The Flash Gaming Summit 2009 is underway and we’ll cover it for you! Throughout the day keep checking this article for live updates and announcements!

We’re on the lookout for sequels and release dates of your favourite games as well as news on brand new games. For the finalists of the Mochi Awards, which will be awarded later today, see our Mochi Awards article!

3:03am: The conference has SOLD OUT! Unfortunately we are not accepting any more attendees or on-site registrations.

11:08am: The first speakers have had their speech. Paul Preece of Casual Collective said ‘co-operative mulitplayer flash games are more successful than head-to-head ones’. Jim Greer of Kongregate says ‘that 20% of the over 20,000 games played daily at Kongregate are multiplayer’.

1:31pm: See the links below for freshly made pictures of the event!

3:37pm: We can expect easier multiplayer integration from adobe in the near future, thumbnails for games are crucial to get you all playing supposedly and we play 5 minutes per game on average. Enough facts for now, the Mochi Awards are starting in 5 minutes!

3:57pm: Most creative game goes to auditorium, best family game is Skywire 2, Mastermind wins best strategy game, Minions takes best multiplayer game, best game art goes to Questionaut and the winner in best Indy game is Fancy Pants. The People’s Choise goes to Platform Racing 2 and finally the best sponsor game goes to Starland. Congratulations!

8:21pm: The conference is over. For all the details and subjects, see the Twitter link below. The video link does no longer work and has been removed!

Click here for a complete round-up of the event at Mochiland

Click here to follow the Flash Gaming Summit 2009 on Twitter

Click here for pictures of the Flash Gaming Summit 2009

The Flash Gaming Summit 2009 will be held today and The Mochis will be awarded for the best flash games of 2008. Over the last few months everyone was able to cast his or her vote online and today the outcome will be announced. The games which received the most votes made it to this final list and a jury will choose the winner of each category. Before that happens, watch the video underneath with all the nominees. We’ll keep you updated as the event unfolds!

For those that haven’t heard of this event yet, it is ‘an award show recognizing the best Flash games in the industry. Nominations are now open for any Flash game created in 2008. Prizes will be awarded in eleven categories, and the winners will be evaluated by a panel of expert judges.’

You’ll find the results of the Mochi Awards here as soon as it’s known!

Update: The Mochis have been awarded, see our Flash Gaming Summit 2009 article for the results!

Click here for a list of all the finalists

More news from Ninja Kiwi this week. The praised Bloons series will see its debut on Apple’s iPhone. Which game will be converted or whether it will be a completely new installment is yet unknown.

From Ninja Kiwi’s blog: ‘Just before Christmas we signed a deal with Digital Goldfish, a scottish outfit, to port Bloons over to the Apple store. We’ve been meaning to get Bloons over to mobile handsets for ages as it really is a great game to carry around in your pocket. The initial builds we’ve seen are really good and very true to the original game. We’ve dropped the chomper Bloon however, as it is simply too tricky to get it to work nicely on mobile. We’re really excited to see what the finished product looks like, we’re anticipating a late March 2009 completion date.’

Looks like we’ll be seeing it before the end of this month. As soon as its released you’ll find more news and screenshots here!

Hero Interactive’s new game has been in production for several months and it is nearly finished! Their previous games such as the Bubble Tanks series have pleased millions of players and now it is time for them to broaden their focus. Pirate Defense will be a tower defense game and will offer some never seen before gameplay features!

You are a pirate who has discovered a rather nice booty. However, being the greedy sillies that they are, other pirates are also after your prize. So you’ve set up camp on a steep hill where you can keep an eye on them. Instead of shooting from your towers you’ll set up attack towers, also known as traps, to damage, move, capture, or kill those pesky pirates.

Towers are divided into two categories: triggers and traps. A trigger does no actual damage to your enemies, but sets off a trap which does damage. Trigger and trap constructions can be big and complicated, giving the player a bigger bonus! Underneath is brand new screenshot of Pirate Defense which should be out somewhere in April.

Hero Interactive revealed loads of new features about their upcoming game Bubble Tanks Arenas. We’ll be seeing plenty of updates about this game the coming month as their current project Pirate Defense is nearly done and all attention can be focused on Bubble Tanks Arenas.

The gameplay will be the same as Bubble Tanks 2. The new features include players being able to design their own custom tanks. This includes placing bubbles as well as attaching weapons purchased using a bubble credit system and being able to come back and upgrade your tanks throughout the game. It will be possible to share your creations online with friends, but in order to play as a tank you must have accumulated enough bubble credits.

The game will consist of a number of arenas which are strings of bubblefields filled with enemies that the player must complete in order to continue. Completing an arena adds to your total score and earns you tank credits. Dieing in an arena will return you to the arena selection screen. This is unlike Battle Tanks and Battle Tanks 2 where you couldn’t die. Players can create their own Arenas and share them online as well, scores are submitted to an online score board. There will be a larger game screen and larger Bubblefields to battle in. The game will auto-save in between the arenas and there will be 30+ user weapons, most of them coming directly from Battle Tanks 2 and we might see a few new ones.

Furthermore, there will be 20+ Enemy weapons and in the extra content version players will be able to design their own enemies and use them in their custom created arenas that they can also share with friends, although there will be some sort of cap employed here so that enemies don’t cause too much lagging in the game. The game will reward users who rate arenas and user generated content by awarding them a small amount of credits to be used towards the creation of their own tanks.

That should be plenty of news to keep you busy for now, you’ll find all the news updates right here!

Last week’s release, Music Catch 2 has surprised many users after playing it. They found themselves in a state of mental balance, full of energy and free of stress. While music games have been around for quite some time, usually they involved fast button bashing action.

What a breath of fresh air does Music Catch 2 bring to the world of flash games. Instead of losing points for missing the beat and other stressy mechanics, this game from developer Reflexive makes you soar away on melodic piano music while gathering shapes. What else could you wish for? Although the player is supposed to avoid the red shapes and collect all others, it does not punish you as severly as we’re used in the case you find yourself picking up a nasty red one. What are you waiting for, sit back, relax and give it a go!

Click here to play Music Catch 2 at Kongregate

Plenty of news lately from our friends at Zeebarf. A few days ago they announced The Several Journeys of Reemus Chapter 3 to be released early April. Today it was time for them to release the first screenshot! The game is shaping up nicely and it looks like they might make the deadline for release although you never know in this business.

The game features the same gameplay and visual style as the previous two adventures of Reemus. The story will advance where chapter 2 ended and hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Zeebarf wrote the following on their blog: ‘As the art and puzzles come together from Reemus 3, I thought I’d leak a screenshot from the first level to whet your appetite. NegativeOne has been hard at work finishing off the Reemus game engine. I’ll keep you updated on the progress.’

As soon as more news is released you’ll find it here!

Click here to play The Several Journeys of Reemus Prologue: The Lair of the Ant Queen
Click here to play The Several Journeys of Reemus Chapter 1: The Royal Journey
Click here to play The Several Journeys of Reemus Chapter 2: The All-Knowing Parasite

Bloody Fun Day has been released by developer Urbansquall and within a week it has reached the front page of Kongregate and Armor Games.

Urbansquall on their new puzzle game: ‘We’re excited to announce the release of the latest Urbansquall game: Bloody Fun Day. Take charge of the Reaper as you tear through legions of grotesque cuties and their diabolical offspring in this tactical puzzler. Wield 6 unique powers to cut down the adorable denizens of a world in which all cute things must die. Destroy the other cuties in your way to charge your powers of destruction, like the evil Eye Laser and the devastating Jump attack.’

Previously they developed the Battalion games, of which we’ll be seeing a lot more in the near future. Battalion: Ghosts will continue up where Battalion: Nemesis left off, by continuing the battle between the insidious Akadians and the struggling Northern Federation. Battalion: Vengeance is the third and final game in the three part singleplayer series and will conclude the story with an epic showdown between the Akadians and the Northern Federation’s allies. We can’t wait!

Click here to play Bloody Fun Day at Kongregate

Gemcraft Chapter Zero: Gem of Eternity is weeks away from release. Last week developer Game in a Bottle responded to recent delays and assured us the hyped tower defence game is on its way.

A new video has emerged showing us live gameplay footage of the awaited prologue. Apart from the familiar features we get introduced to some new skills and abilities. Gems can now be placed in the pavement, similar to what traps were in the previous Gemcraft. Furthermore, the video shows us a spell that drains the enemies and converts it into scorepoints. The user-interface seems beefed up and the overall detail level is improved.

Watch it below for yourself! As soon as more new screenshots, footage or the game itself is released, you’ll find it here! Game in a Bottle has not given a release date, all we know is that it is only weeks away. Stay tuned!

Most Wanted Top 5 for March 2009:

1. Gemcraft Chapter Zero: Gem of Eternity
2. The Several Journeys of Reemus Chapter 3
3. Bubble Tanks Arenas
4. Bunny Invasion Easter
5. Bloons Tower Defence 4

Register, login and leave a comment and dicuss the Most Wanted Top 5 for March 2009! While you’re at it anyway, vote in our new Poll!