Valve's physics-focused puzzle game Portal has been denied access to Xbox Live Arcade according to Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi. Currently part of the Orange Box, Microsoft was approached to have Portal downloadable through XBLA but turned it down due to "size limit and all kinds of other things," although Doug did say it might be possible somewhere down the line, "I think it's a trade-off, we'll see it one day."

Risk it all on the expeditions of a lifetime in the card based game Lost Cities as it comes to life on Xbox Live Arcade. Draw from a pool of cards to amass the most points, play your cards wisely, take chances with your money, and create the best strategy to outwit your opponent on the road to victory.

The basic gameplay is straightforward, familiar, and addictive — just spin a trio of hexes to create a group of three or more matching colors, or build a formation of hexes to create more advanced pieces. Whether you want a relaxing puzzle break or a frantic race against the clock, Hexic 2 has you covered!

Experience the authentic gameplay of “Super Contra” with an updated look and feel by battling through several risky missions either solo or in two player co-op mode, just like in the original.

Yesterday Namco Bandai held its annual Gamer's Day and apart from revealing SoulCalibur IV's release date, it also announced that the original Dreamcast title is coming exclusively to Xbox Live Arcade. As with most XBLA title SoulCalibur will get upgraded graphics, and leaderboards spanning every character and mode, but unfortunately no multiplayer over Live, only local-play Versus mode, as well as standard Arcade, Training, and Survival modes. Currently scheduled for summer 2008 release.

GripShift combines automotive and puzzle solving skills across 120 challenging levels, 25 rubber burning race tracks and 20 deadly deathmatch arenas across four themed worlds.

Treasure Co.'s Ikaruga is a quick-paced Xbox LIVE Arcade shooter with strong strategy elements featuring a slow-motion training mode and co-op play for two, combining of beautiful, manga-style storytelling and refined, ultra-challenging arcade heroics.

Become a gold-thirsty ninja battling homicidal robots in the enhanced version of the original game “N,” players take on the persona of a ninja who must use deft acrobatic actions to battle robots in the futuristic world of “N+.” Play as a lone ninja or destroy the robots with a friend in Coop, Survival or Race modes.

Namco's popular Mr. Driller character comes to Xbox LIVE® Arcade in Mr. DRILLER Online. Featuring the same addictive single player drilling action from the classic arcade game, Mr. DRILLER Online now includes online play. Drill down through the colored blocks to meet your goal, but make sure you have enough air!

Combining fast paced action with strategic battle planning, Darwinia features a novel and intuitive control mechanism, an '80s retro classics graphical style, and a story concerning a tribe of video game sprites trapped in a modern 3D game world. According an updated ESRB listing, UK developer Introversion is bringing its strategy game to Xbox Live Arcade (thanks Shack).

In Lost Cities, players draw from a pool of cards with the goal of amassing the most points and making prosperous expeditions through the various lost cities: the Himalayas, the Brazilian rain forest, the ever-shifting desert sands, ancient volcanoes and the mystifying depth's of the Oceans.

At GDC 08 Lionhead's Peter Molyneux revealed Carbonated Games' crabs & roulette game Keystone would allow gamers to gain a head start on earning currency for use in Fable 2. During Major Nelson's latest podcast Molyneux revealed Wizard's Tower and Mage Dice are another two titles from the same developer that will allow gamers to make extra coin. He also revealed that everything in the game can be bought, houses, dungeons, castles, unlocking quests along the way, and as you own more property you will gain ranks from mayor to king of Albion.

there will be no new Xbox Live Arcade titles this week, instead Microsoft announced that Assault Heroes and Doom have become Xbox Live Arcade Hits, and will be available at a permanently reduced price. Some of the upcoming XBLA titles are Rocky and Bullwinkle, Shotest Shogi, TiQal, Wits & Wagers, and a remake of Capcom's classic Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords gets an expansion pack on Xbox Live Arcade which includes four new Hero professions, scores of new spells to cast and items to collect, challenging new quests, monsters and bosses and much more including the introduction of a new archenemy, Antharg, the Lord of Plague.

A unique spin on a classic shooter, players can capture enemies with anchors and fling them away with Triggerheart Exelica, WARASHI Inc's upgraded vertical scrolling shooter deploys on Xbox LIVE Arcade on Wednesday 27th February at 09.00.

At a private developer reception at GDC 08 Microsoft celebrated the success of its Xbox Live Arcade platform with the inaugural Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards. More than 26,000 people voted for their favorite Xbox Live Arcade games...

Become a gold-thirsty ninja battling homicidal robots in the enhanced version of the original game “N,” players take on the persona of a ninja who must use deft acrobatic actions to battle robots in the futuristic world of “N+.” Play as a lone ninja or destroy the robots with a friend in Coop, Survival or Race modes.

Activision announced the next installment in the classic vehicular-combat franchise Vigilante 8. Vigilante 8: Arcade for Xbox Live Arcade, licensed and developed by Isopod Labs, is an all new remake of the original game, featuring online play with up to eight players and a host of new content, taking full advantage of next-generation technologies.

In Discs of Tron, players face off in a three-dimensional arena against the film’s villain, Sark, as they throw discs to try to knock him off of a platform or “derezz” him with a disc while he counters. The game, which includes both classic and enhanced modes, gets increasingly more difficult as players progress.

Void Star Creations takes the puzzle game genre to a whole new level with Poker Smash, an action packed puzzler with a poker twist where players rush to clear rows of cards by arranging them into poker hands. To keep things interesting Poker Smash offers card-blasting bombs and a super slow-motion trigger for players caught in a bind.

Merscom announced it will be publishing Buku Sudoku, the first, and only, Sudoku game for the Xbox Live Arcade system, bringing the worldwide Sudoku phenomenon to the Xbox LIVE Arcade while adding innovative competitive and cooperative play features.

A brand new recreation of the cult-classic shooter by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Rez HD launches on Xbox Live Arcade this week. In addition to, chess fans and newcomers alike will enjoy checkmating friends with Chessmaster Live on Xbox Live Arcade. Both games will be available on Wed., Jan. 30 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (1:00 a.m. PST).

Microsoft will announce awards for the top XBLA games of 2007 later this year, with several categories decided by the community. Starting Tues., 22nd Jan. at 10:00 AM through Wed., 30th Jan. at 07:59 AM you are invited to cast your vote for the first ever Xbox Live Arcade Awards.

Last year 3D Realms' George Broussard revealed he would be interested in bringing Duke Nukem 3D to Xbox Live Arcade, and that it was up to Microsoft to make it happen. According to an insider over at IGN it maybe very well happen rather soon, as it seems scheduled to launch on Xbox Live in the next few months. 3D Realms' classic FPS will of course sport enhanced gfx, but apparently also feature a four-player online co-op, as well as an eight-player online deathmatch mode.

Merscom announce a co-development & publishing agreement for Gabitasoft’s unannounced title on multiple platforms, including WiiWare and Xbox LIVE Arcade, as well as more games to be published within the coming year.