Update: The countdown seems to be pegged to your IP address's local time. Gamers on U.S. Eastern time say they have about two and a half-hours left right now. So, midnight, wherever you are, it should be out.

The Behemoth tweeted about it late last night, directing people to this countdown site.

The pack will include two new characters - the Necomancer and the Cult Minion. There will also be a new Animal Orb - the Dragonhead, and two weapons: the NG Skull Mace and the long-awaited chainsaw.

The Behemoth Presents - The Necromantic Pack [Castle Crashers.com, thanks lockerhaxor]

The pack includes two new characters - the Necomancer (natch) and the Cult Minion. There will also be a new Animal Orb - the Dragonhead, and two weapons: the NG Skull Mace and the chainsaw.

"Yes, ... the damn Chainsaw," writes Kelly for The Behemoth.

"We will post the date as soon as we find out!" Kelly adds. That goes for the price, too. "Once again, this is completely up to Microsoft. But I can leave you with a tantalizing ... SOON."

Necromantic Pack DLC [The Behemoth, via Joystiq]

But the game was playable on the Comic-Con show floor, split into three parts, each game type a multiplayer affair for up to four players. Is that the maximum number of players? Behemoth folks at the show wouldn't say. It's another thing that's "TBA."

Game 3 is, as far as we can tell from our hands on time with the game, a series of competitive and team-based multiplayer platformer games with a Behemoth flair. You'll customize the look of your adorably animated character, drawn in the Dan Paladin style, then enter a hub world full of doors, each leading to various game types.

There's "Grab the Gold," which features a floating gold whale that defecates gold bricks. Pick up those bricks and transport them to a floating winged safe to deposit your winnings. Whoever has the most gold when the timer runs out wins the round.

"Soul Snatcher" is a game of keep away. Players will lose their souls if they're knocked out, have their heads stomped upon, or burn to death. Grab the floating, frowning soul and play keep away. The longer one holds onto an opponent's soul, the higher their score. Big scores beat small scores. Obviously.

Game 3 also features a slightly less violent competitive mode, "Paint the World." Run your character over the gray and white blocks the level is built from to paint them the color of your team. The more tiles you own, the more points you score. The catch is that tiles your character touches don't instantly take on your team's color, meaning an opponent could swoop in and make it his own. The level will also "de-colorize" some tiles during a broadly sweeping desaturation event, forcing you to revisit some tiles.

All of these game types get a little more interesting, thanks to the combat items one chooses for their character. These include, but are not limited to, weapons like an exploding Frisbee, a mortar that launches blocks of ice, a fireball and an electric fan. That fan is one of the defensive options, pushing back opponents and the projectiles they'll send your way. A bouncing ball, described to me as the best item in the game, certainly didn't seem that way, based on my use of the thing.

At close range, players can melee with their fists. That's called "punching" someone.

The Comic-Con demo was enjoyable, if limited, and definitely promising. Game 3 is cute, customizable and combines familiar game modes into a package that's in line with The Behemoth's previous work on Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. The flyer for the game indicates that there will be a single player component. It also promises unlockables, depth and replayability, features and [can't make this word out] and the reas... that word gets cut off too. Look, it's gonna have stuff in it.

While there are no details on when the game is coming, how much it'll cost or whether the Sony version will include any exclusive content, we do know the game is real, and that it will be out sometime in the future. In the meantime, check out the below vid to see the PS3 port in action.

Castle Crashers First Look [GameSpot]

For a game released by such a small team, that's a tremendous achievement. Course, when you factor in people who bought the game but never logged a score, (hey, it happens, for whatever reason), it'll look even better.

I'd normally now ask politely for a direct sequel, but am thinking Castle Crashers: Natal instead. Give me a real workout, fitness games be damned.

Thanks A Million [The Behemoth]

That's what the developer is asking fans in the latest blog posting over at The Behemoth Blog, where they've been keeping an eye on the number of players showing up on the Castle Crashers leaderboards. With 900,000 players crashing in the eight months following the game's release, they're asking players to post their guesses as to when they'll reach the big one million. The closest guess in their forums come the big day will win...something.

I'm not sure yet what the prize will be for this.. but rest assured. it will be awesome, nay…SPECTACULAR! if there are lots of close entries, we will award lots of cool prizes.

It's not every day you get a chance to win something vaguely spectacular! Check out the blog posting at the link below to find out how this spectacular thing can be yours.

900,000 strong [The Behemoth via VideoGamer.com]

Castle Crashers actually won three categories in the Xbox Live Arcade Awards, the annual awards voted on by the players themselves. Along with Game of the Year, it was also awarded Best Co-op Mode and Best Original Game. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix was the other big winner, taking home three awards for Best Remake, Best Versus Mode, and Best Graphics. The final three categories were one-offs, with A Kingdom for Keflings winning Best Family Game, Braid taking Best Innovation, and Portal: Still Alive winning Best Single Player.

So how do those results look to you guys? Fair? Completely off? Too Street Fighter-y? Discuss.

