With the latest update, Zune HD adds Audiosurf: Tilt, PGR: Ferrari Edition, Lucky Lane Bowling, Vans Sk8: Pool Service, Piano and Checkers. These are all free game that will be available on the Zune Marketplace. While the games are free, players are forced to watch a short ad before the game starts, which is okay, considering they’re free games.

The gameplay is very similar to the last Mario & Luigi DS game, where you basically control both characters at the same time, with one button for Mario and another for Luigi. This time however, you control Bowser as well, and actually, you’ll spend more time in the game playing as Bowser than Mario & Luigi, which might seem odd at first, but it feel quite natural. Yes, quite natural, controlling the antagonist.

If you like the humor of the previous game, you’ll be glad to know that it’s back, and everything from Mario & Luigi’s Italian murmur to the writing is just hilarious at times, even if you’re a bit older than the age group this game was intended for. The visuals of the game are strictly 2D, with the old-school pixelated style, but it’s very colorful and the use of the dual screen on the DS is take to its full advantage.

The main levels are comprised like this: you stride through the levels until you meet an enemy, and then you duel it out, old school, turn based style. You then pick which attack to use, and hope for the best. Well, not really, each attack does require some skill and finesse, but once you’ve gotten a hold of it, it’s very easy to do the simple attacks, while the more elaborate ones will require delicate timing to pull off. The game also includes a series of mini-games as well, which help break the main gameplay into larger chunks — always a good idea with a lengthy campaign. For instance, there’s a Space Invader-type game that helps boost Bowse’s adrenaline, and there is a notable RPG element with badges that you can collect an equip Mario & Luigi, giving them added bonus to their abilities.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story is a wonderful game that should satisfy a wide spectrum of DS owners, from kids to adults. The campaign lasts a good 20 hours, a solid chunk even for a Mario game, but the game has a tendency to repeat itself, especially during the end. Technically, it looks great, the sounds and music are top notch as well — the whole game screams of great production value, which is hard to achieve, since it’s still a “little” DS game.

The Good:
Great humor
Wonderful gameplay
Great story
Top notch quality and polish

The Bad:
Not much innovation
Can get repetitive

Overall score: 9/10

The gameplay is simple and follows the standard 2D side scrolling fashion, but to solve puzzles in Scribblenauts, you need to use an object that might fit and help you move forwards. You “scribble” the object (say, a “meteor”) and poof! it appears on the screen. The goal of each level is to secure a Starlite at the end, and accumulate them. On top of that, you have dedicated puzzle levels, which don’t feature as much action but pack plenty of challenge for your imagination. Once you’ve settled in the gameplay and figured out how advance through the levels (maybe you need a club or a crowbar to break something, maybe you need a walking robot), you’ll be troubled by the rather frustrating controls the game has to offer. You control your hero (named Maxwell) via the stylus, where you point to an area on the screen, and he’ll run to it. But it’s far too easy to point a few pixels too far, and see yourself walk into certain death.

The vocabulary of the game, which is its greatest asset — and the entire concept — is staggering. There are over 30,000 items you can call up to help you, anything from a fruit to a black hole. Yep, black holes. It’s one of those games where your own imagination (not the developer’s) is the limit. Hell, you can even summon a Man-Bear-Pig to fight your enemies. However, despite the vast opportunities, they’re rarely used to their full potential. Out of the 3,000 items, you can complete the game with a few dozen, and the levels don’t challenge you to come up with something new. You can always strap wings to yourself and easily fly to where you need to be, and summon someone to kill your enemies for you. While you can get a special bonus for completing levels without using weapons or stuff like that, it’s not exactly the best use of a game with such a high concept.

Having said that, there are still over 200 levels, most of which will give you a great time, and some of which are really amazing. On top of that, the game features a level editor as well, and you can share the levels with other players online. The visuals are fairly decent considering it’s a DS game, while the music seems bland and a bit out of place. Overall, Scribblenauts is a game you should try if you own a DS, despite its issues, its originality and concept far outweigh the quirks with the game.

