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We recently had the opportunity to visit Dallas and talk with the team behind Orcs Must Die. We recorded our own version but after hearing the recording from our …
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Twisted Pixel Games’ latest title, The Gunstringer, is a wild west Kinect title starring an what can only be described as an undead marionette cowboy.  It’s the first real chance players have had to see what XBLA games can do for Kinect, and since its announcement back at the beginning of this month it’s been wowing the press.  But with so much coverage how can anyone keep up with what’s going on?  Well, fret not.  We’ve got the best of all the previews after the jump.

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Siliconera reports that the dungeon crawler Torchlight will be receiving exclusive content on XBLA.  New armor and weapons have been added, as well as additional quests for the …
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Ensemble Studios shutting down was a bittersweet moment for a team that had grown extremely close over the years; however, as cliché as it sounds, the doors closing on Ensemble forced the team to look at open doors full of opportunity and new possibilities. For many this meant the first chance in years to break away from an already established IP in over fifteen years presenting a chance now to take risks and reinvigorate themselves. The tight-knit group showed that it really did believe in fostering community, as when the former Microsoft subsidiary disbanded as company but the majority of its members stuck together in one of four new studios: Robot Entertainment, Bonfire (now Zynga Dallas), Windstorm Studio and New Toy.

Recently we had the opportunity to visit Robot Entertainment in Dallas. While the studio may have a new name, they haven’t forgotten all the old lessons they learned. The team still believes in community both internally and with fans. Upon entering the studio, the open environment is striking: four main quadrants of desks with no cubicles or walls and a biergarten style lunch room comprise the majority of the studio. Outside of the two war rooms, server room and executive offices, it’s an entirely open floor plan mirroring the studios own level of openness with employees. The real decisions as to what games are made don’t come from a guy in a suit with a calculator, but from a collaborative process involving the entire team.

This “organic” process started six months ago. Development on Age of Empires Online was beginning to wind down, and the studio was looking toward what their next project would be. Instead of setting their sights on the traditional three year AAA development cycle, Robot chose to focus on the downloadable segment of the industry. The shorter development time allowed the fifty person team to the ability to not become re-tied down to a singular IP for the foreseeable future. Robot started to brainstorm and create basic prototypes for some of the better ideas, one of which was Orcs Must Die.

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Back in November, Days of Thunder: Arcade was set to release to coincide with the 20-Year Anniversary of the Days of Thunder film. But the game never saw the light of day and was mysteriously absent from the marketplace on its scheduled release date of November 17th, 2010. Today, the mystery of this games fate is solved as Days of Thunder: Arcade has silently made its way onto the marketplace.   Read More

Deadliest Warrior, the fighting game based on the TV show of the same name, received new downloadable content yesterday.  Joining the chaos are three new fighters, the Rajput, Zande, …
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Twisted Pixel is currently showing off The Gunstringer at Microsoft’s Xbox Showcase event in San Francisco. At that same event it was confirmed, although we all but knew already, that Gunstringer will be an Xbox Live Arcade game. This makes it the first confirmed Kinect title for XBLA, although there are some as yet unannounced XBLA Kinect games in the works according to Microsoft.

Alongside this announcement the guys at twisted pixel have released a new batch of screenshots, check out the gallery below. Read More

Interstellar Marines developer Zero Point Software have confirmed to our friends over at Cinema Blend that their long in development title will make its way to Xbox …
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Atari announced their new rag-tag team of paranormal investigators today for the upcoming XBLA title, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, coming to XBLA on March 23rd. They’re a bit inexperienced but they’ll get the job done with 4-player co-op ghost-bustin’. Hit the jump to see a photo gallery and names of the new rookie Ghostbusters.

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Robot Entertainment, the studio formed by many ex-Ensemble employees, have announced their new game. Orcs Must Die!, billed a ‘fantasy action-strategy game’, is not quite what one might expect from the people behind Age of Empires. Players must defend their castle against hordes of Orcs, using magic, traps and parts of the enviroment.

No solid release date has been announced but we can expect to see the game some time in the summer. Those attending PAX East will be able to get their hands on the game as Robot will be there to show off a playable demo. Check back on XBLAFans tomorrow as we will have hands on impressions and more. In the mean time check out the debut trailer and screenshots after the jump. Read More