I'll be darned if I can't find this on the official Xbox site, but the 2009 edition of Xbox's Summer of Arcade kicks on on July 22.

If you forgot about this event last year, or you're new to the Xbox Live thing, it's when a plethora of "A+" Xbox Arcade games are released in successive weeks. In 2008, it was "Geometry Wars 2", "Braid" and "Castle Crashers" released during this even (and a few others).

This year:
• "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time - Re-shelled" on July 22.
• "Marvel vs. Capcom 2" on July 29.
• "Splosion Man" on August 5.
• "Trials HD" on August 12.
• "Shadow Complex" on August 19.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the motorcycles and explosions of "Trials HD."

Major Nelson has more details HERE.

Mike Smith, from Yahoo's Gaming section, posted his list of what he believes are the biggest rip-offs in the video game world.

Read his article here.

I disagree with Mike's problem with the new Wii MotionPlus. I think it's cool and pretty cheap.

I have my own list of game rips:

1. Controllers for Xbox 360 and PS3. Seriously? $60? These should be around $39 by now. And don't get me started with the plastic guitars!!
2. Not being able to return a bad game. If stores would accept returns, maybe developers would stop making bad games.
3. Guitar Hero side games (Metallica and Smash Hits). These should be $29 or $39.
Aerosmith's version wasn't even a full game!

If you don't know what augmented reality means... watch this clip.

This is amazing stuff with really cool possibilities for gaming. I hope this makes it to iPhones soon....

I enjoyed the rush-job Transformers game a couple of years ago. It had a ton of flaws, but I loved the robots and transforming.

Could this be a completely amazing Transformers game? Looks good so far. We'll probably know this Wednesday (June 24th).

Engadget has posted a video of Activision's "DJ Hero" in action.

Two things I notice:

1. It works with the Gutiar Hero guitars for multiplayer guitar/DJ action. Kind of cool, I think.
2. The music mashup idea for the songs is goofy. I guess the big A has to appeal to a broader range of music fans; but, when I think of DJ's I think of dance music and hip-hop/rap.

See what you think:

VIDEO HERE

At E3 today, Nintendo pulled a surprise out of their hat... a 2D, multiplayer Super Mario Bros. game. It looks VERY cool.

"Super Mario Brothers Wii" will have 4-player multiplayer gameplay, which means 2D Mario no longer has to be a watch-your-brother-play experience!

Kotaku has the info!

If you missed this from Microsoft's E3 presentation, here is a video from the internets. Hopefully, we'll have something official soon.

This is still pretty cool.

According to G4TV's "The Feed" blog, Rockstar Games has announced new downloadable content for 'Grand Theft Auto IV.'

Following this year's earlier chapter, 'The Lost and the Damned,' Rockstar continues to push the boundaries of gaming this fall with 'The Ballad of Gay Tony.'

The next episode in the GTA series will be priced at $19.99 (1600 MS points) and will be released in the fall of 2009.

The title alone ensures all the publicity and press coverage Rockstar could ever want. Genius move to keep the game front-and-center in the next few months.

Rockstar also plans to released a stand-alone disc version of 'GTA IV' with both DLC pieces added.

More info from G4TV.com

If you've been following Criterion Games on Twitter (twitter.com/CriterionGames), you know that some big announcement has been teased for the last several days.

Well, today it has been revealed: even MORE DLC for 'Burnout Paradise' (Xbox 360, PS3); and this time it's going to be HUGE!

In the last few updates of the game a giant bridge has been under construction between the mainland and an island in the bay. On June 11, games will be able to travel to that island and participate in ridiculous new gameplay, including insane jumps and all new topography that's roughly the size of downtown Paradise. Plus the DLC offers new cars, including dune-buggy-type stadium cars. And Criterion promises "if you can see it, you can drive to it."

After the announcement a video was posted to the Criterion site (click here to watch it) and the new stuff looks amazing!

http://criteriongames.com/packs/island.php