It's really the next natural step in Games for Windows Live development. The Xbox 360 Games on Demand program has been doing well enough, and services like Stardock's Impulse and Steam have already proven the viability of the digital download store model, so now we're getting Games on Demand for Games for Windows Live.

"With Games on Demand, we didn't just want to create a cut-and-paste version of existing digital distribution services," said Mike Ybarra, general manager of LIVE Engagement Services. "We challenged ourselves to deliver an integrated platform that takes full advantage of the unique capabilities offered by the LIVE service. Our goal has always been to create a seamless online gaming experience for the Windows community, and Games on Demand is a great step toward that end."

From the initial announcement, the main difference between Games on Demand and something like Steam is the use of Microsoft points to purchase games along with actual cash money, but it's certainly a start. If they can keep prices competitive, they could be on to something.

Speaking of starts, the service's launch lineup will include Resident Evil 5, Red Faction: Guerrilla, and Battlestations: Pacific, along with Live-enabled versions of popular downloadable titles like World of Goo and Osmos. If those aren't enticing enough, there's also a free Live-enabled version of Tinker, the Windows Vista Ultimate Extra exclusive for those willing to download the Games for Windows Live client when the service goes live on the 15th.

You can download the Games for Windows Live client at Microsoft's official website.

Indie devs 2D Boy, Dylan Fitterer, Amanita Design and small but not indie dev Telltale Games all lent their voices to the "Valve's not so bad/Steam is awesome" tune when Ars asked if anybody was feeling exploited.

For some developers, Steam is actually quite the opposite of exploitation:

Ron Carmel, 2D Boy
"...Valve offers the most developer-friendly terms for digital distribution in the industry. Do you know the saying 'there's nothing better than a good king and nothing worse than a bad one'? I think it applies here, and Steam has clearly been a good king so far."

So, really, Pitchford — what's got you on edge? Is your Borderlands promotional slot not high enough on Steam's marquee queue?

Game devs speak out on Valve, Steam and conflict of interest [Ars Technica]

Unlike "terrible" proposals that the Tripwire president John Gibson received in shopping Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 to publishers, Valve's offer was so straightforward it surprised even Tripwire's lawyer. "Valve's contract was the first one we had seen that didn't have any land mines in it," Gibson said, referring to fine print that can come back to bite an unsuspecting studio later.

Gibson offered his defense of Valve following comments by Pitchford that Valve's interest in both developing video games and distributing them via Steam constituted a conflict of interest. While Gibson acknowledges such appearances, he described Valve's position as more that "Our game is good, and so is yours, so let's both make some money together.

"I can say with certainty that if it weren't for Steam, there would be no Tripwire Interactive right now," Gibson said. "Ask the Tripwire Interactive employees if they feel exploited, as they move into their new offices paid for by the money the company has made on Steam. Or me, as I drive away from the company that was built from the royalties we made on Steam, in my sports car paid for by the royalties we make on Steam, to the home that I pay for with the royalties we make on Steam."

Opinion: Tripwire, Steam, And How We're Not Getting Exploited [Gamasutra via Game Politics]

You can quibble about the when and the how of this happening, but the inevitability of games being sold online like music, free of their plastic prisons, is certain.

The first real sign of that step away from games sheathed in cardboard and plastic sold in a bricks and mortar store hit earlier this month in the form of the PSPgo.

Sony's latest Playstation Portable is a smaller, sleeker system that has no way of playing a physical game on it. There is no disc drive of any sort, instead there is internal memory, a wireless internet connection and a virtual store run by Sony.

"This is an interesting step to test the waters on a digital only product," Eric Lempel, director of Playstation Network Operations, told Kotaku. "We are thrilled and completely cognizant that this is the platform for a digital gamer.

"It's a really exciting time."

