Arcade Hits [Xbox]

Larry Hyrb points out that Microsoft is slashing prices on four Xbox Live titles starting Sunday and ending Monday night. The Live fire sale cuts Small Arms, Zuma Deluxe, Gauntlet and Dig Dug prices in half starting 12:00 a.m. GMT on Sunday, September 2 and continuing until 11: 59 p.m. GMT on Monday, September 3.

Hit the jump for the list of games, description and prices.

Small Arms - 400 Microsoft Points (normally 800 Microsoft Points)
Easy to pick up but hard to put down, "Small Arms" is a frantic multiplayer action game with the feel of an arcade shooter.

Zuma Deluxe- 400 Microsoft Points (normally 800 Microsoft Points)
Explore more than 20 realms in Adventure mode and put your skills to the test in this fast-paced puzzle game.

Gauntlet - 200 Microsoft Points (normally 400 Microsoft Points)
The original dungeon crawler lets four adventurers explore and fight together as a warrior, valkyrie, wizard, and elf.

Dig Dug - 200 Microsoft Points (normally 400 Microsoft Points)
Experience the fast-paced action of this quarter-cruncher from 1982 as you take control of Dig Dug himself and vanquish Pookas and Fygars.

The Ivar & Gullarp pack for Small Arms just hit the Xbox 360 Live Arcade.

The 250-point pack gives you two new playable characters, two new levels and two new achievements:

Name: Ivar & Gullarp: Best Friends Forever - Frozen in Time Price: 250 Points Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions Dash Details: After spending one million years frozen together in the Arctic, Ivar and Gullarp know everything about each other. How could they not! They spent endless hours rambling about how to get stains out of their fur underpants, how to make the best stone tools, and which baby seals were the cutest. Yes, Ivar & Gullarp will be best friends forever, because forever certainly can't take any longer than global atmospheric climate change. This package includes playable characters Ivar and Gullarp as well as their 'Arctic Ice Float' and 'Pillaged Village' levels! This pack contains 2 new PDA levels.

The new achievements are:

Honorary Barbarian - 15 G
Complete Mission Mode playing as Ivar or Gullarp

Barbaric Recruiter - 20 G
Host an online match using the Iceberg or Village level

I might be picking this up. I like Small Arms, but I end up getting burnt out on it after about half an hour of play, so it's hard for me to judge whether a couple of new levels and characters will help that. Brian Crecente

Small Arms: Picture Pack and In game content [Major Nelson]

I spent an hour or two playing Small Arms on the 360 last night and have come to decide that while I like it, it's a little too simple to be fun for long bouts of gaming.

So I'm about ready for another taste of original Xbox Live Arcade content. Hopefully, Assault Heroes will satisfy my itch. The arcade shooter sounds like it could be a lot of Ikari-Warriors fun, though without the kick-ass rotating joysticks. Brian Crecente

Microsoft announces the Xbox Live Arcade Challenge, a gaming tournament that focuses on games downloadable through Xbox Live. There are actually two different competitions. The Lumines Live! challenge will run from the 17th to the 23rd of December, with the Small Arms tourney running from the 24th to the 30th. When the competitions end, the top 105 people on the leaderboards are winners.

What do they win? 1st place walks away with a 42inch Hitachi Plasma HDTV, with four runners up receiving an HD-DVD bundle, a wireless headset, and the ultra-pricey 360 wireless racing wheel. The remaining 100 ranking players for Lumines get '500 MS Points Tokens to be redeemed for Xbox Live imagery', with the Small Arms players getting a game theme plus 100 of the point tokens. Point tokens? Xbox Live imagery? Are these not just standard Live points? Confusing. Frankly doesn't seem worth downloading the full version of either of these if you aren't in the top five, so play to win, damn you. Make us proud.

Registration is set to start today, so keep an eye on the link below if you want a chance at delicious plasma TV goodness.

Xbox Live Global Tournament Registration Site [via Eurogamer]

In "Small Arms," up to four players can join in the battles across many dynamic and richly detailed levels. Gamers can choose from a cast of outrageous fighters like the cyborg tabby cat, assassin truffle pig and mutant chimney sweep. While jumping from platform to platform shooting with 360 aim, gamers of all skill levels will be able to pick up and play this innovative side-scrolling action title.

Full press release after the jump.

Small Arms Embraces Social Gaming on Xbox Live Arcade

Networking with friends reaps new rewards with this highly anticipated Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday release. The frantic multiplayer brawling game "Small Arms" will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 beginning Wednesday, November 22, after 0800 GMT (1:00 a.m. PST).

Social gaming innovation in "Small Arms," which begins with the four developers at Gastronaut Studios, will pass to Xbox Live Arcade gamers from around the world. "Small Arms" includes a unique social networking Achievement called "Six Degrees of Small Arms" that can only be earned by playing with someone who already has it - and which only the game's creators will possess at launch!

In "Small Arms," up to four players can join in the battles across many dynamic and richly detailed levels. Gamers can choose from a cast of outrageous fighters like the cyborg tabby cat, assassin truffle pig and mutant chimney sweep. While jumping from platform to platform shooting with 360? aim, gamers of all skill levels will be able to pick up and play this innovative side-scrolling action title.

"Small Arms" is available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points.

GAME FEATURES:

12 characters, each with their own weapon
8 unique levels
12 Achievements, including the innovative "Six Degrees of Small Arms" viral achievement
Up to 4-player multiplayer offline and on Xbox Live
Local Multiplayer / Xbox Live Swap - allows players to swap out a local friend with a friend over Live without leaving the game!
Three single player game modes (Story, Challenge, and Shooting Range)
Colorful 3D graphics with classic side-scrolling run and gun action
Expect premium downloadable content for this title in the future - providing new game play elements and unique challenges for Small Arms fans
Download "Small Arms" beginning on Wednesday, November 22, at 1 a.m. PST on Xbox Live Arcade.

"Small Arms": 800 Microsoft Points, Rated E10+, Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence

For more information, please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/livearcade.

"Six Degrees of Small Arms" viral achievement? I am intrigued. Michael Fahey

When it comes to announced XBox Live games, we pretty much abandon all hope until the game can actually be seen glowing through the cathode tubes of our television screens. Still, this is very cool: according to 1UP, the upcoming XBLA shooter/brawler Small Arms (video, above, because we couldn't find a screenshot) will have an achievement that can be gained by every gamer who comes in contact with someone who already has it:

The achievement, called "Six Degress of Small Arms," will start with the four Gastronaut (studio making Small Arms) employees as the only ones with the achievement. When someone plays with the Gastronaut employees, they'll get the achievement and the achievement will be contagious, spreading to players who don't have the achievement when they play with players who do. Pretty slick.

Just like syphillis! Florian Eckhardt

XBLA's Small Arms Nets Slick Achievement [1UP]

Extremely unfortunately named game blog K1lla's Xbox Domain just posted an interview with Co-Director/Developer for Gastronaut Studios, Don Wurster. Don is bright-eyed and full of beans about his new baby, which looks like a cross between Smash Brothers and Kung Fu Chaos:

Another character 'Mr Truffles' is an assassin truffle pig who uses a sniper rifle as his default weapon. The primary attack is a deadly accurate sniper rifle with a laser sight. As a secondary attack, the sniper rifle provides 'proximity mines' which you can leave behind around the level for unsuspecting opponents.

I already know who my favorite character will be! Also featured: rotisserie chicken. Eliza Gauger

'Small Arms' Dev Interview [K1lla's Xbox Domain]