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An influx of Xbox One indies: Superhot, Goat Simulator [UPDATE: Many trailers added!]
Microsoft's indie development initiative, ID@Xbox, is bringing in a bunch of games to launch first on console on Xbox One, including Superhot, Goat Simulator, Dungeon of the Endless, No Time to Explain and Smite. Peek the full list of games ID@Xbox head Chris Charla announced during the Xbox Gamescom press conference below:
ESRB rates Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 for Xbox One
The ESRB has issued a content rating for the unannounced Fruit Ninja Kinect 2, suggesting that a sequel to Halfbrick's fruit-eviscerating action game will soon find its way to the Xbox One. The Australian Classification Board outed the follow-up in a rating issued last month. Neither developer Halfbrick nor publisher Microsoft has issued a statement confirming the game's existence or upcoming release. Prior to its Xbox 360 Kinect debut in 2011, Fruit Ninja was a hit on mobile platforms, topping the App Store sales charts and spawning the animated film-based spinoff Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots. Teetotalers beware: the ESRB warns that Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 features oblique references to alcohol in on-screen text descriptions like "In Eastern Africa you can buy banana beer." Scandalous! [Image: Halfbrick]
Xbox 360 Ultimate Game Sale Day 2: Farming, fighting, F1-ing
Eight more games are on sale for 24 hours in today's Xbox 360 Ultimate sale, including a few big names from a few years back. If you missed them back in the day, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Lost Planet 2, and Darksiders 2 are all on offer, as are Arcade offerings Hell Yeah! and Fruit Ninja Kinect - check out the full list of discounts on Major Nelson's blog. In terms of more recent games, there's an eclectic mix to choose from. For starters, you can rake in a half-price Farming Simulator at $15/£15/20 euros, or if you'd prefer something a little faster, F1 2013 is two-thirds off at $16.49/£13.19/21.44 euros. Finally, we saw Soulcalibur 2 HD Online go on sale over on PSN recently, and the Xbox Games Store follows suit with a whopping 75 percent discount. That means you can pick up the re-released fighter for just $5/£4/5 euros. Don't forget, there's a bunch of games staying discounted throughout the week. The full list of them is here, but today we'll point your eyes towards the original Mass Effect. BioWare's sci-fi RPG started us on a path that's left us with hours upon hours plunged into deep space shooting, negotiating, and wooing, and if you've somehow avoided it over the last six years or so, it's a steal at $3.74/£3/3.74 euros. [Image: Focus Home Interactive]
Fruit Ninja Kinect gets the chop in today's Xbox Live Countdown to 2013 deal
Tapping in to that long-held Yuletide tradition of throwing fruit around and trying to slice it mid-air, Fruit Ninja Kinect and its add-ons are splattered all over Xbox Live's Countdown to 2013 Xmas Day sale. Halfbrick's produce-pruner has its price chopped in half today to 400 MSP, while its four DLC packs - namely 8-bit Cartridge, Art Box, Space Capsule, and Storm Season - are down by 50 percent to 80 MSP each.Four other games also got price cuts in their stockings today. Carrying on the Kinect-ified ninja theme, Mini Ninjas Adventures is 50 percent off at 400 MSP. Also discounted on this merriest of days are Rock of Ages (75 percent off at 200 MSP), Hydro Thunder (67 percent off at 400 MSP), and another Kinect game in Leedmees (75 percent off at 200 MSP).
Fruit Ninja Kinect DLC revisits gaming history
While many people think Fruit Ninja is a recent phenomenon, it actually debuted in arcades way back in the late 1980s. Developer Halfbrick has announced a new batch of DLC for Fruit Ninja Kinect to give users a chance to look back on Fruit Ninja's heyday. The "8-bit Cartridge" DLC effectively restores the original Fruit Ninja visuals and chiptune music that anyone over 25 will remember from the smoke-filled game halls of their youth.It's worth noting that the DLC appears to be based on the home console version of the original Fruit Ninja. It's unfortunate, though understandable, as any game historian knows that all original Fruit Ninja arcade cabinets have either been destroyed or reside in the hands of private collectors. Presumably, Halfbrick was unable to obtain the original code.The DLC will be released this Friday on Xbox Live for $2.*%Gallery-163518% *Almost none of the preceding text is true, specifically the parts dealing with the origin of Fruit Ninja. We suggest you pull the same prank on your Fruit-Ninja-obsessed children, nieces or nephews. They'll totally believe you!
