Sega Slashes Prices on Xbox Live Arcade Games

Nineteen games steeply discounted, many 50% off.

From Sonic the Hedgehog to Altered Beast to Streets of Rage 2, Sega is cutting the cost of every game ins its Xbox Live Arcade digital library. Going on now and running through Monday, Sega is slashing prices, with many titles 50% off.

It's Easter weekend and PlayStation Network is down. What better time for a Sega sale on XBLA? Nineteen games in all are steeply discounted. Get the full rundown below.

Streets of Rage 2 - 200 MSPoints ($2.50) - 50% off
Ecco the Dolphin - 200 MSP - 50% off
Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm - 400 MSP - 50% off
Phantasy Star II - 200 MSP 50% off
Gunstar Heroes - 200 MSP - 50% off
Crazy Taxi - 400 MSP ($5) - 50% off
After Burner Climax - 400 MSP - 50% off
Altered Beast - 200 MSP - 50% off
Comix Zone - 200 MSP - 50% off
Cyber Troopers Virtual On - 800 MSP ($10) - 33% off
Golden Axe - 200 MSP - 50% off
OutRun Online Arcade - 400 MSP - 50% off
Shinobi - 200 MSP - 50% off
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 - 800 MSP - 33% off
Sonic Adventure - 400 MSP - 50% off
Sonic the Hedgehog - 200 MSP - 50% off
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - 200 MSP - 50% off
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - 200 MSP - 50% off
Sonic & Knuckles - 200 MSP - 50% off

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EA Planning 50% Off Sale on Xbox Live Titles

More than 20 games, expansions get price chop.

The holidays are over, but Electronic Arts plans to keep the deals going with a week-long 50% off sale on its best-selling Xbox Live Arcade games and add-ons.

Starting tomorrow and running through January 24, EA is slashing prices on everything from Battlefield 1943 (1,200 Microsoft Points to 600 or $15 to $7.50) to popular Dragon Age: Origins expansion, Awakening (2,400 to 1,200 or $30 to $15).

Rumor: Microsoft Working on Halo: Combat Evolved Remake

U.K. magazine claims first Halo is being remade with Halo: Reach engine.

Now that Bungie is done with Halo: Reach, the franchise has moved to 343 Industries, an internal Microsoft studio. And according to a rumor being floated by U.K. magazine Games Master (via CVG), their first release will be a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved.

The magazine cites "industry chatter" as their source, and claims the remake will be built using the Halo: Reach engine. Moreover, Games Master reports this remake will be released in 2011, preceding a real Halo sequel (likely Halo 4) in 2012. And when asked about the rumor, U.K. Xbox boss Stephen McGill told the magazine that "I imagine it's a good idea." Obviously not a confirmation, but not exactly a flat-out denial, either.

 

Kinect Sells 26,000 Units in Japan

"About half" of what the PlayStation Move sold at launch.

Media Create, the company that tracks sales data for Japanese video game software and hardware, amended its weekly report today with an assessment of Microsoft's Kinect. Describing it as having "a quiet start," the company reported that 26,000 units were sold during its launch weekend of November 20th & 21st. That figure includes stand-alone units as well as those bundled with a console.

Media Create made the inevitable comparison to PlayStation Move, stating that Kinect sold "about half" of what Sony's motion controller sold during its October debut. Considering a major retailer estimated this week that Kinect was selling one-quarter of Move's numbers, that's an improvement. Also worth noting is the significant cost difference between the two: Japanese Move bundles start at only 5100 yen (approximately $60.89 USD, cheaper than a typical new game) while Kinect units cost 14,800 yen ($176.70).

Apps, Web Browser May Be Coming to Xbox 360

Job posting points to Silverlight coming to Microsoft's console.

Recent Microsoft job postings may point to the company's plans for future Xbox 360 updates, reports Cnet. Two new openings for Software Engineers both look to expand on Silverlight, a Microsoft framework that allows the running of web applications and streaming video. The postings mentioned "Silverlight on the Xbox as part of the next wave," but the posting has been changed to read "various devices we plan to enable over the coming years."

Xbox 360 Celebrates its Fifth Birthday

November 22, 2005: The Xbox 360 launches in North America alongside Perfect Dark Zero and PGR3.

Microsoft Increases Kinect Holiday Sales Projections

On the eve of the product's launch, Microsoft nearly doubles its holiday forecast.

Just as Microsoft prepares to unleash its hands-free motion control gaming onto the public, the company has noticed the apparent interest in the device and raised its sales expectations to match. A tweet from Bloomberg reporter Dina Bass (via TechFlash) broke the word from Microsoft's Don Mattrick. Microsoft has raised its forecast from 3 million units this holiday season to a whopping 5 million. With only two months to go until annual gift-giving time, that's quite a lot.

