Microsoft Studios

The first of many original texture packs coming to Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has been revealed. Dubbed the Plastic Texture Pack, developer 4J Studios and publisher Microsoft Studios have announced the texture collection in a series of screenshots (below) that feature the colorfully smooth surfaces of the upcoming downloadable content.

As of now, there’s no pricing or release information to share. We’ve already learned the packs won’t be free, but they should be relatively inexpensive. In any case, the wait shouldn’t be long according to 4J Studios, which confirmed there will be a trial version for those who want to test drive the texture swap before buying.

The developer also touched on what fans can expect in the future, revealing the next pack in line will be the “Natural Texture Pack,” and teased that “something medieval is coming” down the line. No additional details were revealed for either of the offerings.

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Ascend: Hand of Kul is a free-to-play multiplayer action RPG developed by Signal Studios. The game has been in closed beta over the last few months but is now …
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New footage showcasing story elements from the upcoming Xbox One exclusive Crimson Dragon debuted at the Tokyo Game Show this week. The spiritual successor to the Panzer Dragoon series takes place on the planet Draco, where remnants of humanity struggle against the planet’s winged natives in the face of extermination, harnessing the dragons’ power to fight back.

Crimson Dragon will be available upon launch of the Xbox One, November 22, retailing for $19.99. The long-developed title was previously slated to soar onto Xbox Live Arcade with required Kinect integration, but has since added controller support and asynchronous mutliplayer, focusing on Microsoft’s forthcoming console. Those who purchase and partake in the action before the end of the year, December 31, will receive an exclusive playable dragon.

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The latest pack of skins to hit Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has arrived, bringing with it a host of characters from gaming’s biggest franchises. Available today for 160 MSP, Skin Pack 5 bundles likenesses from such heavy hitters as: Dead Space 3, The Walking Dead, Rayman Legends, Splinter Cell Blacklist, various Assassin’s Creed titles, Far Cry 3, Borderlands and Borderlands 2.

In addition, non-gaming related skins have been introduced. The history buffs out there will be able to break and build dressed in uniforms worn by the enlisted from World War 2. The classy bunch will find suit-sporting Minecraft staples like the pig, Mooshroom and the Ender Dragon. Alternatively you can go incognito dressed as a variety cats, or rock a rocked-themed suit.

Our favorite though, Sergeant Rex “Power” Colt from Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, lends his signature cybernetic look to the peaceful blocky biomes. You can preview every skin in the slideshow gallery, after the jump. If you see something you like, be sure to let us know in the comments below!

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Zen Studios has rallied the troops and is set to administer another dose of fanciful siege warfare to its Xbox Live Arcade offering, CastleStorm. Dubbed From Outcast to …
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Microsoft Studios, the digital publishing arm of the Washington-based mother ship, recently cleared some time on their Twitch channel to host the folks from Signal Studios and their upcoming free-to-play RPG, Ascend: Hand of Kul. For over an hour, Ascend‘s developers fielded general questions about the game, the ongoing closed beta and an eventual release.

While an exact date hasn’t been locked down, Lead Designer Ian Scott commented on the ballpark release window. “We don’t know specifically but I would guess over the course of the next couple of months,” Scott said. “More and more people will have access [to the beta] and then the game’s going to kind of gradually launch into open release.”

“We’re going through the process of doing another update which will open up more stuff to get to the end of the game,” explained President of Signal Studios, D.R. Albright III. “When we do that, which should hopefully be within a few weeks, we’re going to release the rest of the beta codes. Then we’re going to update again [based on] that information, and that’s when it’s going to go live.”

The Ascend beta has been running strong since the beginning of the month, welcoming players who originally signed up to get a taste of what’s to come. While we can’t get into specifics about the beta content, it’s a small sample of the early game and from what we’ve played, you should be excited to get your hands on it. But it’s not all fun and games.

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Another day, another bundle of Xbox Live Arcade games designed to fill out your digital library for one low cost. This time around Microsoft’s packaged five action titles for …
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The annual Evo Championship Series brings together the best of the best in the fighting game world. As such, the allure of so many dedicated practitioners of virtual fisticuffs …
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Signal Studios’ free-to-play action RPG Ascend: Hand of Kul is gearing up for war later this year on Xbox Live Arcade. In the meantime, the folks behind the ambitious hack-and-slash …
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The Microsoft Studios Twitter (@PlayXBLA) has revealed a teaser image from the forthcoming Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Title Update 12.  The update adds the new jungle biome as well as new blocks: …
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