Most of us are heating up with the impending release of Grand Theft Auto 4, but there's no need to lose your cool. Just like last week, a modest batch of titles will hit shelves as prelude to April's main act. Square Enix is ready to make some noise in The World Ends With You, while Nintendo is letting the Pokemon loose with Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness and Explorers of Time. The rest are waiting at the full article.

* Article originally posted Apr 21, 2008 at 12:48AM

Homebrew developer Relavak is cooking up a homebrew game for the Nintendo DS in his labs, titled PinHockey. The latest release, PinHockey version 0.2, adds new options and movable paddles to the air hockey/pinball hybrid. Learn more about it at the full article.

Download: PinHockey v0.2

Southpeak Games is releasing a new pinball game for the PC, Wii, and Nintendo DS this Spring. The game is called Dream Pinball 3D and boasts of a realistic physics engine and stunning visuals. Details and screenshots for each platform lie in the full article.

Alekmaul's MarcaDS is an emulator for arcade games for the Nintendo DS. The list of supported games is quite long (you can check the gamelist.txt file that's included in the download file below).

Here's what's new in MarcaDS v4.0 (as taken from Alekmaul's readme):

• New design (thanks again Lobo) and new logo (thanks to you too DayDream)
• Add SN76496 and AY-8910 sound emulation, lots of games have now sound.
• Solomon's key do not have any more background pb.
• Add Video Hustler, The Billiards, DigDug (2 sets), Hexa, Bank Panic.
• Galaga (and clones) is playables.
• Pinball Action is now playable.
• The background pb in Phoenix (and clones) is fixed.
• Also for 1942 background pb !
• Add compressed ZIP support.
• Add CRC checking to avoid compatibility problems.
• Add Hish score management.
• SELECT to add coins (A becomes the main shoot button).
• No more "Player 2" mode.
• No more clones (less games but only the originals ;)).
• Mario becomes Masao to have the sound.
• Ms Pacman becomes Ms Pacman (bootleg) and the zip file mspacmab.zip.
• Piranha becomes Piranha (hack) and the zip file piranhah.zip.
• Jr Pacman becomes playable.
• Fire pb in Arkanoid fixed.
• Using now EFSLIB, thanks Noda ;).

So that's a lot of changes from when MarcaDS v3.0 came out last year!

As always, please read the readme text before you install the application.

And yes, since this is an arcade emulator, you're going to need uncompressed (unzipped) ROMs. But, as Alekmaul says (and we echo the sentiment): "Do not ask me about ROMS, I don't have them."

Download: MarcaDS v4.0 arcade emulator homebrew

It's about time video game title Metroid Prime Pinball hits the European continent. The game has been available in North America for around two years already and it is only now that developer Fuse Games and Nintendo decided to ship the game overseas.

Basically, the title is a pinball game set in the sci-fi Metroid universe. So expect every table here to be Metroid Prime-themed; and players will be controlling Samus Aran in her morphed ball form. The game will have numerous flippers and will allow players to tilt tables and bend the rules a bit.

The game itself comes with a free Rumble Pak that will vibrate with every bump and explosion. Needless to say, Metroid Prime Pinball offers a single player mode, but more importantly, it also allows up to seven others playing simultaneously using Nintendo DS's wireless capability in Wireless Mission mode.

The Multi Mission mode, on the other hand, invites players to unlock our bonus tables based on worlds from the franchise. Metroid Prime Pinball will be available in Europe on June 22 for 40 Euros or roughly around US$ 54.

Once upon a time, when Ms. Pac-Man and Galaxian ruled ye olde arcade taverns, one force dared to stand against the invasion of electronic games: Pinball machines.

Too bad all the flashing lights, bells and whistles of the best pinball tables couldn't stop the dawning of entertainment's new age and is now only thriving as a small application in Windows. That doesn't mean pinball is dead, though. Oxygen Games is bringing the classic to the Nintendo DS with Powershot Pinball Construction. Here are some screens:

    

The game seeks to add a new twist to the blast from the past with the innovative controls of the DS. The graphics are looking ready to deliver nostalgia and may even spark a new interest from today's kids. The screenshots look nice, though it would take a lot more than eye candy to get this offering past expectations.

Pinball has always been one of the staple arcade games ever. And so, you're bound to hit a console or handheld game that's dedicated to the table-tilter. With bells, flashing lights, and alarms, Oxygen Games just announced Powershot Pinball Constructor for the Nintendo DS.

While you might have found your pinball solace in Metroid Prime Pinball or Flipper Critters, this new title that's scheduled for June of this year will not just allow you to play pinball on your handheld. It will also let you create your own table set-up *and* share them with your DS friends.

The table editor allows you to design and personalize your own stage. And if that's not enough to "spring" you, there's still the versus mode where you can catapult yourself to High Score fame. It's going to take a lot of m@d r3flex skillz to battle it out in the versus mode. No table-bumping, ok?

Pinball in itself is already entertaining. It is highly possible for you to lose your sense of time just keeping that boll rolling, and earning all those high points and jackpots. But when you throw in a bunch of critters to the scene, then you know it's no ordinary pinball.

Yup, these cuddly characters actually serve as the ball, prancing and bouncing about at every new stage and level they go to. Now, ain't that refreshing? But what's even more refreshing are these screenshots, which we didn't have before. And obviously, now we do. So anyways, just enjoy the full bunch - there's 17 in all - and get your fill of them Flipper Critters screens.

More images after the jump!

Zen Studios is a multimedia and game technology company based in Hungary. Small and full of potential are the adjectives that best describes this company who are the brains behind the NDS game, Flipper Critters. It's one thing to be full of potential or talent and another to be widely exceptional, and Zen's managing director- Zsolt Steven Kigyossy, wants to prove in a recent interview that the company is indeed going to reach those potentials.

The Zen Studios honcho talked about Flipper Critters giddily. He mentions that "instead of confining the action to a standard pinball table, all of the fast-flipping action in Flipper Critters takes place in a variety of landscapes, locations and areas from town squares and mountain valleys through to towering castles and even the surface of the moon! All the famous and favourite pinball features are still there, including ramps, sinkholes, bumpers, jackpots, gates and goals – though not as you know them."

He believes that the game is a standout in the usually overlooked pinball genre because they "combine classic mini games with several exciting pinball tables, and add adventure elements. We have balanced different game sections so things never become boring and there are always incentives and always an option to move on to an original new game."

He also talked about this FPS engine in development for Nintendo DS that manages to incorporate all or most features of Nintendo's own Metroid Prime: Hunters engine-- which is quite a feat for a small third party developer. According to Zsolt, publishers loved the demo of the still unnamed game, and it will most likely see the light of production and release.

The guys over at Zen are also very excited with Ninty next-gen console, Wii. When asked if they are currently working on a Wii title, he answered "we will not miss the opportunity to start working on it. But right now we are busy finishing up our other titles in production."

Zen Studios is also looking at the possibility of providing electronic downloads. "Hopefully this will mean that, though the production cost of a title is higher, thanks to the efficient distribution, the customer pays less. Easier to play demos; buy games and still pay way less." If they keep thinking and performing that way, we won't be surprised if they would reach those potentials in no time.

Let these adorable creatures entertain you by taking you to a whole new level of pinball. Flipper Critters is set in a rich and engaging make-believe world filled with strange characters, dangerous quests plus a variety of equally exciting mini games. But for the pinball purists, you'll still find familiar facets of your well-loved classic game, like ramps, sinkholes, bumpers, jackpots, gates and goals, but, with a twist. Flipper Critters from Conspiracy Entertainment is set and confirmed to be released around September. But for the meantime feast over fourteen new screens and a movie from the game.

More screens after the jump!