Microsoft Announces Crackdown 2 Deluge Pack

Two new modes, weapon and vehicle upgrades in two weeks.

Microsoft is hoping to give gamers reason to return to Pacific City in two weeks with a new add-on for Crackdown 2, the Deluge Pack.

The DLC pack will include two new modes, updates for weapons and vehicles, and come in trial and premium versions, aka, free and paid.

The rundown on the two new modes: Deluge is Crackdown 2's take on Onslaught. Up to four co-op Agents will be faced with wave after wave of increasingly tough Freaks and Cell members and battle to survive as long as possible. Capture the Orb puts a Crackdown twist on Capture the Flag, with two teams of up to eight Agents facing one another in a battle to score.

In the free trial version of the Deluge Pack, players will get complete access to the Capture the Orb mode as well as a single-player sample of Deluge. The paid premium pack offers both modes in full along with new achievements and avatar awards for 560 Microsoft Points or $7.00.

In addition, Micorosft announced that the Deluge Pack will offer first-of-its-kind integration with the upcoming Windows Phone 7 game Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst. Xbox Live members that play Project Sunburst, a tower defense game, on Windows Phone 7 mobiles can earn achievements that unlock bonuses in Crackdown 2's Deluge mode, such as the ability to call in rocket-equipped Agency helicopters, extra Peacekeepers, and exclusive power-ups. Project Sunburst is set for launch later this month.

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Sonic Free Riders Kinect Review

Sonic and friends tear up the track with SEGA's first Kinect game.

Microsoft's Kinect is here and right out the gate there are a bunch of games to choose from, many of which are the more family-friendly fare. Sonic Free Riders is definitely not one of the casual kiddie games, which may put some people off. But if players are willing to put the effort into learning the controls and enjoy pretending like they're on a hoverboard, then it's one of the more exciting launch titles for Kinect.

Sonic Free Riders is a hoverboard racing game that has seen entries on the Gamecube, Nintendo Wii, and Playstation 2 in the past. Players race around closed circuit tracks launching off ramps, attacking each other with weapons, grinding, gliding, and boosting.

1 Billion Hours a Month Spent on Xbox LIVE

How much are you contributing to Microsoft's epic number

Microsoft has revealed that a total of 1 billion hours are spent each month on Xbox LIVE as it sees a 157% increase in the number of people watching television and movies with its console.

Microsoft's Major Nelson provides a brief breakdown of some eye-opening figures, with the 25 million Xbox LIVE members – a sizable portion of the 42 million consoles that are out in the wilds - logging over 30 hours a month each on the service.

Xbox LIVE price increases tomorrow

Just a reminder that the price of Xbox LIVE Gold membership will officially increase tomorrow, November 1st, so today is your last chance to renew at the old pricing. Before you go out trick-or-treating, save yourself a few bucks and renew your Gold membership before the price goes up. Even if your membership isn't going to expire for some time, you can still renew now. Your account won't be charged until your current membership expires and you will be locked in to the old prices.

Top 5 possible appearances of the new Xbox 720



It has been five years since the Xbox 360 came on the market. Time flies, and Microsoft will eventually have to launch a new console. Will it be something like the current Xbox 360 console or it will be a handheld, it is still not known. A possible names for this new console could be Xbox 720 or Xbox 3. One of the leaders of Microsoft, Peter Moore, said in 2007. year that his company will be able to produce a new console in 2011.or 2012. depending on what processors will then be current. From then until today, there were no official speeches about the possibility that the market will get new Xbox console. Fans of video games and Microsoft’s gaming platform to date have made a lot of pictures that are supposed to represent the appearance of new consoles, and we have selected our top five.

Doom and Double D Dodgeball Pulled from Xbox Live Arcade

Two more XBLA titles have vanished from Microsoft's service.



Another pair of Xbox Live Arcade games have unceremoniously disappeared from the Live Marketplace. GamerBytes noticed that both Double D Dodgeball and Doom have vanished from Microsoft's downloadable games service.

The circumstances surrounding Doom's sudden removal seem fairly evident; after Zenimax purchased the game's original developers at id Software last year, the Activision-published XBLA title was practically living on borrowed time already. It's not quite as clear why Double D Dodgeball was pulled, however.

Those of us who already spent our hard-earned Microsoft points on Doom or Double D Dodgeball should have no trouble re-downloading either game from Xbox Live. With that said, no new purchases can be made from here on out.

 

On the plus side, they'll never be able to take away that copy of Doom 64 you've had squirreled away since middle school.

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