Mini Ninjas

The endless runner keeps on running: this time it's Hitman developer IO Interactive's Mini Ninjas.

Square Enix has said its new cloud gaming portal Core Online was born out of a "selfish" but "obvious" desire to get more people playing the company's games.

IO Interactive's colourful 2009 adventure Mini Ninjas is about to see a Kinect spin-off for Xbox Live Arcade, judging by a listing on Xbox.com.

Square Enix has trademarked the name Mini Ninjas: Hiro's Adventure and registered related website domains such as minininjahirosadventure.com.

Celebrated Xbox Live Arcade and PC game Bastion can be played today inside your Google Chrome browser.

Danish Hitman developer IO Interactive will work on new IP following the completion of Hitman Absolution.

Guitar Hero 5 has become the first in the leading music series to debut at the top of the UK all-formats chart, outselling colossal rival The Beatles: Rock Band to do so.

When kids learn to ride a bike, they usually have a parent trotting alongside with a guiding hand on their back. After a while, they notice the hand has gone, turn around and see that they've been riding solo without realising it. That's also how a good kids' game should work. Early handholding should slowly drop away, leaving the young player capable of feats they wouldn't have dreamt possible at the start.

Mini Ninjas, a kid-friendly offering from Hitman studio Io Interactive, has the tools to pull off this balancing act, but rather bizarrely it seldom puts them to use. There's a nifty and varied little adventure game here, but only occasionally does it peek out from under its button-mashing disguise to let you know it exists.

The story is pure kung-fu cheese. A six-strong troupe of miniature martial artists have been dispatched to bring down an enemy rather conveniently known as Evil Samurai Warlord. All but one have been captured along the way, so it falls to Hiro, the smallest of the gang, to free his pals and lead the way to victory.

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Demos and videos provide most interest on the PS Store refresher today.

IO Interactive has made a Mini Ninjas demo for release on PC and Xbox 360 this Wednesday, and for PS3 on Thursday.

Eidos has announced an 11th September launch for Mini Ninjas, the next game from Hitman and Kane & Lynch developer IO Interactive.

Eidos life president Ian Livingstone reckons publishers will need to go big this year or be forced to go home, as there is "no room for mediocrity" at the table.

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Eidos has unveiled a brand new Mini Ninjas IP, due for release on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS this autumn.

Io Interactive of Hitman and Kane & Lynch fame is taking on development duties, and appears to be ditching gritty and adult themes in favour of a light cartoon style to ensnare a younger crowd. We're told there should be enough depth to keep the core audience happy, too.

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Shots for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.