While gamers can visit the Playstation Store directly on their Playstation Portable or PSPgo, the PSP has to store its games on Memory Sticks, while the PSPgo has 16GBs of internal memory and still has the ability to store titles on Memory Sticks. Top-tier games can take up half a gig to one a half gigs of memory each.

The Playstation Store currently has about 100 PSP games available for download with hundreds more in the pipeline, Lempel said. To purchase a game, you just need to find it and download it directly to the device. The sale is automatically charged to a credit card or taken out of credit which can be purchased at retail stores.

Both the PSP and PSPgo can also display pictures and movies and play music. While the online store both rents and sells movies, it currently doesn't offer music. That's something that could change in the future, Lempel said.

"It is something we have considered and are looking at," he said. "It's a natural fit, but there is nothing to talk about right now."

Sony faced quite a few hurdles in launching their download-only gaming platform. Some retailers, which make a bulk of their money off of game not hardware sales, were reluctant to carry the device. And game publishers had to be convinced that the games, no longer on a physical disc, wouldn't be open to greater piracy.

Under Sony's system, games have to be "activated" after they have been installed on a PSPgo or Playstation Portable and can only be installed on a total of five different PSPs or PSPgos in their lifetime.

Those steps, Lempel says, helped convince third-party publishers that their device was a safe bet.

"We're seeing everyone on board with the PSPgo," he said.

While the $250 PSPgo is a download-only device, Sony isn't putting all of their eggs in one basket. Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida told Kotaku that the company intends to continue its support of the $170 Playstation Portable, which allows gamers to download and play those same games or use the device's built-in UMD drive to play games.

Moving forward, he said, new games will be released in both the UMD and digital formats. Sony was sure to make it as easy as possible to release a game in both formats, Lempel said.

"It's not that hard to do, but there is some work involved," he said.

The hope is that games will hit both the retail store and Sony's online Playstation Store at the same time and for the same price.

The decision to not drop the price for a game that doesn't have the added cost of packaging and distribution may not sit well with gamers, but Lempel says Sony is comfortable with the decision.

"Right now there is no price difference," he said. "We feel (the games) are competitively priced and that there is a ton of content across the spectrum.

He added that a price drop for digital games in the future is possible.

"We're always looking at our business model."

The online store does have lower-priced, simpler games available for purchase. These "minis" cost $10 or less, take up less than 100 megs of memory and can't have multiplayer or network functionality.

Publishers can also decide they want to place their bigger titles on sale, Lempel pointed out.

"We've done a good amount of sales on the Playstation Network in the past," he said.

One stumbling block for the new platform could prevent current Playstation Portable owners from upgrading to the new handheld.

There is currently no way for a Playstation Portable owner to transfer their library of UMD games to the download-only PSPgo. Yoshida told us that Sony "seriously looked into solutions" but that legal and technical issues prevented them from coming up with a system that would work.

Lempel says that the biggest issue was not just about the games, but rather the game's music and other royalty issues.

To try and make up for that, Playstation Portable owners in Europe who upgrade to the PSPgo will get three free download games. Currently, there are no such plans for potential upgraders in the U.S., Lempel said. He did add that new bundles for the PSPgo could be heading for the U.S. in the future.

While the PSPgo gives gamers the convenience of instantly purchasing games online without having to leave their homes and the ability to carry many of those titles with them without the need of extra discs, the device is a much bigger win for publishers and Sony.

If successful, the PSPgo and it's download-only service completely kills the ability for gamers to sell off their titles or buy used copies of games.

A quick check of the top ten rated games for the Playstation Portable found that half weren't yet available in the Playstation Store and of those that were, only one was cheaper than the various stores and services that sell games used.

The PSPgo is driven by an interesting concept, and has a better design than its predecessor, but to succeed Sony has to drop the price of the handheld console and digital copies of games and should actively court publishers to have regular sales on their titles. Sony should also launch digital rentals of games and push gamer loyalty programs that reward frequent shoppers.

And why wouldn't they?

