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Good news for all the would-be Gullivers out there, NinjaBee has announced the first DLC for its Avatar-friendly economy sim, A Kingdom for Keflings. Two DLC packs will be releasing next week on December 9 promising several new kingdoms in which to rule over your Keflings with a giant, iron fist. Kingdom Pack 1 will contain the Orchard Kingdom and Kingdom Crossroads, while Kingdom Pack 2 houses the Central Kingdom and Relic Kingdom. All the new maps provide twists on the original kingdom, though the press release notes that the Central Kingdom is recommended for more advanced players.

NinjaBee hasn't announced a price yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we do. In the meantime, enjoy some new screens, including maps of the new kingdoms, below.

NinjaBee has revealed Ancients of Ooga will be the next title by the team behind Cloning Clyde, which was one of the few original releases on Xbox Live Arcade way back in the summer of 2006. NinjaBee teased this announcement a couple weeks ago -- not that this notification is anything more than another tease, as there's no screenshots, gameplay details or a release window for the game. At least NinjaBee had the decency to bestow a name upon the game (and some googly-eyed concept art).

John Nielson, founder of J. Kenworthy Entertainment, the studio behind Cloning Clyde, states that the team was "bombarded with requests" to clone Clyde for a sequel. Although Ooga isn't a sequel, Nielson considers it a "spiritual successor," due to Clyde's fundamental influence on the game. Maybe if we wait another two weeks NinjaBee will tease Ooga's file size ...

NinjaBee Games is continuing the process of taking over the downloadable game market, making its first second move into WiiWare by publishing Grubby Games' The Amazing Brain Train, which manages to have both indie cred (it was a 2008 PAX 10 title) and WiiWare marketability (it's a brain training game).

The Amazing Brain Train features educational minigames in five categories: Search, Planning, Spatial, Memory, and Numbers. In addition to the obvious "Test Mode" and the single-game practice mode, Brain Train has a Quest Mode that offers players "quests and epic deeds."

NinjaBee has announced no release date for The Amazing Brain Train -- being WiiWare, we probably won't have any idea until it's released. In the meantime, you can download a free demo of the PC version here.

Speaking on the Gathering of Gamer's Podcast, Ninjabee's Steve Taylor dropped a few hints about the company's upcoming Xbox Live Arcade project. In addition to an update and DLC for A Kingdom for Keflings, Taylor says Ninjabee is working on a game created by the same team that was behind Cloning Clyde, one of XBLA's earliest original titles. While he doesn't give specific details about the project, Taylor does say that "It's more of a spiritual successor to Cloning Clyde" than any other game Ninjabee is working on. Furthermore, the game will have the same designer and creative director, John Nielson.

According to Taylor, an official announcement should be made "hopefully, within a month."

[Thanks, jonathan]

It appears that a disc compilation of NinjaBee's Xbox 360 DLC games is in the works for this fall. The NinjaBee Critic's Choice Collection announcement comes courtesy of a GameFly post which, if history serves us properly, are typically not speculative. The only thing that may be buzzing in our ear as bee-ing iffy is the release date of October 15.

We've contacted NinjaBee for confirmation, but were told that it couldn't provide us any information at this time. Although we're unaware of what games would be on the disc, NinjaBee's titles include: Outpost Kaloki, A Kingdom for Keflings, Cloning Clyde, Band of Bugs and many more. We're leaving the hive door open if the company wants to give us the buzz.

Update: Officially, the company stated it does not comment on rumor and speculation; we were also told to "watch carefully for an upcoming announcement." But, when explaining the company's philosophy, a representative said, "If we were to do something like that, we would want to pack as much as we can onto a disc ... we'd want to offer a good value there."

[Thanks, Chris S.]

So, remember how NinjaBee teased us with fireball-tossing Avatars last week? It turns out that the developer isn't creating a brand new Avatar game after all. Instead, NinjaBee is adding Avatar support to its turn-based strategy game, Band of Bugs. Yeah, it's not as exciting as the Avatar fighting game of our dreams, but it might be enough to make us blow the digital dust off of the XBLA title. Players will be able to use their Avatars in both the single-player campaign and in Spider Hunter multiplayer mode. The Avatar support will be coming as a free update on July 8.

In addition to Avatar support, NinjaBee is also set release an entirely new campaign for Band of Bugs entitled Tales of Kaloki, though it's very different from traditional DLC. Instead of simply expanding Band of Bugs, Tales of Kaloki actually plays like an entirely new game set in a different universe with different characters. Rather than pitting bugs against one another, players will control spaceships -- which utilize new weapons and abilities -- and try to blast their enemies out of the sky. And, judging from the above image, you can also wreak urban havoc with your Avatar.

As the title implies, Tales of Kaloki is based on another NinjaBee XBLA game, Outpost Kaloki X. The DLC will be available July 8 for 240 ($3). NinjaBee will also be releasing a Band of Bugs dashboard theme on the same day for the same price.

Check out screens of Tales of Kaloki and Avatars in Band of Bugs in the galleries below.

