Fans of comedic shooters have been well served in recent years. The rabid online communities for Team Fortress 2 and the more recent Monday Night Combat suggest a growing interest in games that combine playful cartoon graphics with… err… savage acts of violence. You know, it’s probably best not to examine these things too closely. Instead, let us turn our attention to the announcement of Bloody Good Time, a multiplayer focused first person shooter from Ubisoft and Scottish developer Outerlight.

Bloody Good Time pits a cast of would-be Hollywood stars against one another in a frantic battle for survival. If you’ve been waiting for the chance to shoot a “bikini beach babe” then this could well be the game for you. Also, you should definitely see someone about that. On a brighter note, you’ll have ample opportunity to gun down circus clowns, which most will agree is a public service. Did I mention that the game features mobile explosives disguised as rats? Well, it does.

Bloody Good Time is actually a sequel of sorts to Outerlight’s The Ship, which began life as a Half-Life mod before achieving a commercial release in 2006. The new game is scheduled for release on Xbox Live Arcade and Steam in spring 2010.

I’ve been guilty of prejudging games in the past, so I’m definitely not going to say that this looks cheap, profoundly unfunny and filled with misogynistic stereotypes.

NanoBITES captures those small but important morsels of gaming information that otherwise might slip between the cracks.

ITEM! Epic Games has revealed that it will publish Project Sword, an iPhone fantasy action game from Shadow Complex developer Chair Entertainment. Powered by Unreal Engine 3, Project Sword is due for release later this year.

ITEM! The studio responsible for the diabolically challenging, though strangely addictive, Trials HD is returning to the track. RedLynx has revealed that its next project will be MotoHeroz, a racing platformer for Nintendo’s WiiWare service.

ITEM! Microsoft is preparing to release a revised Xbox 360 controller. The new model features a (fighting game friendly) adjustable D-Pad. There has been no word thus far on an Australian release.

ITEM! Infinite Interactive’s Puzzle Quest 2 is coming to the PSP in the form of a PSN download in late 2010.

ITEM! D3Publisher has announced plans to bring Treasure developed bullet hell shooter Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury to the Xbox Live Arcade. The series originated on the N64 in 1999.

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Dark Energy Digital’s offices are flooded yet again. No wonder we’re still waiting for Hydrophobia…

Microsoft’s Major Nelson has gazed into his crystal ball. Instead of sneaking a peak at the lotto numbers, he’s unveiled the Xbox Live Arcade line-up for the next two months, or at least a large proportion thereof. Let’s take a look.

Wednesday 8 September: Hmmm. A tough choice first up. PopCap’s diabolically addictive tower defence game Plants vs Zombies or budget Wii port Dance! It’s Your Stage? Thank goodness we have a week to think about it.

Wednesday 15 September: Sonic Adventure becomes the latest Dreamcast title to grace the service. SEGA’s fast paced 3D platformer was originally issued in 1999 and is considered by some critics to be the last great Sonic game.

Wednesday 29 September: Not a dream! Not a hoax! It appears that Dark Energy Digital’s perennially delayed undersea action game Hydrophobia is finally set to surface. We’ll believe it when we see it.

Wednesday 6 October: Drawing inspiration from various eras of American and Japanese comic books, Comic Jumper is the latest platformer from talented ‘Splosion Man developer Twisted Pixel.

Wednesday 13 October: Zen Studios’ Pinball FX would be a lot more fun if we could work out what the hell was going on. Perhaps the creatively named Pinball FX 2 will help us make sense of it all.

Wednesday 20 October: Indie darling Super Meat Boy finally gets its moment in the sun, which is probably isn’t all that hygienic. Who wants to play as a chunk of meat? Wow, a surprising number of you. That’s kind of disturbing.

Many science-fiction writers have given it due consideration and even Cher flirted with the idea in the late 80s,  but only Raven Software are able to provide us with the experience of being able to turn back time. At its core, Singularity is a straightforward first person shooter. However the ability to manipulate time is integral to both its storyline and gameplay.

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