Summer of Arcade 2011

Mr E

Pretty meaningless without trailers (or even screenshots), but anyone hoping for Shadow Complex 2 will be disappointed...

Apart from Fruit Ninja Kinect (try justifying €10-€15 compared to €0.79), the descriptions for the others sound promising.

Starting July 20, enjoy five consecutive weeks of the season’s most highly anticipated downloadable games, including:

“Toy Soldiers: Cold War” (Signal Studios/Microsoft Studios). Jump into the fray with playful ’80s combat action in “Toy Soldiers: Cold War.” Bring your favorite action toys to life and wage war against the red menace. Need backup? Call in a friend for co-op campaign action on the couch or over Xbox LIVE. Take a break from the main battle with Survival mode and playful minigames. When you beat your LIVE friends’ scores, they’ll be gunning to reclaim the top spot!

“Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet” (Fuelcell/Microsoft Studios). This side-scrolling, 2-D, action-adventure game takes players on a journey through the curious Shadow Planet worlds, unique environments filled with twisted life, surreal ecologies, hostile creatures and environmental hazards. Players explore the depths of several interconnected themed areas, fighting swarms of enemies, battling bosses, solving mind-bending puzzles and acquiring power-ups to unlock new parts of the map.

“Fruit Ninja Kinect” (Halfbrick/Microsoft Studios). The worldwide gaming phenomenon “Fruit Ninja” is now coming to Kinect for Xbox 360 in its juiciest form yet — YOU are the ninja! Your arms are now blades, and the battle against the world’s most delicious produce is just beginning. “Fruit Ninja Kinect” is an amazing evolution of the slice-em-up genre created by Halfbrick, utilizing next-generation precision power for the juiciest combat ever!

“Bastion” (Supergiant Games/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment). “Bastion” is an action role-playing experience that redefines storytelling in games, with a reactive narrator who marks your every move. Explore more than 40 lush hand-painted environments as you discover the secrets of the Calamity, a surreal catastrophe that shattered the world to pieces. Wield a huge arsenal of upgradeable weapons and battle savage beasts adapted to their new habitat. Finish the main story to unlock New Game Plus mode and continue your journey!

“From Dust” (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft). Discover a unique Modern God game in which nature is the star. “From Dust” is the latest original concept by Eric Chahi, visionary creator of “Another World.” Behold the beauty of a primitive world pulsing with life and face the might of nature. Beware the danger of a world that is constantly changing under your command. Control the destiny of a tribe struggling to survive and help it recover its ancestors’ lost powers. Immerse yourself in a world as exotically beautiful as it is dangerous. A universe where nature reclaims what is hers and you are your people’s only chance of survival.

http://majornelson.com/2011/06/06/summer-of-arcade-kicks-off-july-20th/

Mr Freeze

Definitely getting Toy Soldiers, and possibly Ninja Fruit (the girlfriend hates the game, so main reason I will get it, to drive her mad)...

Will try the demo's of the rest.

Healium

Disappointing. I bought 4 of the SOA games last year. Not looking like I'll buy any this year.

wes

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet looks really good, and I am also interested in the From Dust. Not to sure about the rest, but will give the demo's all a go.

Dylabaloo

Bastion looks like a really great game with a hell of a lot of heart; all 6 people working on that game have quit there regular jobs and have worked non-stop creating this. There's this really great website called Giantbomb.com that are friends with the lead developer and are doing amazing inside coverage of the development of the game.

http://www.giantbomb.com/bastion/61-32085/videos/

I recommend watching all the building the bastion videos to get a good inside to what the're all about.

Mr E

Buy all games, get Crimson Alliance free in September.
Pretty useless offer for those who don't have Kinect (no point in buying Fruit Ninja).

http://majornelson.com/2011/06/27/summer-of-arcade-dates-and-prices/

July 20 - Bastion - 1200
July 27 - From Dust - 1200
August 3 - Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - 1200
August 10 - Fruit Ninja Kinect - 800
August 17 - Toy Soldiers: Cold War - 1200

ShaneU

Bastion is a must-buy, toy soldiers will probably be great too

Retr0gamer

Will be interested in from dust. Eric Chahi always does something interesting. Pity there's no radiant silvergun.

Fnz

Bastion and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet have some good buzz about them.

From Dust can disappear into a hole for all I care. I don't like god games to begin with, and this looks like a tech demo. Nah, I'm glad it exists, it's just not for me.

Mr Freeze

Mr E wrote: »

Buy all games, get Crimson Alliance free in September.

Hmmm, pretty costly offer in fairness.

Toy Soldiers is the only bust buy for me there, I will try demo's of all the rest 1st.

From Dust has be intrigued though.

boiledeggs

any idea if there is a reward scheme again this year. Will probably get them all apart from Fruit Ninja ( no interest what so ever)

Mr E

A free game. See the link from post 6 above.

Shiminay

The first Toy Soldiers is a great laugh, so I'm most likely gonna get this one too. However, whatever happened to 800 BillyBuck games

johnny_ultimate

From Dust is the only one on the list that looks really interesting IMO. Definitely seems a bit weaker this year, but I have rather high hopes for FD.

Nothing matters until Microsoft Europe get Trenched up there though *shakes fist*

r0cks0l1dd

Where is Ms. 'Splosion Man and Battleblock Theatre? :mad: