Now that the Summer of Live Arcade is over, Xbox Live Arcade is back to business as usual in a rather unusual fashion, releasing not one, not two, but three new games. Tomorrow sees the release of the ultimate battle between good and stupid as Blazing Lizard's Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball hits the XBLA, along with CrunchTime Games' space-shooter Shred Nebula, both at 800 Microsoft points. Joining the two bigger titles is Gin Rummy (400 Microsoft points), a card game I am pretty sure my grandmother used to play, though I might be mixing that up with Cribbage.

So, you guys planning on picking up any of these? Which ones? If your answer is Gin Rummy, congratulations on figuring out how to use a computer to surf the web. Tell your helpful grandson I said hi!

This week on Arcade: Shred Nebula, Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball and Gin Rummy [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

ESA Cheers For Pirates' Prison Sentences

The Entertainment Software Association issued a press release today that for once wasn't scolding a U.S. state for pursuing unconstitutional game legislation. Instead, they take a moment to applaud the sentencing of two convicted software pirates - Kevin Fuchs of New York and Kifah Maswadi of Florida, both of whom received prison terms for their efforts at taking away money from hardworking developers and publishers.

“We commend the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of North Carolina and the Eastern District of Virginia and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their work in bringing these criminals to justice,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA... “These decisions illustrate, once again, that game piracy will not be tolerated and the extent at which these criminals will be prosecuted. The ESA and its members will continue to support law enforcement’s efforts to protect the intellectual property of our industry.”

It's just another friendly way of saying don't f*** with the ESA.

I always knew the age-old conflict between pirates and ninja was too large to be contained by one console. Today Gamecock announces that Blazing Lizards' Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, coming out next week on Xbox Live Arcade, will also be getting a full retail release on the Nintendo Wii later this winter. Players will be able to face off in the dodgeball arena, showing their support for their favorite faction - pirates, ninjas, robots, zombies, and three unannounced teams, which I am guessing are monkeys, samurai, and Argentina.

The Wii version of the game will feature several customized control schemes, as well as all-new story and challenge modes to make the game worth of retail release. Hit the jump for the full press release, along with two more screens worth of hot pirate vs. ninja Wii action.

Pirates Of The Caribbean MMORPG Goes Free This Weekend

A-har me hearties! Avast ye swabs! Other pirate cliches!

Disney would love you to try a spot of piracy — just the sword-wielding high seas kind, mind you, not the intellectual property kind. Slitting throats for booty is one thing — just don't mess with the Mouse.

To encourage the mass adoption of eyepatches and Keith Richards' swaggering, Disney are opening up the paid-for bits of their Pirates of the Caribbean MMORPG this weekend.

Basic Access to PotC has always been free, with some abilities and equipment reserved for the fee-paying Unlimited members. This weekend (August 15 — 18) all Basic members will get an upgrade to Unlimited and be able to form guilds, stock up on weapons and skills, and generally get their buccaneering on. Unlimited class members wont lose out either, with up to 50% discounts in the in game stores.

This Weekend Only! [Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean]

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball Hits LIVE Arcade Next Month

Gamecock checked in with us today to date Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, the Blazing Lizard developed, Gamecock published game that some of us might have already thought was out. Obviously, it hasn't been released, as it was delayed back in April, and is now due to hit Xbox Live Arcade on September 3.

In the meantime, the dev team has added new features, such as having up to five balls in play at once, an "old-school" dodgeball gameplay mode and an enhanced mode that follows traditional rules, but lets players — whether they be pirate, ninja, zombie or robot — use special moves.

You can check out our hands-on impressions of Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball to see the title sounds better or worse than the game's current dodgeball competition.

'Why User Generated Content Matters' (For Some)

If there was one word that made grade-school Leigh suddenly fake appendicitis on the floor in gym class, it was Dodgeball. So it was with great apprehension and a little resistance that I decided to have a look at Gamecock's Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, developed by Blazing Lizard for a July release over Xbox Live Arcade.

Up to four players can compete together locally or co-op, and online multiplayer is for up to eight. You can also compete against three AIs all by your lonesome, so there are a lot of options - You get the idea.

So did I get creamed on the video game the same way I used to as a little geek?

Why Aren't There More Console MMOs?

Up until now, pirates in Flying Lab's MMO Pirates of the Burning Sea have gotten the short end of the stick. While the different nations had a choice of career paths, pirates were pirates, which works fine in PVE but in group PVP it led to an imbalance...everyone knows what they're up against when they're fighting pirates. Well not anymore. The upcoming 1.4 patch of the game is introducing two new pirate classes, separate factions in the Brethren of the Coast. Existing pirates will be become Cutthroats, the more brutal type of pirates, while players creating new characters can opt between that or the new Buccaneer class.

Buccaneers are pirates too, but a bit subtler than their burning-bearded brethren. They steal and loot, but also manipulate the black markets. Some would call them gentleman adventurers, though few are true blue bloods. Buccaneers do not have the raw power of cutthroats, but they work well in groups and can help friends and cripple enemies.

1.4 Skill Changes: The Buccaneer [PotBS Community Site]

While we wouldn't expect much in the way of apology or shame from the folks running mega-popular Swedish torrent tracker The Pirate Bay—that's not their style—we were just a bit surprised to see how timely and frank the site's home page was, now that cracked PAL and NTSC versions of Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 appear to have made their way online. The site doesn't show too much activity on the two torrents that promise free and illegal copies of GTA IV, but it sure seems like TPB is prepping for a rush. Remember, kids, stealing is bad!

The Pirate Bay [thanks, James!]

7 Of 11 Pirates Of The Burning Sea Servers Shut Down

Flying Lab Software was released the first content patch for their booty plundering MMO, Pirates of the Burning Sea. This new patch contains a ton of fixes, changes and additions to the game all of which can be found on the Pirates of the Burning Sea customer support forum. The changes stretch across the board to cover skills, ships, outfitting, combat and many others. It should be noted that these myriad changes are currently only available for North American and European players. All the rest of you salty dogs will have to wait just a bit longer.

Release Notes for build 1.2.67.0 [Flying Lab Software via Strategy Informer]

Pirates? Ninjas? Dodgeball? It's gotta be good right? No clue, but at least it looks interesting.

The XBL Arcade title is set to hit later this month and will include a single player story mode, exhibition mode for single a multiplayer and up to eight player online play.

Nothing will have me running to check out a new game like the promise of pirates so when it was announced that a game called Plunder would be playable at Capcom's Digital Day I made my way to the room as soon as I could. Plunder, developed by Certain Affinity (Whose lead designer is Max Hoberman of Halo 2 and 3 multiplayer fame), is a real time multiplayer strategy game inspired by titles like Settlers of Cattan. On a hex tile board, players take control of their own pirate ship and attempt to gain domiance over the ports that are placed around different spots on the map. Capturing various areas will yield spoils that will allow you to upgrade your ships with faster speed, stronger shields and better firepower. Pointing and clicking on a hex area will start moving your ship to that space and passing by an enemy will initiate automated cannon fire between the two ships. The game is won when one player or team gains control over the majority of ports.

Ahoy mateys! Feast your eyes upon this bounty of Plunder screens. Thar be twenty photos below in Davey Jones' Locker. Please continue filling in ridiculous pirate speak monologue here...