[Gamasutra rounds up the week's biggest news for the major console and portable digital delivery services, this time highlighting news about Gotham City Imposters and Awesomenauts.]
This week we've seen a set of interesting announcements, such as the reveal of
Gotham City Imposters, a first person Batman game, and the cartoony styling of
Awesomenauts by Ronimo Games, as well as numerous leaks -- including
Crimson Alliance and
Tetris Party. We've also seen the first trailers for WiiWare racer
FAST and the
Diddy Kong Racing-style flying of
SkyDrift.
All in all, it's made the weeks up to the Electronic Entertainment Expo all the more difficult.
Top Stories
In-Depth: Xbox Live Arcade Sales Analysis, April 2011 (XBLA)
April was a strong month for Xbox Live Arcade with some of the best reviewed games we’ve seen on the service. Ubisoft showed its hand with the release of both
Outland and
Might & Magic: Clash Of Heroes, while EA and THQ released their own unique titles.
We also saw the release of
Section 8: Prejudice, an attempt by a studio to bring a full retail release to the downloadable market.
We take a look at the Leaderboard statistics from all the new titles from April 2011, keep tabs on some downloadable content that made itself available on the marketplace, and see how deals affect the marketplace in terms of sales, when over 20 titles got discounts during the month.
For the full article, follow this link.
Gotham City Imposters Announced (XBLA / PSN)
So how does one make a Batman multiplayer game without everyone being Batman? Monolith Studios's answer is to make them imposters, and you'll be doing so with
Gotham City Imposters later this year.
The story, which inspired its own
Batman comic storyline, features a 4-on-4 first person shooter in which you customize your own civillian in a Batman costume with the goal of beating the other team of custom "Jokerz", who plan to wreak havoc.
"Monolith is creating a game that turns Gotham City upside down, and we think fans are going to have a blast with this creative twist on multiplayer heroism and anti-heroism as they play up the classic rivalry between Batman and The Joker," said Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's Samantha Ryan.
This title has quite a bit of oddities going for it -- it's got a cartoony look, you'll be (we assume) shooting guns as a Batman-like character, and also it's class based 4-on-4 combat.
Ratings Reveal: Kinect Me, Fusion: Genesis, and Crimson Alliance Coming To Xbox 360 (XBLA)
What can we expect from Microsoft this upcoming E3?
These latest ratings from the Australian Classification Board might give us an idea.
Monster World IV, More Sega Classics Coming To Digital Download (XBLA / PSN / Virtual Console)
Sega has revealed that it will continues it Sega Vintage Collection with a few new titles coming to the PlayStation Network and Virtual Console.
These titles include
Monster World IV (Genesis),
Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Arcade version),
Revenge of Shinobi (Genesis),
Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System) and
Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis/Mega Drive). This will mark the first Master System title to come to the PlayStation Network, and will join the more recent additions like
Sonic 1 and
Sonic 2 for the Genesis.
The most interesting of the lot is
Monster World IV, which was never released outside of Japan. This new version will feature a complete translation into English.
While there has been no announcement of more games coming to the Xbox Live Arcade,
Monster World IV has been rated on the ESRB for the system, so we expect it might come at some point.
Awesomenauts: Swords & Soldiers Dev Reveal New XBLA, PSN Game (XBLA / PSN)
The Dutch indie developer's next title
Awesomenauts plans to mix classic platforming-action with modern online multiplayer functionality.
Interview: Anamanaguchi's Guide to Scott Pilgrim: The Game's Soundtrack (XBLA / PSN)
In this interview, chiptune band Anamanaguchi discusses its soundtrack contribution to Ubisoft's Scott Pilgrim game, discussing its influences and its development process.
Zombie BBQ Dev's 99Bullets Out Now for DSiWare (DSiWare)
EnjoyUp Games (developer of the excellently-named
Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ) has a new game out for DSiWare this week: the retro-styled
vertically scrolling shooter 99Bullets.
Ratings Reveal: Tetris Party Challenge, Googly Eyes For Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA)
The Australian Classification Board is breaking at the seems apparently, with the titles of
two new Xbox Live Arcade games revealed.
Top Trailers
SkyDrift Flies To Consoles (XBLA / PSN)
Hungarian developer Digital Reality and Namco have
revealed a new racing game for the XBLA and PSN --
SkyDrift, in which you fight for the skies, rather than the roads.
Just the trailer itself brings back memories of
Diddy Kong Racing's flight levels, plus it looks extremely good.
Renegade Ops -- Official Gameplay Trailer (XBLA / PSN)
This new trailer shows off much more combat than the teaser, demonstrating the beautiful locales, as well as some missions flying a helicopter, which will just make you want a new
Strike game even more.
Shin'en's FAST: Racing League Speeds to WiiWare (WiiWare)
German studio Shin'en wowed WiiWare audiences last year with
Jett Rocket, but the studio has one-upped itself
with its latest title:
FAST: Racing League. 
