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This Wednesday: Call of Duty Classic storms Xbox Live

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 30th 2009 at 1:20PM }

According to one AceyBongos -- think of him as Europe's Major Nelson -- this week's Xbox Live Arcade game will be none other than Call of Duty Classic. Those who picked up the Hardened or Prestige editions of Modern Warfare 2 have already had the joy of ignoring their packed-in copy of the game, and now the whole world can ignore it! If, by some bizarre chance, you're just not into all this newfangled, modern warfare, Call of Duty Classic will set you back 1200

($15).

Again though, this message really only applies to the five people that aren't playing Modern Warfare 2.

[Thanks, DarkSynopsis]

This Wednesday: XBLA takes Madden NFL Arcade to the end zone

by Justin McElroy { Nov 23rd 2009 at 2:45PM }

Just in case you've taken a few exceptionally hard tackles in the past couple of weeks, we thought we'd remind you that this week's XBLA release is Madden NFL Arcade, a five-on-five, backyard-rules take on EA Sports' darling. You'll be able to pick the game up just in time for your Thanksgiving celebrations for 1200

($15).

Editor's Note: Thank you to reader TuchdwnMan449 for reminding us that it's called the "end zone" and not "the scoring rectangle thing" as our headline originally read. We pledge to improve our understanding of sports before writing future football posts.

Gallery: Madden NFL Arcade

This Wednesday: XBLA takes you out for Diner and a Gyromantic date

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 16th 2009 at 2:58PM }

Xbox Live Arcade shows a belligerent disregard for productivity this week, hosting a pair of light puzzle games that are sure to weigh heavily on your mind during working hours. Why not have a go (and then just one more) at Gyromancer, the gem-shifting collaboration between Square Enix and PopCap? The cost of entry is 1200

($15). If it's a cohesive concoction of puzzles, RPG elements and item collection, your departure is likely to be at no point.

PlayFirst is also serving up an XBLA version of Diner Dash for 800

($10). The culinary-themed time management game should be an ideal snack in between gorging on Dragon Age: Origins, Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and ... hmm. How good are you at time management?

This Wednesday: 0D Beat Drop, NBA Unrivaled & Encleverment Experiment on XBLA [update]

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 9th 2009 at 3:01PM }

Word has come down from on high, and this week's Xbox Live Arcade release is none other than 0D Beat Drop. What's that, you've never heard of 0D Beat Drop? Truth be told, neither have we. Thankfully, the game's Xbox.com page provides us all with the crucial details. If the above screenshot didn't tip you off, OD Beat Drop is a puzzle game; however, it has a musical twist, challenging players to drop pieces to the beat. OD Beat Drop can even analyze your own songs for use in the game (Protip: It's time to break out your Tetris soundtrack). The game will be available this Wednesday for 800

($10).

Also, if Tecmo is to be believed, NBA Unrivaled will release on XBLA this week as well. ~~It's worth noting that the game was not included in Major Nelson's XBLA announcement and that publishers are frequently mistaken about XBLA launch dates, so it's anyone's guess what Wednesday holds.~~

Update: Major Nelson has confirmed that 0D Beat Drop will be joined by both NBA Unrivaled (1200

/$15) and Encleverment Experiment (800

/$10) this week on XBLA.

This Wednesday: Wallace & Gromit episodes 2, 3 and 4 on XBLA

by Richard Mitchell { Nov 2nd 2009 at 4:00PM }

Here's hoping you really like Wallace & Gromit and, more specifically, Telltale's episodic Wallace & Gromit games, because that's all you're getting on Xbox Live Arcade this week. As promised, the final three episodes, The Last Resort, Muzzled! and The Bogey Man will all be dropping on XBLA this Wednesday, each priced at 800

($10). That brings the total for all four games to $40, which isn't too bad, although PC owners should be aware that Telltale is offering the entire season -- which includes a collector's DVD -- for $34.95 as well.

Still, if you've got a yen for some couch-bound, Achievement-filled Wallace & Gromit, it's a pretty good deal.

This Wednesday: Inferno Pool burns up XBLA with Rainbow Islands

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 26th 2009 at 4:00PM }

This week's XBLA releases are ... well, they're games. The two downloadable titles sent to the fourth quarter slaughterhouse – a terrible place dominated by triple-A retail releases – are Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure! and Inferno Pool, both costing 800

($10).

We almost feel obligated to post The Charge of the Light Brigade after the break for each story about a downloadable game without a high profile beginning now until next year ... actually, next year isn't looking too open for downloadable games either, is it?

This Wednesday: Panzer General assaults Tower Bloxx Deluxe on XBLA

by David Hinkle { Oct 19th 2009 at 5:19PM }

This week's Xbox Live update wages war on one of humanity's oldest foes: the block. We're sorry it's come to this, but we're afraid we can stomach their shenanigans no longer and, come this Wednesday, we're enlisting the aid of Panzer General: Allied Assault for 800

($10) as we begin operations.

Our first target will be Tower Bloxx Deluxe, with an estimated damage total of 800

($10). It's a good introductory target that should benefit us in the longer conflict to come against the blocks. And if you're having second thoughts about all of this, remember how they're always making us push them here and pull them there -- and have you forgotten all of the climbing? We're standing up for the little guys and those archaeologists who've had enough tyranny from those six-sided symmetrical impeders, so if you can't get behind that, we suggest you pull up those hemp pants of yours and barefoot it back to the treetop commune or wherever else you hippies call home nowadays.

