Shadow Complex

Microsoft has officially revealed the first 104 Xbox 360 games that you will be able to play on your Xbox One. As luck would have it, more than half of them are from Xbox Live Arcade, which of course we are big fans of. Read More

When it was first announced that the Xbox One would be receiving backwards compatibility it was given the ambiguous launch date of “fall”. The launch window has finally been narrowed to a …
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There is a ton of stuff on sale this week, with both Deals with Gold and the Xbox Binge Watch and Play Sale happening together. While there is a major …
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Xbox Live Arcade began its life on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 simply enough. When eager gamers bought up Xbox 360s on launch day (November 22, 2005), they found a free copy of Hexic HD pre-loaded on their hard drives. Of course, it was another launch title that secured the platform’s success. Bizarre’s Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved both gave birth to the twin-stick shooter craze and demanded gamers take Xbox Live Arcade, which started in disc form back on the original Xbox, seriously as a digital games platform. Bizarre’s side project paved the way for the enormous variety of retro revivals, HD remakes, original indie projects, major studio releases, free-to-play games and more that have come to call XBLA home in the years since.

Today, we’re approximately one month away from the launch of the Xbox One, which will signal the end of XBLA as we have come to know it these past eight years. While Microsoft’s Xbox line will continue to be home to myriad low-cost downloadable video games, the XBLA moniker will not make the transition to Xbox One. It’s going down with the figurative (and literal) Xbox 360 boat. So what better time than now to count down the best XBLA games to ever grace the Xbox 360?

It wasn’t easy, but our staff has sorted through all of the best XBLA releases over the years and picked the ones that we feel are the true standout stars of the platform. Check back with us throughout the week as we run down five of Xbox Live Arcade’s top games every night. And don’t forget to head to the comments to let us know how much you love (or hate) our picks.

(Editor’s Note: Voting was conducted in early September. No games released post-Summer of Arcade 2013 were considered eligible.)

10.) 1 vs 100

Ryan Thompson, Contributor — One of the promises of the Xbox 360 console that went largely unfulfilled was the idea that Xbox Live would expand to a point of truly joining together the entire community of players. The truth is that not a lot has changed since players began playing Halo 2 online almost a decade ago: we still join lobbies and play with small groups of people.

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Digital games have grown up this generation, enough to rival their $60 retail counterparts. One of the key games that helped to blur those lines with its triple-A production …
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Whoever coined the phrase, “Too much of a good thing,” likely never played a video game. Sure, mostly because the saying dates back to well before Pong ever pinged a virtual paddle, but in some small part because anyone that’s ever really connected to a great game knows the bittersweet sorrow of wrapping it up. Xbox Live Arcade is no stranger to great games — however you choose to define the word: fun, dense, deep, powerful – there’s something for everyone in our little digital corner of video games proper.

With that in mind, we take a look back at the heavy hitters, the ones that make you set down the controller upon completion and want to know more. XBLAFans’ Friday Top Five is back, bringing you the top five Xbox Live Arcade games (in no particular order) that require a sequel.

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Look after the pennies, and the pounds (or dollars, euros, pesos or whatever) will take care of themselves. Or at least, that’s what our parents used to tell us, right?

That may be sensible where traditional currency is concerned, but it’s not a strategy that converts well into MSP. Waiting for sales and bargains may be the cheapest way of buying XBLA games – but what if the game you want never goes on sale? What if everyone else has moved on and you lose out on the best bit of a fantastic co-op game like Lara Croft: GOL or a community-focused game like Section 8: Prejudice? What if you think you’re buying something you want, but actually you just bought it because it was cheap and you end up wasting MSP anyway?

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Today’s Cyber Monday – the Black Friday of Internet sales, the M0nday after Thanksgiving in which dozens of online retailers slash prices for the start of the holiday shopping season and allowing people who don’t want to brave crowds so soon after stuffing themselves with turkey to enjoy discounts from the comfort of their own home.
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Everyone loves playing games with their friends. Some of the best moments aren’t the game itself, but some interaction with each other: the trash talking, the gloating–you know how it is. But let’s be honest, sometimes we want to game solo: just you, your controller and some awesome gameplay. That’s why this weeks Top 5 is all about the best single player games on Xbox Live Arcade. Here are some great experiences that are definitely worth your time, whatever your play style: action, adventure, puzzle, artsy, you name it and it is here.

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We got some new games, we got some deals and we got some DLC all over this Wednesday. Starting off with the newest hits, Guardian Heroes is set for …
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