Round-Up: Marble Blast 360-ed, Konami's 2006 Lineup, Taylor Wins Poker Tourney

Today's round-up includes news on the latest Xbox 360 Live Arcade addition, new information on Konami's 2006 line-up, and the lucky winner of the ESC's UK game charity's poker showdown, as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts and today's product news and Gamasutra job postings. - After being initially announced last year, GarageGames' Marble Blast Ultra has now been made available on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 for 800 gamer points ($10). "Multiplayer functionality and HD graphics represent an amazing evolution in the Marble Blast franchise, and unveiling Marble Blast Ultra alongside the launch of Xbox 360 is a historic moment for GarageGames and independent game developers," said GarageGames president Mark Frohnmayer. "We hope Xbox 360 users have as much fun playing Marble Blast Ultra as we have." - Konami unveiled a few new titles in addition to providing updates on its previously announced games at its annual Gamers' Day in San Francisco. Though its next-generation offerings were limited to the Xbox 360's Rumble Roses XX, it did provide updates on Suikoden V (PS2), Gradius Collection (PSP), Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2), World Soccer: Winning Eleven 9 (PS2), Street Supremacy (PSP), and Metal Gear Ac!d 2 (PSP). New games announced were Karaoke Revolution Country for PS2 and Tao's Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal, an action RPG for Nintendo DS, and Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA, a new DDR for arcades. Finally, the company announced some unusual non-game content in the form of Metal Gear Solid Saga vol. 1, a documentary DVD on the making of Metal Gear, as well as two new "interactive comics," one for Silent Hill and one for Metal Gear Solid. - Bastion business developer Nigel Taylor was the overall winner in the Entertainment Software Charity/MCV Industry Poker Tournament, a special charity gathering of UK gaming industry poker enthusiasts held at the Gutshot Poker Club in Farringdon. 100 players enrolled in the tournament, the proceeds of which were donated to the ESC's charities. "This fundraising initiative is yet another example of the computer and video game industry's commitment to back worthwhile charities," said Take 2 marketing director Sarah Seaby, "and it's been a pleasure to be a part of what looks like being an ongoing event." - The latest posts on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include news of Animal Crossing: Wild World being hit by the plague(!), the Australian virtual pinball craze hitting America, some new software for the long-dead, uber-obscure NUON console and a comprehensive collection of every Nintendo DS system variation. -Also posted today: product news featuring Kynogon's Kynapse Technology for the PlayStation 3, as well as the latest Gamasutra job postings, featuring positions from Sony Computer Entertainment America, Activision / Treyarch, Flying Lab Software, USC Game Innovation Lab, LucasArts and NovaLogic.