News | April 30, 2012 10:50 am

By Hektic Juggalo

A little later than usual, but here nonetheless. That's right, just likes Minioger's number of completed games, the XbA Weekly News Update just keeps on coming! A few interesting tidbits hit last week, and your pal Hektic has them all here to keep you up to date.

First off, episode 1 of the Walking Dead hit the XBLA just this past Friday. Running you a measly 400 Microsoft Points, keep in mind that this game only contains 100 GS. How did they get away with this, you ask? Well, the episodes, of which there should be five total, are accessed and launched through a hub, much like Hasbro's Family Game Night or Pinball FX, so all of the achievement points from each episode show up as one entry under your played games. Pretty clever! Check out the run down on whether or not you should pick up this zombie-fest. From what I understand, you probably should.

Both the latest installment in the Silent Hill series, as well as the HD remake collection see a patch in the near future. Currently in development by Konami, the patch will address several issues plaguing both games. Now if only they could come up with a patch so that the games don't give me nightmares.

Square-Enix also introduced us to some new character for the upcoming Hitman: Absolution. A trailer introducing the new character's dossier, as well as an interview with the voice actors can be seen at the link. Its been a while since I got my hands dirty with Agent 47, so I'm looking forward to Absolution.

All-Kinect Mech shooter Steel Battalion revealed some pre order bonuses this week. The DLC bonuses, available at specific retailers, offer new skins to customize your mech of choice. Not to be outdone, Crysis 3 indeed revealed some of its pre-order bonuses as well, along with the "Hunter Edition". Much like Crysis 2's Limited Edition, the Hunter Edition will release at the same MSRP as the vanilla version, and offer a few bonuses to diehard fans.

Crysis 3 and Steel Battalion too far off for you? Well then, get ready to delve back into Arkham City as the GOTY Version was announced earlier last week. Packaging all of the available DLC, along with another chapter in the story mode and a downloadable copy of Batman: Year One, the GOTY edition proves to be the complete package for the Dark Knight. No word on whether or not the achievements stack similar to Arkham Asylum's GOTY and vanilla versions, but I'd definitely be in for too run throughs if they do!

Ex-Creative Strategist and the face of COD, Robert Bowling, announced the creation of his own development studio this week. Noting that publishers (i.e. Activision) do not treat game developers fairly in the current model, Bowling's said that Robotoki, the name of his new studio, will put developers first. He also laid out ambitious plans to allow the seamless integration of playing one title across mobile, pc, and console gaming. Some great ideas, but only time will tell if they pay off for Bowling.

Check out all of last week's deals while they are still available here. XBL's DOTW included NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, while GFWL saw a slight discount on Dragon Age 2 and Windows Phone dropped Z0mb1es (0n teh ph0ne) a dollar, as well as a permanent discount to $0.99 on Fruit Ninja. WP users can also check out Wordament; the free WP puzzle game saw an update last week that included XBL support and achievements. It may just be the most addicting mobile game you ever play!

If you've been wondering about Trials: Evolution, AJ here will tell you if it disappoints. I haven't read it yet, but judging from the title, apparently it does not. If you're still looking for some further reading, Kat's Korner can fill you in on some smaller news that didn't make the headlines, as well as educating you on what is going on in the industry.

Well that's what we have for last week. As a note, I will be on vacation all of next week, so hopefully anyone but AJ will fill in with the Recap. I mean I'll take AJ if I have to, but I'd rather have Meta or somebody a bit more responsible...but I digress. Until next time, stay classy XbA!

Keywords: None