I contend that one of Square Enix's finest acquisitions in 2009's take-over of Eidos Interactive was the six miniature trained killers of 2009's action-adventure, Mini Ninjas. Soon they will be an animated series, but for now they're an endless runner, and I've missed them so much.

We've not heard much from Hiro and his tiny assassin friends since 2009's Mini Ninjas, which makes sense; you're not supposed to hear ninja. Fans will get a chance to learn that for themselves come June 29, when Square Enix releases Mini Ninjas Adventures, a Kinect-powered fight-fest for Xbox Live arcade.

With at least one potential game of the year exclusively nesting on the Playstation 3 and a price drop under its belt, the PS3 has had a pretty darn good year.

New Halo, new downloadables for Mass Effect, Fallout 3, and Grand Theft Auto, new Forza. It was a pretty good year for Xbox 360 owners.

IO Interactive, the guys behind the Hitman series and the excellent Mini Ninjas, have moved onto something else. Something that's nothing like either of those games, apparently.

It looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of Eidos' Mini Ninjas in the future, as film and television production company 4Kids Entertainment becomes the property's global licensing agent.

Strange one, this. Mini Ninjas is, at first glance, clearly aimed at children. Or at least children at heart. Big-eyed characters, cute design. But it was also made by the same guys who did Hitman.

Take Eidos' adorable little assassins for a spin later this week, as a demo of IO Interactive's Mini Ninjas hits the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

IO Interactive's tiny little messengers of death are launching an all-out assault across multiple gaming platforms next month, as Eidos cuts down a September release date before it even has time to scream.