Fruit Ninja Kinect sells a million units; Jetpack Joyride update in April
Halfbrick announced today that Fruit Ninja Kinect has reached a million sales, solidifying it as a very successful "console experiment" for the company. The company announced a month ago at DICE 2012 that sales had surpassed a half million.Phil Larsen, chief marketing officer at Halfbrick, also told us that the Jetpack Joyride 1.3 update is coming this April. It will add 15 gadgets that are "kinda like perks," which players can choose at the beginning of the round to assist.Gadgets include Air Barry shoes, allowing Barry to jump instead of glide up. Along with the "Freeze o Matic," which turns Barry into a sliding ice block when he crashes for extra distance. There are also magnets which allow Barry to collect coins. Still no item that allows you to actually stop playing Jetpack Joyride.
Fruit Ninja Kinect sells a half-million copies; Jetpack Joyride reaches 14 million downloads
Australian developer Halfbrick is flying high on the success of its Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride franchises. Chief Marketing Officer Phil Larsen told us at the DICE conference in Las Vegas today that Fruit Ninja Kinect has reached a half-million sales and has been a very successful console experiment for the company. The company also plans to continue supporting Fruit Ninja on iOS with more updates rather than cannibalize its momentum with a sequel.As for Jetpack Joyride, which went free to play in mid-December, Larsen notes the game has seen significant growth since the change."There's an update coming in the next month," Larsen said about Jetpack Joyride. "It's the biggest one we've done so far."He told us the previously $1 app reached about 1 million paid sales before going free and has since seen 13 million downloads as a free product. He estimates about 5-10 percent of customers will spend at least a dollar on the app through its in-game store, so revenue has been higher since the game went "free."
Best of the Rest: Griffin's picks of 2011
LittleBigPlanet 2 How fitting that for my last contribution to Joystiq's Game of the Year list, I should learn the bitter sting of having my number one choice not breach the Top 10. LittleBigPlanet 2 improved upon the original -- already one of my favorite games of all time -- in every conceivable way, offering one of the most user-friendly, charming UGC systems in gaming history. There is nothing I've thought of that LBP2 wasn't able to create, and that includes a level about interstellar poultry abduction.
Fruit Ninja Kinect spreads holiday cheer with free Christmas DLC
'Tis the season to be jolly, and Fruit Ninja Kinect is celebrating with a fruit-slaughtering vengeance, offering up the free Christmas Present downloadable content pack. The pack includes lots of Yuletide goodies, including the candy cane blade, a Santa's Workshop background and, our favorite, the snow globe silhouette, which literally fills your on-screen body with Christmas cheer. Oh, and the pomegranate has been replaced with a pudding, presumably of the figgy variety. You can grab the DLC now via Xbox Live Marketplace. %Gallery-141806%
Gunstringer, Fruit Ninja, Pinball FX2, Planeswalker 2012 DLC on XBLA this week
In addition to Joe Danger's Xbox Live Arcade debut, this Wednesday will host a handful of new DLC for several titles, Major Nelson reveals. Alongside the previously revealed "Vengeance and Virtue" DLC for Pinball FX2 ($10) and the "Lost Adventures" DLC for Orcs Must Die! ($4), we also have some heretofore unknown DLC for The Gunstringer, Fruit Ninja Kinect and Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. For $3 each, The Gunstringer will receive "Real Big Shootin'" DLC, while Magic will be dealt its second expansion. Meanwhile, Fruit Ninja Kinect players can grab the Holiday Pack for free. We don't have details on any of the DLC, though we're really hoping the Fruit Ninja Holiday DLC includes sliceable fruitcakes.
For a few dollars less: Gunstringer/Fruit Ninja Kinect $20 at Best Buy
The Gunstringer had seen many a strange thing in his life, but this took the cake. As he stared through the batwing doors of the local Best Buy general store, he thought he spied his own face glaring back. He took a closer look – turns out some folks in Texas made a vidya game out of his life story. What's more, seems that the store's proprietor had marked it down to two sawbucks. Perhaps most perplexing of all, the box also proclaimed to include something called Fruit Ninja Kinect. He didn't know what a "fruit ninja" was, but he didn't like the sound of it.
