Three more for Xbox Live Arcade on Weds
RocketBowl, Sam Shodown 2, Shotest Shogi.
Another week, another three new games for Xbox Live Arcade - set to be released tomorrow, 10th September - in an effort to swallow up a few more of your Microsoft Points and thoroughly exorcise lingering recollections of the Summer of Quality. Not that we don't have high hopes for RocketBowl, Samurai Shodown 2 and Shotest Shogi, but...oh who are we kidding.
Sadly nothing to do with your aunt's petunias, RocketBowl is in fact a crazy ten-pin bowling game where you can bounce the balls off the walls and earn upgrades for your bowling balls. The screenshots point to something akin to crazy golf. No doubt it will have an easy time securing your 800 Microsoft Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60)...
Next up is Samurai Shodown 2 from SNK, which refreshes the character line-up from the original NeoGeo beat-'em-up and its control system in a way that will undoubtedly be appreciated by teenagers brought up on Halo and Gears of War. Judging by the screenshots there's some funky bordering going on too, but it's only 400 MSP (GBP 3.40 / EUR 4.80), so we're inclined to be nice to it overall.
Finally, there's Shotest Shogi, based on a Japanese tabletop strategy game. We have absolutely no idea how it works and the Wikipedia page is intimidating, but apparently it's a chess variant and these screenshots show how it looks in action. 800 MSP for this one too (still GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60).
Elsewhere on Xbox Live tomorrow, there are 1200 new puzzles for Buku Sudoku (200 MSP - GBP 1.70 / EUR 2.40), while N+ receives 150 new single-player levels, 50 new multiplayer races and 25 new survival maps as part of a 200 MSP add-on.
Look out for our reviews of this week's three XBLA games - and indeed last week's trio - sometime tomorrow.