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Peggle 2 cascades onto Xbox 360 in May, Xbox One gets local duelling
The Xbox 360 joins the Peggle 2 party on May 7, when PopCap's mix of pachinko, unicorns, and classical music tumbles onto systems in North America and Europe. There's no word on a price, but the game is tagged at $12 on Xbox One. The news comes on the same day PopCap launched a new Duel Mode for the Xbox One version, allowing two players to fight locally for the right to call themselves a true Peggle Master - duels were previously limited to online matches. EA confirmed Duel Mode is coming to the Xbox 360 port, too. EA limited today's announcement to the Xbox 360, but PopCap hasn't been shy about its desire to bring the pinballing sequel to "as many platforms as possible." A South Korean rating from last year suggests one of those platforms is the PS4. [Image: EA]
Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 2 gets dates on Xbox 360, iOS
There's no point trying to hide on Xbox 360 and iOS, Clem, because A House Divided is also headed their way this week. After originally leaving the platforms in release date limbo, Telltale revealed the second episode of The Walking Dead Season 2 hits Xbox 360 on March 5 - that's tomorrow - and iOS on March 6. The PC/Mac version is due today, as is the PS3 version in North America - as ever, PSN users in Europe have to wait until tomorrow. Also, Telltale says Season 2 is "tracking" for Vita by the end of this month, and it's set to launch with the first two episodes. [Image: Telltale Games]
Dead Rising 3 gets third DLC pack tomorrow
Microsoft confirmed the third expansion for Dead Rising 3 is due tomorrow on the Xbox Games Store, although details of the DLC itself remain unconfirmed. According to screens linked to achievements (via VideoGamer.com) the Chaos Rising DLC puts players in the role of Hunter, the leader of a biker gang. Meanwhile, a newly unveiled image suggests he'll have a fine-looking bladed motorcycle to chop up undead with. All the DLC packs are priced $10 each, or you can get access to all four via the $30 season pass. There's no word yet on a release date for the final pack, The Last Agent, but Capcom put out the first three in roughly two-week intervals, so early March looks a decent bet. [Image: Capcom]
Tomb Raider, Walking Dead, Brothers in today's Xbox Ultimate sale
Today's Xbox 360 Ultimate sale includes two entries from Joystiq's Top 10 of 2013 in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Tomb Raider. Meanwhile, the first episode of Walking Dead Season 2 can be yours for just a single dollar, and that really is an excellent deal - the first season placed #3 in our 2012 list. All of which reminds us that Oh Come On Telltale Where Is Episode 2 We Need To Know What Happens To Clementine Please Oh God Why. Ahem. In addition to the nine games that are on sale today, there's a whole bunch of On Demand and Arcade discounts running through until February 25. Check out the full list here, and head past the break for today's list of on-sale games and their prices.
Takedown: Red Sabre successfully infiltrates Xbox 360 after delay
After a delayed raid, squad-based first-person shooter Takedown: Red Sabre is out now on the Xbox Games Store, priced $15 in North America and £12/15 euros across the ocean. The Kickstarted shooter from Washington-based indie Serellan was originally due to hit both Windows PC and Xbox 360 last year, but the developer had to delay the console version because it didn't pass certification requirements. That was fixed, but Serellan chose to hold the XBLA game back to add in post-launch improvements made to the PC version. The newly released XBLA version also features the free DLC that was added post-launch, and that includes a range of new maps as well as some additional weaponry to mow one another down with. [Image: 505 Games]
Xbox 360 Ultimate Sale continues with FIFA 14, Skyrim, Dead Island: Riptide
It's day 3 of the Xbox 360 Ultimate Game Sale, and that means seven more discounts vying to divorce hard-earned cash from bank accounts. The big name games include FIFA 14, Skyrim, and Dead Island: Riptide, but the biggest discount of the day goes to Bejeweled 3; should you want your precious time consumed by addictive match-3 puzzling, the Arcade game is down by a whopping 93 percent to just over a buck. We've got today's one-day-only discounts in full below the break. Don't forget, there's also a collection of games staying on sale throughout the week, including a little-known gem by the name of Portal 2. Could be a sleeper hit, that game, so if you want to get ahead of the curve, it's two-thirds off at $9.89/£6.59/9.89 euros.
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]
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 demo made available to all
If you want to try a bite-sized portion of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, look no further than a demo that's out now on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. It was limited to purchasers of Mirror of Fate HD or the Lords of Shadow Collection, but now every bat in the belfry can have a go. The demo begins with Gabriel Belmont in the form of Dracula, dispensing hack-and-slash with his newly acquired powers and weapons, like the soul-stealing Void Sword and the deadly Chaos Claws. Things soon escalate, and Dracula finds himself defeating wave after wave of enemies as he tries to ascend a titan-like mechanical knight - as you do. If you'd rather wait for the game proper before seeing it for yourself, you don't have long to hold out. Lords of Shadow 2 swoops into North America in two weeks time on February 25, and Europe a few days later on February 28. [Image: Konami]
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate appears on Xbox Games Store
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is lurking in the shadows of the Xbox Games Store, a month after it was caught sneaking around Steam. The Armature Studio-developed 2.5D platformer came to 3DS and Vita alongside the main Origins game, and now it's listed to hit Xbox 360 in an HD "Deluxe Edition," with the release date noted as March 25. Let's work what this means by channeling the spirit of Adam West. Hmm,... Steam. Take the "s" out of Steam and you get "Team." Teams... soccer teams... soccer teams get the ball into the penalty box to score a goal. Box! And as we all know, X marks the spot. X... Box. Xbox! The clues all point to a multiplatform arrival in the near future, although we're still waiting on official word from Warner Bros. on any of this. Quick, to the Announcement-mobile! [Image: Microsoft]
Worms Battlegrounds announced for PS4, Xbox One via ID@Xbox
Team 17 announced it's bringing its warfaring invertebrates to Xbox One and PS4 in a new game called Worms Battlegrounds. According to the British studio, Battlegrounds will be one of the first games in Microsoft's ID@Xbox self-publishing program, which is expected to make its debut close to March. The game's official release window is 2014. Team 17 offered little to no info about the game itself in today's announcement, but we expect to learn more soon, given the imminence of ID@Xbox. Like a steeply launched homing missile, one thing that remains up in the air is a possible PC release; the game appeared on Steam's databases in November 2013. [Image: Team 17]
Strider somersaults onto PS4, Xbox One and other systems this Feb.
Strider brings its sci-fi ninja platforming to PS4 and PS3 on February 18 in North America, with Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Steam welcoming the game the day after. The latest revival of the classic series comes courtesy of Double Helix, the studio behind the recent return of Killer Instinct, and the fare to get back on board is $15. The other news from today's announcement is Strider includes two challenge modes in addition to the main story mode: Beacon Run is a slice-and-dice speedrunning challenge, and Survival mixes up harder and harder waves of enemies to defeat. Both modes feature leaderboards, as does the main campaign. Joystiq ninja extraordinaire Dave Hinkle got hands-on time with the game couple of months back, and he was encouraged by its ability to mix old with new. "Even in my brief encounter with Strider, I felt it successfully toed the line between those old-school sensibilities of punishing platforming segments and unforgiving enemies with modernized mechanics such as ciphers and catapulting," he wrote. "Strider didn't feel like a mindless affair of running left-to-right and slashing everything in sight. Instead, Strider made me think about how I needed to stab every enemy in my path, proving that the mind is the ninja's greatest weapon." [Image: Capcom]
Love is a battlefield in Borderlands 2 Valentine's DLC
Borderlands 2 continues its pattern of holiday-styled Headhunter packs with "Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre," and the DLC is due to hit all platforms next week on February 11, with the usual exception of PSN in Europe which gets it the day after. It's priced $3 in North America, and £2.39/3 euros across the ocean. The Valentine's-themed update sees the hatted hostess Moxxi bring back the Innuendo Bot 5000 to try and make two rival clans go all lovey-dovey for each other. If only love was that simple, and not hilariously violent as it'll likely prove in the DLC. According to 2K Games Community Manager Joveth Gonzales, Borderlands 2 is so overflowing with DLC that it's getting to a point where "technical limitations" may make it impossible to add any more – and, you know, maybe 2K and Gearbox could move on after that. That won't happen until April at least, as the fifth and final Headhunter DLC is due then – we're not taking bets on an Easter theme. [Image: Gearbox]
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 2 surfaces next month
BioShock Infinite plunges into the second episode of its DLC campaign Burial at Sea on March 25, a worldwide release date that's confirmed for Xbox 360, PS3, and Windows PC. The game's third major DLC will be priced $15, or you can get it via the $20 season pass that also covers the previous two add-ons. The news comes shortly after series creator Ken Levine revealed the second episode will last around "five, maybe six hours." As we noted in our spoiler-coated review, the first episode of the single-player campaign takes around two hours to complete. Talking of spoilers, there's a rather large one given away by a newly released Episode 2 screenshot - we'll just link to it here. Now it's up to you to keep your hands over your eyes and ears for the next seven or so weeks. [Image: Take-Two Interactive Software]
PSA: Fable Anniversary goes live, Trilogy bundle available too
Ready those fowl-punting leg swings, because Fable Anniversary is live now on the Xbox 360 Games Store. Lionhead's 10-years-on HD remaster is priced $40, while for $20 more you can add Fable 2 and 3 as part of the Trilogy bundle. In addition to upping the resolution to 1080p, Anniversary brings in other tweaks and improvements including new textures and models, a checkpoint-based save system with manual options, a new interface, improved lighting, and even some SmartGlass features. Fans of the Lost Chapters expansion will be pleased to know its content is in there too. If you'd prefer to see before you buy or re-buy, check out our stream from last month when we revisited the pastures of Albion in the company of Lionhead devs. [Image: Microsoft]
Lightning Returns demo out today, Amazon pre-orders get bonus Yuna DLC
You've seen all the trailers - so many trailers - but you can can finally check out Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 for yourself today. The JRPG's demo is available on Xbox Live, and it should hit PSN in North America later today, and Europe tomorrow. If you need extra incentive beyond sheer curiousness, if you use the game's social media themed Outerworld service in the demo to submit a battle score, you'll unlock an outfit for Lightning based on Final Fantasy 6's Siegfried - the outfit transfers over to the full game. Meanwhile, PS3 players who just try the demo unlock an Utsusemi Samurai outfit for the main game too. As if the returning heroine's wardrobe isn't already fit to burst, there's also news today of bonus Yuna garb with Amazon US pre-orders, along with the FF10 summoner's staff and victory pose. That's in addition to the Cloud-based pre-order bonuses, by the way. Somewhere beneath the ever-burgeoning pile of outfits is the game itself, which is due on PS3 and Xbox 360 in North America on February 11, and on February 14 in Europe.
PSA: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light free now on Xbox Live Gold
Action puzzler Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is next up in the Games with Gold program, and Xbox Live Gold members can download it for free on their 360s right now. Raid the Joystiq tombs and you'll see we gave LCatGoL (catchy) four and a half stars. In the words of one Mr. Ludwig Kietzmann, "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light introduces an unexplored social element into a franchise that I've come to adore for its sense of isolation and discovery. A second player, acting as Aztec guardian Totec, necessarily disrupts that atmosphere, but also facilitates unplanned moments of creativity." Developer Crystal Dynamics is hard at work on a new Tomb Raider to follow on from last year's reboot, and a follow-up to Guardian of Light isn't in the works (as far as we know!). That said, the Californian studio made sure it never said never...
Xbox Live daily deal is morbid, weekly sale sets Wolf Among Us free
Xbox Live's daily deal is obsessed with death this fine morning, covering the following Games on Demand and DLC packs: Killer is Dead and Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate for $13.20, Left 4 Dead 2 for $10.20, Left 4 Dead 2 add-ons Cold Stream, The Sacrifice and The Passing for $1.75, and Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare Pack for $5. These sales are lethal, y'all. Weekly specials happening right now include the first episode of Telltale's The Wolf Among Us for absolutely free, Grand Theft Auto 5 for $40.20, Bully Scholarship Edition for $3.75, Ska Studios' punk brawler Charlie Murder for $3.30, the touching tale of Brothers for $5, zombie sidescroller Deadlight for $3.75 and vaudevillian brawler Foul Play for $7.50. Check out the full list of sales here.
Xbox end-of-year sale rounds up arcade sportsball deals
It's football, other football, basketball, and hockeyball in today's Xbox Countdown to 2014 sale, with 75 percent deducted from four arcade sportsters. There's FIFA Street 3 down to $5, NFL Blitz and NBA Jam: On Fire Edition both at $3.74, and 3 on 3 NHL Arcade just $1.24. If you just can't take another charade, some of those games are perfect holiday fodder - the original NBA Jam was a seasonal fixture in our house, the ideal platform for inter-familial bragging rights. For less than $4, EA Canada's reworked On Fire Edition looks a steal. Finally, a quick reminder/warning/warming: This is the last day of the week-long sale, and that means it's the last day you can get a whole bunch of games at reduced prices.
Castlevania deals on Xbox: Harmony of Despair, Symphony of the Night, Mirror of Fate HD
It's Castlemania in today's end-of-year deals from Xbox, with Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate HD, Symphony of the Night, and Harmony of Despair all on sale, along with a host of Castlevania add-ons. Harmony of Despair, the 2D platformer that debuted on XBLA back in 2010, is down to $5.09. 1997 classic Symphony of the Night is just $3.39, while the HD port of 3DS entry Mirror of Fate is yours for $7.49. If you don't fancy sinking your teeth into any of those one-day-only deals, don't forget there's a sizable selection of games staying discounted throughout the week.
Xbox offers Countdown to 2014 daily deals on Fez, Spelunky, Terraria
There's another batch of daily deals for Xbox Live end-of-year sale, and today's batch supposedly comprise "2D modern classics," namely Terraria, Spelunky, and Fez. Putting aside if you can even call something a "modern classic," isn't that forgetting that whole other dimension of Fez? No, we didn't mean Phil Fish. Anyway, we're not here to talk semantics: For today only, Fez and Spelunky are cut by 75 percent to $2.49 and $3.74 respectively, while Terraria digs down to a third of its normal price at $4.94. Also, don't forget the Xbox 360 Store has a whole bunch of games staying discounted across the week, including FIFA 14, Bioshock Infinite, and Castle of Illusion.
