If you've been able to make it out to any of the i am 8-bit exhibitions in the past, then you've seen some incredibly cool artwork from the 8-bit movement. If you haven't, then just check out the scads of pictures from their past two shows, or pick up their book featuring high-quality photos of the pieces.

If you're in the Los Angeles area from August 14th through September 7th, then stop by the World of Wonder storefront gallery at 6650 Hollywood Blvd. They're having an opening night party, and we'll be on hand to get plenty of pictures of the new art to pass along like we did last time. Hopefully, we'll have more Evil Mario this year.

Some would say Geometry Wars Retro Evolved was Xbox 360's best launch game -- it beat early hyped games like Perfect Dark Zero, Call of Duty 2, and Kameo to win the heart of 360 early adopters, despite the fact that it was 2D and a cheap XBLA version of a game that had previously been included with Project Gotham Racing 2. It held the record for a long time as the system's most-downloaded game, and that title was well-deserved, considering that a lot of $60 games haven't held a candle to the kind of frantic fun you can find pushing that little red ship around the board.

Now Bizarre Creations is attempting to follow up with Geometry Wars 2, and after our playthrough at E3, we're sold. Not only has the developer filled out the game with multiplayer and co-op modes, but Bizarre has figured out a way to make the super simple, yet extremely fun gameplay go deeper than ever before.

Scott Austin, Microsoft Director of Digitally Distributed Games, tells us that there are talks in progress with "a potential partner who has lots of board game IP." He says that XBLA's boardgames are considered evergreen content by Microsoft -- games like Catan and Carcassone sell well all the time -- and that Microsoft is definitely looking to include more traditional board games in the Arcade. They expect the same kind of evergreen popularity for their Xbox Live Primetime service, which will combine online gaming on XBL with a television-style format.

We asked Austin if the potential partner in question was a maker of more complex board games -- a D&D-esque board game like BattleLore or Runebound would likely work very well on Xbox Live -- but he was not forthcoming. For all we know a deal is being struck with a more traditional board game maker like Parker Brothers. Either way, fans of board games on Xbox Live will definitely have more to look forward to.

Update: The relationship between potential board game content and the Xbox Live Primetime service was clarified.

Uno Rush has been confirmed for release on Xbox Live later this year. No details on what the game is yet, but we hear that you'll be able to win actual, real-life prizes while playing it, including possibly Xbox accessories, Microsoft Points, or even other games.

We'll keep an eye on anything else we can find out about it -- if old school Uno isn't giving you a Wild Card Draw Four lately, keep an eye out for Rush.

As if we didn't already have enough ways to purchase Joust, Midway has launched the "Midway Arcade," which offers just as much quarter-pumping excitement as the name implies. The online store -- really, it's just a store -- features 14 ancients for purchase and download in preset bundles, along with, oddly enough, $5 PC versions of select games from Midway's TouchMaster compilation for DS. Midway's also selling some of its contemporary efforts -- in another location -- for direct download to PC, highlighted by titles like Unreal Tournament 3 and ... what's this? Midway Arcade Treasures! That's right, today alone, we've got two new ways to own Joust. You know, just in case.

The full list of releases is posted after the break.

Capcom's World War II shoot-em-up 1942: Joint Strike is set to launch the week after E3, July 23 for Xbox Live Arcade and the day after for PlayStation Network. It will cost 800 MS points (US $10), according to a press release. The game is yet another HD remake for Capcom, after giving similar treatment to Super Puzzle Fighter II and Super Super Street Fighter II.

Developer Backbone Entertainment went the extra mile, however, in creating new backdrops, levels and enemies. The game features a new score by frequent Metal Gear Solid contributor Norihiko Hibino. What hasn't changed? It's still a shoot-em-up, so for better or worse, you know exactly what to expect.

Capcom's Seth Killian has posted a friendly note for fighting fans on the official Capcom blog, reminding us that Street Fighter IV begins hitting Japanese arcades the week of July 21. Not all that helpful for those of stuck in the States. Thankfully, "S-KILL" also has the lowdown on where and when the general public can experience the game for themselves on this side of the Pacific.

The final coin-op version of SFIV will be playable July 24-27 at San Diego Comic-Con and at the Evolution 2008 fighting game competition finals in Las Vegas from August 8-10. As an added bonus for EVO 2008 attendees, Capcom will have the latest build of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix on hand as well.

It's hard to believe that a quarter-century has passed since the first LaserDisc-based arcade game from former Disney animator Don Bluth hit arcades. Dragon's Lair's use of hand-drawn animation set it apart from anything else at the time, and despite its simple trial-and-error gameplay, the game was a hit.

