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Following a nearly 2-year-long period of silence, Boston-based developer Moonshot Games has announced that its side-scrolling co-op shooter for XBLA, Fallen Frontier, has been canceled. The studio elected …
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The fix is in for the next round of changes coming to 4J Studios’ Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. The best-selling XBLA title of 2012 will get patched up with a host of new changes, tweaks and bug-squashing fixes with the release of Title Update 8. As we reported earlier this month, Minecraft‘s endgame content event, aptly titled “The End”, was pushed from production of the forthcoming update, citing a need to concentrate on a number of issues that popped up with the release of Title Update 7. Everyone eagerly awaiting the chance to duke it out with the infamous Ender Dragon can breathe easy knowing the content has been rescheduled for Title Update 9.

As for the many fixes stuffed into this release, you can expect things to be getting back to normal within the blocky reaches of your biomes. Appearing on PlayXBLA, the finalized change list is quick to address the many crashes and freezes introduced in the previous update, including: the random Kick Player crash, the random crash when loading the tutorial, and the dreaded sign-writing/autosave freeze.

What’s more, these fixes are merely the tip of the iceberg. With nearly forty items in tow, Title Update 8 should help to smooth things over while you chip away at that fortress you’ve been meaning to finish. There’s no official word as to when this panacea will be administered, though 4J Studios issued a tentative schedule of “this month” via their official Twitter page, when asked by a curious fan.

Hit the jump for the complete, lengthy list of fixes and changes coming with Title Update 8.

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All you creative folks have a new challenge on your hands! Trials Evolution developer Red Lynx is hosting a competition to see who can build the best motorcycle stunt track set …
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Speaking to VentureBeat, SpikySnail Games Studio founder, Niv Fisher, has commented about the struggles that indie developers encounter when marketing their games on XBLA.

In particular, the developer of XBLA game The Splatters claims that the marketplace has gotten “tougher in the last couple of years, with a few titles getting lots of promotion, exposure and sales, and the rest are getting hit pretty hard.”

Fisher argues that Microsoft can do much to address the issue, particularly with regard to the current dashboard. “I feel the current dashboard just doesn’t work well as a storefront, especially if you want to encourage discovery or diversity,” explains Fisher.

“Games are hard to find, there’s no friend-recommendation system, and lots of the store promotional space goes toward non-game applications – and now, also downloadable retail games. Sales are usually poorly promoted, and dashboard placement is sold and bartered with. Small developers like us have very little to offer here and are often left on their own.”

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Online retailer Amazon has listed a [easyazon-link asin=”B00B1ULJI0″ locale=”us”]Microsoft 5-Game Arcade/Indie Pack [Download][/easyazon-link] for only $10. While all are XBLA titles, the codes are only redeemable on PC and Steam, as opposed …
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In a fascinating read over at the Penny Arcade Report, designer Andy Schatz explains that his upcoming XBLA game Monaco is not a stealth game, despite surface-level appearances.

Viewed …
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The game hasn’t even been released yet, but that hasn’t stopped Japanese developers 5pb announcing some DLC for their upcoming beat-em-up, Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds. According to the developer …
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With its strict rating laws preventing the sale of violent games in the past, Telltale Games was originally hesitant to release The Walking Dead in Australia. However, with this …
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The  folks at Shoryuken who run the yearly Evolution fighting game series of tournaments (usually known as just EVO) are having a charity drive contest to determine which …
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Update: The story originally noted that Monaco would release prior to PAX East, but Pocketwatch has since explained that it was referring to PAX Prime. The copy below has been edited to reflect this clarification.

The three-year wait for indie developer Pocketwatch Games’ 4-player co-op heist game, Monaco, appears to be nearing its end. Pocketwatch announced on Facebook last week that it had submitted its game to Microsoft for pre-certification.

Yesterday the studio got a report back from Microsoft and stated that there was “nothing too scary in there!” Stressing the obvious, the studio now says that Monaco is “inching closer to launch.”

Exactly how close has Pocketwatch inched towards launch? Monaco will release before this year’s PAX Prime convention. Pocketwatch responded to an inquisitive fan on Twitter by saying that the game would be out on XBLA (and Steam) before this year’s PAX Prime. Penny Arcade has not yet announced a date for its yearly convention, but the event has historically been held in late August/early September.

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