Now, NinjaBee, seriously ... about that fighting game ....

Here's an interesting one. Ninjabee, creator of some of the better XBLA games out there (Cloning Clyde, A Kingdom for Keflings) recently posted a somewhat cryptic Twitter message. The tweet reads simply, "Here's the big news for the day: Ever wanted to throw a fireball with your Avatar?" The message is followed by a link leading to the image above, with the somewhat less cryptic message, "Soon you'll be able to use your Avatar in ways it hasn't been used before..."

First, the obvious answer to the question is a hearty "yes." We want our Avatars to do a lot of things, including some of the things they aren't allowed to do. Second, just what is this message all about? Dare we hope that Ninjabee is working up some kind of Avatar fighting game, perhaps in the manic style of Super Smash Bros. or possibly, dream of dreams, Power Stone? We've reached out to Ninjabee and will let you know as soon as we hear more.

In the meantime ... speculate.

This week on XBLA in Brief, we take Dash of Destruction for a spin. As you've no doubt heard by now, Dash of Destruction is available for free on Xbox Live Arcade. The reason: it's a sponsored game that was primarily created to help sell Doritos. No seriously, you can see the word Doritos right there on the title screen. So, how does Dash of Destruction stack up to that other free advertising game on XBLA? Watch the latest episode to find out.

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Today is the day, folks. Today is the day that Xbox Live Arcade receives the Doritos sponsored Dash of Destruction. Seeing as the game is essentially a glorified advertisement for delicious, yummy Doritos, it's available completely free of charge. Now, we know what you're thinking, the last time a free advergame hit XBLA, well, it was Yaris. Will Dash of Destruction go down the same path of utter and complete mediocrity? With Ninjabee -- one of the better XBLA studios out there -- maybe, just maybe there's hope.

Download Dash of Destruction from Xbox Live Marketplace.

If this looks like a game that should be free, well, it's because it is free. The game, you may recall, is Dash of Destruction, the winner of last year's Xbox Live Arcade Doritos promotion. After a year and change in the hands of developer NinjaBee, tasked with the rather expensive Flash-to-XBLA conversion (it costs your credibility, you know), the "game" is regrettably here. Unfortunately for NinjaBee, thirteen months of stalling was not enough time for the higher power to forget. See what happens when you bet your soul? And lose.

Thankfully, continuing in the proud tradition of Yaris (R.I.P.), Dash of Destruction will be offered to us for exactly 0. This one's on Doritos -- muchas gracias little golden ones!

Last week, Microsoft announced that Ninjabee's upcoming city builder A Kingdom for Keflings will be the first Xbox 360 game to allow players to play as their own Avatar. We spoke with Ninjabee following the announcement and now we have some exclusive new screens and a new trailer showcasing Avatars in A Kingdom for Keflings. Whether you decide to help your Keflings construct their village or just punt them like footballs is up to you. Somehow, we imagine the former is more likely to get your Keflings to dance at your feet, though. Check out the new trailer embedded above and the new screens in the gallery below.

Also, Ninjabee's logo, the ninja bee, needs his own game. Period.

Microsoft is ushering in the New Xbox Experience with A Kingdom for Keflings, the first Xbox 360 title to feature playable, in-game Avatars -- as GIANTS, no less. Developed by NinjaBee, who teased the game in June, the city-building sim supports 4-player Xbox Live multiplayer and "works perfectly with Xbox Live Party" (we should hope so!). While you can carry and assign jobs to Keflings (uh, the game's tiny, humanoid slaves), we have yet to confirm the ability to use Keflings to poke out other Avatars' eyes. But what an experience that would be!

A Kingdom for Keflings can be yours -- and your Avatar's -- for 800 ($10) when it hits Xbox Live Arcade on November 19th.

After receiving a not so informative announcement video, then receiving a much more informative gameplay video, NinjaBee has finally lifted the announcement curtains on their latest XBLA project, A Kingdom for Keflings. Including some screenshot love too!

A Kingdom for Keflings is a city building simulator where you'll play a giant who builds, designs and constructs a city all in an effort to attract the much tinier Kefling population to live in. And with all kinds of customization options, different seasons to experience and four player Xbox Live co-op gameplay, A Kingdom for Keflings sounds like another NinjaBee hit ninja-hit. Press release after the break and a few screenshots below.

Developer and XBLA evangelist Ninjabee, known for such titles as Outpost Kaloki X and last summer's Band of Bugs, has announced its latest project in comedic fashion, though judging from the video above we're unsure if we should be laughing or mortified. Perhaps a little of both, as we see Ninjabee's Shawn Boyles go from mild mannered artist to vicious murderer thanks to the industrious, if annoying efforts of unseen workers known as Keflings, stars of Ninjabee's upcoming fall XBLA release A Kingdom for Keflings.

Little is known about the game beyond that it will focus on city-building, and will feature "fun and light-hearted gameplay with graphics and original music to match," no doubt creating the perfect atmosphere for stapler-related homicide. Or is that Keflicide?