We got a great deal for all the Canadian readers in Xbox 360 Fanboy land. Future Shop (the "it" electronics retailer in Canada) is offering an irresistible Xbox 360 bundle. What's included is a premium Xbox 360, G.R.A.W, XBL Arcade: Unplugged, Ridge Racer 6, and our little gem Gears of War. The price is pretty nice and may make you want to slap yourself and call your pet salamander Sally. You get everything for the low, low Canadian price of $449.99. Better than playing hockey in the Summer and is just an all around good deal isn't it, eih?
IGN has the skinny on the retro Arcade stick that was revealed a few months ago, including a few tidbits that we didn't know about in August. The biggest of which is the addition of a "spinner" control around the smaller analogue stick on the right side of the controller. Older fanboys will recognize the spinner as a "paddle" controller, allowing accurate control in games like Pong and Tempest. Unfortunately, the stick still doesn't look well suited to old school fighters like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, or the announced Fatal Fury. On the other hand, it looks like it would be great for older titles like Pac-Man and Defender. The stick will be bundled with Frogger, Time Pilot, and Astropop for a suggested price of $49.99. Assuming the build quality is up to snuff, it sounds like a good deal for retro Arcade buffs. Anybody want one?
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. The Xbox 360 Fanboy RoboBlitz T-shirt contest is over. Before we say goodbye, let's crown our final winner. And the winner one one extra special, extra large men's T-shirt is ... Tony, who will wisely use this brand new shirt to put off doing his laundry for one more day (what about pants?). Congratulations, Tony and all of our other winners. We'll be contacting all of you shortly for your shipping info.
So, how do we let go of a contest gone by? We're not really sure. Look at it this way, you may not have won a shirt, but soon everyone can actually play RoboBlitz. That's something to look forward to, right? We'd like to take a moment to thank Tian Mu of the RoboBlitz dev team, Naked Sky, for making this possible. Thanks, Tian. We'd also like to extend an invitation to other companies for game related swag. People love swag, you silly companies! Send us swag and we'll ceremoniously give it away in a fabulous, buzz generating contest. Seriously, drop us a line. Wait a minute ... do they make Small Arms T-shirts?
We know, we know. We just won't shut up about Small Arms, but Mike from the Xbox Domain just sent us an interesting find. Check out this list of the official Live Arcade game forums at Xbox.com. Look closely, and you'll see that Small Arms is the only unreleased Arcade game with a forum. What's more, it looks like both the Defender and Small Arms forums were created last night. Is it possible that Microsoft had Small Arms on deck to release and hit a snafu? Was Defender on standby for just such an occasion? We don't know, but we suspect that MS has a pretty large catalog of old arcade titles that are ready to be published at a moment's notice, just in case a bigger game hasn't made it through certification (and of course there are the UNO decks to fall back on). The upshot of all this is that Small Arms just might be releasing next week -- or maybe even as another surprise Friday release à la UMK3. Will Small Arms see the light of day before Thanksgiving? We hope so, because it sounds like the perfect way to wind down after a turkey dinner.
Another Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday is upon us, and this week's entry brings us yet another retro title, Defender. Yay, Defender. Granted, I'm all aboutContra and maybe I'm not old enough to have fond memories of Defender, but every week that XBLA gets another Atari/Pac-Man era game, I die a little inside. When I write the headline, all I want to write is: "This week isn't Small Arms" or "Still no RoboBlitz." Where are all these exciting, independent titles? We've only got six Wednesdays left MS! Are you expecting people to buy Arcade titles as Christmas presents?
Again, I apologize to all the Defender fans out there, but it's high time we got another indie release on XBLA.
This is it folks, your last chance to win a RoboBlitz T-shirt. As usual, before we get into today's contest, we must announce yesterday's winner. And the winner of yesterday's fine T-shirt is ... Cth, for a very creative weapon idea: the pen is mightier than the sword. It's kind of a complicated idea, so we suggest you read Cth's description for yourselves.
So, here we are ... the final day of our RoboBlitz contest extravaganza. Today is the day that many of you have been waiting for, a chance to win a men's XL RoboBlitz T-shirt. The other puny large men's shirts and the tiny women's shirts would never fit your manly girth. Well now is your chance, because today, we're making the contest easier than it's ever been. RoboBlitz is about tackling your objectives in any way you want. You can do it however you please. In the spirit of this freedom, today you can choose to leave a comment about anything. Just comment on this post. It doesn't matter what you say, you'll be entered to win this mythical T-shirt. So, leave a comment and make history.
General contest stuff: Only one entry per person. Winners will be contacted via email in order to obtain shipping information. This contest is open to residents of the United States only
And the mighty RoboBlitz T-shirt contest keeps moving across the land, distributing T-shirts to those in need. Before we announce today's contest, we must pick a name from the proverbial hat. The winner of yesterday's RoboBlitz shirt is (fanfare) Beef! Beef's dream robot is named Ephraim, which is apparently Beef's real name as well. It seems that Ephraim's primary function is to be a clone of Ephraim. Some of you came up with other really good ideas, too. Read 'em all right here.
Now, what to do for today's contest ... we should really start coming up with these beforehand. Let's see ... okay, we have an idea. RoboBlitz has some really interesting weapons (don't believe us? Watch this). To enter today's contest, leave a comment describing an interesting, fictional weapon. You know, something that would be fun in a video game. The winner -- randomly chosen -- will receive a women's XL RoboBlitz T-shirt. We'll get the creative juices flowing by coming up with a weapon first. We would create the Poodle Launcher, which would launch specially trained ballistic poodles (properly shaven for aerodynamics, of course). So there you go, get crackin' and good luck.
Update: This contest is now closed. Click here to see the winner and enter the latest contest.
General contest stuff: Only one entry per person. Winners will be contacted via email in order to obtain shipping information. This contest is open to residents of the United States only.
Our friends at Gamertag Radio recently sat down with some of the team behind Capcom's Lost Planet and got a surprise interview with Gastronaut Studios (the team behind Small Arms). While he was at Gastronaut HQ, Godfree snapped a picture of the above poster. Apparently Small Arms was originally called Hipshot (good change, guys). Listen for talk of Lost Planet multiplayer (six grenade types?!) and plenty of info about the Small Arms development process. Unfortunately, the real questions were never answered. For example, will Devil May Cry ever see the light of day on 360? No answer. What about a Small Arms release date? "Soon." And so, we're back where we started. Still, if you're looking forward to these games, it's worth a listen.
Maybe we should do one of these "podcast" things ...
The RoboBlitz contest train keeps a-rollin' along. Now, before we get started with today's contest, it's time to announce Friday's winner. And the winner of a women's large T-shirt is ... Jack Lukic for his Green Eggs and Ham inspired quote:
"Look a box,
inside is a fox!"
Congratulations, Jack. Now for today's contest. RoboBlitz has cool robots. We like robots. We're betting that you like robots, too. So, today we'd like you to make one. No, you don't actually have to build one -- this isn't BattleBots. Just leave a comment about your dream robot. Give it a name and describe what it does. The winner will receive a large men's RoboBlitz T-shirt. Also, we know some of you have been holding out for XL sizes. Well, fear not, for they are coming. We still have a men's and women's XL to give away. In the meantime, start dreaming up robots.
Update: This contest is now closed. Please click here to see the winner and enter the latest contest.
Okay, first thing's first: yesterday's winner is (drum roll) Beezer, for his comment, "Just turn a glass full of water around! Pretty impressive, isn't it ?" That's something pretty fun you can do with physics, I guess .... Anyway, on to day 2 of our fabulous contest. Today's contest is for the ladies (or anyone who wants a woman's shirt anyway). The shirt to be given away is a large women's T-shirt. This one is a lovely sky blue with dark blue collar and sleeve cuffs, and Blitz in the middle. It's oh so attractive and the boys will just love it. So, let's see, we need a contest. Ooh, ooh, I know! RoboBlitz has a catchy hip hop theme song, so let's do something in the spirit of song. To enter today's contest, all you have to do is leave a comment that rhymes. By the way, that means you will have to use at least two whole words. Get rhyming and good luck. Our (random) winner and our next contest will be announced on Monday.
Update: This contest is now closed, to see the winner, click here.
General contest stuff: Only one entry per person. Winners will be contacted via email in order to obtain shipping information. This contest is open to residents of the United States only.
GameTrailers has released a new video of Small Arms, one of the most anticipated games on Xbox Live Arcade. The video shows an entire round of play and gives a great overall impression of what it will be like to play the game. What we love most is how much noise each character makes. We especially like hearing the characters scream when they're on fire. Nice touch, Gastronaut. Now how about actually releasing the game? Let's say, oh, next week? See the video after the break.
