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Fable 2 removed from Xbox.com, Games on Demand
We'll bet even Theresa didn't see this one coming. The downloadable version of Fable 2 has been removed from Xbox Live Marketplace, both via Xbox.com or the console itself. The news comes courtesy of a GameSpot tipster, and we have confirmed that Fable 2 has been pulled from Xbox Live in both its episodic and Games on Demand forms. Associated Fable 2 content, including DLC, trailers and avatar items, is still available for download. Furthermore, both the original Fable and Fable 3 remain available to download.We've put word into Microsoft to see what's up. It's too early to be certain, but we suspect Hobbes were involved.
Hitman: Absolution XBLM avatar items are squeaky-clean
You're about to assassinate a highly trained group of killing professionals and maybe a ninja or two. You have your guns, ammo, a fresh suit and quiet shoes – but you need one more thing to complete an outfit of inconspicuous stealth. A rubber-duck hat.A new line of avatar items based on the Hitman: Absolution universe are available now on XBLM, including the aforementioned rubber-duck hat, branded shirts, a Blake Dexter suit and a chipmunk costume, all running 80 to 320 MS Points. If you ever have an assassination assignment at a county fair, consider this your avatar set.Check out the entire lineup of new items here.
Sega fighters this week on Xbox Live, Dragonborn, Tony Hawk DLC next week
Xbox Live's Major Nelson has released the list of content coming to Xbox Live over the next few weeks. It all kicks off today with a trip of Sega fighters launching on Xbox Live Arcade: Virtua Fighter 2, Sonic the Fighters and Fighting Vipers. You can take your pick at 400 MS Points ($5) each, half the initial asking price. Guardians of Middle Earth will make its trek to Xbox Live Arcade on December 5. The Revert DLC for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD also drops in on December 5 for 400 MS Points ($5). Finally, that week will also see the debut of Skyrim's second DLC pack on Xbox Live, the 1600 MS Point ($20) Dragonborn expansion on December 4. On the savings front, this week's Deal of the Week revolves around GTA IV – the vanilla game starring cousin Niko is available through Games on Demand (price varies by region) with the Lost and Damned and Ballad of Gay Tony expansions being offered until December 3 for 400 MS Points and 800 MS Points each, respectively. Next week, from December 4 to the 10th, Deadliest Warrior and all of its DLC will be discounted. Additional Kinect-focused deals are available through Xbox Live's Sales & Specials app – this week Burnout Crash is on sale for 400 MS Points ($5) with next week's deals focusing on Ubisoft's stable of Kinect games.
Shadow Complex and others feature in Xbox Live Cyber Monday-only sale
Xbox Live has a few more one-day-only offers for Cyber Monday. The standout is Shadow Complex, as Chair's superb tribute to the metroidvania genre is down to 800 MSP today.Four other games discounted are BloodForge (600 MSP), Gotham City Impostors (600 MSP), Real Steel (400 MSP), and The Expendables 2 Videogame (600 MSP), which all get the 50 percent off treatment. If you'd rather exchange money instead of time to have your Expendables instantly maxed out and all game content unlocked, the Full Access and Upgrade pack is down to 120 MSP. Also on the discounted DLC front is Cold Stream for Left 4 Dead 2. The pack includes the fan-made campaign of the same name, along with the four original maps from Left 4 Dead, and goes today for 280 MSP.Also, today is the last day of Xbox Live's holiday-long sale. Should you want in, we've got the full list of those discounts right here.
Xbox Live's Black Friday-only sale chops 50 percent off selected content
In addition to its plethora of discounts across the holidays, Xbox Live has several selected downloadables going at 50 percent off today. You know, since it's Black Friday and all.The one-day-only batch includes Airtight Games' puzzle-platformer Quantum Conundrum (600 MSP) and Trendy's co-op tower defense offering Dungeon Defenders (600 MSP).If it's DLC you're after, there's also half off Arctic (400 MSP) and Raven Strike (600 MSP) for Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Leviathan (400 MSP) for Mass Effect 3, Harley Quinn's Revenge (400 MSP) for Batman: Arkham City, and the October Car Pack (200 MSP) for Forza Horizon.
Sleeping Dogs now snoozing on Xbox Live Games on Demand
In case you've not noticed it dozing on retail shelves, Sleeping Dogs is now grabbing 40 winks on Xbox Live's Games on Demand, and (Square Enix hopes) $44.99 from your wallet.Back when Xav dissected it in August, the action-adventure's seedy underbelly didn't exactly strike him as brimming with originality. He doled out three and a half stars in his review, saying that while it's a good game, "Sleeping Dogs mostly leaves you remembering the media that inspired it and probably won't remain in your thoughts over time."