Digital Leisure, which has worked with Bluth to deliver countless home versions of Dragon's Lair, is offering a treat to fans of the classic for one week only. Anyone who purchases the DVD, PC, or Blu-ray Disc version from its online shop can have their copy signed by Bluth, designer Rick Dyer, and animators Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy. We highly recommend the BD version, which plays exactly like the original coin-op and runs in full 1080p. The company is also offering signed Dragon's Lair "lobby posters" for $80 a pop. Lead on, brave adventurers – your memorabilia awaits!

In our quest to familiarize ourselves with the laws of nature (and subsequently defy them), this week we're going to share at least five abominations, one each day, that we've concocted in Spore Creature Creator. You can keep track of this our progress via our various profile pages:

• Justin McElroy
• Ross Miller
• Randy Nelson
• Alexander Sliwinski
• Kevin Kelly

For the final day, we tried to commit ourselves to pulling out all the stops, but a very long day of blogging left us with some epic failures that will never see the light of day (e.g. Big Bird). We do feel, however, that we have a much better understanding of Spore's limitations. (You can read about them in our gallery.) You can see all the creatures from the week starting here. Each page contains a link to the creature's respective Sporepedia page where you can download and edit our work.


Put your skills to the test and win some gear. BigDownload is offering BigPrizes to see your Spore creations.

Is 2D gaming headed for life support status? Last year Castlevania main man Koji Igarashi was vehement in his declaration that 2D games would never die. In fact, he felt so strongly about it that he had to use a PowerPoint slide to illustrate just how he felt about the issue. All the time and effort that went into making that graphic signifies a serious lust for all things 2D.

Well, a lot can change in a year. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Iga said, "I'm glad that 2D is still somewhat alive. It's been fun." That almost sounds like a death knell. Say it ain't so, you whip-carrying developer! His argument last year was that it's much cheaper to develop 2D games when you don't have to render things in 3D, but that seems to be the equivalent of saying it's cheaper to ride a horse because it's not as expensive as a car. People want to go quite a bit faster than the horse will allow, and likewise with their games. Still, we're praying 2D gaming hasn't started to cough up blood just yet. Keep hope alive!

[Via DS Fanboy]

We've got a Street Fighter IV media dump from Captivate 08 and it's coming in two delicious flavors. For those who like your promotional materials a little bit artier, we've got the above trailer featuring a battle between Guile and Abel captured in moving, painted sand.

If you like things to be a bit more "you are there," we've got some shaky-cam videos of real people really playing real SF IV cabinets just after the break. Check both of them totally out.

Although Microsoft has yet to make a formal announcement about any games that fall into the company's new delisting policy for games on Xbox Live Arcade, we do know the criteria for titles in danger (six months old, 65 or less Metacritic score, less than 6% buy the game after trying the demo). There's no way of knowing what games have less than 6% adoption rate, but we do know what games are old and poorly reviewed.

We've revisted every single XBLA title on the chopping block (the demos, at least) to give quick impressions on the rogue's gallery of titles. Find out which games were the best of the worst and, well, worst of the worst. Meet the games who may be evicted from XBLA by hitting that fancy button above. Or don't ... don't press the button!

Vote: Your pick for best of the XBLA chopping block, and also the worst of the XBLA chopping block. (Update: The results are in.)

According to Nintendo of America's senior director of project development, Tom Prata, there are currently over 100 WiiWare titles in various stages of development. Speaking with IGN, Prata says there were no first-party titles for the WiiWare launch because the company wanted to showcase the diversity of WiiWare developers, from large publishers, like Square Enix, to smaller and indie developers.

The interview is actually more noteworthy for the lack of information Prata gave to some direct questions. He dodges whether there will be a hard drive in the near future for the Wii, or if Nintendo plans to lift the alleged 43MB size limit for WiiWare titles. He also wouldn't discuss which WiiWare titles have been the most popular. Prata did say, however, that consumers shouldn't hold their breath for WiiWare demos to become standard with available titles.

The font of incredible trailers continues to pour from the bounteous spigot of CAPtivate '08 -- the above trailer for Street Fighter IV went live rather subtly last night, only to deliver a patented E. Honda "thousand hand bitch slap" to our unprepared senses this Sunday morning. It even includes one of our favorite songs to sing from Rock Band: Faith No More's "Epic". We don't know why seeing Blanka go all sparky to the disjointed vocals of Mike Patton gets us so hyped, but our excitement for the revivification of what many would argue is the greatest arcade fighting series ever has just increased tenfold.

However, it should be noted that depending on your feelings towards Gamestop and their pre-order policies, you may view the last seven seconds of this righteous trailer as being decidedly un-epic.