News

The new Festive Skin Pack releases tomorrow for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and Microsoft have provided fans with a sneak preview of what to expect on its PlayXBLA Blog. …
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In a blog post he’s since deleted, Xbox Live Director of Programming, Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, announced the “Countdown to 2013” sale for the marketplace. The sale, which begins on December 18 and runs through December 31, will see discounts for a raft of content from certain franchises and publishers on both XBLA and the wider marketplace.

Although the official page has been pulled, the folks over at NeoGAF managed to compile a reasonably comprehensive list of the titles to go on sale and the date their discounts will take effect. Unfortunately, Major Nelson never revealed the discounted prices at any stage. But if you hope to catch any of the games or DLC in the list below for cheap, it may pay to stock up on MSP!

However, the fact that the official page has been pulled (even though most of the details are out in the wild) has us at least a little concerned, so maybe try not to pin all your hopes and dreams on the “Countdown to 2013” sale.

The full list of currently known discounted XBLA items follows:

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Weekly Roundup compiles all the biggest news stories, reviews and features from the week into one handy post on the weekends.

We’re well under way in our 12 Days of XBLA giveaway. If you haven’t caught it, ’tis the season for giving and your chance to score dozens of terrific XBLA titles as the holidays approach. In other news, Minecraft gets some video coverage, and delays are discussed across a few games that fell away from the spotlight.

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The first new additions to the already robust Guardians of Middle-earth roster are now available. Joining the ranks are Bilbo Baggins, the titular star of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, who fills the role of a striker with his blade, Sting. Tipping the scales for the forces of darkness, Bert the Troll brings considerable firepower as yet another tactician, using his abilities to secure lanes and push toward enemy installations. Both guardians can be individually purchased for 160 MSP, or as part of the Season Pass, which also secures future downloadable content for 1200 MSP.

Also available for download, The Shire map skin brings 3-lane warfare to the rolling green mounds of Hobbiton. The Shire plays similarly to the existing 3-lane map, though players will notice shrine locations are slightly changed, and bushes scattered throughout the map present new opportunities for potential ambushes. Part of a compatibility update, The Shire map skin is free of charge, joining the random map rotation once downloaded.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Monolith Productions plan to release more content over the course of the coming months, including several new guardians and game modes when they become available. For a better look at Bilbo, Bert and The Shire, check out the trailer after the jump. Anyone not yet knee-deep in the battle can see what all the fuss is about in our Guardians of Middle-earth review.

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[springboard type=”video” id=”624713″ player=”xbla001″ width=”640″ height=”400″ ]

Skulls of the Shogun developers 17Bit have released a new trailer for their upcoming strategy game showcasing the cross-platform gameplay between …
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Pinball gurus Zen Studios have released the Zen Classics downloadable content for Pinball FX 2. The pack contains four tables previously for Zen’s PlayStation 3 pinball counterpart, Zen Pinball: El Dorado, Shaman, Tesla and V12. For table collectors this now allows players to have access to every table from Zen Pinball sans the Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 tribute table, which we’re unlikely to get as the game is a PlayStation 3 exclusive. The pack is available now for 800 MSP. TechGamingVideo posted a comparison video which depicts the differences between the Zen Pinball and remastered Pinball FX 2 versions. Look for it after the jump.

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In a recent interview with Xbox 360 Magazine, John Baez from The Behemoth praised Xbox Live Arcade, saying, “I think without a doubt the indie console community would not …
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It was way back during April’s PAX East when 17-Bit studio boss Jake Kazdal told XBLA Fans that development was nearly complete on his team’s turn-based strategy game, Skulls of the Shogun. The game, which pits small armies of dead Japanese samurais against each other in the afterlife, appeared to be polished to a sheen and was every bit (no pun intended) as enjoyable to play as it was when yours truly first played it one year earlier.

Kazdal said at the time that the plan was to release the game on XBLA in October alongside the launch of Windows 8. That didn’t happen. September saw the game being delayed to November. Strategy fans would have to wait just a little bit longer. In case you didn’t notice, they’re still waiting. Skulls of the Shogun missed its new target window and 17-Bit has not announced a new, new window.

Kazdal did recently speak to Polygon about his missing-in-action game, though. He informed the outlet that trying to coordinate a multiplatform launch (Skulls is headed to PC, Windows Phone 8 and Microsoft Surface tablets in addition to XBLA) with only three developers on his team is an arduous undertaking.

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Two new titles land on Xbox Live Arcade today. Black Knight Sword marks a second dip into XBLA waters for co-developers Grasshopper Manufacture and Digital Reality since their release of Sine …
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Publisher Deep Silver has released a short video detailing the second of three characters from its upcoming side-scrolling brawler Sacred Citadel. This video focuses on Khukuri Shaman, described as …
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