The Good:
Wonderful concept
Huge amount of items
Original
Tons of levels

The Bad:
Concept isn’t used to its full potential
A few control issues
Mission objects aren’t always clear
Bland soundtrack

Overall score: 8/10

Over 2 billion applications have been downloaded in over 77 countries. Astonishingly, over 19% of those apps are games, meaning there are over 19,000 different games on the platform, which definitely rivals the DS.

News comes to us from Taito who will be releasing the classic games for the BlackBerry both for $4.99 a peice. What’s better is the games feature 2 control schemes, one for the touchscreen touting BlackBerry Storm and another for use with physical button touting BlackBerrys.

via joystiq

EA Sports has recently been kind enough to give us the first video insight of their forthcoming basketball title, NBA Live 10.

As you can see from the trailer, NBA Live 10 will feature beautiful graphics, amazing physics and true-to-the-game gameplay.

Improved in this installment of FIFA are ball physics, an updated manager mode, and other gameplay improvements.

FIFA 10 will be released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, PC, Nintendo DS, PSP, N-Gage, iPhone, iPod Touch, and mobile phones. This will be the last FIFA game for the PlayStation 2.

Read (EA Sports)

Sure, Modern Warfare 2 is going to be one of the biggest console (and PC) launches to date but you didn’t think Activision would just forget about the portable market, did you? OK, good because the publisher has recently anounced that they have contracted Glu to develop a Modern Warfare 2 port for mobile phones.

There is absolutely no details on gameplay but we do know that Modern Warfare 2 will be workfor Blackberrys, the Android OS and Windows Mobile Phones when it is released towards the end of this year.

Activision must have something against Apple as they are missing out on a huge market by not releasing Modern Warfare 2 for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Read (Joystiq)

According to Sony, the battery life will remain the same as in the current PSP (PSP 3000), which offers 3 to 6 hours of gaming and 3 to 5 hours of video playback. Furthermore, the PSP Go will ditch the Memory Stick card in favor of the much smaller M2 card. Sony is also considering an attachment which will make it possible to use original PSP accessories with the PSP Go.

The PSP Go will launch this September for $250 in the US and 250 Euro in Europe.

There’s a wide range of pricing for applications on the digital distribution store; many apps are free while many others charge a mere few dollars. Some games charge more and there are some more functional apps that can cost as much as twenty to thirty dollars. The marketplace is incredibly hyped with stories of people making small fortunes on the sweat of their brow (or fingers) being talked about as if everyone’s doing it.

Unfortunately according to a successful appstore developer, it’s not exactly the gold mine everyone’s hoping for. Developer Rick Strom has several applications that are highly ranked, including one which is #34 on the social networking listing. He points out to the public that there was a general ‘race to the bottom’ as soon as the app store debuted. After all when you’re looking for a tower defense game or movie listing application, why pay five dollars when there’s one for less than a buck, or even better, completely free? Though Apple boasts incredible numbers of downloads, they haven’t said how many of those downloads are of free applications.

While there are some people making money from hard work and successful apps, Strom points out that it’s like winning the lottery: the potential is there for it to happen to anyone, but more likely you’re going to walk away disappointed.

This “leak” forced LucasArts to officially announce the game, confirming its Fall 2009 release date. The game is developed by Rebellion Software, the original developers of Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron for the PSP.

Nintendo Wii Global Software Sales:

1) Wii Sports – 45.7 million
2) Wii Play – 22.9 million
3) Wii Fit – 18.2 million
4) Mario Kart Wii – 15.4 million
5) Super Smash Bros. Brawl – 8.4 million
6) Super Mario Galaxy – 8 million
7) Mario Party 8 – 6.7 million
8 ) Link’s Crossbow Training – 3.76 million
9) Animal Crossing: Let’s Go To The City – 3.76 million
10) Wii Music – 2.65 million
11) Super Mario Stadium Baseball – 1.2 million

Nintendo DS Global Software Sales:

