We played Cave Story at the Nintendo Media Summit, and other than controlling the game with the Wii Remote – old-school sideways, natch' – it's nearly the same as the free PC and Mac game. The retro look and gameplay make this seem like an overlooked garage-sale find, for good or bad. (Usually good.)

As we head into the month that has both Octoberfest and Halloween we don't know whether to be scared or to get our party on. Ok, we can do both. But first check out Big Download's highlights from the past week:

Exclusive Features

• Reviews: This week check out our final verdicts on Warhammer Online and Lego Batman. Also we have a look at several PC gaming hardware products from SteelSeries.
• Crysis and Crysis Warhead performance comparisons: Did Crytek really optimize Crysis Warhead? We check out their claims in our benchmark test.
• Is a broadband cap a threat to the game industry?: ISPs are beginning to put limits on how much you can download? Could you go over by downloading large game files?
• The PC Game Vaporware Vault: Which games are we still waiting to be released after years of promises? Quite a few actually.
• The College Try: Failed PC Ports of Console Games: Sometimes a great console game doesn't make a great PC game.
• Mac Monday: Our look at Mac gaming takes on the Wild Tangent online RPG Fate.
• MODMonday: Our mod column continues its look at Max Payne mods with a look at the Kung Fu total conversion.
• Independent Minds: Our look at indie games takes a different turn as we examine how social networking can help indie game developers.
• Boot Disk: Our look at classic PC game takes a gander at the original Interplay RPG Fallout.
• Big Ideas: Our look at big PC gaming trends examines the whole idea of user generated content.
• Big Iron: Our hardware column this week takes a look at the importance of frame rate in games
• Alt-Tab: What qualities does a good PC game need to have? We have an answer in our latest installment.
• Freeware Friday: Our look at games you can get for free gets a load of the arcade shooter Gunroar.
• Virtual Bargain Bin: Our look at games on the cheap takes a look at Steam's id Super Pack and X-Com Complete Pack.
• BigCast: It's our regular weekly podcast as the team debates all matters related to PC games.

We really don't want to focus on the new GameTap titles this week, so let's look at the good stuff that's recently been added. The first season of American McGee's Grimm is done, with new installments coming soon. Don't forget to check out Fallout 2 (the first Fallout is free to play) before the third installment nukes us later this month.

But If you must know this week's additions:

• Dancing With the Stars (Windows) - The top-rated show infects your PC.
  
• Ride! Carnival Tycoon (Windows) - Another sub-par tycoon game.
• Secrets of Great Art (Windows) - Where's Waldo and I Spy meet high art.

The one saving grace this week is Sacred Gold hitting the free games lineup. The full list can be found after the break.

Now that we have some concrete details about the Nintendo DSi -- which bears more than a few similarities between its multimedia competitors -- let's size it up against the PSP-3000 and Apple's "gaming handheld" the iPhone/iPod Touch. Remember this is based on tech specifications and not on games library. We'll keep updating as we get more news from Nintendo about its just-announced portable.

	Nintendo DSi	PSP-3000	iPhone / iPod Touch
Screen Size	Two 3.25-inch displays	4.3-inch display	3.5-inch display
Screen Resolution	256 x 192	480 x 272, 16m colors	480×320
CPU speed / type	One 67 MHz (ARM) and one 33 MHz ARM7TDMI2	MIPS R4000-based; clocked from 1 to 333 MHz	620 MHz ARM 1176, underclocked to 412 MHz
Form Factor	5.85 x 3.33 x 0.99 inches1	6.7 x 2.9 x 0.9 inches	4.5 × 2.4 x 0.48 inches (iPhone); 4.3 × 2.4 × 0.33 inches (iPod Touch)
Camera	2 cameras, one with VGA resolution	Optional Go!Cam, 1.3 megapixels	iPhone has 2 megapixel camera
Memory	SD slot, internal storage (unknown size)	Memory Stick (up to 16GB)	8-32GB internal storage
Internet	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi (iPhone also has EDGE or 3G)
Browser	Yes	Yes	Yes
Online Store	Yes (DSi Shop)	Yes (PS Store)	Yes (App Store)
Touch Screen	Yes (single touch)	No	Yes (multi-touch)

Notes:
1: Approximate size, based on Nintendo's assertion that DSi is 12 percent thinner than DS Lite
2: Architecture of the DS Lite and, as noted, subject to change pending official release notes

Update: Massively has a comparison piece on the MMO potential of the three portables.

The elaborately titled adventures of the webcomic duo, Gabe and Tycho, are set to continue this Fall in Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness Episode Two. We're told that developer Hothead Games has just completed the downloadable RPG-adventure, bestowing "Gold Master" status upon the Windows, Mac and Linux versions.

The Xbox Live Arcade and PSN iterations are presumably still being tweaked (much like the PSN's Episode One), but will share the same price of 15 earth bucks. Hooray for subsequent episodic games becoming cheaper!

PopCap games has announced Bejeweled Twist, a "new spin on the match-3 genre" due out next month. The game will be officially unveiled October 27 at an event at Seattle's Experience Music Project Sci-Fi Museum and Hall of Fame. It will launch as a $20 download on PopCap's website.

As to what the new "twist" on the genre will be, PopCap isn't saying. The game has reportedly been in development for three years, so we're curious what the team has done with that time aside from swimming in a pool of casual gamer money. Our best guess is that Popcap has taken the Bejeweled board and rotated it 45 degrees. What a twist!

Fall has arrived but don't let the leaves turning, the economy busting and the candidates feuding get you down. Big Download has been working hard to give its readers the best in PC game related news, features and downloads. Let's look at the highlights for the first week of autumn 2008.

Exclusive Features

• Reviews: We give our verdict for the recent release of Introversion Software's multiplayer strategy game Multiwinia
• Previews: We go hands-on with Atari's upcoming revival, Deer Hunter Tournament.
• Black Ops PC Games: What major PC games are being developed that you might not know anything about? This feature article has the word on the super-secret games under development.
• Resurgence of Yesteryear: Classic PC games can be revived but which ones should get new versions using their original graphics and technology? We pick 10 PC games that we want to see come back in their original form.
• Big Iron: Our regular PC hardware column comes back with a look at how a recent message board discussion over FIFA 09 generated a look at console vs PC hardware.
• Boot Disk: Our new column on retro PC gaming takes a look at the classic adventure title Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father
• Mac Monday: Our look at the world of Macintosh gaming continues with examining the unusual action game Miriel the Magical Merchant.
• MODmonday: Our weekly mod feature continues to look at Max Payne mods; this time its a Max Payne 2 total conversion called Sketchbook Sam that turns the game into a 2D stick figure.
• Indie Showcase: Our weekly look at indie games continues with a look at titles from the recent Bootleg Demakes competition.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at the "big" game themes goes over a recent Gamasutra article about game journalism
• Alt-Tab: Our weekly op-ed talks about how "casual" gaming doesn't have to mean "simple"
• Freeware Friday: It's our weekly look at free games; this time around its for the action-adventure Eternal Daughter
• BigCast: Our weekly podcast is a special one as we chat with members of Mythic Entertainment to find out what's happening with Warhammer Online after its launch last week.

All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 25 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11.

The Graveyard (website)

The casual gamer might get bogged down by the protagonist's walking speed, but the cheerful and macabre song at the end more than makes up for it. And should you buy the full game -- there's a twist.

With Fallout 3 available later next month, GameTap makes the original Fallout free for all to play. Meanwhile, Fallout 2 becomes available for subscribers of the gaming buffet. It's time for some of y'all whippersnappers to play your post-apocalyptic history in glorious 2D.

• Fallout 2 (Windows) - Save Arroyo by finding the Garden of Eden Creation Kit ... or don't. Whatever, it's your choice.
  

The full list of free-to-play titles can be found after the break.

What do you know, people actually did pay for Spore. EA recently announced that its DRM-riffic title Spore has sold one million copies worldwide across PC, Mac and DS platforms. The publisher also stated that 25 million creatures, vehicles and buildings have evolved in the Sporepedia.

Not that there was any doubt that Spore would ever reach the million sold mark, but whether its "mile wide, inch deep" gameplay brings it The Sims level of success remains to be revealed.

All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 25 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11.

The Misadventures of P. B. Winterbottom (Website)

In terms of paradoxes and other temporal mechanics, Winterbottom makes Braid look like Mario in the future. From what we've seen and played of the game, our heads turn to mush thinking about how to solve these puzzles. Best of all, it's all in the name of eating pie. Take that, cake lovers.

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

One of the issues I've been talking a lot about recently has been the concept of crisis management – how companies respond to problems that may impact their relationship with consumers. Crises don't need to be big to matter; even relatively minor issues can grow big enough to cause headaches. And so it was instructive to see the brouhaha over Spore's DRM, and how EA responded.

For those who don't remember the issue, the basic problem was that Spore limited the number of installations allowed per user as well as the number of user accounts per game copy. I'm not particularly interested in debating whether or not this was a good idea (I'm opposed), but am very interested in talking about how EA responded as concerns began to bubble up from the internet. So, how did EA do?

All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 25 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11.

Machinarium

We would hope it'd be enough to say it's from the creators of Samorost, but if we have to go on, Machinarium takes the classic point-and-click adventure game model and applies it to a world with more character than the 1,000 copies of Scrapland sitting in American McGee's garage waiting to be loved.

All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 26 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11.

And Yet it Moves
This Austrian-born title has a unique, papercraft-inspired art style and a simple trick (rotate the camera) that serves as the focus of a maddening, yet rewarding, puzzle platformer. A demo is available at the game's website for both Windows and Mac.

It's been another busy week for news, downloads and original features at the PC Big Download site. We've got reviews of two highly anticipated PC exclusive games, a preview of an unusual MMO, our detailed look at the space stage in Spore and lots more.

Exclusive Features

• Reviews: We have our final reviews of two major PC titles: The Witcher Enhanced Edition and Crysis Warhead along with the last review (for a while) of the latest American McGee's Grimm episode as well as Episode 2 of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People.
• Spore: Our detailed look at Will Wright's latest game ends this week with a multi-part look at the space portion of the alien evolution game. Check out Being Julius Caesar, Being The East India Company, Being Henry Kissinger, Being John Smith and Being Francis Drake.
• BigVersus: It's our weirdest entry in our column comparing games as we compare the PC version of Spore to the DS game Spore Creatures and the iPhone title Spore Origins.
• Previews: We go hands-on with FusionFall, an upcoming free browser based MMO based on the Cartoon Network universe of characters.
• MODMonday: We begin a multi-part look at the best mods for Max Payne with a look at True Matrix.
• MacMonday: Our latest look at Macintosh games has a review of the top down shooter (with an odd graphics style) SketchFighter 4000 Alpha.
• Independent Minds: Our look into the Indie game scene takes a look at how developers can market their creations.
• Big Ideas: Our column that looks at the big ideas in games takes a look this week at adaptations and how games translate into other entertainment mediumsand vice versa.
• Alt-Tab: Our feature gallery this week takes a look at why we should take a gander at Warhammer Online.
• Freeware Friday: Our weekly look at free PC games examines the music title Frets on Fire.
• BigCast: Our weekly podcast interviews (and says a sad goodbye) to our now former Big Download producer Barb Dybwad as well as other topics.