Huge “Countdown to 2013” marketplace sale begins December 18
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:
XBLA Sales Analysis: August 2012
Gamasutra have published their monthly Xbox Live Arcade sales analysis for August. This month we find out how well the second half of this year’s Summer of Arcade games …
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Getting sticky with Alien Spidy at PAX Prime
Alien Spidy is hard. I watched helplessly during PAX East as the game’s public relations representative repeatedly subjected himself to the rigors of a particularly nasty stretch of platforming in a cave level. He died. A lot. The level required the game’s space spider protagonist to fire off strands of webbing, which he can swing from to progress through the game world, at a series of stalactites with pinpoint accuracy. Missing the dripstones meant his webbing would uselessly hit a section of the cave ceiling that it wouldn’t stick to, sending the spider to his doom. Certainly this could be overcome by the simple act of slowing down and carefully lining up shots, no? No. The stalagmites begin to crumble and fall under the strain of Spidy’s weight.
It didn’t get any easier from there. Another portion of the same level required a deft hand to guide Spidy carefully through a narrow space flanked by rows of pink crystals that were as sharp as they were shiny. More dying ensued. There is no life bar in Alien Spidy; one careless brush with an environmental hazard or enemy results in death. The development team at Enigma Software have offset the high degree of difficulty by liberally sprinkling checkpoints throughout the game’s stages. As a result, death is less likely to inspire a controller throw than it is another go…and another one, and another one, and so on and so forth.
XBLA Fans Roundtable: Summer of Arcade 2012 – Dust: An Elysian Tail
This year we decided to collectively look at each of the Summer of Arcade games. So all this week we’ve been posting roundtable discussions of the games in order of release (Tony Hawk, Wreckateer, Deadlight, Hybrid). Today we end with the most well received game in the line-up. Humble Hearts’ Dust: An Elysian Tail, takes a tried and true formula and adds some oft-times breathtaking art to make an incredibly solid package.
XBLA Fans Roundtable: Summer of Arcade 2012 – Wreckateer
Continuing our look back at Summer of Arcade 2012, today’s roundtable discussion focuses on Iron Galaxy’s Wreckateer. The cheapest of this years line-up at 800 MSP and the only Kinect title, it also ended up being one of the better reviewed games. As you’ll see our staffs discussion reflects that. Read More
XBLAFancast Episode 73 – Shortcast
There’s not much to talk about this week, with Deadlight out of the way and us failing to play much of anything else. We still manage to fill 40 minutes with some fun and a bit of XBLA talk though.
Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast on iTunes. We appreciate it! Check us out on twitter (@XBLAFans) where you can win codes for games, give us feedback or just ask a question. We are also now on Stitcher, so you can stream the show on your smartphone, give it a go!
Big thanks to Chris Green for the awesome theme music, be sure to check out his site BlurredEdge and why not follow him on twitter too @BlurredEdge.
[podcast]https://xblafans.com/xblafancast/XBLAFancastEp73.mp3[/podcast]XBLA Wednesday: Summer of Arcade Week 3
Get ready for the zombie apocalypse in Deadlight, check out the latest Trials Evolution track and see what Sales and Specials there is!
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XBLAFancast Episode 72 – Everyone stop being funny
A long one this week, kicked off with a lengthy discussion of Deadlight. While Perry isn’t quite as harsh, we both agree it has some major issues.
News, a sort of Todd Talk and Crews’ Community Corner round out the rest of the show.
Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast on iTunes. We appreciate it! Check us out on twitter (@XBLAFans) where you can win codes for games, give us feedback or just ask a question. We are also now on Stitcher, so you can stream the show on your smartphone, give it a go!
Big thanks to Chris Green for the awesome theme music, be sure to check out his site BlurredEdge and why not follow him on twitter too @BlurredEdge.
[podcast]https://xblafans.com/xblafancast/XBLAFancastEp72.mp3[/podcast]
Get a head in Hybrid with new Minecraft skins
Developers 5th Cell and Mojang have announced that they’ll be teaming up to bring Minecraft helmet skins to Hybrid. Players who manage to reach level 20 in the upcoming …
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