The long overdue, much anticipated and highly demanded patch for The Behemoth's Castle Crashers is done. You know, the patch that's supposed to fix the game's online issues. Like we said, it's done, just don't rejoice yet. See, it still has to travel on over to Microsoft certification where (GASP!) it could be rejected for some reason. And we don't have to tell you what a rejection from Microsoft will do to the patch's potential release. We shudder to think. Keep those fingers crossed for a patch release in a month's time, that is, if you still care.
For the third consecutive week The Behemoth's latest release, Castle Crashers, has remained the most played Xbox Live Arcade release. Still reeling from its online play hiccups, Castle Crashers has been singled out as one of the most successful releases to ever hit the service. Released nearly two years since it was announced, Castle Crashers was at the forefront of a price listing controversy that pegged the beat-em-up as the first 1800MS point Arcade release but was then confirmed at a slightly lower price of 1400MS 1200MS points.
After stealing the top slot for the third time we wonder, are any upcoming releases tempting enough to take over? If you said Feeding Frenzy 2 congratulations. You're so wrong.
Update: We need coffee, price of Castle Crashers is and always has been 1200MS points.
If you're loving the tunes that pump from your speakers while playing Castle Crashers (alone, because online multiplayer is still broken), then we advise pointing your browser in the general direction of Newgrounds or the Xbox.com forums. There, you'll be able to enjoy auditory Castle Crashers bliss, because EVERY CC tune is available for download off Newgrounds for FREE! We recommend the soothing sounds of "Jumper" or the manic beats of "techock". Rock on fellow knights, rock on!
Castle Crashers developer The Behemoth has already acknowledged and specified plans for downloadable content and, now (if the source can be trusted), we have picture proof of what new Castle Crashers DLC will be released.
Xbox360Achievements.org forum poster lordvader178 uploaded an image of what looks to be a complete listing of all of Castle Crashers' assets including a few characters, animal orbs and weapons that weren't released as part of the game. What gives this asset list some credibility is fact that some of the already confirmed DLC offerings including the Necromancer, King and chainsaw are pictured as well as a few others. If true (which, quite honestly, we believe it to be) we can't wait to take control of the Necromancer with a tamed seal animal orb by our side and kick bum wielding a lollipop. That's just how we're going to roll.
As a general rule of thumb, there is one thing that can make an awesome game even awesomer. That one thing, as we're sure you've already guessed, is a chainsaw. Smart company that it is, The Behemoth has announced that not only will upcoming Castle Crashers DLC add two new characters -- the King and the Necromancer -- but also a chainsaw. Why is there a chainsaw in what is obviously a medieval world? Shut up is why.
Those of you experiencing connection problems -- like us -- fear not, for The Behemoth has promised that fixing the technical issues in Castle Crashers is "top priority." Considering that the patch has no given release date, that makes the release of the DLC even more nebulous. Other details, like the price, are also up in the air. Here's hoping we get our patch and our DLC sooner rather than later.
Taking a looksy at last week's Xbox Live activity report (courtesy of one Major Nelson), one can spot Castle Crashers taking home the number one most played XBLA game award and even breaking into the overall most played 360 games list at the number seven spot. All of which we fully expected. But one thing that we didn't expect, and found rather interesting, was the appearance of Alien Hominid HD on the Live list.
Alien Hominid, The Behemoth's other year old XBLA game, landed in at the number nine spot on the most played XBLA game on Live list, after being absent since its release. An appearance that is probably a direct result of Castle Crashers' release and (possibly) the fact that a certain unlockable yellow alien is in the game.
In a Penny Arcade Expo interview posted over on Joystiq, The Behemoth's Dan Paladin and Tom Fulp talk Castle Crashers problems, making it very clear that they're working hard to release an online co-op fixing patch "as soon as possible."
"We're trying to get it out as soon as possible, because we know it's important to people" Paladin explained, saying that the main issue with Castle Crashers' online component is due to players' conflicting network conditions. But Paladin made it clear that they did all they could to work out potential network issues prior to launch saying that network problems "was something that never came up in testing." So, when will we see patch goodness? As soon as humanly possible, though truthfully, Fulp admitted that there "isn't any official time frame yet."
Check out the complete The Behemoth interview over at Joystiq to learn more about the Castle Crashers development process, how pricing XBLA games really works and learn a super secret strategy for unlocking a few new in-game characters.
PAX 2008 has officially begun and we came across two companies that didn't manage there time very well (ahem, Bungie and The Behemoth). Meaning that they were diligently working on setting up their booths up until the last minute. So, we figured we'd give you a "booth construction" tour so you can get a behind the scenes peek at what it looks like when team Bungie and The Behemoth build a PAX booth. In record time! Now to the GALLERY!
