aliens: colonial marines

• The Xbox Live Family Gold pack is no longer available. Originally introduced in November 2010, the four-pack of year-long Gold memberships was a popular deal among families, allowing discounted membership as well as Family Center content management. (Via Joystiq)

• TimeGate studios, developers of Aliens: Colonial Marines and XBLA’s Section 8: Prejudice, recently underwent layoffs. Twenty-five employees were laid off. The president of the studio, Adel Chaveleh, confirmed to Polygon. “This is never easy, and we’re doing all we can to assist those developers affected.” Sources told Polygon that the layoffs were a result of the game getting many negative reviews and lack of a publishing deal.

• Starting this month,Microsoft will be selling a 320 GB media hard drive and as an added bonus, a few games will be included on the drive. Major Nelson reports that XBLA titles Ms. Splosion Man and Pinball FX (with Sorcerer’s Lair) will be included, as well as the 360 title Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. The drive will be available for $129.99.

• Runner 2 is known for its flashy graphics, quick game play and fun music. Now fans can purchase music from the game with the Runner Extended Play album on Disasterpiece. The album is composed of five different tunes ranging from 30-34 seconds in length. The price starts at $1 for all five tracks, but buyers can elect to pay more as they see fit.

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Sega has announced it will bring nine titles to the Penny Arcade Expo (better known as PAX Prime) later this month – one of which has yet to be announced. All nine titles will be playable at the festival. Hit the jump for the games we know will be there, some of which include forthcoming XBLA titles.

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