Used games, next to perhaps piracy, is a publisher's biggest concern. Moving gamers away from a system that supports the resale of titles, with nothing going into the pockets of publishers, is likely one of the video game industry's top priorities.

But to do so with little to no reward for the consumer will alienate gamers and inevitably kill this first test of a download-only platform.

Four publishers and a retailer did not respond to requests for interviews for this story.

Well Played is a weekly news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

Phase IV of Impulse rolls out a new service called Ready-to-Play that functions as a sort of Facebook for PC gamers. The client allows you to create a buddy list and interact with said buddies like a messenger. It also allows you to create a profile that broadcasts to other PC gamers with similar interests and gaming styles what you're playing so that you can make more buddies and never not have someone to game with.

The idea, says Stardock President & CEO Brad Wardell explained that the idea behind Ready-to-Play is to streamline the matchmaking process. While the client won't dump you into a lobby, it will create a social network that lowers the risk of entering into a multiplayer match with gamers you don't know who could potentially be griefers or foul-mouthed 13-year-olds.

Other updates to Phase IV include a cosmetic makeover, a new website and the ability to download games and software on the service without actually using the client. Ultimately, Wardell said, Stardock's goal with Impulse was to create a concept of ownership with PC games similar to what you get with console games. Like, you could buy a game on Impulse, and then turn around and sell it on Impulse when you're done with it.

Doesn't sound like they're quite there yet, but between Ready-to-Play and the PC Gamer's Bill of Rights unveiled last year at the Penny Arcade Expo, Stardock is definitely doing more than just trying to keep up with Steam.

You can get your hands on a Ready-to-Play beta code at PAX this September.

Said Shiggy:

Personally, I'm one of those guys who, even if I have all the songs from iTunes, I want the CD as well. I feel more reassured with that physical media. Entertainment is something that will not just become digital. If I look at Wii MotionPlus, this is something that you're not doing via digital distribution. The thing for us is we really don't see the future of video games being merely confined to digital distribution or moving solely or even to a majority of our products being distributed that way.

That's not Nintendo flipping the bird at digital distribution, per se, but it does mean that physical media is going to be a staple of its publishing m.o. for some time. The statement about wanting a CD in addition to having the mp3s seems a little bit antiquated as well. I'm not sure why anyone would buy the CD after getting music. It can't be for the luxurious LP art.

The Mercury News Interview: Shigeru Miyamoto, Head of Game Development, Nintendo [San Jose Mercury-News via GoNintendo]

The GameStop Casual Digital Store, located at http://www.gamestop.com/casual, features the hottest and not-so-hottest casual PC games for purchase, download and play. Powered by RealNetworks, the store features casual and independent titles, from Nancy Drew to Plants Vs. Zombies, with thirty-one titles available for half-off to celebrate the launch of the new service.

"As the leading video game and entertainment software retailer, we continuously look for ways to bring our passion for gaming to the customer visiting us online," said Tony Bartel, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing. "The new Casual Digital Store accomplishes this goal by appealing to an ever-expanding customer demographic looking for value in addition to trusted guidance to ensure they receive the best gaming experience possible."

It sounds a great deal like the casual game download service Amazon.com launched in February, perhaps indicating that while GameStop isn't worried about Amazon's trade-ins, it isn't too keen on being left behind when it comes to digital distribution and the casual market.

Adventure games started as just black on white, or perhaps green on black. Word told the story. Words described the scenery and through words people played.

Text adventures like Pyramid 2000, Adventure and Zork, didn't just passively entertain, they taught us to imagine, to think, even to type.

But as the medium of gaming continued to thrive, to grow, to evolve, it left behind its roots as money losers, relics of a past that today's gamers may not be interested in.

Ironically though, it's that same evolution of technology that may now be able to breath new life into classic adventure games and open them up to a new audience of gamers.

Earlier this week LucasArts announced a deal with digital download service Steam to start releasing some of their classic games through the on-demand gaming service.