The developers behind Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid also said they will be showing a very early version of the game off at the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 20 and 21.

Until then they've posted this single shot from the game which offers little insight into game play, but at least gives us a sense of the art style.

Tokyo Anime Fair and Game #3 stuffs!

In his blog, the Muttpop president waxes on the development process behind the Luchadores Five figures. Apparently, some of the early sketches were so inspirational to Silva and Frissen, they "decided we could e-mail bomb our favorite toy companies and a videogame company called Behemoth."

Behemoth had just released ALIEN HOMINID for the Gamecube and Xbox. I really felt like the spirit of that game had something in common with what we were doing. I heard that the Behemoth guys were thinking of doing a multiplayer game so I was trying to convince them to do one with the Luchadores Five and Tequila. Both Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin got back to me via email. They really loved the designs I sent them (I sent the 2 'pitch' jpegs below and a few final pencils images of some of the other characters from Luchadores Five) and were going to talk to their investors about the possibility of collaboration.

Obviously, it didn't work out. But I think I can see some similarities between the green Crasher and the Tequila sketch. Could it be the green luchadore mask?

Muttpop Lucha Libre Beginnings [Muttpop Blog via Offworld]

Artist Dan Paladin writes on the Behemoth's Development Blog of Development that the studio is "off to a very strong and solid start," but is understandably cagey on details. (We anticipate something animated that displays graphics on screen.)

"The game has proven to be a lot of fun for the people that we’ve shown!" Paladin writes. "Perhaps we can start posting imagery later on and begin a guessing game about the game. It’s like two games in one! Maybe we’ll just flat out tell you, though, and ruin the guessing game."

And that's about all we know. Considering how long development on Castle Crashers took — not to mention the title update to fix the little bugger — we'll switch into Patience Mode while we slowly anticipate the Behemoth's next.

Dan Paladin; Best Blogger of 2009 [The Behemoth Development Blog]

The Castle Crashers: King Pack hits XBLA tomorrow, with it gobs of new content for all the good little boys and girls. The Open Faced Grey Knight and The King join the fray, bringing with them a new seal animal orb called Pelter (ha!), three new weapons, and the King's Heal spell, which heals both yourself and your party.

Twisted Pixel's The Maw is an action adventure platformer that places you in the role of Frank, an alien stranded on a strange planet with the Maw, a strange, blob-like creature that acts as his only friend and ultimate weapon, all at the same time. It's the type of game I would have readily picked up at retail (Crecente probably would agree), so getting it for a mere 800 Microsoft points on the 21st seems like a steal.

So Xbox Live Arcade has had a slow start this year, but it looks like they'll be fully up to speed by the time we get our greedy little hands on The Maw.
Let action and adventure fill your January with the release of “Castle Crashers: King Pack” downloadable content and “The Maw” on Xbox LIVE Arcade

There’s nothing like a jam packed January from Xbox LIVE Arcade to whittle away those winter blues. You’ve been ringing in the new year with international investigation in “Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos,” but it’s officially time to crash some castles and master The Maw!

“Castle Crashers” is the game that keeps on giving after the holiday season with “Castle Crashers: King Pack” downloadable content available on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 9 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. PDT), while indie title “The Maw” hits the circuit Wednesday, Jan. 21.

It’s time to revisit your favorite modern medieval magic kingdom and load up on two new kicking characters - the Open Faced Grey Knight and the leader of the fearless knights, The King, a new seal animal orb named Pelter, and three new weapons, including the Gold Sword. Last but not least cast a new spell called the King's Heal which heals not only yourself but your party as well!

Re-storming the castle not quite enough to carry you through the month? Keep a lookout for full featured 3D action/adventure indie title “The Maw” and try your skill at navigating a strange planet with an even stranger blob.

With no powers of his own, Frank must rely on a blob-like creature named Maw. Discover the mysteries of the Maw’s abilities as you try to pilot Frank around the dangerous planet and ultimately help him escape the ruthless bounty hunters. An unlockable theme and gamer pictures will earn you bragging rights for the month of January .

Published by Microsoft and developed by The Behemoth!, “Castle Crasher: King Pack” will be available for 160 Microsoft Points per pack, worldwide. The game is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

For more details on “Castle Crashers” please visit: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584108b7/?of=7

Published by Microsoft and developed by Twisted Pixel Games, LLC, “The Maw” will be available for 800 Microsoft Points, worldwide. The game is rated E+ for Everyone 10+ by the ESRB.

For more details on “The Maw” please visit: http://mawgame.com/

Tune in to hear Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb talk about the year in Xbox 360, his confidence of Xbox Live stability during this year's new adopter holiday crunch and the bet I more than likely lost.

Don't forget to check out our other Holiday podcasts:
A Very Special Kotaku Holiday Podcast
Media Molecule Talks LittleBigPlanet Moderation, New Pitches and How The Found Out About That Recall
Resistance 2 Podcast: Multiplayer Tweaks Coming
Call of Duty: World at War: Balancing Historic Realism With Fun

Watch Video Podcast - Castle Crashers with Larry "Major Nelson: Hyrb on your iPod or Zune!
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Subscribe to our Kotaku Video podcast on iTunes and the Zune Marketplace.

