We've been covering Schizoid, the first home-grown XNA game to hit XBLA, since this time last year. Now it's finally blasting bumping its way onto the Marketplace, unique gameplay mechanic in tow. Priced at 800 MS points ($10), the game is entirely co-op centric, tasking players with ramming their ship (or ships, should they feel up to the dual-ship-controlling "Überschizoid" mode's challenge) into enemies of the same color. Play with another Live user or let the CPU control ship two.

Super Stardust HD developer Housemarque brings Golf: Tee It Up! to XBLA ... and an incredible likeness to Sony's Hot Shots Golf franchise to mind. Endless rounds of this golf game for beginners and seasoned vets alike (dare we say it's "golf for everyone"?) will set you back 800 MS points ($10).

OK, so not so much a surprise on the XBLA front this week, since we brought you the rumor last week that Soulcalibur would likely be released soon on the service. (It'll be there this Wednesday for 800 points [$10]). But hey, Schizoid wasn't released like we thought it would be, so that's kind of a surprise, right? Not like, a great one, but a surprise all the same.

In other surprises that won't necessarily have you vibrating with glee, Wits and Wagers will be getting 280 new questions this week for 320 MS points ($4). In case, you know, you played it so many times that you ran out of questions.

"Spiel des jahres" 2004, Zug um Zug Ticket to Ride, is laying tracks and will be ready to pick up passengers from Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday. The game is the debut title from Vancouver-based Playful Entertainment and will cost 800 MS Points ($10). Ticket to Ride joins other German board-to-digital leapers, Catan and Carcassonne.

Also arriving this week is Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm, which aims to deliver ten levels of action-puzzle ultra violence. Happy Tree Friends costs 800 MS Points ($10) and is rated "M," obviously. Ticket to Ride is rated "E," by the way, unless you use the Vision cam ... then an "AO" happening is never far behind.

Frozen Codebase, the developer of one of XBLA's worst-reviewed (and likely soon to be delisted) titles, Screwjumper, is back this week, begging for forgiveness in the form of Elements of Destruction. (Our condolences to all two of you who were eagerly awaiting a Screwjumper 2.) The dev's sophomore effort has players unleashing earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disaster nastiness as someone who paid 800 MS points for Screwjumper a mad scientist. It runs 800 MS points ($10), but remember these two words: trial version.

Moving on, Sierra Online has some family fare on tap in the form of Sea Life Safari. Although other underwater exploration games have surfaced this generation, Sierra's toe-in-the-pool effort looks to be on the shallow end if you're any kind of serious gamer. The game lets kids and their parents poke around under the waves and snap photos of what they find. It's another 800 MS point ($10) release, but, given how basic it seems, we're not quite sure how many folks are going to like the tuna that.

http://www.joystiq.com/photos/sea-life-safari-xbla/


http://www.joystiq.com/photos/elements-of-destruction/

Xbox Live Arcade, ever the service to indulge the inner omni-directional shooter fan we all obviously have, is getting another dose of run-one-direction-while-shooting-in-another this week – with an extra-special added bonus. Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 (800 MS points) is just one of several Capcom retro resurrections hitting Live this year and provides a highly stylized new take (with three-player coop) on the arcade classics Commando and Mercs. Of course, that added bonus we spoke of is a "golden ticket" into the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix beta, which will be available for download on June 25 to anyone who purchases Commando 3. Is that a deal anyone can pass up, Ryu? "Sho-you-can't!"

Wolves (or shooting) not your thing? Voltex (the developer, not a Ukranian pop star) has you covered in ah-dorable little frogs this week with Frogger 2 (800 MS points). This spiritual successor to the coin-op classic (also available on XBLA) features new levels, new artwork, and what no XBL game can be without: a co-op mode (for up to four players, in this case). This release should at least make the parents of young'ns hoppy.

It's not often we read a press release lauding a game for "[updating] the square peg in round hole premise to a whole new level," but that's just how Roogoo is described. You can find out for yourself this Wednesday, either through the demo or by plopping down a virtual Alexander Hamilton (800 MS points).

Also coming this Wednesday (and also for 800 MS points) is Aces of the Galaxy, which looks to be a frenetic on-rails space shooter for those who haven't gotten their space shooter fills with Ikaruga. Both titles will be available this Wednesday, June 4 at 4:00 a.m. Joystiq Standard Time.

It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that six months from now Warlords will be plenty eligible for delisting. Let's just say that deathmatches have come along way since 1980. But if you choose to respectfully disagree, you can pledge your feeble support to give this Atari classic a permanent home in the XBLA catalog by plunking down a five-spot (400 Microsoft Points). Just remember, some games are better left to memory -- and paddle controllers!

As for Buku Sudoku? Well, there's a reason this is the "first and only" Sudoku game on XBLA. Leave the number crunching to the pencil and paper, and go shoot some more hookers.

We reported this to you last week, but we thought it was worth reminding you, in case it got lost in the shuffle: This week will mark the release of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One on Xbox Live Arcade, PC, Mac and Linux. No matter what system you pick it up on, it's going to run you $20 (1600 points on Microsoft's service).

Appropriately, it arrives the same day as Garfield: Lasagna World Tour, which is a clash of new and old media that would make even John Henry cry a little bit. Oh well, it's still better than if it was being released on a Monday, right Garfield? ... Wait, where did he go?

We're afraid the sequel to Assault Heroes is still not an open-ended, city-dwelling game where you're tasked with punching firemen and war veterans. Sierra Online's Assault Heroes 2, which is scheduled to demolish the Xbox Live Arcade lineup this Wednesday, is very much in line with 2006's omni-directional shooter, though we suspect we won't be able to make jokes about a broken multiplayer mode this time.

Instead, we'll have to deliver punchlines that involve the sequel's more destructive weaponry, ability to hi-jack enemy vehicles and high volume of "relentless enemies and outrageous bosses." And sometimes, it has all of that, with two-player co-op ... in space! It's yours for 800 MS Points ($10).

This Wednesday's Xbox Live Arcade addition is "trivia party game," Wits & Wagers. That's what it says in the headline. Not conveyed in the bold line of text is that the game offers 700 different questions -- none of which you necessarily need to know the answers to. You see, the trick is to place bets on the answers which you think are "closest to the truth." There's also "dancing characters and upbeat music" to look forward to, so that's nice.

Wits & Wagers (only available in the US, UK and Canada) supports 4-player couch play, 2-6 players online, as well as those wacky camera and big button peripherals you have hooked up to your Xbox 360. But how much is it?

• $1,000,000
• 239 Wii Points
• 13 pieces of eight
• 800 MS Points
• The Truth

Place your bets on the one you think is closest to the truth.

Whether it's due to a certain game release or not, there will not be a new Xbox Live arcade addition this week. Major Nelson broke the news on his Twitter page and said he believes "people will be busy with another game this week."

Given the amount of money Microsoft spent in certain territories to get people to buy GTA IV, it kind of makes sense that it wouldn't want any distractions. XBLA should be back to its regularly scheduled release plan by next week.

[Via X3F]

Lost Cities will continue in the proud tradition of XBLA games born of German card or board games when it arrives on the service this Wednesday. The card game, designed by Reiner Knizia, pits two players against eachother as they try to mount the most profitable expedition to the the titular lost cities.

You can try your hand at venturing to the Lost Cities for 800 points ($10). For the benefit of those of us on the fence: Have any of you played the game in real life? What did you think?

Flying squirrel and talking moose news now, with fondly remembered 60's cartoon, Rocky & Bullwinkle, returning in HD on Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday. The classic characters return en moose in a collection of over 100 "micro games," 25 of which use the Xbox Live Vision camera in such heart-stopping activities as "rowing a boat, "throwing darts" and, presumably, tying a noose. The anthropomorphic duo can be yours for 800 MS Points ($10).

The retro theme continues with Wednesday's other revamped release, Battlezone. Atari's wireframe warfare has been given a fresh coat of paint, along with online multiplayer modes and Xbox Live Vision camera support. Be tankful that the asking price is no more than 400 MS Points ($5).

Hey, it's tough to keep the lid on an exciting secret. If we knew Ikaruga was coming to Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday, we'd probably blurt it out at every opportunity too. Sort of like what we're doing now. In case you haven't gathered, Treasure's mesmerizing shooter is finally, officially coming to Xbox 360 this week -- f'realz, confirmed and for 800 MS Points ($10). You're all smiles now, but just wait until the game crushes your ego to a pulp in its unrelenting, unforgiving bullet-hell fist.

Those who prefer their gaming to be less hectic and humiliating should note that Poker Smash is receiving some downloadable content this week, with an "Environment Pack" adding two new Action Mode environments and a "Puzzle Pack" adding 15 new weapons. No, wait ... puzzles. Definitely puzzles. Each pack will set you back 100 MS Points ($1.25).

You know what? Go ahead and toss everything you thought you knew about the collapse of classic Mayan civilization right out the window. Enter TiQal, Slapdash Games' startling new discovery of the catalyst that sparked the deterioration of the once thriving southern lowlands cities of Mesoamerica. Blocks, people. It was those darned, colorful blocks. Relive the puzzling mystery (with a friend, if you'd like) -- and try to rewrite history -- this Wednesday, as TiQal comes to Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points.

Not a pre-Columbian culture buff? Well, have we got a special announcement for you! Switchball returns to XBLA with a little spit shine. The once glimmering sphere just got ... shinier with "enhanced" graphics and higher high-scores! This incredible, one-time update is free for previous purchasers and just 800 Microsoft Points (full game included) for first-time ballers. Incredible!