Among the short list of initially offerings are a number of LucasArts' early graphic adventures. While they aren't text adventures, titles like The Dig and Loom rely more on imagination than graphics to deliver fun.

It's a shift in philosophy at the company spurred by the increasing popularity of downloadable games and the increasing number of platforms, like the iPhone, Dsi and upcoming PSPgo, that are built to support them.

LucasArts had, at one point, mostly given up on their adventure titles, Mary Bihr, LucasArts vice president of global publishing, told Kotaku.

"We thought, 'Gee, maybe classic adventures don't do well in the market," she said.

But that changed when LucasArts replaced much of their upper management and they started looking at the potential of digital distribution.

"In looking at the history and heritage of LucasArts it's clear we have some much beloved titles," Bihr said. "With the advent of digital distribution it opens up a whole new avenue where are games can be experience by new players and delivered in new ways.

"These games have stories that are broad enough and games that are deep enough to attract that audience. We are looking at new markets, people who have never played adventure games."

The hope is that the release of these titles on both platforms known for these adventure games, like the computer, and platforms perhaps new to the genre, like the iPhone, portable gaming devices and consoles, will allow LucasArts to both extend their titles among older fans of the genre and build up an entirely new fanbase.

And because the publisher doesn't have to reburn the game on discs, put them in boxes and worry about distribution, the barriers for success have been greatly reduced.

The Steam announcement comes at a time when LucasArts is making waves with other classic titles as well.

The publisher put classic adventure title Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis as an extra game on their Wii title Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. They're also releasing a "reimagined" version of The Secret of Monkey Island, now with easier controls and better graphics. And they've cut a deal with TellTale Games to continue the Secret of Monkey Island story as episodic content.

"Those decisions were all made in parallel," Bihr said. "They are all tied to the larger decision to revive our classic games and bring them out to new markets."

Bihr said that LucasArts is looking over their library to see which of their other classics could be reimagined, turned into new games or released to Steam.

"I think we will explore any and everything," she said. "We will allow the marketplace to inform us."

And that means, she said, keeping a close eye on both the reaction to and success of these three announcements, essentially using them as test cases.

When asked if LucasArts adventures could make their way to the iPhone or the Dsi, or PSPgo, Bihr would only says that the company is platform agnostic and that they are "looking at a number of different platforms." Apple's guidelines don't allow a developer to announce a game before it has been approved.

"We are looking at a broad spectrum of ideas," she added.

What is obvious is that as the popularity of digital distribution continues to increase its impact on gaming spreads in interesting ways, making some games and ideas, once financially implausible, a possibility.

"There are so many different types of customers," Bihr said. "The way in which they consume games and media is so different now."

Xbox Live's Marc Whitten announced that, starting in August, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download full Xbox 360 games. Titles shown in a dashboard mock-up included Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, BioWare, LEGO Star Wars and Oblivion.

New games will be offered each week.

Microsoft points will not be required, as the service will support credit card purchases.

Whitten declined to say how closely the games will be released to regular retail releases. Prices were not announced.

All current NCsoft titles should be available via the Steam service today, from the recently released City of Heroes Architect Edition to the Guild Wars series. This also covers upcoming NCsoft games, including the eagerly anticipated Aion: The Tower of Eternity, which the company can't seem to stop teasing us all with lately.

In honor of the new arrangement, Steam will be offering various special deals on NCsoft titles over the next few weeks. Unfortunately no specific information was available in the announcement other than to check www.steamgames.com on a regular basis...so do that.

What is Goo? Goo stands for Game Object Obfuscation. What it does is allow game publishers to encapsulate their game's executable file together with Stardock's Impulse Reactor virtual platform in a single encrypted file. When the player starts the game for the first time they enter their email address and serial number and that's it. The game is tied to that person, as opposed to being locked to any one piece of hardware.

How does this help?