Gallery: PAX 08: Bungie and The Behemoth Booth Construction
After a very eventful week of Castle Crashers funnery, we humbly announce that today as the last day of our The Behemoth sponsored Castle Crashers Baby Give-away. Yup, this is our final giveaway. But, it's arguably the most exciting Castle Crashers give-away we've hosted all week! Today, we're awarding one lucky fanboy an uber rare promotional Castle Crashers styrofoam display castle that was created in-house by The Behemoth as well as an extremely rare Barbarian figure. Both of which are not available for purchase, anywhere ... how exciting! So, let's get to the give-away details ...
Seeing that today's prize is so garsh darn rare and unique, we want to know how you'll display the promotional castle and Barbarian figure if you were to win. To enter today's giveaway, just comment on this post telling us how you'll show off your promotional prizes.
Only one comment per person will be accepted. Posters of multiple comments will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until 11:00PM eastern time today, August 29th, 2008. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec).
Later today, we'll pick one winner via a random drawing.
One winner will receive a promotional Castle Crashers castle and Barbarian figure valued at $80.
Update: With what looks to be a record amount of entries, this giveaway is now closed as we have chosen the six winners. Fear not though, there will be more chances to win.
As we continue our week long Castle Crashers Baby Give-away (which has nothing to do with babies whatsoever), today we're giving away a prize that you should already own, but if you don't, you'll be grateful for. We're of course talking about Castle Crashers, the game itself, and today we're giving away six copies to six lucky fanboys. And if you already own it, why not win for a friend, loved one or your favorite blogger ... we're sure they'd be eternally grateful as well.
Developer The Behemoth has an interesting logo depicting a ginormously large chicken, which got us thinking about chicken jokes. So, to enter today's Castle Crashers giveaway, simply comment on this post telling us your best "why did the chicken cross the road?" joke. And, please, make it semi-clean.
Only one comment per person will be accepted. Posters of multiple comments will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until 11:00PM eastern time today, August 28th, 2008. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec).
Later today, we'll pick six winners via a random drawing.
Six winners will receive an Xbox Live redemption code to download Castle Crashers valued at $15.
Complete giveaway rules can be found here
Feeling out of the loop? Confused by all this Castle Crashers Baby Give-away talk? Then do yourself a service and get learned about all the excited Castle Crashers launch events we have planned.
Castle Crashers is finally here folks. We spent the better part of our morning putting the game through its paces, and now a new episode of XBLA in Brief to show for it. An old school hack n' slash game with a quirky sense of humor, Castle Crashers definitely deserves notice from long time gamers. Check out our latest episode and find out if it's worth 1200 Microsoft Points.
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With all the hubbub surrounding Castle Crashers this week, we were eager to download our own copy this morning. After trying out the single player campaign it was time to try out some online multiplayer. And that's when the problems started. Try as we might, we simply can't get into an online game. So far, we've managed to get into one game, but that abruptly ended after about a minute with the message that the game was no longer available. We've been reading various comments about it on the web and we've decided to put together a poll to see how everyone's experience has been so far. Give your feedback below.
Update: Giveaway closed ... winner notified ... more to come, so stalk this link.
Today, in celebration of Castle Crashersfinally making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade, we have an extremely special Castle Crashers Baby Give-away prize: The chance to play Castle Crashers with the guys from The Behemoth via Xbox Live! That's right, The Behemoth has graciously offered some of their limited online playtime, so we're awarding one lucky fanboy the chance to play Castle Crashers co-op with a few members from The Behemoth including Tom Fulp and - artist to the stars - Mr. Dan Paladin. W00t! This is one of those priceless prizes that needs no further hyping from us.
We want today's give-away winner to be super respectful, super cool and represent the X3F community in the best light. And the best way to make a good impression on The Behemoth is to shower them with lots of compliments. So, to enter today's give-away, comment on this post telling The Behemoth how much you love them and Castle Crashers. It'll be good practice just in case you win today's prize.
Only one comment per person will be accepted. Posters of multiple comments will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until 11:00PM eastern time today, August 27th, 2008. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec).
Later today, we'll pick one winner via a random drawing.
One winner will receive Castle Crashers playtime with The Behemoth via Xbox Live at a time convenient to them. Prize has no monetary value.
After years and years of patient waiting, the day we've all been eagerly anticipating has finally arrived! Earlier this morning, The Behemoth officially released Castle Crashers and its four player, beat-em-up online co-op to the Xbox Live Arcade. GET EXCITED!
For 1200 Microsoft points ($15), you can download your own copy off the XBLA and, for those points, you'll be treated to an XBLA experience like no other. With 40 different weapons, over 22 unlockable characters, a leveling system, helpful animal orbs and even an Arena Mode, Castle Crashers should be worth every last dime. Heck, we're holding a week long Castle Crashers Baby Give-away for the game's monumental release. We're that excited! Okay, enough blab, get online and get downloading, because it's Castle Crashers and we need not say anymore.
Taking a looksy at last week's Xbox Live activity report (courtesy of one Major Nelson), one can spot 
In a 
