.

It seems it was only a matter of time: a blog site entitled Anti Spore has popped up. Its Christian author (who of course remains anonymous) attacks the game from every angle. Instead of simply voicing his disgust at the game’s obvious adherence to the theory of evolution, he claims the game is a deliberate attack on the Christian theory of creationism. In a classic display of taking things a little too seriously, he blasted Will Wright for his graph that showed it took Spore users only eighteen days to virtually create the number of creatures that God supposedly did in seven. He called what was clearly simply a humorous way to show how popular the game is a “direct attack from a man who thinks he is unstoppable.”

This week’s virtual console update brings a special event and a special game to go along with it. This VC update marks the 250th title added to the rolls of games available for download. There’s one Wiiware title and two Virtual Console titles brought to you this week, two of which have an aquatic bent (appropriate for any US citizens who spent the holiday weekend on the beach). The third and somewhat less water-oriented title is the big one: Super Mario RPG: Legend of The Seven Stars has finally come to the Wii.

Despite the odd jump Mario and the gang made from primarily platforming adventures, the title is considered one of the best RPGs ever made. It featured some gameplay innovations that carried over into later titles: minigames that while not necessary could net you some sweet gear and a more active combat system which required timed button pressing to maximize the potential of your attacks. Read more about this and the other two titles after the break. Read on »

It was quite a tragedy: you spent hours creating the perfect Kurt Cobain Mii. It took so long that you listened to all of Nirvana’s albums three times during the process, hoping the dead rock star’s music would channel his spirit and allow you to create the ultimate Wii Avatar Tribute. All your friends agreed it was quite the spitting image of the grunge rock frontman.

Sadly every game you used him in seemed inappropriate. He looked too country club swinging a tennis racket or a golf club and driving a go-cart seems beyond a man who could have afforded to have a fleet of helicopters airlifting his car everywhere he went. Activision has given you an appropriate venue for this virtual rock icon: Guitar Hero World Tour will feature a mode called Mii Freestyle where you’ll play with the Wii remote and use the Nunchuck as air drums.

The capabilities of multimedia phones such as the iPhone and the Instinct have elevated the possibilities of cellphone gaming beyond the simplistic gameplay and poor quality graphics they’ve been restricted to for some time. The question of course is will this catch on? Monkey Ball says yes, it certainly can. A port of an existing title that sells for a mere $10 has pulled in $3 million with over 300,000 sales.

While a good portion of these sales might be attributed to the heavy ad campaign Apple ran to promote its application store and Monkey Ball’s headlining on many of those ads as a sort of ‘launch title’, it certainly shows potential for an industry here. It might not be able to rival the DS but it certainly says that plenty of people would be willing to play games on their iPhone, especially given the rise of ‘casual gaming’.

When someone pointed out to me the existence of Scrabulous, the Facebook application that’s a clone of classic board game Scrabble I had two very different reactions. The first was overwhelming joy at an effective method of alleviating the drudgery and boredom of my office job. Second came a degree of shock. In a day when lawsuits are as common as pidgeons in a city, I couldn’t believe that there hadn’t been some sort of suit or cease and desist order from Hasbro.

It seems it was only a matter of time as coinciding with the launch of an online version of Scrabble on both Pogo.com and Facebook they’ve announced they are suing Rajat Agarwalla, Jayant Agarwalla, and RJ Softwares, the makers of the Scrabulous application. They’ve also served Facebook with a take-down notice due to the copyright infringement.

Few guitarists are more iconic and more influential than Jimi Hendrix. His cover of ‘All Along The Watchtower’ is probably more well known than the original and most of his other tunes are easily recognized by anyone with a basic knowledge of the history of rock and roll. Harmonix scored a major victory for gamers/music lover crossbreeds in Guitar Hero World Tour- they secured the rights to not only feature two of Hendrix’s classic songs on the playlist, he’ll also be appearing as a playable character. The songs featured first will be a live version of ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘The Wind Cries Mary’ with more to follow of course as DLC.

Continuing its lineup of casual games, Microsoft yesterday announced and showed off You’re in the Movies, a game that allows you to unleash your inner scream queen, zombie or kung fu master, according to their press release.

The game will allow you to use the Xbox Live Vision Camera to capture your minigame actions and place them into short, “riotous” films. Up to four players will be able to join in on the fun; the videos can be shared online with friends, family or even the entire world.

You will be in the movies this Holiday season.

Microsoft has announced that a downloadable compilation of gambling mini-games from Fable 2 will be released this August. It will feature three mini-games: “a combination of Craps and Roulette” known as Keystone, Fortune’s Tower and Spinnerbox.

Users will be able to transfer earned money into the retail edition of the upcoming action-RPG. The Xbox Live Arcade release of the pub games will be free to those who pre-order the game from select retailers, while others will have to cough up 800 Microsoft points.

Patient gamers will be able get their mini-game fix from the retail version of Fable 2 which will include these games and more. It will retail for $59.99, the usual selling price of current-gen games.

Proving that there is a market for everything, the original Viva Pinata saw success that guaranteed the sequel. Microsoft has announced that the garden-tending, Pinata-breeding sequel Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 in North America on September 2, with a European release three days later.

The sequel follows the original’s formula, offering improvements and more environments and piñatas and the debut of cooperative multiplayer.

As you can see the new guitar controller that will be shipping with Rock Band 2 isn’t anything to write home about. It’s just the classic Fender shape, albeit smaller than a real guitar would be of course, but this time instead of basic plastic they went with an equally classic faux wood grain finish (well real wood grain is classic).

This week’s additions to Xbox Live Arcade will be Ticket to Ride and Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm, Microsoft announced today.

Ticket to Ride is the digital version of the award-winning tabletop board game, having players build a railroad network across the country. It supports multiplayer for up to four players on a single console, and up to five via Xbox Live.

As we reported earlier, Happy Tree Friends is based on the disturbing and cute (at the same time) Flash animation that put cuddly creatures in dangerous situations, which usually ended up in the creatures being horrifically (or brutally, take your pick) killed in weird ways. The game has players guiding these creatures through various dangerous environments that must be successfully navigated through.

Both games are priced at 800 Microsoft points and are set for release this Wednesday.

Casual gaming has been a thing of interest for monolithic publisher Electronic Arts for some time now, with the company having set up an independent casual entertainment development studio. The studio’s first output will be a DS game based on the best-selling educational card deck series Brain Quest.

The game will come in the form of two separate editions: one for grades three and four, and another for grades five and six. It will feature fast-paced quiz games on a variety of subjects; there will also be a story-driven quest mode.

Both Brain Quest titles are due out this September.

Ubisoft today announced a new Wii-exclusive division called Play Zone, a brand dedicated to creating party games and mini-game compilation titles for the console. The division announced its first game - Sports Party - which is due out next month.

“With our new Play Zone party titles, the Wii gamers who like to spend time with friends and family will have fun with the Wii through innovative and involving mini-games,” said Ubisoft marketing director John Parkes. “The Play Zone label will provide them with the best games to mingle and compete together in a fun and friendly atmosphere.”

Sports Party, as the name implies, features mini-games based on various forms of party sports, including croquet, lawn darts, mini-golf and others.