Below you’ll find a baker’s dozen galleries full of beautiful video game still imagery. Epic Mickey 2 makes its first appearance, the sequel’s official announcement for Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 hitting the newswire on Friday. Arkane Studios’ first-person action game Dishonored resurfaces, looking more impressive than ever. More new pics of Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade ‘Arcade Next’ titles Minecraft, Trials Evolution and Bloodforge are in as well, and the first screenshots of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition have me craving an iPad.

Other screenshotted games include Capcom’s sugary-sweet platformer World Gone Sour (PSN/XBLA release is a go for April 10/11), Cyanide’s tactical PC RPG Confrontation (retail and digital download launch set for April 5th), newly launched mech action game Armored Core V, the PS3 and PS Vita cross-compatible Foosball 2012, Sony’s LittleBigPlanet Karting PS3 kart racer, Square Enix’s Nintendo 3DS music game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy XIII-2 featuring a Mass Effect 3 DLC crossover.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360):
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Dishonored (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (XBLA):
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Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition (iPad):
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World Gone Sour (PSN, XBLA):
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Bloodforge (XBLA):
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Trials Evolution (XBLA):
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Confrontation (PC):
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Armored Core V (PS3, Xbox 360):
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Foosball 2012 (PS3, PS Vita):
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LittleBigPlanet Karting (PS3):
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Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (Nintendo 3DS):
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Final Fantasy XIII-2 – N7 Armor DLC (PS3, Xbox 360):
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Read these related articles:

• Trials, Fable, Minecraft and Bloodforge Headline XBLA’s ‘Arcade Next’ (vgblogger.com)
• Square Enix’s 3DS Final Fantasy Rhythm Game Comes West This Summer (vgblogger.com)
• Cross-Compatible Foosball Wrist Flicks PS3 and PS Vita This Spring (vgblogger.com)
• Fable Heroes Brings Toy Puppet Hack-and-Slash to XBLA (vgblogger.com)
• Final Fantasy XIII-2′s Heroes Dress Up Like Commander Shepard (vgblogger.com)
• Sackboy Hops Behind the Wheel in LittleBigPlanet Karting (vgblogger.com)
• Overhaul Games Enhancing Baldur’s Gate Classic for iPad (vgblogger.com)

Microsoft Studios is proud to present Arcade Next, a new Xbox Live Arcade promo series scheduled to deliver four hot titles to help gamers burn away any springtime showers that may come between April 18th and May 9th.

Ubisoft and RedLynx’s dirt bike racer Trials Evolution will kick off the proceedings, followed by the weekly Wednesday releases of Climax Studios’ brutal action game Bloodforge, Lionhead’s candy-coated hack-and-slash Fable Heroes, and the long-awaited ‘Xbox 360 Edition’ of indie sensation Minecraft. All four games will feature increased Gamerscore points and up to 30 Achievements to earn.

Here’s an outline of the Arcade Next lineup, plus a slick montage trailer to get you geeked up for the spring Xbox Live Arcade program.

Trials Evolution
Publisher: Microsoft Studios; Developer: Ubisoft/RedLynx
E-10 (Everyone 10+)
April 18 for 1200 Microsoft Points

“Trials Evolution” is the next dimension of the smash-hit, award-winning “Trials HD.” Bust out of the warehouse into an outdoor world of night and day, curved driving lines, and spectacular scenery. Multiplayer comes alive in the living room or on Xbox LIVE.* Build tracks with the in-game editor or download those of any other player from the new Track Central. Customize your bike and rider with awesome gear and unique parts, enjoy innovative skill games, try ghost racing, beat friends’ scores and more! Don’t miss the madness!

Bloodforge
Publisher: Microsoft Studios; Developer: Climax Studios
M (Mature; 17+)
April 25 for 1200 Microsoft Points

With a brutal combat system, stunning art style, and a deeply compelling story, “Bloodforge” empowers you to slaughter hordes of demonic soldiers, deformed worshippers, and the gods themselves, using ferocious Rage Kills, devastating Rune attacks, and furious Weapon Combos. Help seal Crom’s fate – and the fate of the rest of the world – in this dark, visceral story of revenge, betrayal, and destiny.

Fable Heroes
Publisher: Microsoft Studios: Developer: Lionhead Studios
E-10 (Everyone 10+)
May 2 for 800 Microsoft Points

“Fable Heroes” is an action-packed, hack-and-slash adventure built for Xbox LIVE Arcade. It delivers a fresh spin on the “Fable” franchise with a unique art style and gameplay that takes playful competition to the next level. Whether on the couch or using Xbox LIVE, up to four players work together to defeat enemies while also competing with one another to collect gold coins and level up.Precious gold collected in Fable Heroes can be imported into the forthcoming Kinect title, Fable: The Journey, providing players with a valuable head start from day one.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
Publisher: Microsoft Studios; Developer: 4J Studios/Mojang
T (Teen)
May 9 for 1600 Microsoft Points

The infinite possibilities in “Minecraft” just got bigger. “Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition” brings the global phenomenon to console gamers for the first time. The Xbox LIVE Arcade version of the game features an innovative new crafting interface, natural controller movements, a full Tutorial mode to teach the basics and for the first time in “Minecraft,” split-screen multiplayer as well as over Xbox LIVE.

You may also be interested in these XBLA articles:

• XBLA Shmup Sine Mora Dated and Trailered (vgblogger.com)
• Review: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (vgblogger.com)
• Review: Quarrel (vgblogger.com)

Trials Evolution, RedLynx’s successor to smash-hit arcade dirt bike platform racer Trials HD, is revved up for a spring digital download release on Xbox Live Arcade. Trials HD was wicked fun, and so to will be Evolution, I’m sure. But honestly, after watching the first gameplay trailer that motored into my inbox today, the actual dirt biking part of the game doesn’t even matter to me that much anymore. See for yourself.

Approximately 75 seconds into the video, footage of the game’s track editor begins to roll. No big deal, right? Wrong! Trials Evolution has more than some skimpy track editor; it has a full-featured game editor, à la LittleBigPlanet.

Who would’ve ever thought that a dirt biking game’s track editor would be capable of creating pinball tables, top-down MicroMachines tracks, table soccer, vertically-scrolling shmups, and even what appears to be a first-person shooter? Trials Evolution can do all these things, and then some. Crazy!