Is there really anything more terrifying than bees? It seems like every few years there is another killer bee scare. We have a feeling that Castle Crashers just may incite the next one. The latest Castle Crashers character reveal is none other than the Killer Beekeeper. While the name implies that it is the Beekeeper himself who is a killer, we think there's something to be said for the bees he is throwing at the enemy. Just look at the stingers on those things! Clearly, the Killer Beekeeper is no one to be trifled with.
Looking for an upgraded fighting game with no widescreen support, online or modes to unlock? No? Well, if you change your mind Soulcalibur is now available on the Xbox Live Arcade. The classic fighter dropped as the lone release for the Arcade (as far as an actual game goes) and will hit your digital wallet up for 800 MS space-creds. Preparing gamers for the forthcoming Soul Calibur IV, the HD upgraded classic is a mixed bag. Probably one of the best fighters of its time, the XBLA exclusive feels so stripped down it would be more at home propped up on cinder blocks. Which sucks because it's still a rad game.
You may be asking yourself, "Self, who the hell is J Force Games." To tell you the truth, we don't really know. All we do know is that J Force Games has released a developer documentary video in which the developer claims it is working on "The Best Indie Game Ever." What is this game, you ask? Well, we don't know. The weird thing is that J Force doesn't know either, as a name hasn't been chosen yet. All we do know is that it's a shooter with an overhead perspective, as you can see in the concept art above. Also, the description notes that it has a lot of interesting characters such as "a modern soldier, a robot centipede, a ninja made of sand & glass, a spider-vampire hybrid, a ball-n-chain wielding samurai, a living black hole, an evil wizard, a super hero flower man, monster aliens, giant bugs, stampeding wildebeests, and zombies ... all in the same game." Well alright then.
Oh, and J Force Games assures us that the game (whatever it will be called), is indeed headed to the 360 (presumably on XBLA). Find the video documentary after the break.
Joystiq has posted their impressions of the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix beta. You may have heard that the beta has some rather serious issues, and Josytiq's experience has been no different (for what it's worth, we haven't experienced any problems just playing 1-on-1 quick matches). That said, once the game actually does work, it's a lot of fun. Make no mistake, this is just Super Street Fighter II with a new coat of pixels, but there isn't really anything wrong with that. One thing that needs to be made clear is that the game plays much better than Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, the iteration of the series that's already availble on XBLA. The lag found in Hyper Fighting seems to have been alleviated this time around (so far, we've only experienced lag one time). We just hope you have a better control option than the standard 360 controller.
Head over to Joystiq for their full impressions of the beta.
In the latest update at the Penny Arcade website (or just "Penny Arcade" to the kids), Gabe gives the first sneak peak at Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 2. You can see it above, the Hat Spider, whom Gabe notes is "as ferocious as he is fashionable" (note the skull hat). Actual details about Episode 2 aren't given, though Gabe does announce that it will be shown at the Penny Arcade Expo later this year. Fans of Episode One should take note, as if there wasn't already enough reason to attend PAX ....
It looks like our crazy Xbox.com page theory might be right after all. According to the Japanese product page for the Xbox Live Arcade release of the original Soulcalibur, Namco Bandai has scheduled the classic fighter for release next week. Of course this date could change like so many delayed XBLA titles before it have but international page leaks usually pan out for release dates.
Clocking in at 800MS Points, Soulcalibur (XBLA) includes the standard HD upgrade and LIVE leaderboard support other retro revivals see but Namco Bandai has confirmed the title will not include online multiplayer support. While we still have fond memories of the 1999 Dreamcast release, we scratch our heads at the decision to opt out of the online versus upgrade. With Soul Calibur IV on the horizon we wonder, what's the point? Hopefully Namco Bandai will revisit the release and upgrade it with online support much like they did Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSN. But, we're not holding our breath.
This week, XBLA in Brief takes on Happy Tree Friends and Ticket to Ride. One of them is a pretty good board game about building railroads. The other one is a weird game that doesn't really seem to take advantage of the cartoon upon which it's based. We'll let you figure out which one is which.
[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon). [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
Hey kids! It's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday and that can only mean one thing. That's right, it's time for some new XBLA games. Huzzah! This week's releases are Happy Tree Friends False Alarm and Ticket to Ride. False Alarm has you guiding your favorite furry friends through various hazards, doing your best to keep them from being sliced, diced, burned, or otherwise mutilated. Ticket to Ride, on the other hand, is a board game in which you relive the spirit of expansion brought on by the advent of railroads. In other words, you build trains. It's more fun than it sounds. Both are available now for 800 MS Points each. Stay tuned for the next XBLA in Brief and we'll tell you whether or not they're worth the scratch.
