It's hard for me to believe, but it's been almost 10 years since the days when I spent nearly every waking, non-school hour on IRC. Now, this isn't some hacker story; it has a purpose. Those many years ago, one of my friends happened upon a very unusual tech demo enclosed within a 64 kilobyte file.

Actually, let me correct myself; it was 63.5 kilobytes. Yeah, those extra 500 or so bytes seem negligible, but they were pivotal to the purpose of that particular demo.

The demonstration in question was, and remains, .the .product.

Boy, has the demoscene come a long way.

Having found its way into non-passive media, it's left me mulling over the old question but turned on its head. For better or worse, it stirs up that tumultuous debate once more but, this time, with a twist.

For all their bluster, people argue that video games can be, should be.. are art. Today, I ask from the other end of the spectrum: Can art become game?

1983 was a landmark year for video games. Dragon's Lair, a cel-animated adventure game, landed in arcades to great fanfare. "It's the most awesome game I've ever seen in my life," claimed some. The full-motion video adventure captivated many, but any subsequent attempts to capture the feeling of playing a cartoon were either lost on most or fell completely flat.

25 years later, Capybara Games, a small studio in Toronto, Ontario, is picking up that long-forgotten torch and re-igniting it. And with a little luck, their effort will shine as a beacon through the fog of process showing that inspiring art and addictive play truly can be united for a complete experience.

With Critter Crunch, Capybara has created one of the most beautiful packages you'll find in a game from any developer; independent or otherwise.

First-party PlayStation Network games have been added to the roster of Amazon's ever-growing digital distrubution line-up.

65 titles spanning across PS3, PSP, and original Playstation games are now up for grabs through the online retailer. In addition, various game add-ons, such as LittleBigPlanet level packs and PAIN characters, are also available for purchase.

Currently, only United States residents are eligible for the use of codes distributed by the retailer.

Sparkster, the jet propelled, blue armored 'possum, is making his return in the latest retro revival to come out of Konami, Rocket Knight. In development from Climax Studios, Rocket Knight features 3-D graphics on a 2-D plane and promises to carry all of the hectic platforming game play that the original series did so well. Known for their work on Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Climax Studios and Konami are set to push Rocket Night to Steam, Xbox Live Arcade, and PlayStation Network.

For those who have forgotten, Rocket Knight Adventures was a Genesis platformer with a heavy emphasis on speed and accuracy. Starring an opossum wearing a suit of blue knight's armor and a rocket strapped to his back, the gist of the game really was pretty well conveyed in it's title. It wasn't too long before it's sequel, Sparkster, arrived for the Genesis and Super Nintendo, bringing us more of the same frenetic action, but since then the sword wielding, high-flying 'possum has faded away into memories. Until now.

Not content announcing a few songs that at least a few people are going to want every week, Harmonix has thrown down the gauntlet. With the entirety of Abbey Road being released for The Beatles: Rock Band on October 20th, it was already going to be a hard day on the wallets for Rock Band aficionados.

But then they has to go and do something like this.

A ten pack of Queen DLC will be hitting the standard Rock Band store on October 20th, featuring a cornucopia of universally loved hits: 

• Another One Bites the Dust
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love
• One Vision
• Fat Bottomed Girls
• I Want It All
• I Want to Break Free
• Killer Queen
• Somebody to Love
• Tie Your Mother Down
• Under Pressure 

Pricing is currently unannounced, but based on most previous DLC releases, individual tracks will cost $2 and there will be some sort of discount for buying the full package. But let's face it, it's taken two years for Queen to hit Rock Band, most of us are ready to just give Freddie and Harmonix our wallets, oil ourselves up, and share the vision together.

Over seven years later, Shantae's purple locks of death are once again primped and styled for combat on our portable systems with Shantae: Risky's Revenge for the Nintendo DSi. Planned as a three piece set of episodic DLC, Risky's Revenge promises to build on what made the original title great, as well as adding exciting new features to the world of Shantae. Obviously Risky has returned to make Shantae's life miserable, but Rottytops and her previously unseen brothers promise to make an appearance as well, and with a variety of familiar places to visit, there's plenty of room for more returning faces.

As you progress through the game, the overworld will open itself up for exploration based on your growing movesets, similar to a Zelda or Metroid game, and the overworld itself promises battles, plot points, and treasures for dedicated players. Descending into the various labyrinthine dungeons will present the player with more platforming and combat, aided by the fact that the developers have done away with the "extra lives" based system due to the move to an open world.

Three transformations have been revealed thus far, showing off Shantae dancing her way into the form of a monkey, an elephant, and a mermaid, each of which will have their own sets of upgradeable moves. If three new animal forms isn't enough variety, it's also possible to combine the various forms into new options altogether, although the effects of this is currently unknown.

The first episode has been said to be comparable in length to the opening "three pendants" act of A Link to the Past and will involve a cliffhanger to encourage players to pick up the remaining games in the series. If the original game is anything to go on, Shantae: Risky's Revenge could be one of the first truly exciting uses of the anemic DSiWare service, likely being well worth the cost of admission for all three episodes in the series.

Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond involves Matt himself going back in time to his earlier titles in order to fight old foes resurrected by his nemesis Dr. Neutronov. His classic side-scrolling action titles have been reworked into games sporting 3-D graphics on a 2-D plane, similar to Shadow Complex. Players will be able to make their way through Matt's prolific catalog of games in single player or co-op, all the while alternating between blowing away enemies in the most violent ways possible and chuckling at shamelessly irreverent self-referential humor.

Blood Bath and Beyond is scheduled for a Winter release on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.

One of the most addictive web based flash games made the leap to mobile phones today; Adam Atomic's Canabalt has debuted on the app store. It is available for download here and will cost players a small fee of $2.99. It's well worth the price for hours of fun in this post-apocalyptic running simulator.

The original game is still 100% free and can be played on its original site.

Ah, the Powerpill. For so long, it's played a bit part in many games. The closest it has ever come to being the star was when it scored a supporting role alongside Dr. Mario. But now, our life-saving friend is getting his chance to star in his own game.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet PowerPill!