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About Steve Melton

Steve is an Indiana native with a degree in Computer Information Technology and a background in technical writing. He has also written for the newspapers and other periodicals at the schools he attended. A gamer for over 20 years, Steve finds that Xbox Live Arcade is the perfect fit for most of his gaming needs; classic gameplay at a bargain price.
Latest Posts | By Steve Melton
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate leaps from handheld to XBLA in April
10 years ago

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate leaps from handheld to XBLA in April

Batman-Arkham-Origins-Blackgate-Deluxe-Edition

Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate, the handheld companion game to Batman: Arkham Origins will soon make the jump to the Xbox 360. Subtitled Deluxe Edition, the new Metroid-esque, 2.5D brawler will retain the gameplay of it’s less deluxe parent, but will improve on visuals and adds Dolby 5.1 surround sound. Console players can also unlock a Zero Year Batman suit by signing into (or registering for) their Warner Bros ID account. The Armature studio title feature motion comic-styled cutscenes and a fully voiced narrative. The game arrives April 1, 2014 and will retail for USD 19.99. No word yet on whether any cross-unlocks will occur between the original Origins and Blackgate. Hit the jump for a trailer, additional screenshots, and the press release.

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Assassin’s Creed: Liberation review
10 years ago

Assassin’s Creed: Liberation review

Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD was developed by Ubisoft Sofia and published by Ubisoft. It was released January 15, 2014 on Xbox Live Arcade for $19.99. A retail copy purchased by XBLA Fans was used for review purposes.

Assassin’s-Creed-Liberation-HD-1

The Assassin’s Creed series is like an addition. Once you play one, you have this inner compulsion to play them all. It doesn’t matter which game got you hooked, you find yourself needing to complete them all. The polished gameplay and incredibly engaging story of this saga keeps you coming back, even though with each installment you say “I don’t think I can do another one”.

Yet you do. With each game you tell yourself you can put the controller down, but each time you play the next installment. But one game was out of many people’s hands. Assassin’s Creed: Liberation was originally released in October 2012 as a PlayStation Vita exclusive. But most of us didn’t own a Vita. We played our games on a 360, a PlayStation 3, or a Windows PC. The Vita was just too darn expensive to merit the price.

But 2014 brings Liberation to current gen systems in a big way. Finally everyone can experience the story of Aveline, set in the Louisiana swamplands. And brother, it is glorious.

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XBLA’s Most Wanted: Iron Man 3
10 years ago

XBLA’s Most Wanted: Iron Man 3

iron_man_3_coverGames tied to movies have a history of being terrible. They often have rushed development cycles, and most are so tightly linked to the movie that it’s impossible for the developer to have any sort of real freedom during their creation. Sure, sometimes we get an instant classic, and once or twice we’ve been blessed with a genre changer like Spider-Man 2. But let’s be honest, it’s a rare thing when one actually lives up to player expectations.  Developers like High Moon Studios can’t even take their amazing work on the Transformers: Cybertron games and translate that into a good movie title.

Given all this it’s not surprising that publishers are looking for ways to continue to cash in without breaking their development budget. We’ve seen attempts to bring games to Xbox LIVE Arcade, most with poor results. Games like R.I.P.D. and The Expendables 2 are ho-hum on their best day. But smart movie studios have gone mobile. Android and iOS developing giant Gameloft, who were initially known for their console clones N.O.V.A. (Halo) and Modern Combat (Call of Duty), have struck gaming gold with movie tie-ins. By breaking down gameplay to core ingredients they’ve seen success with both Despicable Me 2: Minion Rush and Iron Man 3: The Official Game. Both may be “just” endless runners, yet somehow both are also en..dless fun. And we think Iron Man 3 could be just as fun on the 360.

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Refurbish your 360 part 1: The greatest custom Xbox 360s ever made
11 years ago

Refurbish your 360 part 1: The greatest custom Xbox 360s ever made

ironman 360 case

Let’s be honest here. You love your 360. It’s your baby. But after years of use that white casing is looking more yellow than white. It’s got dings, scratches and that little USB door doesn’t close any more. But under the skin she’s just as good as ever. So maybe it’s time to breathe some new life into the old girl. But since it’s long out of warranty why not splurge and create that 360 you’ve always wanted? Today we present you with the first in a multi-part series on making that old console look new again. We’re going to inspire you by starting with some of the greatest custom 360s ever made. Some are merely case mods, some are so extreme as to turn the console into an on-the-go laptop.

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Behind the scenes with Castle of Illusion
11 years ago

Behind the scenes with Castle of Illusion

By  •  News, Videos, Media

In March of this year rumors of an enhanced remake of the 1990 Sega/Disney sleeper hit Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse began to surface. A month later it …
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Scourge: Outbreak released
11 years ago

Scourge: Outbreak released

By  •  News, Media, Videos

The cooperative action-shooter Scourge: Outbreak was released today. It’s a third person cover shooter with online cooperative and competitive modes. From what we know of the game it’s like …
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Don Mattrick leaves Microsoft
11 years ago

Don Mattrick leaves Microsoft

By  •  News

Yesterday it was announced that Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business division, would be leaving the company to pursue a career as CEO of social games giant …
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Rumor: Microsoft no longer charging devs for patches
11 years ago

Rumor: Microsoft no longer charging devs for patches

The cost of developing a title update may have just gone down significantly.
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Trials Tuesday – Episode 15
11 years ago

Trials Tuesday – Episode 15

So we have a wishlist for Trials Fusion. . .
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