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Doritos Crash Course wins Unlock Xbox challenge
You think little Jill Robertson ever imagined she'd grow up to be a game consultant ... for Doritos? As the winner of the Doritos "Unlock Xbox" challenge, Robertson will have the opportunity to work a six-month stint for the chip maker, baking up gaming ideas. She's also pocketed $50,000. Robertson's Doritos Crash Course beat out Justin Carpenter's Harms Way in the three-week voting period that began earlier this month when the two finalists' games were released for free on Xbox Live Arcade. According to Frito-Lay, the games accounted for more than two million combined downloads during that time, and they'll remain available as free XBLA games for the foreseeable future. In a "last-minute twist," Doritos also awarded Carpenter a $50,000 cash prize, though he would appear to be stuck at his plain old day job for now.
XBLA in Brief: Bomberman Live Battlefest, Harms Way, Crash Course
It's another threefer on XBLA this week, but you won't have to worry about it putting too much stress on your wallet. You see, only one game, Bomberman Live Battlefest, actually costs money this week. The other two, Harms Way and Crash Course, are completely free. These two are the finalists in this year's Doritos sponsored Unlock Xbox contest, and it's up to you to decide which one is the winner. Check out the latest XBLA in Brief, download each game and don't forget to cast your vote on the Xbox Live dashboard. Oh and as for Bomberman Live Battlefest, well, it's Bomberman. [iTunes] Subscribe to XBLA in Brief directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the XBLA in Brief directly. [RSS] Add the XBLA in Brief feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
Get into Harms Way, Doritos Crash Course and Bomberman Battlefest on XBLA today
The two final contenders in the Doritos-sponsored "Unlock Xbox" game design contest have been fully realized and released as Xbox Live Arcade games today, for free. Until December 26, you can cast your vote for either Doritos Cash Course (download) or Harms Way (download) through the Xbox Unlock ad on the Dashboard, with the winner to be announced on December 29 and offered a 50G (that's dollars, not Achievement points) part-time, game consulting gig with Doritos. Perhaps overshadowed by the flavorful showdown, the previously announced Bomberman Live sequel, Battlefest (download), is also available on the Arcade today for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Additionally, the third Lara Croft: GoL challenge pack add-on, "A Hazardous Reunion" (download), has been released for 400 points ($5), along with the "Marvel Pinball" tables (download/trial) for Pinball FX 2, priced at 800 points. Update: The Costume Quest DLC "Grubbins on Ice" (download) has also been released today for 400 points.
Harms Way goes from dream to screens, trailer
It's so rare that we get into something before it's cool, that we have to savor it when it happens. In January, we were smitten with the concept behind Dorito's Unlock Xbox finalist Harms Way. Well, a little less than a year of development later and creator Justin Carpenter and developer Bongfish are putting the finishing touches on the shooting-driving hybrid and prepping it for release this month. It will vie for votes with Jill Robertson's Avatar Crash Course. We've got a bunch of screens and the first trailer after the break, as well as a quick chat in which IRS staffer and college student Justin tells us how the reality of game development stacks up to the dream. %Gallery-108584%
Doritos Unlock Xbox finalists narrowed to two
We hate to pick sides, but we think we've already settled on a favorite competitor of the two Doritos Unlock Xbox finalists. See if you can detect which one. Jill Robertson's "Avatar Crash Course": Maneuver your Avatar through a zany obstacle course. Justin Carpenter's "Harm's Way": It's just like your favorite racing game, except oh shit there are snipers shooting at you. Both finalists will work with a dev team to turn their idea into reality before being judged by the community, but we frankly don't see the point. The visceral thrill of racing combined with the heart-pounding exhilaration of knowing someone's trying to shoot your gas tank? Watch out, Gran Turismo! ... Actually, watch out, everybody ... you know, because of all the snipers.
Unlock Xbox finalists announced
Did you vote in last year's Unlock Xbox competition? If so, did your pick make the final cut? Gamers and amateur designers were encouraged to submit their original ideas in the Doritos-sponsored competition. Out of over a thousand submissions, two will be turned into real (and free!) XBLA games. The three finalists to be considered by Microsoft execs are: Harm's Way -- snipers and drivers team up in a game that combines racing and blowing someone's brains out. Delicious! Avatar Crash Course -- inspired by Japanese obstacle courses, you must "press buttons, wiggle sticks, and jump up and down to survive." Thrown -- "the whole point of it is to smash into other vehicles in order to throw the driver from their car and then run them over." A feel good game! We're somewhat surprised by the violence involved in some of these XBLA suggestions. But perhaps we're looking in the wrong place for class, considering the last winner of Doritos' contest involved dinosaurs eating exploding trucks (seriously).
