Summer of Arcade 2010 Dates and Prices Announced

[Nerdious]

Microsoft has announced their dates and lineup for their annual Summer of Arcade event. This year the pricing structure has changed and all titles will be released for 1200 MSP. Limbo will kick off the event in style, with it's hudless, haunting world. It is joined by Monday Night Combat as the original IP's being offered. With the rest of the titles being remakes, reboots and sequels there's something there for everyone

Limbo (www.limbogame.org) - July 21
Hydro Thunder Hurricane (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/hydrothunderhurricanexbla/) - July 28
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/c/castlevaniahdxbla/) - August 4
Monday Night Combat (http://www.uberent.com/) - August 11
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/l/laracroftgolxbla/) - August 18

This year's lineup is stacked with exciting new titles, feature packed multiplayer options and classic franchises. The raised prices this year are a bummer, but after enjoying the last year's similarly priced Shadow Complex (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=9165), I'd say there is quite a bit of quality gaming this year. There is a bit of relief though, if you purchase 3 of the titles, you will receive a 400 MSP rebate, while purchasing all of them will give you back 1200 MSP.

Found at Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2010/07/06/summer-of-arcade-xbla-games-dated-and-priced/)

[Zanzibar]

I did some playtesting for Hydro Thunder Hurricane, I heartily recommend it. They're EXACTLY the kind of guys who should be making XBLA games. Support your local developers!

[Vigil80]

I was wondering when Limbo was going to come out. I want to get my hands on that one, for some reason.

[Iron Past]

Cool, I can grab Limbo, Monday Night Combat and Lara Croft and get some change back. I'll ave to think harder about Limbo at that price, though.

[menage]

Yay for Limbo, which looks awesome.

Fot the rest maybe MN, if the demo is good.

[Mike Kelehan]

Limbo and Castlevania will probably be day one purchases, unless they have awful demos. Lara Croft and MNC I'll have to get if any of my friends do. If I end up getting all of them, then I'd have to get Hydro Thunder for the credit.

[inmostlight]

I haven't bought an XBLA game in a very long time....and now this month I'll be getting Monkey Island 2, Deathspank, and Limbo. Yow. Good thing I stocked up on point cards the last time there was a sale.

[Kelegacy]

Looks like I'll be waiting this summer out. 800 points is usually my ceiling. I'll try demos maybe, but I haven't bought an XBLA game in a long, LONG time. When the sales go on, I usually buy.

[Vandabo]

I've wanted more Hydro Thunder for a long time. I loved that game in the arcade.

[Scull]

If I could do Castlevania in local MP I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Barring that, Limbo looks awesome, but none of the others are too exciting for me.

[SenatorSpacer]

I think I'll be picking up Limbo, Hydro Thunder and Lara Croft.

[Farsight]

At 1200, I'll be demo-ing all of em before I buy. Limbo and Lara seem like likely buys, while the rest are going to have to be better than what I've seen of them so far.

Comic Jumper looks better to me than any of the SoA titles, though.

[Xerxes]

Limbo looks awesome. But I'm so bad, I can go play Braid and a slew of other arcade games. I'll wait for the price drop. <shrug>

And I more than have the points. It's just spending them so freely I can't do. Although if say MNC became a huge COG staple, I might jump in.

[Ravenlock]

Definitely in for Castlevania. I'll wait for reviews on the rest.

[Banacek]

I'm in for Castlevania. The rest, well...

[Gerbs]

Castlevania and MNC are instant buys. Interested in Lara Croft and Limbo, don't know much about Hydro Thunder.

[Talanvor]

I'll probably pick up Limbo right away.

[Vigil80]

Limbo is the main one I want. Lucky that it's first. I'll try the demos of the others.

[Narradisall]

I think I'll give some of these a whirl. Arcade has certainly started to pick up frequent runs of good little games.

[Yeti2005]

Limbo, Castlevania, and MNC will most likely be purchased. I'm on the fence about Hydro Thunder and Lara Croft. Overall a pretty strong lineup.

Edit: I wish PSN had these back to back lineup of good games (especially since I can use Sony points off my credit card to get them for free). There's some good PSN games but they seem to appear once in a blue moon.

[MachEnergy]

I've been stocking up on discount MS points for just this occasion. Looks like I'll be picking up Lara Croft so I can get that discount....and to support a friend of a friend who developed it.

...and then next summer these will all be half price and I'll have only completed two of them :\

[Kielaran]

MNC = day one buy. I was expecting/hoping for it to be 1200 points.

As for Limbo, I am intrigued by it, but even if it grabs me, I will probably wait for a sale.

[MagGnome]

Looks like I'll be waiting this summer out. 800 points is usually my ceiling. I'll try demos maybe, but I haven't bought an XBLA game in a long, LONG time. When the sales go on, I usually buy.

I have a lot of XBLA points, and now I have nothing to use them for. I was going to do a big giveaway here on COG, but then I discovered that there is no gifting system on Xbox Live. What's up with that?

[Spigot]

I'm quite interested in Limbo and Castlevania. It's sad when the summer XBLA sale gets me using my 360 more than the usual retail releases...

[OldJadedGamer]

At 1200, I'll be demo-ing all of em before I buy.

No matter how much they cost, I always demo before I buy. No demo = no buy for me.