We invited our readers to playGOW together this week, encouraging them to check out our leaderboard and make friends. Many of you were disappointed that the leaderboard was full (they only allow 100 people per board), so we decided it was time to add another leaderboard and expand our community. Introducing the Xbox 360 Fanboy Leaderboard Mark II. It's just like the other one, except it features our would be mascot created by Alan Fowle for last month's Luminescontest (pictured on the right). If you couldn't make it onto our first board, head over to MGC and register. If you've already registered for the first one, there's no need to register for the second. Before you go, we need a name for our mascot (assuming Alan is okay with us using it). Allow me to make the first suggestion: Button Face. See? You can do better than that, right?
File this one under "They took it down so it must be true." According to 1UP, a 2D version of Team17's Worms series is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. Furthermore, it's actually complete and awaiting certification from Microsoft. To prove their assertions, 1UP posted a link to the Team17 forums, supposedly confirming the game's existence. It went a little something like this:
"Plans for announcements are being discussed with MS next week, hold tight. The game is in final certification stages btw, yes it's pretty much all finished apart from any last bugs they find. MS has a schedule of releases and we'll soon find out how we fit into that"
It looks like someone spoke too soon (and presumably outside of NDA), as the post has since been, ahem, altered. It now reads,
"Tom has a small todger."
So, is Worms coming to XBLA? Probably. Will it come out this year? We don't know for sure, but we'd say not, considering MS has a pretty solid lineup, um, lined up. Worms would definitely fit on XBLA. The gameplay is simple yet addictive, and it's turn based, so you won't have to deal with nasty lag. Anybody else up for some Worms on XBLA?
The image above contains two screenshots from an online co-op game of Contra. The picture on the left was taken by one player, and the picture on the right was taken by the other ... at the same time. In the words of Wired Game|Life, "XBLA Contra Co-Op Play Is F**ked Up" They're not the only ones who noticed either: IGN seems to be having the same problem. We haven't replicated the problem here at Fanboy Towers, simply because we've been too busy playing Gears to pay for Contra. Has anyone else out there experienced this problem? If you wanted Contra for the online co-op, you may want to wait for Konami to fix this problem before you pay for the full version.
Some of you may recall that I was a little jealous of the RoboBlitz shirt that Naked Sky gave to Gamertag Radio's Godfree. It looks like Naked Sky's Tian Mu (who we interviewed yesterday) was listening, because he sent us not one, not two, but five T-shirts to give away. We have three men's shirts and two just for the ladies. Starting today, we'll give one away every day. What do you have to do to win? Well, we're not sure, but we'll think of something new every day.
Today's T-shirt is a men's large. Bearing a picture of Blitz the robot on the front, and the RoboBlitz title smartly emblazoned on the right sleeve. RoboBlitz is all about physics, so if you'd like to have this shirt as your very own (your preciousssss), all you have to do is tell us something fun you can do with physics. You know, things like kicking a ball, using a lever, or curb stomping a Locust. So, think something up, leave it in the comments, and we'll choose a winner completely at random. If you don't win today, just come back tomorrow. And if you don't win tomorrow ... well, then you'll have to come back Monday, but still, that's an awesome shirt, right? Get to it and good luck.
Update: This contest is now closed, and we are on to Day 2. Check out our new contest here.
General contest stuff: Only one entry per person. Winners will be contacted via email in order to obtain shipping information. This contest is open to residents of the United States only.
We got a great deal for all the Canadian readers in Xbox 360 Fanboy land. Future Shop (the "it" electronics retailer in Canada) is offering an irresistible Xbox 360 bundle. What's included is a premium Xbox 360, G.R.A.W, XBL Arcade: Unplugged, Ridge Racer 6, and our little gem Gears of War. The price is pretty nice and may make you want to slap yourself and call your pet salamander Sally. You get everything for the low, low Canadian price of $449.99. Better than playing hockey in the Summer and is just an all around good deal isn't it, eih?
IGN has the skinny on the retro Arcade stick that was 
Another Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday is upon us, and this week's entry brings us yet another retro title, Defender. Yay, Defender. Granted, I'm all about Contra and maybe I'm not old enough to have fond memories of Defender, but every week that XBLA gets another Atari/Pac-Man era game, I die a little inside. When I write the headline, all I want to write is: "This week isn't 
We invited our readers to 
File this one under "They took it down so it must be true." According to 1UP, a 2D version of Team17's Worms series is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. Furthermore, it's actually complete and awaiting certification from Microsoft. To prove their assertions, 1UP posted a link to the Team17 forums, supposedly confirming the game's existence. It went a little something like this:
