Puzzle Quest XBLA gets Best Downloadable Game

D3Publisher of America is celebrating today, as the Xbox Live Arcade version of its critically acclaimed puzzle game, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords , was awarded Best Downloadable Game at the 11 ^th annual Interactive Achievemen t Awards. D3Publisher's vice president of product development, Peter Andrew, spoke about the win saying, “ Earning an Interactive Achievement Award is a great success for D3PA and Infinite Interactive; to be recognized as a leader in technical innovation and gameplay experience with a game like Puzzle Quest is an honor . We took a risk offering such a genre-bending title, but Puzzle Quest has now paved the way for more compelling puzzlers to come. We’re thrilled with the praise it’s received over the last year and hope Puzzle Quest continues to capture the affection of casual and hardcore gamers alike.”

The game beat out PopCap Games' Peggle , Big Fish Games' Azada , Hipsoft's Build-A-Lot , and SCEA's flOw to take the win in that category. Other noteable winners at this year's Interactive Achievement Awards were The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Handheld Game of the Year), Rock Band (Family Game of the Year), Mass Effect (Roleplaying Game of the Year) and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Console Game of the Year). To see the complete list of winners and nominees in each category, click here.

Microsoft pushes Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action as Oscar party game

While receiving emails from publishers trying to push a particular game at a specific time other than its launch is commonly more annoying than useful, our receipt of an email from Microsoft suggesting Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action as an Oscar party game is nothing short of decent. The email pushes the game as “ the best way to rock an Oscar party”, and if you are the type of person to actually hold an Oscar party, this might actually be the true because, as we noted in our review of the game, it is a must for movie lovers who own an Xbox 360. So if you are a movie lover, trivia fan or just an Xbox 360 owner looking for a way to spice up your Oscar party (or any other gathering with friends), Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action might be just the game you've been looking for.

EA extends NFL licensing deal

Electronic Arts announced this week that it has extended its exclusive licensing relationship with the National Football League and NFL PLAYERS for the development, publishing and distribution of interactive football video games. These agreements, which were negotiated separately and are extensions of contracts originally signed in December 2004, provide EA continued rights to NFL teams, stadiums and players for its football video games through the end of the 2012 season, which, in simple terms, means early 2013. This also means that, over the next few years, gamers wishing to play officially licensed NFL football video games will only have one source for that content, and that EA will have no competition in that field (excuse the pun) of video games.

Both agreements include all aspects of the interactive experience, including console and handheld games as well as console-based online features, and grant EA exclusive rights for action simulation, arcade-style and manager games on PC, handheld and console platforms.