[EternalGamer]

I'm quite interested in Limbo and Castlevania. It's sad when the summer XBLA sale gets me using my 360 more than the usual retail releases...

Why is that sad? Downloadable games is one ogf the best things about this generation. Without services like XBLA many of my favorite genres would be nearly dead.

I will definitely buy Limbo and Castlevania and probably TomB Raider. All games that look to be of the calibur of the type of stuff I paid $50 at retail a generation or so ago, so totally worth $15.

I'm not as interested in Hydro Thunder or that Saturday Night game (a shooter?), but that deal of getting them for $7.50 each will make me consider them.

[KamaItachi]

MNC is the only must buy for me, but I'll probably get Limbo and Castlevania as well, for the hell of it.

[Spigot]

Why is that sad? Downloadable games is one ogf the best things about this generation. Without services like XBLA many of my favorite genres would be nearly dead. It's sad because a lot of the XBLA games I like end up making their way to Steam. And I didn't pay x number of dollars to have a system that is basically used for an XBLA terminal :)

I'm not bemoaning the offerings on XBLA. It's more that I'm sad that the retail games don't tend to show a quarter of the imagination that the downloadable games do.

[Iron Past]

It's more that I'm sad that the retail games don't tend to show a quarter of the imagination that the downloadable games do.

You speak the truth. It's my hope that the sales numbers reflect that and the publishers grow a pair, but I don't know.

[Spigot]

You speak the truth. It's my hope that the sales numbers reflect that and the publishers grow a pair, but I don't know.I mean, I understand the nimbleness of a smaller team and that you can take bigger risks with a smaller budget, but still...

[Kelegacy]

I don't know. I really liked Splosion Man but I doubt it would have ever retailed for $50.

I haven't played many, if any, XBLA games that have rivaled full retail releases this generation. Maybe I'm not playing the right ones. And this includes Shadow Complex which was fun enough but I didn't think it was all that great. Pretty stupid easy too.

[Iron Past]

I mean, I understand the nimbleness of a smaller team and that you can take bigger risks with a smaller budget, but still...

I think it has more to do with them playing it safe than anything else. And when Modern Warfare 2 outsells Alan Wake a billion to one, who can really blame them for pandering to their shareholders? I just wish more of the safe bet money was used to finance new ventures; you can't ever start a new, lucrative franchise if you only make a one type of game, and even that will eventually cannibalize sales of clones down the road.

I think I end up liking many games most people consider sub-par because they dare to be even slightly different.

[Spigot]

And don't get me wrong. I love the fact that I can get a really, really good game for under $20 on these systems. I just miss seeing that same kind of creativity in most of the big releases these days, but I also understand the economics of it. Ah well.

[Mike Kelehan]

Remember when EA was a company that just dealt in sequels and iterative releases? They used to be the Activision of their day, we can't forget. Then they said, "Let's try making some new stuff. Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Brutal Legend, that sort of thing." And all were sales disappointments.

Well, Dead Space did okay, but not as well as Guitar Hero (band name here).

[MagGnome]

Why is that sad? Downloadable games is one ogf the best things about this generation. Without services like XBLA many of my favorite genres would be nearly dead.

Eh, I don't agree. XBLA games need more space marines.

[Spigot]

Remember when EA was a company that just dealt in sequels and iterative releases? They used to be the Activision of their day, we can't forget. Then they said, "Let's try making some new stuff. Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Brutal Legend, that sort of thing." And all were sales disappointments.Hey, at least they tried. I know it doesn't matter on the balance books, but it was nice to see a brief, blazing burst of creativity and risk for a bit there.

[johnperkins21]

I'm interested in Limbo and Lara Croft. Though I doubt I'll buy either at $15.

[EternalGamer]

I don't know. I really liked Splosion Man but I doubt it would have ever retailed for $50.

I haven't played many, if any, XBLA games that have rivaled full retail releases this generation. Maybe I'm not playing the right ones. And this includes Shadow Complex which was fun enough but I didn't think it was all that great. Pretty stupid easy too.

I paid $50 for games like Astal, Skull Monkeys, and Pandemonium. Splosion Man, in my opinion, was better than any of those and it was certainly longer than any of them since it had 50 single player and 50 coop levels. Heck, i think its better than New Super Mario Bros.

[Mike Kelehan]

Hey, at least they tried. I know it doesn't matter on the balance books, but it was nice to see a brief, blazing burst of creativity and risk for a bit there.

It was very nice, and gave me all sorts of hope for EA's future, until the sales numbers came in.

I paid $50 for games like Astal, Skull Monkeys, and Pandemonium. Splosion Man, in my opinion, was better than any of those and it was certainly longer than any of them since it had 50 single player and 50 coop levels. Heck, i think its better than New Super Mario Bros.

That's because it IS better than New Super Mario Bros. And NSMB is great.

[Kelegacy]

I paid $50 for games like Astal, Skull Monkeys, and Pandemonium. Splosion Man, in my opinion, was better than any of those and it was certainly longer than any of them since it had 50 single player and 50 coop levels. Heck, i think its better than New Super Mario Bros.

Ah, I thought you were talking about last gen, not the one before last.

[Sl1pstream]

Can't wait for a new Hydro Thunder. Looking forward to MNC as well.