This Week in Games, Oct. 26 - 30

Your weekly wrap-up of casual, social and video gaming news. Got a news tip? Send it to robin@funtank.com! 

Game Releases

Our crossword/paint by numbers brainteaser, Picma, launched this week! We've shaved a few years off our life by trying to crack the image in each of the game's 100+ puzzles. Have you played yet? 

Move over Guitar Hero, DJ Hero's arrived. The newest game to feature a plastic peripheral, DJ Hero lets you live out your record-spinning party-rocking dreams -- with 80 mashup songs and a turntable, the only thing we're missing is a pair of gigantic headphones to clutch while we're bobbing our heads to the beat. 

The last episode of Grand Theft Auto IV has arrived on the Xbox Live Marketplace and retail stores. The Ballad of Gay Tony extends the storyline of the main game, following new protagonist Luis Lopez as he navigates the glitz and glamour of Liberty City. Among other things, the expansion features base-jumping and tank-driving. Yeah, it's pretty cool. 

Racing devotees got Forza Motorsport 3 this week, a driving game featuring hyper-realistic cars, tons of customization and a built-in video editor. Decals, tuned setups and videos created can also be downloaded and shared (even sold!) with the game's storefront. Earning money by creating content for a popular 360 game? Sounds like our life goal!

News

Mashable's Open Web Awards are now open for nomations! You know who could use a nomination? Candystand for the 'Most Creative Use of Facebook Connect' category! You can vote once a day -- so please do!

You might be trick-or-treating tomorrow night, but what will you do during the day? Games.com and Gamezebo's Halloween casual game roundups might just be the thing to tie you over. 

Changes are coming to Facebook which may change the way social gamers are notified of activities in and around games such as Mafia Wars, Farmville and Pet Society. The social network's messaging system will be used for communication between users (invitations to games, gifts, etc) while email will be used for interactions between application developers and users. Games will also get their own section on a redesigned homepage. 

This Week in Games, Oct. 19 - 23

Your weekly wrap-up of casual, social and video gaming news. Got a news tip? Send it to robin@funtank.com! 

Game Releases

Candystand's Tennis Stars Cup launched this week! The 3D tennis game featuring a tournament mode, two challenge modes and gesture-based mouse controls (click and drag in a curve to put a spin on that tennis ball!) is already getting leaderboard junkies twitching - can you get a gold trophy and beat the current high score of 92,795? 

Borderlands, a first-person shooter/role-playing hybrid video game, debuted on the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles (PC version delayed until next week). The demand for the game seemed to take publisher 2K by surprise -- many frustrated gamers reported the game sold out on the first day at local retailers. Why all the hype? It could be the game's near-limitless number of weapons, thanks to a random gun-generation system. 

Popular music-rhythm series Rock Band hit iPhones and iPod Touches this week to the tune of $9.99 - many critics praised the gameplay while decrying the relatively high price tag. The App Store download features four-player local multiplayer via Bluetooth, twenty songs (more available for purchase) and the Rock Band gameplay/interface favored by wannabe rockers and party hosts alike. 

Lastly, EA's perennial football game broke sales records during its first week of release in European countries, and finally made its way to stateside retailers this week. Nope, it's not Madden, we're talking about the other football -- soccer. That's right, FIFA 10 is out! 

News

Brand new PC operating system Windows 7 launched this week - so what does it mean for casual gaming? For one, the new Game Explorer highlights all the games you've installed as well as new updates available for them. Even better? Windows 7 supports touch-input -- it might not be long before you see touch-and-play games along the lines of Nintendo DS and iPhone titles right on your desktop. 

As we wrote about earlier this week, sales for a little independent game called World of Goo went through the roof when developer 2D Boy announced that in celebration of the game's one-year anniversary, customers could get the game for any price they chose. Surprisingly, a not-insignificant amount of people actually chose to pay more than the PayPal minimum of one cent. 

Rounding out the week's big news - utterly addictive strategy game Civilization is coming to Facebook! No details yet on what we'll be doing in the game, but revered game creator Sid Meier says it'll debut sometime in 2010. If time-sucking social games like Farmville and Mafia Wars are any indication of Civ's gameplay, you can kiss our social lives goodbye when it launches.