If you were going to buy any one game in this Summer of Arcade Monday night Combat would be it. In my opinion of course.

I got my first glimpse of this game back at PAX East in March. Crowds of people huddled around the screens waiting for their chance to try their hand at the game. It looked like a decent game but I of course forgot all about it until this Summer.

MNC is a third person shooter that takes place in different battle arenas. In Blitz mode your mission is to protect your Money Ball from wave after wave of robots that want to destroy it. You can take on these bots with a buddy in spit screen or with up to 3 three others over Xbox LIVE.

Money Ball

Rather take on human enemies? In Crossfire mode you not only have to protect your own Money Ball but your real objective is to destroy the opposing team’s Money Ball. Along with the bots you encountered in Blitz mode you must hold your own against a team of six human controlled players.

As for weapons and classes, there are six different characters to play as. Each with different weapons and skills that will aid in your pursuit to destroy the Money Ball.

So if you have the points and are in the market for a good Arcade game hit the download button on this one.

Xbox LIVE Arcade’s second game in this Summer of Arcade series is Hydro Thunder Hurricane. An arcade style speed boat racing game designed as a sequel to Hydro Thunder which you might remember from your original PS/N64/dreamcast days.

Hydro Thunder

Now I’m not a huge fan of driving/racing games but I was really drawn to the graphics and the colors in this game. Like most racing games you race on tracks to earn credits to unlock new tracks and boats. There’s also a multiplayer mode. You can choose to race your friends in split screen or race over Xbox LIVE.

After being blown away by LIVE’s first game this summer, LIMBO, Hydro Thunder Hurricane left me a little disappointed. It’s a nothing special speed boat racing game. So if you are not into racing games I wouldn’t bother. If you played the original and want a game that is pretty much the same besides the upgraded graphics, go for it.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane

I am still trying to figure out how to describe this game. It’s a game that will make you feel the full range of you’re emotions. LIMBO is a puzzle game that puts you in the shoes of a little boy who wakes up in a dark forest. You are given no explanation, goal or direction.

The lack of explanation didn’t bother me, I immediately felt like I knew what I needed to do. I needed to find my way out of the forest. Easier said than done of course. Being a puzzle game, making your way through the world required you to push boxes/chains, avoid buzz-saws/giant spiders, and many other obstacles.

No need to adjust your TV, this game is in black and white. But the lack of color adds to the mystery that is the core story of this game. The same can be said for the lack of dialogue.

While it’s a game that some can complete in one sitting, others (like me) found themselves getting frustrated with some of the puzzles. This was the queue to put it down for a while. Come back with a clear mind and you’ll wonder what the hold up was.

LIMBO is the first game of Xbox LIVE’s Summer of Arcade. It certainly did not disappoint. If you want a game to challenge your mind and raise your eyebrows shell out the MP for this game. It’s well worth it.

There you have it folks the first Special Edition console using the new 360. Very fitting that it should be a Halo title. And holy crap it looks freakin awesome!

As for the specs… via kotaku.com

The bundle will be available on Sept. 14, when Halo: Reach also launches. It will cost $399. It includes the standard Xbox 360 S configuration inside the Limited Edition, UNSC-stamped silver housing, the two silver controllers, and the game.

To add to awesomeness there are also Halo-ish sounds accompanying the console according to Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson.

So if you love Halo and want the full on Halo Reach experience, you might want to start saving up those pretty pennies.

The official price for Xbox 360′s motion control peripheral was released yesterday. Kinect, as expected, will set gamers back $150 and will include the launch title Kinect Adventures.

For those new to the Xbox 360 party there will be a $299 console bundle on the release of the sensor. The bundle will include the redesigned 360, Kinect, and Kinect Adventures. The console will not include a 250GB hard drive but will include 4GB of internal memory.

According to IGN.com the sans-hard drive console will not have the shiny finish of the more expensive version but will include the other features such as the built in WiFi.

Also if you haven’t heard, the new Kinect games will be packaged in purple cases.

I’m not going to lie, I will miss 1 vs 100. It was a great concept and always a good time. I mean I never made it into the “100″ or got to be the “1″ but I still had fun playing.

Getting gamers together to answer trivia for reall prizes in a LIVE game setting is a pretty cool idea. 1 vs 100 was a new step towards getting gamers from all ages and game types to come together. You could get the whole family to join in and compete or team up.

Hopefully we’ll see other games try to do what 1 vs 100 did.

Statement from Dave McCarthy

When we started on this journey, we knew we were creating an entirely new genre of entertainment that would be a continually evolving concept. We’re very proud of the ‘1 vs 100′ team and their accomplishments, and are excited to apply what we’ve learned to future programming.

For those of you out there who have no need for a 250GB hard drive but would love to get your hands on the new Xbox 360 it looks like there’s something on the way for you.

A listing on Amazon Germany was spotted by ign.com for a 4GB Xbox360 Arcade. The memory will most likely be in the form of a usb stick. Very few details are included in this listing but the console will run you $199 and could be released as soon as the end of this Summer.

Via msnbc.com

Microsoft has not officially announced the price of its forthcoming motion-control device known as Kinect, but according to their own store it’s likely to run $150.

So it may not be official but it’s looking like gamers will be shelling out big bucks for Kinect. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am a little bit. As cool as Kinect looks (to me at least) the hardcore gamers are just not interested. Hardcore gamers are a staple for the Xbox 360. A price like that will push any thoughts of buying it right out the window.

As for new buyers to the 360 it might prove too expensive for a console, Kinect, and games. Unless they have an amazing bundle around Christmas time. Personally, I would have rather seen the price closer to the $100 mark but I’m still going to buy it.

So MS you’re not fooling anyone. We all expect that to be the actual price. So just get it over with and make it official so you can be bombarded with complaints from people who will buy it anyway.

It seems that Microsoft has given the new Xbox 360 some brains. As stated in my previous post, there is no more Red Ring of Death(RROD) but that doesn’t mean this console won’t make you see red.

Pics via engadget.com

Looks like we’ll have a red dot to warn us it’s time to put up the shades and expose our pale skin to the sunlight. Although this will be highly annoying if it happens in the middle of a game it is relatively preferable to the death of your console.

That of course doesn’t mean it won’t break. There is just a new error system that I am sure we will create a funny name for in the future.

What this basically means is that you just literally won’t see any red lights. But the hope is that the new systems will have the lowest failure rates of all the past 360 systems. Makes sense since they’ve had a ton of time to work on it since the first 360 generation in 2005.

So gamers if your current system is making you see red, I suggest picking up the new system if you have the cash.