Build-em-up: make Sine Mora ships in Lego
While gliding through Sine Mora, surely only a scant few thought to themselves, "The one thing I really want to do is stop playing this distinguished Hungarian shoot-em-up, and spend the next few hours meticulously making its fighter ships in Lego." And yet, now that developer Digital Reality sends us authentic instructions for how to make Lego replicas of the Merenstein VI and BS4-VR Soprano, we find building these ships is exactly how we want to spend the next few hours. Screw games, there's Lego to be building!Sadly, the above picture isn't of a set you can buy in stores, as awesome as that would be. You'll have to go about getting the pieces yourself, most likely from various sets - the instructions do at least provide you at the end with a list of the pieces needed. Then again, if you're seriously contemplating making these ships then we reckon you're probably the kind of person who already has every piece needed. And we genuinely envy you.If you've yet to experience Sine Mora on XBLA, the good news is that the game's already flown its way to PC, and is journeying across to PS3 and Vita next week, via PSN.
Wreckateer free, half-price games in Xbox Live 10th anniversary sale
Wreckateer is now free as part of Xbox Live's 10th anniversary celebrations. The Kinect-enabled demolition-fest won't is going for nada and niente for 48 hours, Microsoft tells us.While they aren't free, several other XBLA games are going half-price. Those with costs lopped in half include Castle Crashers (now down to 600 MSP), Bastion (600 MSP), Peggle (400 MSP), Full House Poker (400 MSP), Fruit Ninja Kinect (400 MSP), and Xbox Live staple Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (200 MSP). Those games stay half-off until November 22.If you've only got eyes for Gold, Xbox's Major Nelson has got you covered there too. He's giving away 1-year subscriptions to Xbox Live Gold on Twitter today, with instructions on how to have a chance of nabbing one here. Meanwhile, we're celebrating by breaking out the Party hats and red-ringed doughnuts. Happy birthday, Xbox Live!
Devil May Cry demo tears onto Xbox Live, PSN next week
The Devil May Cry demo is coming to Xbox Live and PlayStation Network next week, arriving in North America on November 20. As for Europe, it drops the same day on Xbox, but a day after on PS3. Capcom didn't mention a PC demo in its announcement.The demo offers two missions, including a boss battle. After one completion it unlocks the special 'Son of Sparda' difficulty, which plays around with enemies' placements and behavior as well as making them tougher to beat
X-Men: Destiny destined for unsure lifespan on Games on Demand
X-Men: Destiny is available from today on Xbox Live Marketplace as part of the Games on Demand program, priced at $39.99. That's despite Silicon Knights being ordered by the US court to recall and destroy all unsold copies of its products using Unreal Engine 3, of which X-Men: Destiny is one. The company was also ordered to cease producing and distributing games using Epic's technology.So what exactly's going on here? Well, the ruling in the Silicon Knights vs. Epic Games case dictates Silicon Knights notifies the US court by December 21 of its compliance with the injunctions ordered. This is presumably to give Silicon Knights adequate time to carry out the required actions; recalling and destroying every unsold copy of X-Men: Destiny and Too Human.So the game newly appearing on XBLM might not contravene the injunctions, at least for now. It should also be noted that Too Human is also currently available on XBLM, while GameStop, Target, and Best Buy all have new copies of X-Men: Destiny listed as available.
Devil May Cry HD Collection now available through PSN, XBLM
The Devil May Cry HD Collection is available now in invisible, digital form via Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN, for $30 or 2400 MS Points. Devil May Cry HD Collection includes Devil May Cry 1, 2 and 3, leaving out 4 because playing as Nero once is quite enough, thank you. At least, we assume that's why. It could also be because 4 is already an HD title.Capcom suggests Devil May Cry HD Collection can hold fans over until DmC drops on January 15, in all of its own HD and neon-filtered glory.
Play Halo 4 multiplayer a whole lot, get free Microsoft Points
Xbox Live Rewards is offering free Microsoft Points to players who plunge their lives into Halo 4 multiplayer. There's a maximum 800 MSP up for grabs, 600 of it for playing 140-plus hours of Halo 4 multiplayer, and 200 for spending at least 3000 MSP on Halo Marketplace content. The catch? You've got until November 30 to put in the time.If you like freebies but don't like the idea of a whole month playing one game's multiplayer, the good news is you get 300 MSP for playing 70 hours, and 100 MSP for 35 hours. And if you only have 1500 MSP spare for Halo stuff this month, you still get 100 MSP back. You should note Microsoft says there's a maximum total of 10 million MSP on offer across all players, and they'll be doled out on a "first-come, first-serve basis."FYI, clocking in 140 hours of Halo 4 mulitplayer by the end of the month equates to just under six hours each day. That's roughly a third of your waking life in November. To put that in persp... what's that? Oh, right. See you in December, then.
