Four Zippos themed on classic Namco properties Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Xevious and Galaxian are yours for the pre-ordering and importing, should you have the desire and funds to complete the transaction. I say that because, like the Sega Saturn and Mega Drive Zippos, these aren't cheap. Each is 10,000 yen, equating to a $108.90 USD price at importer National Console Support.

But if you're expecting to need a Zippo in January, these might be exactly what you're looking for.

ZIPPO Namco Classic Game Zippo Lighters - Import Preorder [NCSX]

There's a swell movie poster for this at the link, too. Go check it out.

Dig Dug Trailer [GamerVision, thanks Rachel Marie!]

So how are these versions of the two classic arcade titles different from every other version? Once downloaded and launched, the games will ask for your Facebook login information. Choose not to provide it, and you've got relatively accurate PC versions of Pac-Man and Dig Dug. Provide it, and you've got access to Facebook leaderboards, friends chat, and nifty little Facebook messages, such as "It's on between Pinky and Michael in NAMCO ALL-STARS: PAC-MAN!"

Heh.

The two games are now available for free download, which gives you unlimited access to the first two levels of each title. Players who want to complete all 256 levels of each game will have to pony up $9.99 a piece.

Thanks, but I'll stick to Pet Society. At least then I have a chance at golden poo.

Namco All-Stars Pac-Man and Dig Dug [Facebook]

First and foremost, WiiWare gets one of its most eagerly anticipated titles with My Pokémon Ranch (1,000 points), the prequel to My Pokémon Creamy Caesar. This relaxing title lets your Miis and Pokémon hang out together on a ranch, which sounds like a splendid way to spend an afternoon. Players will be able to link up with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl for the DS and deposit up to 1,000 Pokémon onto your ranch, leaving you up to your neck in Pokémon droppings.

On the older games front we have two NES games at 600 points each, Dig Dug, which involves inflating your enemies until they are dead, and the Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, a game never released outside of Japan that involves inflating your enemies and riding on top of them. Two games whose heroes truly blow.

Wii-kly Update

One WiiWare Game and Two Virtual Console Games Added to Wii Shop Channel

The latest additions to the Wii™ Shop Channel offer a remarkable array of characters you won’t find just anywhere. A fresh WiiWare™ title gives Pokémon lovers a whole new way to wrangle and enjoy their little pals, while a pair of imported Virtual Console™ releases will pump up the action quotient—literally—for fans of NES® classics.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii™ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

WiiWare™

My Pokémon™ Ranch (Nintendo, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): The Pokémon phenomenon debuts on WiiWare with My Pokémon Ranch, a game that lets you watch as Pokémon and Miis interact with each other for the first time. Enjoy the relaxing ranch life by viewing your ranch and its Pokémon, taking pictures and sending those pictures to your friends via the Wii Message Board. The more Pokémon and Miis you bring to your ranch, the more fun it becomes. My Pokémon Ranch can be linked with the Nintendo DS™ Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon® Pearl Game Cards to deposit the Pokémon you’ve caught in these games in your ranch. You can deposit a maximum of 1,000 Pokémon from up to eight different game cards. Make your ranch livelier by playing with your friends and family.

Virtual Console™

DIG DUG™ (NES®, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Become Dig Dug, the champion of love and justice, as you drill up, down, left and right, defeating any enemies in your path. Avoid the persistent Pooka and the deep-dwelling but whimsical Fygar as you defeat all the enemies in order to clear each stage. Defeat enemies by hitting them with the harpoon and pumping air into them, or by dropping rocks on them from above. Receive bonus points by getting the vegetables that appear in the middle of the stage. Receive high points for defeating deep-dwelling enemies or by defeating Fygars from the side with the harpoon. Pass through inflated enemies or defeat enemies in an adjacent passage for an even higher score. Lure multiple enemies and defeat them with a single rock from above in this thrilling action game.

BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA (NES®, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 600 Wii Points): BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA is an action game released in 1988, but it was never available outside of Japan. Players take on the role of baby Upa, a prince of the Akuyo kingdom. Prince Upa must take on an adventure spanning seven different worlds in order to rescue the kingdom from the dangerous demon Zai. Upa must defeat the enemies he meets along the way by inflating them. Upa can then use these floating enemies to his advantage by bouncing off of or riding on top of them. The prince must also avoid deadly thorns and pits while keeping an eye out for helpful items such as milk (to restore health) and bells (for temporary invincibility) if he hopes to succeed. If you’re looking for a cute and solid platformer with a hero unlike those in most other games, then look no further than BIO MIRACLE BOKUTTE UPA.

Dig Dug, presumably the NES version, is also coming to the Wii.

In addition, PlayStation 3 ratings for The Last Guy and WipEout HD have appeared, hopefully a good indication that both will be hitting the PlayStation Network soon. Finally, Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery is apparently a video game about a fish who's also a detective. Who knew fish were so smart?! I think we've all learned a lot today.

First, it's Japan-only for now and will most likely stay that way. The story behind Dig Dug Islands, as I gather from the game's intro, is that a menacing, pineapple-stealing vortex has transformed a series of tropical islands to climates more sinister. To the rescue are a bunch of drill and pump wielding bobbleheaded boys and girls who must dispatch the swarm of Pookas and Fygars who threaten some sort of disaster.

I don't expect Dig Dug Islands to make its way out of Asian markets, but for those in Japan, let us know how it is, okay? More pics at Game Watch and a trailer at the official site.

Dig Dug Islands [Impress Game Watch]

Larry Hyrb points out that Microsoft is slashing prices on four Xbox Live titles starting Sunday and ending Monday night. The Live fire sale cuts Small Arms, Zuma Deluxe, Gauntlet and Dig Dug prices in half starting 12:00 a.m. GMT on Sunday, September 2 and continuing until 11: 59 p.m. GMT on Monday, September 3.

Hit the jump for the list of games, description and prices.

Small Arms - 400 Microsoft Points (normally 800 Microsoft Points)
Easy to pick up but hard to put down, "Small Arms" is a frantic multiplayer action game with the feel of an arcade shooter.

Zuma Deluxe- 400 Microsoft Points (normally 800 Microsoft Points)
Explore more than 20 realms in Adventure mode and put your skills to the test in this fast-paced puzzle game.

Gauntlet - 200 Microsoft Points (normally 400 Microsoft Points)
The original dungeon crawler lets four adventurers explore and fight together as a warrior, valkyrie, wizard, and elf.

Dig Dug - 200 Microsoft Points (normally 400 Microsoft Points)
Experience the fast-paced action of this quarter-cruncher from 1982 as you take control of Dig Dug himself and vanquish Pookas and Fygars.

Bits, Bytes, Pixels, Sprites got their hands on this picture of a Dig Dug stained glass window. The image shows the cabinet for the game surrounded by an aura of orange light, as if it is something holy, given unto us by God. Which, of course, it was.

What someone needs to do is fill an entire building with game-themed stained glass. They could call it the Church of Game, I'd attend. Brian Crecente

Time Capsule Thursday: Stained Glass Window [TheBBPS]

Tabloid TV has yet to release it's stranglehold on America, especially on channels like E! which are dedicated to turning up the seedy underbelly of the entertainment industry. One of the great things out such outlets are that they are so cheaply done that they are easy to parody. And that's just what the makers of True Gaming Legends Confidential have done, taking the mick out of E!'s own muck raker "True Hollywood Story." This episode deals with the rise and fall of two of gamings most beloved characters, Pac Man and Dig Dug. Watch in amusement and terror as Pac Man's meteoric rise to fame gets him everything he ever wanted and leaves poor Dig Dug drunk and flailing in the gutter like McWhertor at game launch party. Flynn De Marco

Flynn De Marco

Netsu Chu! Baseball 2007 [Impress Game Watch]

According to Major Nelson, Dig Dug is now available over Xbox Live Arcade. It costs 400 points and is available in all regions.

According to me, no one gives a crap about Dig Dug. What's next? Pong? Florian Eckhardt

At TGS06 yesterday, Microsoft announced a bunch of new games coming to XBLA over the next few months, including.

• Contra
• Gyruss
• Dig Dug
• Track & Field
• New Rally-X
• Rush'n Attack
• Ms. Pac-Man
• Yie Ar Kung Fu

That last title will be Japan only, since it's a port of a rather obscure and ancient fighting game.

You know, it's rather nice to see a new Xbox Live title every Wednesday and all, but I'd personally rather see a lot less ports of games I can play on M.A.M.E. and a lot more showcasing of small developer, mold-breaking content. Florian Eckhardt

And, forty minutes later, I answer my own question. The name of the deliciously deranged artist who painted a thyroidic, psychopathic Mario stomping the jelly-like brains of a Goomba out of its spurting eye sockets has an identity, and his name is Handre De Jager. And better yet, he's done more twisted video game inspired works, and they're all available to buy as prints, dirty cheap.

Here's one that he did of Dig Dug. I have no idea what the hell is going on here: this is certainly never the way I mnemonically pictured my adventures in a little subterranean drill machine. Handre describes it as:

. An innumerable amount of hellish, subterranean beasts are unleashed upon humanity. Soldiers trained specially in the arts of pumping and digging are sent to obliterate the foul monsters from beneath the soil, but alas; many of them perish and some turn evil themselves. It is up to an exceptionally brave, surviving soldier to stop the horror by means of over inflation.

For $5.95 each, I'm buying every one of these posters and hanging them in my bathroom. I've always felt that the current paintings of dainty WAVES sipping bottles of Coca-Cola was missing a certain punch-you-in-the-junk panache. Florian Eckhardt

Handre De Jagre's Art [Awful Mart]

Back when Saturday Night Live was still funny, the sketch comedy show served up hot pippin' plates of giggle pie like this. A total classic! Brian Ashcraft

Thanks, Jarod

More Here [SNL]

Handr 's deviantART Gallery