When I arrived at Haunted Temple Studios, the cab driver gave me a smug look. I’d asked him to stop one door over from a strip club at what looked to be an abandoned construction area. The gears in his head were turning and his face read “this kid just doesn’t want to admit he’s going to Dreamgirls.” He continued to prod me about being in the wrong location, but my trusted iPhone assured me this was the address Jake Kazdal, founder of Haunted Temple had given me. I wandered into the construction area hoping this was the right location. The glitz and glamor of the neighbors distracting the average onlooker from the amazing gem inside an unmarked building next door made arguably the perfect metaphor for an indie studio’s plight in the industry. Inside this large open, warehouse of a building, Jake and his team were putting the finishing touches on Skulls of the Shogun, literally hours after rescuing the game from a flood.

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Toylogic CEO Yoichi Take told Dengeki in an interview today that his studio’s upcoming 15-on-15 hack ‘n slash XBLA exclusive Happy Wars “feels like pizza or potato chips,” as compared to the “steak” feeling of Call of Duty’s multiplayer. It’s become commonplace for designer, journalist and gamer alike to use CoD as a measuring stick for something — even when that something appears wildly different from Activision’s FPS behemoth. With the 2012 release flying mostly under the radar in the English-speaking world, though, Take isn’t afraid to do what’s necessary to call attention to it.

In that vein, the studio boss promises that his team is working hard to create more English language content on social networks and the game’s website to convey to the West just what Happy Wars is all about. Gamers won’t have to wait around for that to happen, however; Take shared a number of details about what he sees as a party/action title. While it’s his studio’s first Xbox 360 title, Take himself has previous experience with the platform in the form of 2007’s Bullet Witch. While he once viewed Microsoft’s console as being strictly for extreme core gamers,” Take was eventually introduced to Castle Crashers — a game that makes for a far more apt comparison than any Call of Duty title — and realized the platform had a much wider audience.

Take said that The Behemoth’s colorful sidescroller “changed [his] mind” about what type of content is appropriate for the Xbox. Specifically, he cited the fact that the game was commercially viable, to say the least, even though it has a “comical” style that he previously felt wouldn’t have jived well with 360 owners.

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We previously confirmed that The Splatters, developed by SpikeyNail, was coming to XBLA on April 11. Now thanks to Daniel McConnell, Product Manager at Microsoft Studios, we can also confirm …
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Happy Action Theater was developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released February 1, 2012 for 800 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Double Fine Productions is a household name when it comes to Xbox Live Arcade games. Stacking, Trenched/Iron Brigade and Costume Quest are all titles that everyone should have on their machine. They’re all original properties; they were risks for both Double Fine and their publishers to put out, but each has succeeded. Now Double Fine wants to go out on a limb with their new Kinect title, Happy Action Theater.

The game itself is a collection of 18 minigames. Most involve players viewing themselves on screen with other digitized elements added such as snow, lava, or water. Players interact with objects in the environment such as balloons or fish to have them in turn react. There is no winning the game. It’s just you and the environment and acting like a fool. To some that sounds like fun. To others, well…

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Pinball FX 2: Epic Quest was developed by Zen Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released February 15, 2012 for 240 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

Werewolves, vampires and goblins, oh my! These are just a few of the monsters you’ll encounter in Pinball FX 2‘s new table, Epic Quest. In this new table we take a knight on his journey against evil to rescue his kidnapped princess. What separates this new installment from other tables is the addition of RPG-like elements. The adventure carries on from game to game, giving you the ability to level up your character, pick armor and even your weapon. It this enough to make pinball feel fresh and revitalized, or will this be another one of those things that should have never been?

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Parties are one of the oldest institutions of humankind, from the time fire was discovered to the latest significant party somebody everyone cares about attended. Perhaps something involving Tony Stark. Whether pre-historic or in fantasy land, parties always need something fun going on. Gaming, as it so happens, is pretty darn fun. However, recently the retail video game industry has decided partying with people within smelling distance means no gaming, and we here at XBLA Fans think that’s mighty stinky of them. In light of that, we’ve made this week’s Friday Top Five about XBLA games that dominate parties in one way or another.

5. Fruit Ninja Kinect 

Not every party has a Kinect, and not every party needs one, but those parties which have one should definitely be slicing fruit with as little regard for fruit-kind or remorse for the millenniums of fruitocide which they have suffered through as possible. FNK is the absolute funkay (get it?) fun time when it comes to arm flailing, personal space invading, or reputation undermining (sometimes all at once)! While this game isn’t four player inclusive like the other games on this list, it’s very fun to play and is a great ice breaker. Since Fruit Ninja Kinect takes advantage of abilities most people acquired and mastered at age three or four (the waving of the arms) there’s really nobody that can’t play this game.

There’s not a lot of depth to Fruit Ninja Kinect unfortunately, and when the party gets over the gameplay, there’s not much chance they’ll get back to it. However, one person can play or two people can play competitively and there will be enough for players to rotate and get their dose of being silly and enthusiastic before everyone’s guilt for the countless fruit deaths starts to take its toll.

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Tequila Works announced that their first title, Deadlight, will be published by Microsoft Studios exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade. The cinematic puzzle platformer is set to arrive in summer 2012.

In …
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Joe Danger: Special Edition was developed by Hello Games and published by Microsoft. It was released on December 14, 2011 for 1200 MSP. A copy was provided for review purposes.

We saw many great XBLA titles come out last year, but there are always a few titles that get away from us on other medium. From the Pixeljunk series to Fat Princess, PSN has its share of great downloadable games. But one that stuck out the most and you couldn’t blame XBLA for being jealous of was Joe Danger. Now, a year after its release, Xbox 360 owners will finally see that lovable daredevil with Joe Danger: Special Edition.

Protagonist Joe Danger has experienced a rise and fall to his daredevil popularity. Realizing he must get back in the game, he straps on his cape and helmet and straddles his motorcycle again. Fans of Trials HD and Excitebike should take note as the game plays in the style of both classic motorcycle games. But what it represents with its influences, it completely shatters both games in terms of charm, replay value and overall fun.

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Hey guys, we’re bringing you a new feature that’s simple and helpful in nature, the XBLAFans Monthly Roundup! This as well as other features will be seen a lot more should all things go accordingly, and we’ll even have some new ones on the way, so stay tuned because there’s a lot of awesome in the works here at XBLAFans.

If it wasn’t obvious by the title, this post will be your one-stop-shop to anything that happened this month with links to all our posts and excerpts where applicable. That means news, reviews, guides, features, interviews, podcasts, and even a recount of releases and sales data. Hit the jump for so many links you’ll never not know something about XBLA current events again! Read More

Playing through Halo Anniversary this weekend with my brother-in-law I had a very eye opening experience. After all of the PR fluff and critic reviews based more on nostalgia I found myself more critical of the quality of the updates to the original Halo: CE. I wondered why I was knocking all of these little issues I found when I was having a blast playing through a game that can still suck me in. Then it hit me: Bungie didn’t work on Anniversary, and that’s who I was comparing 343’s work against. Sure, Saber Interactive provided the new HD graphics layer and Certain Affinity developed all of the multiplayer maps, but as the primary developer 343 had the end say as to whether something qualified as Halo-worthy or not.

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