Diner Dash makes a mad rush to Xbox Live Arcade

Hudson Entertainment’s Diner Dash is now on Xbox LIVE Arcade for a mere 800 MS points. The game features updated HD graphics and 8-person multiplayer mode. Like the casual games on which it is based, this XBLA version of Diner Dash lets players take direct control of Flo as she runs around like a crazy person to seat patrons, take orders, deliver food, receive payment and bus tables as efficiently as possible within the time limit allowed. Players can also team up with up to seven other players in multiplayer across four diners in Team Dash or go 1 on 1 in head-to-head mode.

For more information on this new game, visit www.hudsonent.com/dinerdash/ or hop on Xbox Live and grab the trial version.

Hotel Dash: Suite Success announced

PlayFirst announced Hotel Dash: Suite Success, a new title in its “Dash” series of arcade time management games. Bringing a new vertical theme to the time-management gameplay of the Dash series, Hotel Dash: Suite Success puts characters of Quinn and Flo into a hotel setting, where they must earn tips by getting certain hotel related tasks done. I hope room service is involved. I do so enjoy room service in a timely manner. Tasks include delivering luggage, handing off fresh towels and providing room service (yes!), while attending to room mishaps and customer whims. Players must travel from top floors to the lobby via the hotel elevators, ensuring smooth hotel operations and collecting tips at checkout. Juggling customer demands with logistics and an ever-ticking clock, players must be strategic in organizing their time versus customers’ patience and personalities.

Hotel Dash: Suite Success will be available at www.PlayFirst.com November 24th, and other retailers beginning December 24th, for PC and Mac Digital Download, priced at $19.99.

Home Sweet Home now on iPhone

Big Blue Bubble’s Home Sweet Home has arrived at Apple’s App Store. Home Sweet Home lets players become an Interior Designer, where you choose the furniture, patterns, and colors to create the perfect decor for your client.

 Learn about your clients to ensure you are designing the perfect room for their tastes and then get to work on choosing the furniture, colors and patterns. Next you place items around the room until the design is perfect and then direct your build team workers to assemble it all in real-time.

You can download the app from iTunes or check out the trailer at YouTube.

Africa or bust: SimAnimals heads to retail

SimAnimals Africa for the Wii allows players to interact with wild African animals while they venture across jungles, deserts, savannas, river deltas and more. Each brand new animal has their own unique skill and it’s up to the player to find their secret abilities. Kicking zebras, rock-breaking rhinos and crocodiles that excel at hunting are all part of the cast of characters that will assist players in unlocking new areas, animals, and special items. The Wii game also promises the usual assortment of mini-games as a way to interact with the animals.

SimAnimals Africa on the Nintendo DS features all of the animals included in the Wii adventure, as well as cheetahs, meerkats, aardvarks, a parrot and even a surprise secret animal as a reward for finishing the game. Players will use the stylus, touch screen and microphone to build relationships with these wild animals, discover their secret abilities and use them to help solve puzzles.

Developed by The Sims Studio in the EA Play Label, SimAnimals Africa is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB, 3+ by PEGI, and has an MSRP of $39.99 and $29.99 for the Wii and Nintendo DS, respectively.

Fortress Luna now available for iPhone, iPod Touch

Primus Productions has launched of Fortress Luna, the company’s first game for the iPhone and iPod Touch today.

Fortress Luna challenges iPhone and iPod Touch owners to launch nuclear missiles from a secret base on the moon that will (with a bit of luck and skill) intercept asteroids before they destroy the world and save all of humanity. It’s like Armageddon but without Bruce Willis, Lib Tyler and an Aerosmith title track. The asteroids are apparently pelting the planet due to a gravitational anomaly in the outer solar system – if you need some sort of back story for a casual game like this – fill in the rest of the blanks. Primus says that the game is simple and ideal for casual players.

Fortress Luna is available through the iTunes AppStore today for $.99. For more information check out www.primusproductions.com.

Pet Sematary game hits iPhone, iPod Touch

Gah! I don’t want to be buried in a pet cemetary! Paramount Digital Entertainment has released Pet Sematary for the iPhone and iPod touch, a top-down, tap-to-kill arcade game inspired by the classic horror film based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. In Pet Sematary, a grief-stricken father buries his son in an ancient animal burial ground, where it is said everything laid to rest there will come back to life. But the burial ground is for animals only and humans buried there that come back tend to be insane and violent. Players in Pet Sematary take on the role of a lone hero, perched on the rooftops to stay safe and shoot down undead animals by tapping them one to four times as they race across the screen to feast on innocent townspeople.

Taking advantage of the touch screen, players will eliminate zombie children, dogs, cats and birds by tapping them one to four times as they dart down the streets. Players will also need to pay close attention to friend or foe, as health is diminished if innocents are accidentally killed or when an undead creature escapes or eats a townsperson.

Pet Sematary also includes built-in social networking features that allow players to post their high scores directly to their Facebook pages. Pet Sematary for iPhone and iPod touch is now available at the Apple App Store for $0.99. To purchase the game, visit itunes.

Madden NFL Arcade announced

Electronic Arts announced today an all new way to play Madden NFL with Madden NFL Arcade - a pick-up-and-play, 5-on-5 football game from EA Tiburon. Madden NFL Arcade is for both casual and diehard NFL fans, featuring a unique art style, 32 NFL teams and distinctive home stadiums, and gameplay that consist of four downs to march 60 yards - no penalties or field goals allowed! The first team to 30 wins.

Madden NFL Arcade allows up to four players to play co-op on a single console. You can also take on other players online in head-to-head matches and track your performance via interactive leaderboards. Madden NFL Arcade will also provide a host of achievements and trophies to boost your gamer score.

Madden NFL Arcade will be available as a download on Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Store for 1200 MS Points and $14.99 respectively, just in time for the holidays in December.