BitSnark

Bit of a public service thing going on here.

Completely absent from their E3 presser were any details about their ‘Summer of Arcade’ promotion for this year that typically, Xbox 360 owners have come to enjoy.  For the uninitiated, The Summer of Arcade promotion typically brings together four or five highly regarded Xbox Live Arcade titles during the Summer period.

In the past, the promotion has spawned and raised awareness of such gems as Braid, Limbo, Shadow Complex, Trials HD and the seminal Castle Crashers.  This year, auidences wouldn’t have had a fucking clue what was going on in this year’s promotion as the details of which were left on Major Nelson’s Blog over at xbox.com instead of being an actual part of the Microsoft presser itself.

No, MS in all of their wisdom, thought that the vast gaming massive would much rather want to see unveilings of region-specific (read: The US) social apps and Usher on stage for a total of nearly forty-five minutes, than running a two-minute sizzle reel of five really quite decent looking summer gaming attention grabbers.

Anyhow, below you can find a list of the Summer of Arcade games (dates and prices will be announced shortly it seems).

Oh, and you’re welcome.

(Taken from the MS Blog)

• “Deadlight” (Tequila Works/Microsoft Studios). “Deadlight” is a puzzle platformer, where the player must take advantage of the main character’s agility to solve obstacles, and dodge zombies, manipulating the many interactive elements of the scenery. With more walking corpses than bullets, the feeling of danger is constant.
• “Dust: An Elysian Tail” (Humble Hearts/Microsoft Studios). As the mysterious warrior, Dust, your action-packed journey will take you from peaceful glades to snowy mountaintops and beyond. Battle dozens of enemies at once with an easy-to-learn, difficult-to-master combat system, and uncover the story of an ancient civilization on the brink of extinction as you fight to uncover your own past in a gorgeous hand-painted world.
• “Hybrid” (5TH Cell/5TH Cell). “Hybrid” is a pioneering third person shooter set in the near future, where global conflict exists between a species known as the Variant and a rebel human faction known as the Paladins. 5TH Cell strives to give players a completely new gameplay experience never seen before in the genre.
• “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD” (Robomodo/Activision). “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD” takes the best elements of the classic “THPS” games and gives them a fresh update to create an all new skateboarding experience. Tapping into fans’ muscle memories, and combining sharp visuals with the best controls ever in a Tony Hawk game, the feel is cutting edge yet timeless.
• “Wreckateer” (Iron Galaxy/Microsoft Studios). “Wreckateer” uses Kinect to put you in control of a massive castle-wrecking ballista. With the help of Wreck and Tinker, travel the land and destroy 60 castles using six magical projectiles, and explore the infinite ways you can wreak havoc with “Wreckateer’s” fully-dynamic destruction.