hydro-thunder-hurricane
Latest
PSA: Hydro Thunder Hurricane, Hydrophobia, Aqua discounted on XBLM this week
If you have to pee really, really badly, well, you probably should head to the bathroom anyway, but reading this post about savings on water-themed Xbox Live Arcade games certainly won't help. All this week, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is going for 800 MS Points ($10), while both Hydrophobia and Aqua are dropped by 50 percent to just 400 MS Points apiece ($5). Now you can try out that enormous update that Hydrophobia received or go Steampunk-crazy in Aqua for just $5. Don't forget to bring a towel!
Hydro Thunder Hurricane discounted on Xbox Live for the day
Arguably the best racing game on Xbox Live Arcade, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, is arguably the best "Countdown to 2011" deal on Xbox Live today -- though, perhaps surprisingly, it's not up against much competition (now that Yaris has been scrapped). Despite XBLA seeming like a prime destination for arcade racers, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is one of only a handful of games on the platform that fits the genre. Thankfully, it's a good one -- and even a great one for 400 points ($5) today (marked down from 1200). Of course, you may be in the Marketplace for something different. Like a pet "mini-taur" for your Avatar? On sale for 120 points, you could make a case for it being the best deal of the day. (But you'd be wrong.) %Gallery-97023%
December XBLA deal: Buy two games, get 400 MS Points free
In yet another Xbox Live Arcade deal, Microsoft is now offering a free batch of 400 MS Points for purchasing two qualifying XBLA games. Don't run off downloading games just yet though, because you'll need to head over to the Xbox Live Events page and download the Arcade Offer gamer picture to register for the giveaway first (the direct link to the gamer picture is currently broken, but it's the first one listed on the events page). Once that's done, snag two of the games listed after the break (including favorites like Limbo, Lara Croft, Monday Night Combat, Super Meat Boy and more). Within four weeks, the free points will be added to registered Live accounts automatically or sent as redemption code via email. If you're planning to pick up any of the eligible games, you might as well get some free points too, right? The promotion ends December 20, so get to it. [Thanks, Grand Kerfuffle]
This Wednesday: Pinball FX 2 comes to XBLA [Update 3: Bloody Good Time or Haunted House released late]
It's set to be another packed Wednesday for Xbox Live Arcade releases. First, the previously delayed Pinball FX 2 will bring its bumpers to the table. Plus, Ubisoft's humorous FPS Bloody Good Time is set to debut. And as if those weren't enough, GamerBytes reports 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures 2 (finally, a sequel!) and Atari's reboot of Haunted House will be released this Wednesday, as well. Oh, no -- we're not done yet: The Hydro Thunder Hurricane Tempest Pack DLC is also coming out this Wednesday ... Okay, we're done now. Update: Microsoft's Graeme Boyd (a.k.a. AceyBongos) has tweeted that both Bloody Good Time and Haunted House are not confirmed for release this week. Of course, Boyd's wording indicates that both releases could still happen. Update 2: Wednesday has arrived and, sure enough, only 3D Ultra MiniGolf Adventures 2 and Pinball FX2 have been released. Update 3: Okay, last one, we promise. Bloody Good Time and Haunted House have now been released. A day late.
Hydro Thunder Hurricane 'Tempest Pack' available Oct. 27
Transforming supership news now, with the announcement of an October 27 release date for the "Tempest Pack," a new add-on for Xbox Live Arcade's well-received racer, Hydro Thunder Hurricane. According to developer Vector Unit, the 400 MSP ($5) pack will introduce two new boats -- "the super-agile Whiplash and the slip-slidery Psyclone" -- and three more imaginative race tracks. If you're happy to pay for a trio of route canals, you'll end up hurtling through the Bermuda Triangle, into the lost city of Atlantis and past the boisterous bastions of Castle Von Boom. Those besotted with naval gazing will also welcome new skins for all the original boats, along with six expert-class variants of the lower-end boats, allowing you to compete effectively online with any selection. (Not against us, of course.)
Hydro Thunder Hurricane 'Tempest Pack' DLC splashes down in October
Vector Unit has announced the first DLC for Hydro Thunder Hurricane. The "Tempest Pack" will offer three new environments, two all-new boats, a boatload of new skins, plus Championship, Ring Master and Gauntlet events. The environments will have you racing through the ruins of Atlantis, the stormy Bermuda Triangle and a medieval setting named Castle Von Boom. The new boat skins will supercharge the existing boats, allowing you to run even your favorite clunker at the game's highest speeds, with two of them coming straight from the Design-a-Skin contest held a while back. No final date or price yet, unfortunately, but you can look for the pack sometime in October. [Thanks, Steve!]
Review: Hydro Thunder Hurricane
Remember Yaris for Xbox Live Arcade? No? Good. It was undeniably the low point for downloadable racing games on Xbox 360. Finally XBLA gets something to wash the taste from your mouth for good: Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Upstart developer Vector Unit didn't actually start out making a Hydro Thunder title, but Microsoft liked what it saw, licensed the rights to HT and made the (what's turned out to be excellent) decision to resurrect the franchise. For the uninitiated, Hydro Thunder was an arcade game from the late nineties that drew in crowds with its transforming, jet-powered speedboats and courses that felt inspired by amusement park thrill rides. Hydro Thunder Hurricane doesn't deviate from that blueprint, and while gaming hardware has changed, fun hasn't -- and Vector Unit was clearly keeping that at the forefront in designing Hurricane.%Gallery-92281%
Summer of Arcade XBLA games dated and priced
Microsoft's suggestion for how to pass those hot summer afternoons: spend 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), repeatedly. The company released the official dates and prices for the XBLA games in this year's Summer of Arcade promotion -- or, rather, dates and price, since they all share the aforementioned 1200 MSP price tag. Like last year's Summer of Arcade, purchasing all five games in this year's lineup entitles the buyer to a 1200-point rebate (essentially buy four, get one free). Additionally, if you buy three of the five, you'll get 400 MSP back! As for the release schedule: Limbo: July 21 Hydro Thunder Hurricane: July 28 Castlevania: Harmony of Despair: August 4 Monday Night Combat: August 11 Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light: August 18
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair announced via Xbox Live 'Summer of Arcade' 2010 promo
It appears Konami's leaked-pulled-and-then-leaked-again Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is very much a real thing. The rumored 2D multiplayer Castlevania game is part of the Microsoft's returning Summer of Arcade promotion. The junior year's games include: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair Hydro Thunder Hurricane Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light Limbo Monday Night Combat The press release hasn't mentioned any added bonuses for purchasing all of the games, but previous years promised a refund of 800 Microsoft Points ($10) with purchase of all five participating titles. It's likely this year's Summer of Arcade will do the same, but we'll follow up. [Thanks, mrmbado!]
New Hydro Thunder Hurricane media hits the waves
Just in time for summer, Vector Unit has doled out some fresh, wet screens and video of the upcoming XBLA revamp, Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Check out a handful of new screens in the gallery below and more videos after the break. Like, a lot of videos.
New Hydro Thunder Hurricane pics and details wash up
Click to fill your screen with sheer liquid wonderment There's an old sea shanty that goes: "I'm on a boat and it's going fast and I've got a nautical-themed pashmina afghan." Which reminds us that, in Hydro Thunder Hurricane from Vector Unit, you're in a boat and you're going fast -- and while it's up to you to provide your own fine pashmina wool garment, the game will provide a couple of nifty modes not found in the arcade original (or its home conversions). The first of these is called Ring Master. Each course in the game will feature three different layouts of floating rings that must be raced through in this slalom-style event. These "gates" will get smaller and smaller as the difficulty level grows higher. Gauntlet mode will see the courses littered with exploding barrels to avoid, boost jump over or collide with, if that's your thing. Vector Unit has also built a system into its game whereby you'll see your friends' best split times as you pass checkpoints. We've got a whole galley gallery of new screens today as well, so give 'em a look below. And if you haven't seen the game in action yet -- or read our hands-on impressions of it -- you really need to. %Gallery-92281%
Hands-on: Hydro Thunder Hurricane (XBLA)
Hydro Thunder Hurricane is not your typical case of sequelitis. The original concept, simply, an arcade-style boat racer, was hatched by indie developer Vector Unit. The 2-man studio, which has grown to 6 for Hurricane, is led by technical director Ralf Knoesel and creative director Matt Small, who met in the late '90s at Stormfront Studios. They stayed in touch over the years, as each continued to build a strong resume of work, and, in late 2007, they co-founded Vector Unit and began work on a small, downloadable project that would become the licensed sequel to Midway's decade-old arcade racer. Checking out a playable build on the PAX East show floor today, I quickly understood what caught the attention of now publisher Microsoft Game Studios, which smartly licensed the Hydro Thunder brand from sinking Midway in order to establish Vector Unit's game as part of a celebrated heritage. With the exception of nods to some boats from the classic arcade game, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is not much of a sequel, and instead represents the promising talent of a new independent developer. It's also, bizarrely, one of two Xbox Live Arcade games premiering at PAX East with a really slick, proprietary water physics engine. (Hydrophobia being the other.)
Hydro Thunder Hurricane racing to XBLA this Summer
It's scientific fact that racing games are roughly 200 percent more exciting when the genre's standard asphalt surfaces are replaced with good ol' H20. One of the clearest examples of this was Midway's classic arcade racer Hydro Thunder -- a franchise that's been dormant for over a decade. However, Microsoft Game Studios and developer Vector Unit today announced that they'll soon blow the proverbial dust off the series this summer with Hydro Thunder Hurricane, an Xbox Live Arcade-exclusive sequel to the arcade classic. Hydro Thunder Hurricane will include a number of multiplayer-oriented game modes, eight super hazardous race tracks and several returning speedboats from the series' original iteration. There's support for four-player local matches, eight-player online matches and a co-operative "Rubber Ducky" mode, which just sounds so intense. Vector Unit is showcasing the title at PAX East. We'll let you know how it handles.
