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It looks like we get more than the previously announced Alien Breed Evolution on XBLA this week, as Major Nelson has revealed that it will be joined by Puzzlegeddon from Tecmo. Despite its apocalyptic name, Puzzlegeddon sports an entirely cheery disposition, complete with lots of bright colors and bubbly music. The PC version previously received some decent reviews, and we've certainly been roped in by cute puzzle games in the past.

Alien Breed Evolution and Puzzlegeddon will run you 800 ($10) apiece.

Having already dated the timed-exclusive XBLA debut of Alien Breed Evolution -- it will land on December 16 -- Team17 has told GamerZines when PC and PS3 owners can expect the game. According to Team17's Mark Baldwin, Alien Breed Evolution will hit PCs sometime in the first quarter of 2009, while the PS3 version will arrive in the second quarter. Elaborating, Baldwin said the PC version should be available "sometime before March." Meanwhile, PS3 owners "will have to wait as long as perhaps June."

Team17 has previously stated that exclusivity is "just the way the world works," noting that Microsoft had a lot of early faith in the title. At least three to six months' worth of faith.

Team17 has announced that the first episode of its upcoming shooter, Alien Breed Evolution, will arrive on Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday, December 16. The first of three planned episodes, the game will offer both single-player and co-op play. Team17 revealed earlier this year that each episode would contain a prologue and five full levels, lasting roughly five to eight hours altogether. Each episode will also include a cooperative battle mode. The first episode has been priced at 800 ($10).

Check out a new trailer above, new screens below, and episode one videos after the break.

We've all felt the pain of pressing the jump button a second time just barely too late in a game of Worms 2, sending a brave worm soldier free falling off the side of a mountain or, worse yet, into the watery depths below. Recognizing that the game might have some issues – and rather than simply calling us "newbs" like most people do – Worms 2 developers Team17 have just released a patch aimed at ailing all that is wrong with the adorable multiplayer strategy games.

Listing everything from "Back flip input slowed down to stop incorrect jumps harming the player" to "Fixed bug which made crates in Forts matches only land on the right hand side," as well as a slurry of other fixes, Team17 seems to have given the nearly five-month-old release a full overhaul. An overhaul that'll perhaps feel all the more worthwhile when the developers make good on next year's DLC for the game. In the meantime, we'll be over here waiting for you with a Buffalo of Lies.

[Via CVG]

At the Eurogamer Expo -- in Europe! -- Team17 has revealed its plans for the episodic structure of its upcoming downloadable title, Alien Breed Evolution. It was previously revealed that the game would be released in three separate episodes, and now Team17's John Dennis explains that each episode will contain a prologue and five levels that are "much larger than they should have been." In addition, each episode contains two major "set pieces" -- large scripted events -- as well as two boss battles and a multiplayer level. Each episode should last five to eight hours.

The first episode of Alien Breed Evoluation should release fairly soon, as it was originally slated for "around October." The XBLA version will enjoy an unknown period of exclusivity before the PSN and PC versions are released.

"I appreciate PS3 owners getting pissed off because it's not on their platform immediately, but that's up to Sony I guess to address that," Team17 studio head Martyn Brown said in a recent interview with VideoGamer.com. According to Brown, exclusivity is just a fact of life. "People on Live Arcade can't play Super Stardust [HD] or PAIN or a bunch of titles ... it's just the way the world works really." he added. Addressing concerns that his company was paid off by Microsoft for the timed exclusivity of Alien Breed Evolution on XBLA, Brown answered ... "bollocks" (British for "nonsense"). Instead, Brown credited the exclusivity deal to "early faith" from the publisher.

Specifically, Brown stated, "In exchange for exclusivity we get a lot more promotion ... it isn't the case of here's some cash in a suitcase, It just doesn't work like that -- It would be nice if it did!" No suitcases full of bank notes, Mr. Brown? Oh, that's right, GTA IV's exclusive DLC used up all of Microsoft's petty cash for a bit. Sorry, guy!

Speaking at the Develop Conference in Brighton, England today, Team17 leader Martyn Brown described his studio's forthcoming digital release, Alien Breed Evolution, as a trilogy -- "one of the most expensive digital titles to-date," too -- according to GamesIndustry.biz. Said to be costing in the realm of $2.5 million to develop, Team17's Unreal remake of its Amiga shooter will be distributed in three parts, spanning an estimated 15 hours of gameplay. The first "episode" will include three, one-hour levels and an additional three-hour, co-op scenario, and is scheduled to hatch on Xbox Live Arcade around October and destined for PSN at a later date, confirmed VG247.

The underlying message of Brown's presentation, titled "10 Things Nobody Tells You About Digital Distribution and Self-publishing That You Must Understand to Succeed," seemed to be one of caution, as summarized by Gamasutra. Brown dispelled much of the get-rich-quick myth of independent, digital development -- and publishing. Sure, one in a billion basement programmers might strike gold, but to enjoy lasting success, as Team17 has for nearly two decades, expect to spend money to make money and employ a staff with a "wide variety of skills" (a team of 30 or so is currently working on Alien Breed, for example). Brown warned, "if you don't know something, get someone who does, because you will not be able to wing it."

Update: It's coming to PC too.

Source - Alien Breed trilogy cost $2.5 million to make
Source - Alien Breed trilogy: PS3 version coming later
Source - Develop 2009: Team17's Brown Talks Challenges Of Self-Publishing Online

Another twofer this week, as XBLA adds a fighting game and a turn-based strategy game to its ever-growing ranks. From SNK's huge library of fighting games, we have King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match. The XBLA version includes online play and will set you back 800 ($10). Meanwhile, Team17 has dropped the sequel to the XBLA version of Worms, which is titled, appropriately enough, Worms 2: Armageddon. The game brings lots of new features to the table -- as well as some old favorites -- and also costs 800 ($10).

Watch the latest episode of XBLA in Brief and see which one is screaming for your hard-earned cash.

Download the trial version of King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match
Download the trial version of Worms 2: Armageddon

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Just shy of its official release on Xbox Live Arcade, Team17 has dropped plenty of details and a big ol' pile of screens for Worms 2 Armageddon, out tomorrow for 800 ($10). First up, there are lots of new weapons in Worms 2, some of them are brand new, while others are returning favorites from other installments in the series. Fans will be happy to know that the Concrete Donkey is back (as is his nemesis, the Buffalo of Lies[?]). The game also includes bunker buster bombs which, true to their name, are used to take out cowardly worms that have burrowed deep, deep out of harm's way.

As we've mentioned before, the game also brings persistent fire, which is utilized in weapons like napalm and the petrol bomb. The game includes a handful of new modes too, such as Fort Mode -- which sets each team's worms in opposing bases instead of placing them randomly -- and Rope Race Mode. Another addition that might not sound too sexy but, trust us, it's important: Host migration for network play. The game also introduces vertical levels, which are tall and narrow, as opposed to the traditional wide levels.

All in all, it sounds like Worms 2 Armageddon is packing plenty of punch. Check out new screens in the gallery below and two trailers after the break.

A video posted over at Pocket Gamer seems to show off a very early build of Worms for the iPhone. The video is pretty brief, though it still manages to impress us through some slick visuals and competent controls. Whether or not this is real, know that we want it to be real.

We've put in word to both Team17 and EA's mobile division (which was rumored to have acquired the license). EA got back to us to say that the company "does not comment on rumor and speculation." While we wait on Team17, you can head past the break and watch poor Harlequin catch a rocket to the face.

Update: We've spoken with a source at Team17 that has confirmed the video past the break is authentic and something the team produced in-house, choosing to sneakily unload it onto the 'nets, rather than send Joystiq a press release. Our contact said that Team17 has actually moved to self-publish games in the digital distribution space, so it no longer needs to rely on partners get its products out there. So, in short: Worms on the iPhone is real, Team17 is doing everything, and there isn't any planned release date as of right now.

One might usually think of bunnies or egg hunts when it comes to Easter; however, this year you'll be thinking of Worms. We're talking about the turn-based combat title from Team17 Software. Worms will be heading over to European PSN stores on Easter Sunday (April 12).

The game is already out in the US and can be bought for $12.99. The European version will be similarly priced at £7.99/€9.99.

No longer slave to its garden variety artillery game, Team17 has pledged to revisit its classic Amiga series, Alien Breed, based on the popular Alien film franchise a totally original idea. The upcoming sequel (or perhaps remake) was confirmed with a new logo, above, first posted on videogaming247. Late last month, Spong published an exchange with studio head Martyn Brown, which indicates that Alien Breed will be a self-published, downloadable title. We're speculating that Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, and PC are the likely targets, with WiiWare a distant possibility. "We're doing it with a budget far in excess of anything that has been spent anywhere on a digital title to date," Brown reportedly said. Alien (the New) Breed is expected for release within the next 12 months.

Worms: A Space Oddity for Wii will not include online multiplayer like developer Team17 had previously announced. ShackNews confirmed the info with THQ and the publisher put some great spin on the situation saying, "Worms: A Space Oddity is a social gaming experience that is best enjoyed locally, in a party-game atmosphere with other players."

Take that online-enabled Worms Open Warfare 2 on DS and PSP! Hey, Worms on XBLA -- online play is so last-gen! So go find yourself some real life friends and enjoy Worms: A Space Oddity on Wii in March.

We love us some Worms, particularly those of the superior 2D variety, so news that the Wii would be getting its very own title dedicated to the soft-bodied invertebrates raised spirits somewhat in the NWF dungeons.

These new shots of Worms: A Space Oddity follow up from October's lone trailer (which you can view after the post break), and certainly live up to the "Space " bit in the title; those green worms look reassuringly Martian. All being well, the antagonistic annelids should be touching down on Earth around next March, though considering its cheapness on PC and Xbox Live Arcade, anyone else think a budget price might be in order here?

Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.

War is a terrible thing -- a malignant disease, as novelist Martha Gellhorn once put it -- but in our boyhood years, we reveled in anything that approximated the battles and bloodshed. When we weren't drafting our G.I. Joes into military service, we were conducting mock battles with our friends (pew pew) or drawing preposterous weapons with a wide array of arbitrary lasers, scopes, and barrels.

This week's edition of Promotional Consideration takes a look at several playful commercials for three war-themed Nintendo DS games. Though war can be hell, you wouldn't know it from how these titles are advertised! Grab your rifle and report for duty past the post break.