Source - Happy Tree Friends False Alarm on Xbox.com Source - Ticket to Ride on Xbox.com
Those Behemoth jerks just keep teasing us with more content for Castle Crashers. Earlier this week, we were treated to a new ninja character and now we discover that there is also a skeleton. We don't know much about him (or her) apart from the fact that he wields a bone firing bow as his long range weapon. Since we know so little, we'll have to make something up. His name -- we have decided -- is Skelly. Now, someone please tell us when we can buy this game.
Load Inc., developer of the XBLA racer Mad Tracks, just sent over four new screens of the vehicles found in their upcoming XBLA RC racer Things On Wheels. Exclusively revealing one of the vehicles from the title (seen above) in an interview with X3F, Load Inc. has now showcased five vehicles--their are 12 in the full version of the game. No word on a release date for Things On Wheels but we eagerly anticipate jumping into the RC racer before the end of the year. For more detailed information on Things On Wheels make sure to check out our interview with Denis Bourdain from developer Load Inc.
Also (because we missed it) we'd like to wish Load Inc.'s first XBLA title Mad Tracks a belated Happy 1st Birthday. "Since (release) 700.000 people played the trial version (of Mad Tracks) and 72.000 people trusted us enough to buy the game," reads the Load Inc. website. "The good news is that it's not de-listed yet and a lot of people still buy it!"
Let's hope Things On Wheels proves to be as entertaining and popular.
Let's face it, stuff on Xbox Live Marketplace can be expensive. Don't worry if your wallet is a little thin these days though, because we've got you covered. We have 19 1600 MS Point download codes, and we're giving them all away to you, our beloved readers. Will be giving away four of those codes today and the rest of them Thursday and Friday. Just for grins, we'll also throw in a free download for Aces of the Galaxy to our first place winner (we'll throw other prizes into the mix on Thursday and Friday). For your chance to win today's codes, follow the directions below.
Leave a comment on this post telling us what you would buy with 1600 Microsoft Points. We don't care if it's actually on the Marketplace or not.
Only one comment per person will be accepted. Posters of multiple comments will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until 6:00PM Eastern time today, June 18, 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 4 winners via a random drawing
One grand prize winner will receive a redemption code for 1600 Microsoft Points and a redemtion code for Aces of the Galaxy, worth a total of $30. Three additional winners will each receive a redemption code for 1600 Microsoft Points, worth $20 each
Face it, everything is better with ninjas. It's like in that movie The Last Samuraiwhen all the ninjas attacked. It was like, "Whoa, ninjas! This movie just got even awesomer!" Imagine that feeling, only applied to Castle Crashers. See, it feels awesome, righ?. The game was already cool and now it has a ninja and is even cooler (and by cool we mean totally sweet). If you thought it couldn't get any better than that, then get this: the ninja carries ... a mug. Not just any mug ... a Ninja Mug. We're not quite sure how it works, but according to the Castle Crashers website, its purpose is "defensive shielding."
It's official now: the wait for Castle Crashers is killing us. Follow the source link for shots of ninja doing his thing.
Now available on the Xbox Live Arcade comes Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 from Capcom and Frogger 2 from Konami--each priced at 800 MS Points. The token, weekly, omni-directional shooter WotB: Commando 3 drops three selectable characters behind enemy lines tasked with saving prisoners of war and blowing up everything in sight. A reminder to potential buyers, purchasing WotB: Commando 3 also includes future access to the beta test for Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.
Frogger 2 adds a much needed story mode to the classic hopping adventure that tackles such hot-button issues as high gas prices, world economy and wart control. At least part of the previous sentence is not accurate.
Confirming half of what we already knew, Gamerscore Blog dropped the news on this week's Xbox Live Arcade titles in an official press release this morning. Having already been confirmed by Capcom, shoot-em-up Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 will hit the Arcade, complete with Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix beta access for purchasers, for 800 MS Points. Microsoft's internal blog also announced that Frogger 2 will be available Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points. An interesting pair to say the least. Check them out when they land online this Wednesday morning.
It's another double dose of games this week for XBLA in Brief. This time, we examine Aces of the Galaxy and Roogoo. Aces of the Galaxy is an on-rails space shooter, whereas Roogoo is a puzzle game. What are the odds that both of them are actually pretty good? Frankly, we think those odds are fairly slim, but we're happy to say that both games manage to impress in their own way. Watch the latest episode and find out if either game is right for you.
[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon). [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