Kinect holiday bundle includes Gunstringer, Fruit Ninja
Microsoft is currently shipping a Kinect sensor bundle for the holidays, which includes three games for $150. The included games for North America – though they "may vary by region" – are Kinect Adventures, Fruit Ninja Kinect and The Gunstringer, from Microsoft's newly acquired studio Twisted Pixel. Considering the $40 Gunstringer retail box contains a free Fruit Ninja Kinect, it might be easier to think about this bundle providing a $40 savings. Microsoft has been playing it close to the chest regarding Kinect sales this year, recently reiterating that the device had sold 10 million units, a statistic it already promoted in March. We'll get another update after this year's bundle-boosted holiday sales have been tallied.
Report: August XBLA sales favor Fruit Ninja, Toy Soldiers
Specific Xbox Live Arcade sales data remains elusive, so we turn to Gamasutra's analysis of leaderboard information to gain a rough idea of how August's new games performed. Diminutive soldiers proved to be the most popular icons, followed by the ingenious pearing of Kinect and ninjas. Tower defense and shooter mash-up Toy Soldiers: Cold War appears to have sold 160,734 units by August's end, earning 115,448 players during its first week at the conclusion of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotion. Gamasutra notes that this rate is actually slower than the original game's launch, which was paired with last year's "Block Party" lineup. Fruit Ninja Kinect had 148,507 players for the month -- impressive in the context of Kinect-only downloadable games. And while it might not be as financially lucrative, the game's sure to expand its total player base in September while it's offered as a free bonus to owners of The Gunstringer. From Dust and Bastion continued to do well in August, while Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet registered 48,389 players by the end of the month. Microsoft announced a DLC add-on called "Shadow Hunters" earlier this month, but it appears to have missed its (tentative) release date.
Fruit Ninja Kinect DLC boldly goes where no Fruit Ninja's gone before
Nothing is more important in Fruit Ninja than freshness, which is why Halfbrick has announced more DLC for the Kinect iteration of the produce bisection game. The "Space Capsule" DLC adds a new "Star Chart" background, a new player silhouette style called the "Stellar Shadow," and an on-screen sword called the "Comet Blade." What it doesn't add -- and this is a massive missed opportunity -- is bags of those freeze-dried strawberries that are sold as "astronaut food." We could totally be cutting futuristic fruits right now! The space food-free DLC is available now for $2.
Fruit Ninja Kinect DLC brings the thunder tomorrow [update: Today!]
Not feeling powerful enough during your sessions of fruit mutilation (or, if you will, fruitilation) on Fruit Ninja Kinect? You're insatiable -- but you're also the target demographic for tomorrow's DLC update. Titled "Storm Season," the content will add a new "Storm Castle" background, "The Rain Man Shadow" silhouette and, following the theme, the "Lightning Bolt Blade." The DLC will run purchasers 160 Microsoft Points ($2), will add three new Achievements to the title for a bonus of 50 'cheevo points, and will finally let you figure out what happens when an apple gets struck by a bolt of lightning. Points. Points happen. Update: A Halfbrick representative just emailed to inform us that their initial timetable was off by exactly one day. By which we mean: It's available right now!
Xbox's David Dennis on July NPDs, Kinect growth, and the 'new dash'
In July 2010, on the back of the newly redesigned Xbox 360 and shelf-clearing sales on the old model, Microsoft enjoyed one of its strongest months of non-holiday console sales ever. So while the Xbox 360 managed to best its console counterparts this July, it was also "the first month that the Xbox 360 saw a year-over-year decline since December 2009." That fact doesn't bother Microsoft product manager David Dennis, who told Joystiq, "If you actually jump back two years and look at what the typical run-rate is in the middle of the summer, it's pretty close. We're actually a little above where it was." Considering the first Xbox console only enjoyed a four-year lifespan before the Xbox 360 arrived on the scene, Microsoft doesn't have a lot of institutional knowledge to rest on when it comes to maintaining a vibrant platform late in a console's lifecycle. But six years in, and the Xbox 360 has managed to reinvent itself thanks to Kinect. "Console transitions are expensive," Dennis said. "They're expensive for platform companies like ourselves and they're expensive for the third parties that have to learn new programming languages and learn new architectures."
