Xbox Live Arcade is a mess. Read my thoughts on XBLA that I posted earlier today. You can’t find anything. Most of the games on there aren’t worth the code they’re made from. What to do? Is there a way to re-energize the Xbox Live Arcade, get a one up on the competition and get everybody playing Arcade games again?

Hey Microsoft, you better click on the jump, because I’m about to save your rear end and your bottom line.

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Developers, gamers, publishers, just about everybody has taken a shot at the crap offered on Xbox Live’s Arcade. There’s too much of it, you can’t find it, it sucks, whatever the issue, XBLA’s heard it. With Geometry Wars 2, Braid, 1942: Joint Strike, Bionic Commando and that have come out recently and with Castle Crashers and Galaga Legions set to debut in the coming weeks, I wonder, are we experiencing a Renaissance on Xbox Live?

Or, are we fooling ourselves? Check it out, after the jump.

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Some more community blog goodness, this time impressions of the new XBLA game Braid. These impressions come from PillowFort’s own SGC blog. You can have one too, just by swinging by the forums. As always, we’ll be keeping a vigilant eye on the blogs for the cream of the crop, which will end up here. And now, let’s check out PillowFort’s Braid impressions…

Straight off of XBLA, the first in a series of cool DLC titles (I’m not counting Geometry Wars 2, I mean, come on) that are released this month. I had originally no plans to pick this up because I was going to save my points for Castle Crashers (august 27th august 27th august 27th) but it had a really strong demo that charmed my pants right off, if it were a person I’d compare tips with it in order to create two impossibly great lady getting conquistadors. More about Braid lies after the jump… (more…)

If you head over to Jonathan Blow’s official Braid blog and muster up the effort to move your sweat encrusted scroll wheel downwards, you’ll be transported to the comments section where a very interesting discussion is going on with regards to Braid’s price point of 1200.

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When I say play in 3D, i mean SEE in 3D. Giant Bomb have uncovered a hidden feature of Bizarre’s latest title, which activates a 3D camera mode. Unfortunately you can’t continue playing when the camera mode is activated, but it’s still pretty cool to see the game in the third dimension. I’m blogging on the road this week so I haven’t had a chance to try it out, but I’ve seen enough comments that confirm it works, for me to bother writing this up.

Details after the jump.

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After Ticket To Ride was released on XBLA a few weeks ago many were clamoring for a European version. Luckily the fine folks at Next Level Games were eager to please, with this new version of the game being released earlier this morning.

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As you may well know Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 came out on XBLA this morning. Will it be an retro rehash of the original or a fully evolved sequel?

Find out after the jump.

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Though it’s been a bit slow lately, August looks to be a good month for the Xbox Live Arcade Digital Distribution Platform that features on the Xbox 360 Entertainment Unit with Online Capabilities and Media Functionality as revealed by The Gamerscore blog.

Hit the jump and prepare to drool…due to drugs coming out your PC screen. The games are good to.

[UPDATE: According to the Official Japanese 360 Blog Braid will cost 1200 MS Points and Castle Crashers will set you back 1800 MS Points (the most expensive arcade game ever). Bionic Commando and Galaga Legions are both 800 MS Points. Even though this is the Japanese price, American and European prices are almost always the same. Microsoft have just lost 2 sales, because I won't be buying at that price.]

[UPDATE 2: Microsoft are denying these prices for both the domestic and international markets, saying that the actual prices will be revealed on August 4 and 25]

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I have friends I play GTA4 with.

I have friends I play CoD4 with.

I have friends I play Rock Band with.

I do not have room for all of those friends on my friends list.

Fortunately I have solved the whole problem for Microsoft. Now all they need to do is execute. (more…)

I decided that I’d been ignoring the offerings on Xbox Live Arcade for too long. The last game I’d “purchased” was Undertow. And we all know how that story ends.

But I came across this little game called Gripshift in the deep dark recesses of Xbox Live Marketplace. Now I’m blowing off CoD4 and R6V2 invites to instead collect gold stars like an addict. This game was totally worth it. (more…)

It seems that nowadays there’s always someone charging you for every game, especially on XBL. It’s a jungle out there and you might find yourself bombarded by all the extra crap to “enhance you gaming experience.” Luckily, Sarcastic Gamer is here to help you make the smart choices that both you and your wallet will find favorable.

Get a pen and paper, you might want to write this down, or just turn on you printer, you cheap ass. (more…)

That’s right XBL users, Undertow is back. After the success of the original, we’ll be blessed with an expansion to Undertow.

It’s ready today for you to download on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Come on, you know you want it. (more…)

I’ve always wanted to play Rez. I dunno why. When it came out for the PS2, at the time, it just didn’t interest me. As my tastes in games changed, I sought out Rez, but couldn’t find Rez anywhere. It had become so scarce, and such a collector’s item, that the game was fetching between $50 and $100 on eBay.

Too rich for my blood. Luckily I just picked it up yesterday for $10. Oh yeah, and it’s in HD too… Suckers.

Find out what I liked about this quirky little rythm shooter, after the jump!

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