For one, it allows players to validate their game on any service that supports that particular title. It also allows players to resell their PC games, as they'll be able to voluntarily deassign the game, allowing someone else to sign up with their email and the serial number. In effect, you actually have a product with real value outside of your computer.

"One of our primary goals for Impulse Reactor is to create a solution that will appeal to game developers while adhering to the Gamers Bill of Rights," said Brad Wardell, president & CEO of Stardock. "Publishers want to be able to sell their games in as many channels as possible but don't want to have to implement a half-dozen ‘copy protection' schemes. Game Object Obfuscation lets the developer have a single game build that can be distributed everywhere while letting gamers potentially be able to re-download their game later from any digital service. Plus, it finally makes possible a way for gamers and publishers to transfer game licenses to players in a secure and reliable fashion."

Stardock will launch Goo on April 7th as part of the phase 3 release of their Impulse digital delivery platform. They expect to announce publishers taking advantage of the Goo technology next month.

Stardock's Impulse is essentially their answer to Steam, featuring games from Atari, THQ, 2k, Capcom, Epic, and more, along with applications and utilities to help make your PC gaming experience run a bit smoother. Now in its 9th month of operation, Impulse is quickly approaching its one millionth user, expecting to be just behind Steam by the time the service reaches its first anniversary.

"By Impulse's first birthday, we expect Impulse to be the 2nd largest digital distributor of PC games and to have nearly all of the major PC game publishers on board," said (Stardock president and CEO Brad)Wardell.

To celebrate, Stardock is giving away a $4,000 gaming PC to the one millionth user, a reward process I never really understood. Sure, it helps drive new people to the service, but what of the nearly one million already signed up? What do they get? Gratitude is nice and all, but it doesn't run Crysis. I checked.

Kotaku spoke to Greg Hart, Vice President of Video Games and Software for Amazon.com about the new service, who explained that offering casual games for purchase and download via the popular online shopping marketplace is a boon to both customers and developers. Customers benefit by having a safe place to download their games with the same quality and convenience they've come to expect from Amazon.com, while casual developers who have never released a retail box have the online equivalent of a big box retailer where they can display their wares.

Customers are able to download and try any game sold through the service for 30 minutes, after which they can either purchase the full game or forget they ever played it. As a special promotion good for the first week only, customers can download full versions of Jewel Quest II, The Scruffs, an Built-A-Lot completely free of charge.

So why casual games, instead of just going for an all-encompassing online store model like Valve's Steam?

"Casual Games are a natural fit with our demographic," explains Hart. "We have 88 million active customers who can appreciate the convenience of the true amazon shopping experience combined with the casual games experience." The man makes a very good point. The person who spends a great deal of time browsing Amazon.com is open to new experiences on their computers, and quick, inexpensive casual games delivered by a trusted source should prove extremely popular to the shopping masses.

That's not to say that the Game Downloads section won't expend into other, more mainstream titles in the future. "We always want to offer the widest selection possible, just like we've done with our boxed games over the past two years."

So don't worry, Valve. With Amazon focused strictly on providing inexpensive casual titles to the shopping masses, they are no threat to your digital download empire at all. For now.

Amazon Game Downloads [Amazon.com]

Now available digitally are Mass Effect, Need For Speed Undercover, Spore (and the Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack), FIFA Manager 09 and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. We'd consider that a big win for Valve, considering EA's kind of the competition with its own EA Store.

The official word tells us that Mirror's Edge, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Dead Space will join them "in the coming weeks."

We're still looking into the copyright protection measures employed on the EA catalog and hope that everything's hunky-dory. Thanks to Michael for the heads up.

Steam Publishers - Electronic Arts [Valve]

"For some time now, Steam has allowed gamers to log on from any computer in the world and access their applications. This also makes it easy to upgrade a PC without worrying about losing your games," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "Steam Cloud is a natural extension of the portability Steam affords gamers and developers, and we intend to expand its feature set as it is used in Left 4 Dead and other games coming to Steam."

The first release of Steam Cloud will support the saving of keyboard and mouse configurations as well as multiplayer settings. Valve is making Steam Cloud freely available to developers and publishers, and will also be adding support for the services to their back catalog. Hit the jump for more details.

STEAM CLOUD ROLLING IN THIS WEEK

Leading Online Platform for PC Games Extends Portability

November 3, 2008 - Valve, creators of best-selling entertainment products and advanced technologies, today announced the roll out of Steam Cloud, a set of services for Steam that stores application data online and allows user experiences to be consistent from any PC. Steam Cloud is a free extension to Steam, a leading a platform for PC games with over 15 million accounts worldwide.

Steam Cloud support will ship with Valve's Left 4 Dead demo later this week and the full game on November 18. In this first release, the information stored and accessible through the Steam Cloud includes keyboard, mouse, and gamepad configurations, as well as multiplayer settings such as spraypaint images.

The Steam Cloud will "just work," meaning any user changes to their game options will propagate to the Cloud by default. Upon logging into Steam from another PC, these settings will be brought down from the Cloud and automatically leveraged by the game. Any configuration changes on this second machine are then synced to the Cloud for future sessions.

Steam Cloud will be available to all publishers and developers using Steam, free of charge, and Valve will add Cloud support to its back catalog of Steam games. Cloud services are compatible with games purchased via Steam, at retail, and other digital outlets.

"For some time now, Steam has allowed gamers to log on from any computer in the world and access their applications. This also makes it easy to upgrade a PC without worrying about losing your games," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "Steam Cloud is a natural extension of the portability Steam affords gamers and developers, and we intend to expand its feature set as it is used in Left 4 Dead and other games coming to Steam."

“GameTap is a significant strategic addition to our portfolio of established online gaming services in Europe,” said Pierre Gaudet, CEO of Paris-based Metaboli. “The addition of GameTap provides us a foothold in the U.S. market; valuable content and an established brand that integrate well with our existing operations; and a partner with whom we are honored to be in business.”

See? All's well that ends well. Our little GameTap is just growing up and flexing its wings. Let's just hope we don't find its broken corpse at the base of the tree when this is all over.

Turner Broadcasting and Metaboli Partner To Create A Global Online Gaming Service

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) and Metaboli, S.A. have partnered to create a global online gaming service under the GameTap brand in the U.S. and Metaboli brand in Europe, the companies announced today. GameTap will continue to offer arcade, console and PC games from a library of several hundred titles to broadband users in the U.S. The GameTap/Metaboli combination brings together two established leaders in the online gaming space that creates a global gaming brand with a presence on two continents.

“GameTap is a significant strategic addition to our portfolio of established online gaming services in Europe,” said Pierre Gaudet, CEO of Paris-based Metaboli. “The addition of GameTap provides us a foothold in the U.S. market; valuable content and an established brand that integrate well with our existing operations; and a partner with whom we are honored to be in business.”

“Our priority for all of our networks and businesses is growth,” said Stuart Snyder, who as president and chief operating officer of Turner Broadcasting’s Animation, Young Adult & Kids Media group has overseen GameTap. “Partnering with Metaboli significantly enhances GameTap’s growth prospects by leveraging our respective strengths. Metaboli’s recognized white label expertise, combined with GameTap’s vast game library, publishing agreements and brand equity will now offer turn key solutions to ISPs, Portals, Retailers and Publishers in the United States. There’s upside here for everyone, but especially for gaming enthusiasts around the world.”

Under the new agreement, Turner Broadcasting will continue to manage GameTap operations and provide technical and migration support through a transition period to conclude in early 2009, at which time Metaboli will assume direct management of the GameTap business and brand. GameTap will continue to be based in Atlanta and Turner will become an equity investor in the combined entity going forward.

Launched in 2005 by Turner Broadcasting, GameTap delivers more than 1,300 authentic versions of console, computer and arcade games, including original and exclusive episodic titles such as Sam & Max, Seasons One and Two and American McGee’s Grimm. Visitors to www.gametap.com can play free games on its ad-supported Web site and purchase top PC and catalog titles from its digital retail storefront. GameTap paid members receive unlimited access to its massive library of titles; community and multi-player features; and original games.

Metaboli is Europe’s leading provider of platforms and websites for games digital distribution. Consumers can subscribe to its games-on-demand service at www.metaboli.com and download to own games at www.gamesplanet.com.

Through “Digital Tycoon”, their business-to-business platform, Metaboli also powers the websites of more than 50 white label partners from MSN, T-Online, Orange, Virgin to Atari or Game.

EA execs didn't break down the details on which distribution methods did how much, but with the company shilling via its online EA Store, as well as the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace, is has ample opportunities.

What we'd really like to know is exactly how much of that is downloadable Rock Band content versus paid-for unlockables in games like Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf and Need For Speed: Pro Street. Excel documents with that information forwarded to tips@ will be treated with the utmost discretion.

The reason Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One was so long in coming to the Playstation Network had nothing to do with favoritism, and everything to do with technology.

"Everyone seemed to come up with their own rumors," Ceraldi said. "They thought there was exclusivity or that Penny Arcade doesn’t like the Playstation 3 but that wasn’t it at all."

After announcing their game for the PC, Linux and Xbox 360 Hothead discovered they had to essentially build their own version of the Torque game engine to bring the Penny Arcade Adventures they wanted to consoles and it took much longer than they expected.

"At that point we were fully committed to getting the game done as soon as we could," Ceraldi said. "So we focused on PC, linux and what we had already announced, the Xbox."

"As soon as we finished and got approved we moved those developers to the playstation and they started working on it for the Playstation Network," he said. "Until we got it running the way we wanted to look, we weren't going to announce anything."

"As soon as we did a full play through of the game we announced."

Future episodes of the game—Ceraldi believes there will be a total of four for this particular adventure—will still not arrive at the same time for all platforms.

While their was a lengthy delay between the release of Penny Arcade Adventures on the Xbox 360 and it coming to the Playstation Network, the new episodes will likely hit within weeks of one another. The Playstation Network will likely still be the last platform the episodes are developed for, he added.

While Ceraldi wouldn't talk hard numbers, he said that the game has had "very very solid numbers" for a digitally distributed game with no retail.

"We are an indie company," he added.

The future of the budding franchise appears to be strong. Ceraldi said that they may even look into releasing a box set or special edition of all of the episodes for Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness at retailers or online.

While they would love to bring the episodic game to the Wii, the size limits for Wii Ware prevent them from going the digital distribution method, he said. But that doesn't mean it couldn't come out down the line as a boxed game for Nintendo's console.

"Id love to be on the platform," Ceraldi said. "It’s purely an issue of size limit. Our game is just too big. If they increase that limit or add a harddrive, anything like that we would revisit (Wii Ware)."

And what happens after the episodic game has run it's course?

"Our goal is to have those single episodes. have them part of an overarching story. We speced out a story arch for it and Tycho has said he would like to do four episodes.

"I think the plan is that we may do a different game. Different theme but still Penny Arcade. They’ve done many different storylines and settings. There is lots of work they would like to explore."

The Midway Arcade site lets players post their high scores, too. Additionally, Midway's opened a digital storefront on its main site, where you can buy titles like Stranglehold, UT3 and BlackSite: Area 51 as direct downloads.

Full announcement with prices listed follows the jump.

Midway Launches MidwayArcade.com Casual Games Site for
Pick-Up-and-Play Classics

Company Also Announces Digital Storefront at Midway.com

CHICAGO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Today, Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer, announced two new online storefronts for downloadable distribution of titles from the company’s vast catalog of arcade, PC and touchscreen titles.

Beginning today, gamers can go to www.midwayarcade.com to download versions of the company’s arcade classics and touch screen favorites. More than 25 classic titles, such as Defender®, Joust®, Spy Hunter® and Mahki®, are now available for download, starting for as little as 3 games for US$5.

In addition, Midway also announced the launch of a digital storefront at www.midway.com. The new site is intended for the North American market, and features ten recent Midway® releases, starting at $9.99 per game.

Midwayarcade.com and the storefront at midway.com were built by Digital River, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRIV), a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions. For the online stores, Digital River is managing the online sale and download of Midway games, offering customers a seamless shopping experience and immediate access to popular Midway titles.

“We are excited to work with Midway Games and help maximize the sales opportunities on its online stores,” said Don Peterson, Digital River’s Senior Vice President of Global Client Development. “Using our e-commerce expertise, we can help Midway offer a consistent, reliable and user-friendly way for its consumers to purchase their favorite Midway games.”

“The Midway brand has a long and rich history of fast-paced and addictive games from our arcade and touchscreen heritage,” said Mona Hamilton, vice president, marketing, Midway Home Entertainment. “The new digital storefront at midway.com and the casual games site at midwayarcade.com allow us to deliver these classics, favorites and recent releases directly to a wide-range of Midway fans.”

MidwayArcade.com

MidwayArcade.com will give longtime arcade and touchscreen fans a chance to replay some of the classic Midway games from years past. Players can post their high scores on the site.

Arcade Games – APB™, Arch Rivals®, Cyberball™, Defender®, Gauntlet® 2, Rampage®, Rootbeer Tapper®, Spy Hunter®, Joust®, Primal Rage®, Super Offroad®, Total Carnage™, Wizard of Wor®, Robotron: 2084®.

Titles from the Midway arcade catalog are available for purchase in bundles of 3 for US$5, 5 for US$8 and 7 for US$10. All 14 Midway arcade titles can be purchased for US$15.

Touchmaster® Games – 3 Peak Deluxe®, 5 Star Generals®, Crystal Balls®, Gem Slide®, Go Wild™, Mahjongg Pairs, Mahki®, Powercell®, Solitaire, Target 21®, Trivia, Word Search, Wordz®. Casual Touchmaster games are available for US$5 each.

For more information, log onto http://www.midwayarcade.com.

Midway Online Store

Gamers can visit Midway.com to purchase games and download them directly to their PC’s for immediate play.

Midway games that are now offered for digital purchase include:

Unreal Tournament 3 – US$29.95

Midway Arcade Treasures™ - US$19.99

Midway Arcade Treasures™ Deluxe - US$19.99

Area 51® - US$14.99

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy® - US$14.99

The Suffering® - US$9.99

The Suffering: Ties That Bind® - US$14.99

Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War® - US$19.99

Stranglehold® - US$19.95

Blacksite: Area 51® - US$19.95

For more information, visit www.midway.com.

About Digital River, Inc.

Digital River, Inc., a leading provider of global e-commerce solutions, builds and manages online businesses for software publishers, consumer technology manufacturers, distributors, online retailers and affiliates. Its multi-channel e-commerce solution, which supports both direct and indirect sales, is designed to help companies of all sizes maximize online revenues as well as reduce the costs and risks of running an e-commerce operation. The company’s comprehensive platform offers site development and hosting, order management, fraud prevention, export controls, tax management, physical and digital product fulfillment, multi-lingual customer service, advanced reporting and strategic marketing services.

Founded in 1994, Digital River is headquartered in Minneapolis with offices in major U.S. cities as well as Cologne, Germany; London, England; Shannon, Ireland; Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Stockholm, Sweden; Taipei, Taiwan; Tokyo, Japan; and Shanghai, China. For more details about Digital River, visit the corporate Web site at www.digitalriver.com or call 952-253-1234.

About Midway

Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices throughout the world, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for major videogame systems and personal computers. More information about Midway and its products can be found at www.midway.com.

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