Revealed earlier this year, Alien Hominid HD features side-scrolling, hysterical cartoon action with a quirky twist, Xbox Live Arcade features, offering high definition alien action that makes it better than ever before, and will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade for X360 beginning Wed., Feb. 28, at 0800 GMT (1 a.m. PST).

On Tuesday, February 20th, from 2:00-5:00 AM PT, Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, the "My Xbox" section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read-only mode, so you will not be able to post. This is for maintenance only; there will be no new features added to Xbox.com, your dashboard, or Xbox Live when service is restored.

Treasure's sidescrolling shooter might be making an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade soon, as it has been spotted on Partnernet, the X360's closed debug network accessible to developers and journos, which we can confirm. Ikaruga is a comprehensive, scrolling space shooter (with options for either a vertical or horizontal display) set in 2D, against a rich 3D backdrop.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, this special delivery won't break the bank, but just might break some windows! The much-loved arcade classic from the 1980s, Paperboy, will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 beginning Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 9 a.m. GMT (1 a.m. PST).

PopCap Games announced that it has hired former Xbox Live Arcade GM Greg Canessa as its new Vice President, video game platforms. Mr. Canessa will be extending PopCap's puzzle, word and simple action games on new and existing video game platforms, including consoles, handhelds, and related online gaming services.

As promised EA has released a 400 mb Def Jam: Icon demo on Xbox Live, showcasing the gas station level and 2 hip-hop celebrity fighters, Big Boi and T.I., as well as their respective hit songs, Kryptonite and Top Back.

Def Jam: Icon infuses hip-hop music, culture and lifestyle into the gameplay, bringing unique and innovative content to the next generation of gaming. EA plans to release a demo on Thursday, Feb. 8, showcasinge the gas station level and 2 hip-hop celebrity fighters, Big Boi and T.I., as well as their respective hit songs, "Kryptonite" and "Top Back."

Xbox 360 is teaming up with Old Spice to bring the first Rewards Challenge to Xbox Live. Gamers will be charged with increasing their gamerscore by 1,500 between February 12 and April 12, 2007. That’s 60 days to bring your overall gamerscore up by 1,500 for the chance to earn a bounty of rewards.

Order up bottomless, frothy fun this Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday with Root Beer Tapper. Impatient patrons cannot get enough of the revitalized carbonated beverage classic, and neither will gamers. Root Beer Tapper will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade for X360 beginning Wed, Feb. 7, at 9 a.m. GMT (1 a.m. PST).

EA has released a 509mb NBA Street Homecourt demo on Xbox Live, although only for Gold members for now, allowing you to check out the new Trick Remixer and Flight Control systems, and play the Denver Nuggets (with Carmelo Anthony) vs. the Detroit Pistons (with Rip Hamilton) at Venice Beach.

The Lost Planet development team is preparing an update to Capcom's sci-fi shooter that will add player requested multiplayer features, such as the ability to identify other players by voice as well as Gamertag, as well as fix a few minor bugs/exploits discovered post-release.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 will feature changing climate, improved AI, an advanced Cross-Com system, air strikes from jet fighters, new weapons and a new soldier class, the Medic. As promised Ubisoft, has released a one-mission, 625mb single-player demo, currently only available for Xbox Live Gold members.

Vampire hunters, artillery-toting worms, rambunctious aliens and trailblazing settlers are among the 10 “likeable” characters that will soon make their debut in living rooms everywhere via Xbox Live Arcade, starting with the first release in February.

Some 20 years ago, Taito rocked the arcades with Double Dragon, which has been an all-time favorite amongst fighting game fans, and now it seems Empire Interactive is remaking the classic for Xbox Live Arcade, currently scheduled for March. As usual, Double Dragon will feature the original edition of the game but also an optimized version with updated graphics, while it will also sport multiplayer co-op, and online multiplayer. The customary achievements and online rankings will also be present.

Microsoft announced that Lionsgate Studio is now a Video Marketplace partner, and the downloadable content has been expanded with various new HD movies, TV series, including a FREE episode of ‘Skyland.’ Xbox 360 will digitally deliver TV shows and movies to gamers in the U.S. via Xbox Live.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 will feature changing climate, improved AI, an advanced Cross-Com system, air strikes from jet fighters, new weapons and a new soldier class, the Medic. The official Ghost Recon website reveals a singleplayer demo is coming to Xbox Live Marketplace "soon." No further details are available ...

Crackdown pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the introduction of the first-ever truly 3-dimensional persistent playground, highly innovative co-op gameplay and an extensive prop interaction system. A 1.2 gig co-op enabled singleplayer demo is now available on XBL Marketplace, but only for Gold members at the moment.

Gears of War blends the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, thrusting gamers into the harrowing story of humankind's battle for survival against the Locust Horde. People who log onto Xbox Live may will be asked to update Gears of Wars, the patch is a minor compatibility update, no gameplay or functionality changes at this time.

Activision has released five all-new Call of Duty 3 multiplayer maps for online, split-screen, and System Link play! This map pack is available in all regions and will set you back 800 Points.

UPDATE :There seems to be an issue w/ the map pack, Microsoft and Treyarch are aware and working on it.

Three new packages of Lumines Live! content will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 beginning Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 9 a.m. GMT (1 a.m. PST). Two of the add-on packs will be available at special promotional prices, and one of them will be free to Xbox Box Live Gold Members for a limited time!

Battlestations: Midway follows the story of naval recruit Henry Walker, whose first assignment as a gunner at Pearl Harbor is the starting point of an incredible career at the heart of the US Pacific Fleet in 1942. Eidos released a multiplayer demo, one map called Island of Solomon, on Xbox Live, putting American vs. Chinese forces, where either side needs to destroy the others' naval base, air base, and aircraft carrier.

EA announced its launch onto Xbox Live Arcade with Boom Boom Rocket, a hypnotic rhythm music game conceived by EA’s casual games design team and Bizarre Creations, known for the Project Gotham Racing franchise.

Battlestations: Midway follows the story of naval recruit Henry Walker, whose first assignment as a gunner at Pearl Harbor is the starting point of an incredible career at the heart of the US Pacific Fleet in 1942. Eidos plans to release a multiplayer demo, one map called Island of Solomon, on Xbox Live Marketplace this coming Thursday. The map will put American vs. Chinese forces, where either side needs to destroy the others' naval base, air base, and aircraft carrier.

A Research and Markets study reveals Microsoft's use of its Xbox Live web-based service to deliver TV shows and movies directly to the TV set, bypassing the traditional route of cable system and telco video distribution, will bring in almost 100 million in 2007.

From the fast-action gameplay experts at PopCap Games comes the big, bold, action-packed Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank, which will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade beginning Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 9 a.m. GMT (1 a.m. PST).