The Independent Game Developers Association (TIGA) has just announced the list of their finalists for the upcoming TIGA awards which is going to happen in London on January 30, 2008.

Two new categories were added to the roster list for this year's awards. Finalists that are included can only win through the peer votes of TIGA members.

Catch the finalists and the additional categories after the jump!

With the arrival of next generation consoles in the gaming market, players have been feasting their senses on high quality graphics, surround sound, and engaging gameplay.

On the other hand, developers just grit their teeth and labor on as inflation sends costs of next-gen game production costs sky rocketing. More details regarding this after the jump.

A Nickelodeon favorite's now available for your gaming pleasure over at Xbox Live, guys. We're letting you know that Blitz Games has just released SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam! for download. More details are available in the full article.

If you're all for collecting the Sea King's smelly undergarments, then you may just want to check out for SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam! by Blitz Games, which will be launched on Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday. Check out the full article for more information!

In a report from Next-Gen, Blitz Games said that the team working on the undead title Possession (presumably coming to the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360) is now focused on a "major" next-gen title.

The mystery project has not yet been revealed, but Blitz Games referred to the franchise as new and unlike the current core of Blitz's games.

Blitz Games announced earlier that Possession's production was "halted for the time being" and was unable to give further comments on the matter. But today, an email from a representative of the UK-based developer company explained why the multi-platform zombie game was in hiatus, stating:

Work on Possession is temporarily on hold but only because we've reassigned the team to work on a  major new project on PS3 and X360. The new project is also a massive departure in style and content for Blitz Games and will appear on the Volatile label.

It appears that the new title is in need of all the help it could get. Even after the core development team on Possession shifted to the new title production, Blitz Games is still looking for more developers to work on the project. Unashamedly advertising in the e-mail sent to Next-Gen, it stated:

This also means that we are on an even more aggressive recruitment drive and looking for experienced programmers and artists for what will be a very high profile title. We can't say any more at this point in time except that we are truly honoured to be working with one of the most respected publishers in the world on this project.

Details on the project will probably get revealed as progress is made. Volatile Games is the "mature" label for games developed by Blitz and should hint that the game will be for mature players only.

It's been a very, very long time since we have received an update for Blitz Games' upcoming Possession game, which last made its presence known at 2005's E3, and up to this point still seems to lack a publisher. With that said, we bring news of a status report Blitz wired to the PlayStation Universe (PSU) site:

Unfortunately we cannot give out any further information on Possession at the moment other than production has been halted for the time being. Blitz are busy with other titles at the moment but we will definitely make it quite clear to the public and to magazines, websites etc if and when we pick Possession back up.

The short version: Possession for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is officially under hiatus until further notice. For first-time readers wondering what the game is all about, Possession is something we'd describe as a role reversal of the traditional zombie game (Resident Evil, Dead Rising, etc). Here, players are put in the role of "The Enslaver," an intelligent zombie with the capability to create and control your own vast army of zombie minions.

The game features multiple units types that the player can command/control, along with a free-roam environment similar to games like GTA. Possession is reportedly running on the Endorphin (graphics) Engine, which will greatly enhance the way the game's characters are expected to react to their corresponding environments.

Just keep posted in case Blitz releases more updates.

There were some people who raised their eyebrows when Burger King announced that they would be dabbling on Xbox 360 games. Then, they released three affordable games - Big Bumpin', Pocketbike Racer, and Sneak King. And much to our surprise, the games did well. What happened?

In the concluded GDC 2007, game developers were given a sneak peek as to how this unlikely success happened. In a presentation delivered by Blitz Games' Sion Lenton, entitled "Burgers and Blitz: Creating a Brand-Funded Game", he stressed two major pieces of advice - avoid forcing brands down players' throats, and woo players with gameplay, fun, and quality.

Just in case you don't know who Sion Lenton is and what Blitz Games is all about, the UK-based developer, was tapped by Burger King to create the three mentioned games. He shared the challenges their team faced when they were creating the games. The first challenge is limited time - seven months to make three games sure is short. They also had to deal with the fact that Burger King ads are miles different in the UK, so the team had to learn about the world of the Burger King brand.

As the talk progressed, Lenton focused on quality over quantity, visuals as the key factor of making games, and the importance of the studio's internal middleware. He urged advergame developers to really get to know the brand and to work closely with clients. He also recommended a separation between art and gameplay so that client reviews won't slow down the development process. In parting this is what he had to say:

There's no reason why advergames can't be approached like any other game, (however low-quality advergames) actually work to the detriment of the brand...(but with the three Burger King games), I think we have proved that advergaming on this scale is a viable business model.

For the guys in the U.K. thinking of getting into the videogame business, listen up. Game developer Blitz Games has just announced their list of events for 2007, which includes four lectures lined up for the months of March and April.

The talks will help provide insight for young careers-seekers on the intricacies of the gaming industry, and should help them in creating a desirable work portfolio

Registration is open to all students and staff in videogame-related courses in U.K. universities. Registration began back on January 5, and will end on January 31. As for the talk schedule (They're all on Fridays):

• March 16
• March 23 (for students)
• March 30
• April 13 (for lecturers/educators)

There are only 100 slots available, so make sure to click on the read link asap if you're interested. Blitz Games is known for releasing three Xbox 360 titles endorsed by the Burger King franchise: Sneak King, Big Bumpin', Pocketbike Racer.

Earlier this week, Blitz Games CEO Philip Oliver picked up Best Player trophy at the fourth annual TIGA Awards ceremony, while the award for Best Developer went to Rebellion. Rebellion also got awards for Best Handheld or Console Game for their game Miami Vice.

Rebellion chief executive Jason Kingsley had this to say:

This year we've grown into one of the biggest independent studios in Europe with the integration of the famous Core Design and Strangelite studios, launched our second 2000 AD-based and double BAFTA-Nominated game Rogue Trooper, completed GUN: Showdown with Activision and most importantly Miami Vice with Vivendi, so it's been a very exciting time to say the least.

Other awards handed out at the ceremony included Best Console and PC game, which got picked up by Revolution Studios for Broken Sword – Angel of Death. The Beset Mobile Game award went to Scottish developer Dynamo Games for Championship Manager 2006.

And just in case you didn't know, TIGA is the trade association representing the business and commercial interests of games software developers in the UK and Europe. They've got about 113 members of which about 90 are developers. Most are independent, but a growing number are starting to get acquired and have become publisher-owned.

TIGA also has affiliate members who support and service the games industry. They're mostly outsource and middleware companies such as QA and localization specialists (important for those oh so delicate translations), as well as law firms and accountants.

Here's a small but crazy treat for anyone who likes cheap games but not cheap fun. King Games, which had teamed up with Blitz Games to develop arcade titles for the Xbox 360, has just released a snappy video clip for Pocketbike Racer. The game will be available for download on November 19, and only at US$ 3.99.

Rebellious, reckless, even downright insane, we wonder if the price and simplicity of the game might actually put Tony Hawk on the second spot of the most popular free-roaming titles. But then again, this is only an arcade title for the Xbox 360 so why compare these two? The game's meant to cure those ADHD tendencies - if you can't wait and would play just about any title that comes up on the TV screen, check this out.

Well, you judge for yourself whether this game is cool or not by downloading the short video linked here.

Download: [Pocketbike Racer Trailer]