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Nintendo is partnering with MATHCOUNTS, a not for profit organization that promotes math education. The goal is to boost membership in math clubs around the country by March 25. The winning math club will get Nintendo DS systems and copies of Personal Trainer: Math.

MATHCOUNTS is a coaching and competition program and promotes mathematics in 48,000 middle schools through out the US. Personal Trainer: Math follows the lead of MATHCOUNTS, but can be taken anywhere because of the portability of the Nintendo DS. The game has subtraction, addition, multiplication tables and calculation ladders. Sixteen different people can compete together with only one Personal Trainer: Math cartridge.

This is a great idea. Math is not a favorite subject for many kids and now they can be enticed into joining math clubs and exploring their interest in math by the possibilty of winning a Nintendo DS. Math is used through out life so it is a good skill to learn early and retain through out life.

Looks like PopCap Games is looking to get into the Xbox 360 playing field wiht the acquisition of Gastronaut Studios. Gastronaut Studios makes Xbox and Xbox 360 titles, but they also develop for Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and have a top-seller on the network. Gastronaut Studios has worked with PopCap Games in the past. They brought Feeding Frenzy 2 to XBLA and are adapting Peggle for XBLA.

PopCap has acquired the companies assets and employees. They also gained exclusive rights to Gastronaut Studios’ tools and technologies, but Gastronaut founders will retain ownership of their original properties and their upcoming XBLA puzzle game, Gel.

“The Gastronaut Studios acquisition signals PopCap’s continued commitment to internal development of top quality games for a range of platforms,” noted David Roberts, CEO of PopCap.  “Given the success of Gastronaut’s top-selling Small Arms franchise in particular, there’s little doubt that PopCap has significantly increased its development capabilities and creative firepower. The team at Gastronaut has been a great partner of ours, and we’re delighted to have them join us here at PopCap. ”

PopCap keeps acquiring development studios and are growing their company and gaining strengths. It is great to see a company like PopCap be able to expand and add to the great talent they already possess.

Nobilis and Ascaron Entertainment claim to have the first anime police detective game aimed at a younger audience. The name of the game is Case Closed: One Truth Prevails and it challenges children with puzzles and entertaining game play and it is for the Nintendo Wii.

No Nintendo Wii game would be complete without mini-games and Case Closed: One Truth Prevails keeps with the mini-game tradition alive. Mini-games are just one aspect of this game, though. The main plot has children helping out Conan, the main character, as he solve crimes by piecing together the evidence. Players use the Wii Remote to move Conan around the screen and to examine the evidence from every angle.

Case Closed: One Truth Prevails will be available in 2009. No concrete date has been set yet.

The iPhone seems like the perfect fit for a crossword puzzle game and that is what Simon & Schuster are hoping with the release of 365 Crosswords. 365 Crosswords is available through the Apple App Store for $4.99. The game will work on the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

365 Crosswords, as you may have guessed, contains 365 crossword puzzles for the players enjoyment. No need to connect and download a puzzle every day they are all included for a year with the game.

“365 Crosswords gives iPhone and iPod touch crossword fans an easy-to-use application that will provide many hours of entertainment,” said Ellie Hirschhorn, executive vice president, chief digital officer of Simon & Schuster, Inc.  “It’s fitting that we are now bringing an important legacy from Simon & Schuster’s publishing history to a mobile audience by making this best-in-class application and content available on the  iPhone and iPod touch.”

Crossword puzzles are a favorite past time of many people and to put them in a portable format is a great idea. Players are able to take their puzzles with them on their iPhone or iPod Touch and entertain themselves no matter where they are. Electronic crossword puzzles are easier to carry with you than a big crossword puzzle book. If you like crossword puzzles, head over to the Apple App Store and check out 365 Crosswords.

Big Fish games has entered a publishing agreement with Focus Multimedia, a big publisher in the UK. Focus Multimedia will publish five of Big Fish’s games including games from two of their biggest franchises Mystery Case Files and Hidden Expedition.

Craig Johnson, managing director of Focus Multimedia, said: “Focus has worked hard to blaze a trail for PC casual games at UK retail. To maintain our market-leading position we continue to licence only the very best titles from the very best developers and publishers in this sector. As a leading player, Big Fish Games understands and shares our vision of owning and substantially growing the PC casual games space here in the UK.”

Sounds like a great opportunity for Big Fish Games to get their games out to a wider audience. There is no better way to do that than enter an agreement with one of the biggest UK casual games publisher.

Thanks CasualGaming.biz