1) Nintendogs – 22.2 million
2) New Super Mario Bros. – 18.4 million
3) Cooking Guide – 18.4 million
4) Brain Training – 17.4 million units
5) Pokemon Diamond & Pearl – 16.8 million
6) Mario Kart DS – 14.6 million
7) More Brain Training – 13.7 million
8 ) Animal Crossing: Wild World – 10 million
9) Super Mario 64 DS – 7.5 million
10) Mario Party DS – 5.8 million
11) Pokemon Mystery Dungeon – 4.5 million
12) Pokemon Platinum – 3.7 million
13) Kirby Super Star Ultra – 2.3 million
14) Pokemon Ranger – 2 million
15) Rhythm Paradise – 1.9 million
16) Professor Layton And The Curious Village – 1.6 million

Just yesterday we heard the seemingly ridiculous rumor that Apple was prepping to buy mega-publisher Electronic Arts and now this — Word has recently gotten out that during an investor call EA announced that they were working on an extensive iPhone lineup of 30 games.

Now this may just be an attempt by EA to mend the $1 billion they lost last year or perhaps its a conspiracy between the two companies to keep their newfound alliance under wraps.

Okay I may be jumping the gun a bit but it could happen, right?

Read (Destructoid)

It was recently announced that the port of Flashback, which originally made its debut on the Amiga platform, has hit the App Store today.

Priced at $4.99 Flashback will feature everything included in the original with the addtion of intuitive touch controls. Yes, this is one of those classic sidescrollers packed with action, adventure, and guns.

Me? I’ll wait until Manomio (the game’s developer) releases a trial version of the game first.

It was recently made known that mega-mobile-publisher Gameloft has inked a deal with Sega Europe to produce mobile games based on Sega property:

“We are confident this agreement will be the first step towards a long term partnership between Gameloft and SEGA,” said Michel Guillemot, president, Gameloft. “SEGA’s great brands coupled with Gameloft’s long standing history of excellence in mobile game development can only result in an extraordinary mobile experience for consumers.”

The first game to come from the deal is Sonic Unleashed, which Gameloft is describing as a “high speed 2D side-scrolling adventure”.

Gamers will be able to choose from Sonic the Hedgehog or Werehog when this game is made available in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand in June. I wonder what other games Gameloft has cookin’.

If you’ve been dying to play your NES on the go but don’t to build your own portable device you should check out the recently announced FC Mobile II.

As you can see, the FC Mobile II looks like what you’d expect from a handheld console except it’s bundled with 2 wireless controllers and a Duck Hunt-esque light gun. So, it’s safe to say you’ll be able to connect this thing to an external monitor.

OhGizmo says the FC Mobile II is expected to ship sometime next month for a none-too-bad price of $60, I want one.

Glu Mobile has released another potential game you can add to your iPhone in the Cooking Star. Cooking Star is a deliciously fun set of mini-games where players get to tilt, touch, flick, tap and flip to cook up mouth-watering meals, master the menu, and become a Star Chef!

“Cooking Star is yet another example of Glu’s exceptional repertoire of original IP games and our emphasis on bringing a wide range of titles to the very best mobile platform and devices,” said Jill Braff, senior vice president, global publishing, Glu Mobile. “Our team has created a fun, casual game for iPhone and iPod touch users where you are encouraged to play with your food.”

Cooking Star is an original title and built specifically to take full advantage of the revolutionary features of iPhone and iPod touch, such as the accelerometer and innovative Multi-Touch user interface, to create a truly unique, fun and innovative game experience.

Game features include:

• A wide and varied set of cooking puzzles that get increasingly trickier as players progress
• The ability to master each mini-game to unlock real recipes and build their cookbook
• New fun and simple ways to cook that take full advantage of the innovative multi-touch user interface and accelerometer – flip kebabs, stir chowder, slice tofu, mix salad and more
• Regular updates as Glu adds additional gameplay and features

Cooking Star is available worldwide for $2.99 from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

(Source) Press

The first screenshot of the upcoming Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 game has been unveiled today. Lionel Messi has never looked so good in a game. He will also be the star on the box of the game. The sports title has been slapped on a tentative release date of October 23rd.

PES ‘10 will be released on the PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and mobile platforms.

You can click the image for a higher resolution shot of Messi.