This Wednesday: Sam & Max & Axel & Pixel on XBLA

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 12th 2009 at 12:58PM }

Xbox Live Arcade is heavy on the ampersands this week as both Axel & Pixel and the second season of Sam & Max (subtitled Beyond Time and Space, according to the ESRB) will be landing on Microsoft's download service. Both are games of the adventuring persuasion, requiring players to traverse the game world and solve puzzles, performing actions by pointing and / or clicking. Yes, you read that correctly, two adventure games in one week. It's like the 80s all over again.

Axel & Pixel will set you back 800

($10). Meanwhile, Sam & Max tops out at the most you should ever pay for a computer game. Also known as 1600

($20).

Gallery: Axel and Pixel (XBLA)

This Wednesday: Some Lucidity for South Park on XBLA

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 5th 2009 at 3:58PM }

Major Nelson has announced that the two games gracing Xbox Live Arcade this week will be Lucidity and South Park LET'S GO TOWER DEFENSE PLAY. The first is a puzzle platformer from LucasArts with a positively delightful art style, while the second ... well it's pretty self explanatory. It's a tower defense game set against the backdrop of the famous, quiet little mountain town. Both can be yours in exchange for 800

($10).

This Wednesday: Military Madness and Football Genius Bust-a-Move onto XBLA

by Randy Nelson { Sep 28th 2009 at 3:21PM }

This week's Xbox Live Arcade lineup is Madness -- Madness, we tell you! Well, okay, so it includes Hudson's revival of the TurboGrafx-16 classic Military Madness, but also two other releases. Still: Madness!

Military Madness: Nectaris takes the hex-map strategy game into the era of polygons and -- better yet -- four-person online play. It's going to run 800

($10), which is considerably less than a used TG-16, a TurboChip (remember those? If so, you're old) and the original game will cost you on eBay.

Another classic strikes back in the form of Bust-A-Move Live, the latest retooling of the bubble-shooting puzzle game that's appeared on every system dating back to the abacus. Did you know it's a spin-off of Bubble Bobble Neo from two weeks back? Well, it is. It's also 800

($10).

Rounding out the bunch -- and making us thankful that every XBLA game has a trial version -- is Football Genius, a football trivia game about that kinda football; otherwise known as "soccer" up in here. We'd give the 800

($10) release a shot ... if our goal was to be bored. (We love you, soccer/footie fans, but c'mon, seriously?)

This Wednesday: The Warriors, Zombie Apocalypse, Ion Assault hit XBLA

by David Hinkle { Sep 21st 2009 at 3:20PM }

Xbox Live's Major Nelson reports that three new titles are releasing on Xbox Live this week. Whether you're looking forward to some gang justice, surviving the undead or going all Einstein on some microscopic particles, rest assured there's something here for you. This Wednesday's offerings are:

So, whatcha downloadin'?

This Wednesday: Bubble Bobble Neo, Red Alert 3: Commander's Challenge arrive on XBLA

by Ben Gilbert { Sep 14th 2009 at 4:30PM }

Well, folks, it's not quite the Summer of Arcade anymore. Microsoft's Major Nelson has announced C&C Red Alert 3: Commander's Challenge and Bubble Bobble Neo as this week's Xbox Live Arcade releases. Despite the inclusion of "C&C Red Alert 3" right there in the title, the former game is a standalone experience and can be played without the original Red Alert 3 game disc.

Each title will draw 800

($10) from your account, assuming it doesn't go toward this week's Xbox Live deal, Lode Runner.

Gallery: Bubble Bobble Neo (XBLA)

This Wednesday: Wallace and Gromit, Sonic and Knuckles rush XBLA

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 7th 2009 at 11:25AM }

With Major Nelson taking this day of labor off, we look across the pond for word on this week's Xbox Live Arcade title. As previously noted, it appears Sonic and Knuckles will be this week's release at 400

($5). The good word comes from European Xbox community manager "AceyBongos," which just doesn't have the same ring as "Major Nelson." Could Microsoft at least make the guy a general or captain?

Update: Joining the hedgehog and the echidna will be the inventor and his faithful companion. Major Nelson brings word that the mischief of Wallace and Gromit Episode 2: The Last Resort will also be available this Wednesday for 800

($10).

Update 2: Last minute change: No Wallace and Gromit.

This Wednesday: Defense Grid awakens Yo-Ho KaBlammo on XBLA

by David Hinkle { Aug 31st 2009 at 2:51PM }

This week's XBLA offerings are a pair of 800

($10) titles, reports Major Nelson: Defense Grid: The Awakening and Yo-Ho KaBlammo. Each title is a bit heavy on the combat, with Defense Grid offering plenty of tower defense action, and Yo-Ho KaBlammo taking to the seas for some free-for-all naval combat. That sounds all well and good, but whatever happened to killing 'em with kindness? What would Gandhi say?

This Wednesday: The NBA drafts the Watchmen on XBLA [update]

by Randy Nelson { Aug 24th 2009 at 4:00PM }

Update: Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao is also releasing this week.

This week, we're officially jumping straight from the Summer of Arcade into the winter of our discontent with ho-hum XBLA releases. Don't get us wrong -- we have nothing against basketball, but NBA 2K10 Draft Combine (400

/ $5), which lets those who purchase it build and train a player for use in October's NBA 2K10, ain't exactly Shadow Complex. Its title does makes it sound like the NBA is going to draft the bad guys from Half-Life 2, though, which we'd totally pay to see.

So, that's about it -- oh, that's right, there's another Arcade release this week. It's part two of Watchmen: The End is Nigh, the movie tie-in beat-'em-up best known for exposing those who've played it to near-lethal levels of boredom. If you really, really love Watchmen and really, really don't mind the liberties this game takes with the license, it can be yours for 1200

($15). Wow, really? Actually, if you simply must have the game, it's been available on disc along with part one since late last month ... for $20 on Amazon.