Fruit Ninja Kinect review: The joy of chopping
It is good to chop fruit with your hands. That's likely to be my very dumbest thesis for the remainder of my games-reviewing career, but let's face it: Fruit Ninja Kinect is an astonishingly dumb game. Its unswerving singlemindedness sets a new standard for simplicity: The game oscillates between binary states of chopping fruit and waiting to chop more fruit, with little extraneous cruft to pad the two. There is fruit, and then you chop it, and then the fruit -- in a burst of citrus and points -- is gone! Such a single-faceted premise would be a mark of death for any game, even a budget-priced downloadable title. Luckily for Halfbrick, it is good to chop fruit with your hands.%Gallery-125745%
Microsoft's XBLA plan includes monthly Kinect titles
Fruit Ninja Kinect is only a week away, but Microsoft is keen to assure motion-lovers that more Kinect-fueled Xbox Live Arcade games are on the way. Speaking to CVG, Microsoft product marketing manager for the EMEA region, Robin Burrowes, stated that the company plans to release more Kinect XBLA titles in the near future. Specifically, we should expect new Kinect XBLA games to the tune of "about one a month." Burrowes also said that future Kinect titles will do a better job of leveraging Xbox Live. August is covered, thanks to Fruit Ninja. Let's see where that leaves the rest of the year. Hole in the Wall is expected "this summer," which could mean September. Burnout Crash is coming this fall, and nothing says "fall" like October. Kung Fu High Impact? That's a lock for November. That just leaves December and, hey, what better way to while away the hours of the holidays than by building a world or two in Minecraft? Bam, mystery solved.
The Gunstringer will be $40, comes with Fruit Ninja Kinect and free DLC, this September
When Twisted Pixel announced that its Kinect-based, undead western marionette shooter would gallop past Xbox Live Arcade and ride right into Retailville, we wrote, "Twisted Pixel isn't talking price right now, but considering most Kinect games go for $50, we'd say that's a safe bet." Well ... we were wrong. And we're sorry. And we hope you didn't bet any actual money. Microsoft just announced that The Gunstringer will be hitting shelves on September 13 in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and September 16 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Oh, you wanted to know the price? How does $40 sound to you? Oh ... well, how about $40 and a free code for Fruit Ninja Kinect, itself valued at $10? Still not enough? You drive a hard bargain, friend! How about some free launch DLC titled "The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles" in which you battle "the time-traveling son of Wavy Tube Man." Here, we'll use Microsoft's description: In this add-on, Wavy Tube Man Jr. steals a time machine to prevent his father's death at the hands of "The Gunstringer," and it's up to players to battle classic western cowboys and futuristic warriors to save the world from destruction. Wait a second ... you're still not satisfied? Can you not be sated? Is there nothing that can match your appetite for deals? Fine, if you pre-order the game from "select US and European retailers [...] you'll receive two tokens for a free Avatar Prop from the game." There, that's it. That's all you're getting. We're exhausted.
XBLA Summer of Arcade releases dated, buy them all for free Crimson Alliance
We knew which games were going to be part of this year's XBLA "Summer of Arcade" -- but not when. Today, Microsoft shared that information, allowing you to plan your season around buying video games. The Summer kicks off with the isometric action-adventure Bastion on July 20, for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15.) Eric Chahi's volcanic god game, From Dust, follows on July 27 for the same price. On August 3, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will be available, also for 1200 MSP. August 10 brings a refreshing virtual fruit salad in the form of Fruit Ninja Kinect, for 800 Points. Finally, Toy Soldiers: Cold War arrives on August 17 for 1200 Points. Like previous years, there's a bonus for buying all five Summer of Arcade titles, and this year it's a free copy of Crimson Alliance when it's released on September 7 (for 1200 Points). Fruit Ninja Kinect's inclusion in the promotion means that you must have a Kinect in order to take advantage of the free bonus. That's a bummer of Arcade for those who haven't picked up Microsoft's camera yet.
