Major television network USA Network, a division of NBC Universal announced today that they’ve entered into partnership with NeoEdge Networks, Bunchball, and Bigpoint. All three games developers will contribute to USA’s Character Arcade, a casual games portal. Startup GlowPlay was tapped by the network to develope the portal’s interface and social features. Character Arcade features roughly 50 ad-based casual games, free-to-play titles, complete with virtual goods sales via microtransactions, and the obligatory social networking features as the hook.

NeoEdge will be contributing the ad based games segment to Character Arcade. As part of the agreement, NeoEdge will then in turn wrap ads around a number of USA’s properties and distribute them across their own games distribution network which includes top slots such as MSN Games and Yahoo! Games.

German based Bigpoint will handle the free-to-play, microtransaction based games in the form of MMO’s. While the focus of Character Arcade seems to be pointed in the short-and-sweet casual game, Bigpoint’s contributions are sure to add variety to the lineup, perhaps even drawing in players that have never previously considered an MMO.

Rounding out the deal, Bunchball, responsible for return traffic and community interaction will be kicking off with a rewards and points platform. Bunchball is also planning a full Facebook and Twitter integration packet, as well as supporting interaction on a number of other social media centric destinations. Using their own proprietary SocialLink technology, as well as Facebook Connect, Bunchball’s contribution will allow fans across various networks share scores, set up challenges, and interact via chat as they play together. Another selling point in Bunchball’s corner: USA can then offer further return and interaction incentives through their own virtual goods system.

If “traditional” and/or “old” media stepping up their game (literally) and entering new territories sounds a bit familiar, remember, back in March we reported on the Syfy, ZooKazoo, Acclaim Games partnership deal. As part of this deal, Syfy was/is looking to diversify their offerings and engage an audience that may or may not have ever thought of themselves as “gamers.” It looks like USA is doing just about the same thing here. However, this is a prime example of new meeting old. The USA Network counts 36 years of air play, they’ve tapped four relatively new firms to deliver a package that appeals to both new and old, while delivering a quality and positive end user experience.

In an interview with Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat, USA Network VP Jesse Reniss sums it up, “The intersection of social media and games is the hottest part of the industry now. The projection is that casual games will be a $10 billion to $11 billion business by 2011 and that is something we want to be part of.”