Forza Horizon 'Bondurant Car Pack' DLC coming Nov. 6
Though we suspect you'll be busy doing donuts in Master Chief's Warthog on November 6, the date also marks the release of the "Bondurant Car Pack" for Microsoft's other first-party fall release, Forza Horizon.Priced at 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox Live Marketplace, the November DLC includes a six-pack of new vehicles to augment the moments our review called "incredibly beautiful." But who needs to stop and smell the roses when you can inhale the sweet fumes of a 1965 Shelby Cobra or that 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon? (Okay, we probably should have used the new Lamborghini Gallardo as our second example.)Full list and details on the new rides can be seen after the break.
Pre-order Crysis 3, get Crysis free
Are you interested in Crysis 3, but didn't play the first Crysis because whenever you tried to, your PC melted into a puddle? Well, EA wants to help catch you up by bundling in Xbox Live, PSN, and Origin codes for Crysis with pre-orders of Crysis 3 on respective platforms.If you're still gaming on the same PC you tried to run Crysis on back in 2007, then this isn't going to help you. Also, you definitely shouldn't be pre-ordering Crysis 3 for your PC. That's just silly.
Guardian Heroes, Joy Ride Turbo and more for $5 on XBLA next week
Major Nelson has revealed next week's Deal of the Week on Xbox Live. Four seemingly unrelated games will be available for half price. Said games include Guardian Heroes, Shoot Many Robots, All Zombies Must Die and Joy Ride Turbo (i.e. not the Kinect one), all of which will be available for five bucks each.The promotion runs from November 6 through November 11. Guardian Heroes, a classic Saturn beat 'em up from Treasure, is definitely worth some consideration. That's assuming you have some money left after digging into this week's Bethesda discounts, of course.
Dead or Alive 5 gets its third wave of downloadable outfits today
Right on cue, Dead or Alive 5's third round of costumes arrive today. The three new sets are already downloadable on Xbox Live Marketplace, and should be up on PSN today too. Each set is priced at 400 MSP/$4.99, with the full 3-in-1 pack going for 1040 MSP/$12.99.As you can see from the screenshots below, there's a 'Gym' set, a 'Uniform' set, and a second 'Special' set. Although it looks like someone's stolen Mila's bunny get-up and just left the ears.In more attired news, Tecmo Koei say DoA5 shipped 580,000 copies in its first month.%Gallery-169671%
PSA: Pid and Pool Nation hit XBLA Oct. 31, Karateka and ToeJam & Earl Nov. 7
Major Nelson's latest Xbox Live Marketplace update confirms a few dates for us. Pid and Pool Nation drop tomorrow, while the ToeJam & Earl Collection and Karateka are beating towards November 7 releases. Jordan Mechner's beat-em-up was orignally set for a week later, but the Major says otherwise. Each game costs 800 MSP.There's also some noteworthy DLC on the way. Assassin's Creed 3 and WWE '13 get season passes today for 2400 and 1600 MSP respectively, while Sleeping Dogs can now explore the 'Nightmare in North Point' for 560 MSP. When Halo 4 comes out on November 6 the succinct 'War Games Map Pass Season One' should be ready and willing for 2000 MSP. Finally, the similarly concise Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 gets 'Deck Pack 1' on November 7 for 240 MSP.
NBA Game Time drives the lane on Xbox 360 today
The NBA's official app 'Game Time' comes to Xbox Live today, just in time for the 2012-2013 season tip-off on October 30. NBA League Pass Broadband subscribers with an Xbox Live Gold account will be able to livestream any regular season game.Game Time will have a lot of the same functionality found in other Xbox 360 streaming apps like ESPN, UFC and MLB.TV. You'll be able to watch live games, highlights and replays in HD, set a specific favorite team to follow and monitor team schedules and stats all through the app. Game Time also features the ability to watch up to two games at once, or watch a live game and catch up on highlights in a split-screen view. In keeping with Microsoft's mandate on all new Xbox 360 apps, Game Time features Kinect-enabled voice and gesture controls.
007 Legends' free Skyfall DLC lands on Xbox, PS3 November 9
Eurocom's nostalgia-stuffed shooter, 007 Legends, receives its free Skyfall downloadable content on November 9, at least on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network. The DLC is coming to other platforms further down the line. As previously revealed, the PS3 will also receive exclusive Skyfall multiplayer content in the form of two of the film's characters.007 Legends is now available for queen and country, as long as your country is in North America or Europe, and your queen is a PS3 or Xbox 360. The game infiltrates PC on November 2, and sneaks over to the Wii U sometime in December.
Dead or Alive 5's third set of costumes hits PSN in Japan October 30
Rounds of Dead or Alive 5 costume packs are apparently rolling out every two weeks, after a PlayStation Japan update revealed the third set is coming to that country's PSN on October 30. There's no mention of what costumes are being included, or of them coming to PSN in other regions on the same date.The initial free costume pack dropped worldwide on October 2, then a slew of packs arrived two days ago, two weeks after the first pack. We'd say logic takes us to another round of costume packs for North America's XBLM and PSN on October 30, but we know better than to apply rational thinking to a Dead or Alive game.
