Today First Star Software, Inc. and Catnip Games officially announced their upcoming production of a Boulder Dash® sequel for Xbox Live Arcade for release in Q3 2010. In cooperation with First Star Software, the owner of the Intellectual Property; and, with the assist of “simple plan production”, Catnip Games will deliver both charming and challenging entertainment to the XBLA worldwide community. The team is using the latest technology to present the unique gameplay and all of the characteristic elements associated with Boulder Dash® in a modern and incomparable style.

EA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. and award-winning independent development studio Klei Entertainment announced today an exclusive publishing agreement to bring the provocative new game Shank to Xbox LIVE® Arcade this summer. Featuring a unique art style inspired by graphic novels and golden age comics, Shank blends the intensity of classic 2D side-scrolling action games with a gripping and mature storyline. The cinematic brawler is a finalist for “Excellence in Visual Art” at this year’s Independent Games Festival and will be featured at the IGF Pavilion during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next week.

EA Partners, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. and leading independent developer Hothead Games announced today an exclusive publishing agreement that will bring DeathSpank to Xbox LIVE® Arcade in 2010. Developed under the vision of The Secret of Monkey Island creator and industry icon Ron Gilbert, DeathSpank blends a story filled with Gilbert’s unique humor and wit with classic and addictive action RPG gameplay.

“The team at Hothead Games is a perfect fit for EA Partners. They are a great example of how the EA Partners program continues to emphasize the importance of building strong relationships with the world’s top indie developers,” said Jamil Moledina, Outreach Director, Business Development at EA Partners. “DeathSpank is an engrossingly fun and hysterically funny experience, and we are all excited to have the opportunity to help introduce DeathSpank to gamers across the world.”

At the beginning of last week, we saw the popular Xbox LIVE Arcade first-person shooter classic that lets you battle through 39 levels of mayhem, or fight it out with your friends in DukeMatch, receive a temporary price reduction as part of the ‘Deal of the Week’ promotion for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers. Not surprisingly then that Duke Nukem 3D climbed to the top of this week’s top 20! But the action didn’t stop there as mid-week saw the release of not one, but three new XBLA titles: Lazy Raiders, Greed Corp and Fret Nice.

XBLArcade.com is continuing our new weekly trend to publishing the Top 20 list of Xbox LIVE Arcade titles every week based on the information posted on Major Nelson’s website. We think this will give you a much better idea what the other 23+ million Xbox LIVE members are playing in the realm of Xbox LIVE Arcade games and perhaps to better help you choose what Xbox LIVE Arcade games you want to spend those valuable Microsoft Points of yours on.

For the week of February 22nd to March 1st, the Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased), are as follows:

Experience the excitement of the world's hottest number game sensation! Buku Sudoku™ takes the pen-and-paper puzzler high-tech with HD graphics, helpful tutorials, single- and multiplayer game modes, multiple grid sizes, and the option to display hints, highlight errors, undo moves, and even solve puzzles. 1,200 puzzles give you plenty of opportunity to challenge your own brain, play cooperatively with friends, race head-to-head to see who can complete a board first, or compete in the new battle mode, where completing a line, row, or square will remove numbers from your opponent's board. It's Sudoku however you like to play it!

Buku Sudoku - Puzzle Pack 13: Single Player, Local Multiplayer 2-4, HD (High Definition). Want more Buku Sudoku? Upgrade to the full version now to unlock 1200 challenging puzzles, four grid sizes, three difficulty levels, two modes, and three varieties of multiplayer action. Play cooperatively with friends, race head-to-head to complete a puzzle first, or try the new battle mode in which completing a line, row, or square will remove numbers from your opponent’s board! Buku Sudoku - Puzzle Pack 13 contains no new achievements and is available now for 160 Microsoft Points. There are no refunds for this item.

Put your foot soldiers, snipers, cavalry, and fighter pilots to the test in Toy Soldiers. Poised to be a smash hit on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, Toy Soldiers is an action-packed strategy-based game in which players command antique WWI toy soldiers vying for control of the trench-filled battlefields of Europe. Deploy an exciting arsenal such as tanks, cavalry, biplanes, and flamethrowers in vintage WWI toy dioramas. Developed by Signal Studios exclusively for Xbox 360, Toy Soldiers allows you to take control of individual units or control the entire battlefield from a strategic view. Integrating multiple game genres and world-class visuals, Toy Soldiers is a unique and action-packed entertainment experience!

“Toy Soldiers” go to war on March 3rd at 9 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. PDT).

Published by Microsoft and developed by Signal Studios, “Toy Soldiers” will be available for 1200 Microsoft Points everywhere and is rated T for Teen by the ESRB. For more details on “Toy Soldiers” you can visit: http://www.xbox.com/games/t/toysoldiersxbla/

Prepare yourself to take on the developers and reviewers in brainy Xbox LIVE® Arcade game Encleverment Experiment.

Blitz Arcade, a division of leading independent developer Blitz Games Studios, is throwing down the gauntlet today and challenging the community to battle it out against the developers and reviewers on their party puzzler, Encleverment Experiment.

Players aged five and upwards are invited to join the brilliant and eccentric Professor Ivor Question in his funky lab on Wednesday 3 March between 17:00 and 22:00 GMT. This is also a great opportunity for everyone to pick up their Show Maker and Host With The Most Achievements, while finding out just who is the most enclevered by proving their prowess in a huge range of fun and fast-paced challenges testing memory, dexterity and reflexes.

There are several review sites involved, including www.xblarcade.com and www.ready-up.net

The Odd Gentlemen and 2K Play have announced the P.B. Winterbottom Timely Competition Leaderboard Contest! In this contest challenge you shall vie with other time bending ladies and gentlemen for the quickest level completion times! Each week for the next three weeks The Odd Gentlemen and 2K Play will be selecting one of the competitive levels for you to pit your pie-chasing wits against one another for the fastest time. Each week ten winners will be picked from the player rankings to win cool prizes!

How do you do this? Easy!

Earlier this month at the X10 Media event, Microsoft announced the upcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade Block Party* promotion. The upcoming event, which runs clear through March will see a ton of new content released to Xbox LIVE. We here at XBLArcade.com want to let you know about not only the four games already announced, but the special promotion associated with buying all four of these titles. So, today we’re announcing additional promotion details and the release schedule¹

SEGA Europe Ltd and SEGA® of America, Inc. announced the first game developed specifically for the download market from the world’s fastest hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I will be available via download on Microsoft XBLA, bringing with it the addictive classic 2D side scrolling action that Sonic fans have been waiting 16 years for and will be the first in a series of episodic adventures.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I offers sublime 2D gameplay through beautifully rendered HD environments. Fans will be able to speed through each level with the classic Spin Dash move, and destroy enemies using the Homing Attack. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I sees the return of the much-loved special stages and takes players through a variety of different Zones, all inspired by the Mega Drive era.