Forgive us if we went a little overboard, or maybe underboard, with this first Holiday podcast. It started out with us doing an in-game interview and then sort of took on a life of its own.

Check out this full length holiday special if you're looking for something to do between meals, while waiting to open presents or just trying to escape from all that family time.

Included in our special are interviews with a slew of developers in a bunch of games like LittleBigPlanet, Left 4 Dead, Castle Crashers, Resistance 2, Home, Call of Duty: World at War and Gears of War 2. You'll even catch a glimpse inside Kotaku Tower and at the majesty of Fahey's mighty knitting.

Now sit back and enjoy and make sure to blame all over acting on the director... or McWhertor or anybody but the guy in the tiger-print robe.

Watch A Very Special Kotaku Holiday Podcast on your iPod or Zune!

Right click save link as and download the video here.

Subscribe to our Kotaku Video podcast on iTunes and the Zune Marketplace.

Nearly four months after the game's release, the update is scheduled to be made available at 2am Pacific Time, Wednesday. That's some Christmas present!

There's no word on just what is to be fixed, but coming at the end of a four month wait, we'd expect it to not only address the game's numerous online issues, but throw a few Christmas treats in for good measure.

TITLE UPDATE CHRISTMAQUANZAKAH MIRACLE! [The Behemoth]

Three months later, with patience wearing thin, the X3F guys bugged the Castle Crashers dev team who told 'em that "the update's release is definitely reaching the end of the process" but that they still can't talk about a release date. It's still in Microsoft's hands apparently.

So, hurry up and wait, again. Hopefully this will be a "Surprise! It's out!" kind of thing and not the sort of item appearing on a New Year's resolution list.

The Behemoth: Release of Castle Crashers patching nearing 'end of the process' [X3F]

Soon, the economic downturn will mean that such frivolous purchases will be beyond the spending power of anyone not likely to be on MTV Cribs but until that fateful day, people will keep buying the grumpy military-themed bears and - with luck - customizing them into awesome Castle Crasher merch like this.

Custom Castle Crashers Teddy Troops [Albotas - thanks to BrownKidd for the tip]

Out of the games released, Castle Crashers is being heralded as a stand-out title for all of XBLA, while Braid wound up as the highest-rating XBLA title of all time, with Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 and Bionic Commando: Rearmed also making the top 10. That leaves poor Galaga Legions. There there, little retro redux. We still love you...just not as much. Hit the jump for the full text of the press alert!

The Numbers are in: August was a Scorcher for Xbox LIVE Arcade

Sure, we are coming off a long, hot summer, but it was Xbox LIVE Arcade that really made things sizzle. Critics agree: With the season’s best games released over the span of five weeks, the Summer of Arcade brought new players to the Xbox LIVE Arcade service in record pace. “Castle Crashers” “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2,” “Bionic Commando: Rearmed,” “Galaga Legions,” and “Braid” delighted gamers of all pedigrees and drove the most successful season on record for the downloadable games service.

Over the course of the five-week Summer of Arcade program there was a 58 percent increase in unique members purchasing titles, and August broke the monthly revenue high by 67 percent. August was also the first time that an Xbox LIVE Arcade game landed in the top 3 most-viewed pages on Xbox.com. The reason for all of this success? The games were really good.

“Castle Crashers,” an adventure title that came to the service on Aug. 27, currently sits at the No. 1 spot for the Top 10 Xbox LIVE Arcade games being played on the service today. In fact, it is being called a stand-out title for all of Xbox LIVE Arcade. “Braid,” a puzzle-platformer released on Aug. 6 quickly climbed the charts to become the No. 1 highest-rated game of all time on Xbox LIVE Arcade. “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2” and “Bionic Commando: Rearmed” also have spots in the Top 10!

“At E3, we committed to re-focusing the Xbox LIVE Arcade business, vowing to release bigger and better games while focusing on quality and not quantity,” said Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox LIVE. “The debut of the new strategy proved to be a huge success, with the Summer of Arcade making August the highest grossing month to date. But the focus on quality games doesn’t stop with the Summer of Arcade. We have plenty more great titles coming out in the next few months and beyond that we think will continue to fuel this incredible momentum.”

The service is geared up to continue on the record-breaking path with even more blockbuster titles, like “Portal: Still Alive,” “South Park” and “R-Type Dimensions,” slated to hit Xbox LIVE Arcade in the coming months.

Looks like this winter could be heating up…

The Behemoth: Castle Crashers Hits 250k Players, Fixes Coming [Gamasutra]

The tracks are released under a Creative Commons license that allows you to share or remix them as long as you give proper attribution and you don't try to use it for commercial purposes.

As well as listening to the tracks via the site, you can also download them directly using the little floppy disk icon next to the licensing info.

Joyous and free Castle Crashers tunes [Xbox 360 Fanboy]