February 27, 2009
After a successful trial last December, Microsoft has announced that it is to re-launch its Xbox Live Arcade ‘deal of the week’. The first title to receive the discount treatment is Jonathan Blow’s hugely successful 2D platformer, Braid. The critically acclaimed title will be available for just 800 Microsoft points (a 33% discount!), until Sunday March 1st.
With a Metacritic rating of 93%, Braid was one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2008. Praise was received from all corners of print and online media, from game publications to tabloid newspapers. Braid also helped Xbox Live Arcade reach its most successful month to date in August last year.
Subsequent Xbox Live deals of the week will launch every Monday, and will cover a variety of formats, such as arcade games, game add-ons and Xbox originals. Some of the first games to receive discounts include Ninja Gaiden 2, Project Gotham Racing 4, and Xbox classic, Fable.
Deal of the week discounts are available to Gold subscribers only, and will, where permitted, be available to members in all territories. Xbox community honcho Major Nelson (www.majornelson.com) is to update his blog each Monday with details of the latest deal and its regional availability.
February 27, 2009
Online game specialists Ninja Kiwi have announced that their flagship free-to-play title, Bloons, is coming to the iPhone and iPod Touch, courtesy of Scottish developer Digital Goldfish.
Bloons is a massively addictive 2D flash game, where you play a monkey who is tasked with throwing a limited number of darts in order to pop balloons scattered about increasingly challenging levels. As well as spawning a number of sequels, Bloons’ huge player community have created over three million user-generated levels, making it one of the most popular free-to-play flash games in the world.
Due for release in just a couple of months, Bloons is sure to be a huge hit with the App-store crowd. Ninja Kiwi MD Chris Harris had this to say:
“For a long time, we’ve been thinking about bringing Bloons to other platforms because it’s such a good fit. We’re really excited now to be working with Digital Goldfish to finally make this happen. And from what we’ve seen, the game translates to iPhone every bit as well as we’d hoped.”
Ninja Kiwi’s other high-profile credits include Boombot, a simple but addictive flash game where the aim is to use simple explosions to get your character to the exit of each level.
