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Microsoft Unveils 2011 Summer of Arcade Picks

Lineup includes Bastion, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and Fruit Ninja Kinect. Wait, really? Fruit Ninja?

Ah the Summer of Arcade, that special time of the year when children and adults alike can avoid basking in the warm summer breezes and touching anything that remotely resembles fresh air, and instead spend five straight weeks downloading and playing through five new Xbox Live Arcade games Microsoft deems rad enough to put in its Summer of Arcade promotion.

One of these games is not like the others...
One of these games is not like the others...

Most of the lineup actually consists of titles we around the Giant Bomb offices have been looking forward to for quite a while now, such as the debut title from Fuelcell Games, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, and Ubisoft's intriguing "spiritual successor" to Populous, From Dust. One I'm personally looking forward to is Toy Soldiers: Cold War, the follow-up to Signal Studios' surprisingly enjoyable tower defense game.

And then there's Fruit Ninja: Kinect. Yeah. Fruit Ninja. Kinect. Mmmhmmm.

Moving on! Last, but definitely not least is the debut title from Supergiant Games, Bastion. Obviously, we have a slightly vested personal interest in that one, what with all the coverage of it we've had via our Building the Bastion segments on the Happy Hour shows. Still, I'll try and remain as objective as possible in wishing congratulations to the Supergiant posse regarding their inclusion.

The promotion kicks off July 20th. No specific dates have been given for each title yet, but expect one a week for the five weeks starting on the 20th. Can we maybe have Fruit Ninja come the last week? During Gamescom? That'd be swell. Thanks.

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69 Comments

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samfo

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Edited By samfo

no trenched or ms splosion man... bizzare!!

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234r2we232

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Edited By 234r2we232
Still not sold on any of those games yet. We'll see. Maybe Giant Bomb would like Fruint Ninja Kinect more if Halfbrick featured an ex-coworker :/
 
@WinterSnowblind said:

No Trenched or Ms. Splosion Man? Probably the two biggest exclusives coming to XBLA, would have thought they'd be on here.

I don't say this often, but Comic Jumper was absolute garbage. After everything that was hyped about that game and it turned out to be a very unplayable inside joke for 1200 points. I hope Ms Splosion Man and that Kinect game they're working on (which looks exactly the same as Comic Jumper) are not picked for anything.
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benson

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Edited By benson

Nice, it's a better lineup than last year IMO

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deactivated-61665c8292280

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Anyone else hyped for From Dust?

. . . Anyone?

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Genjai

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Edited By Genjai

@Kyle said:

@Genjai said:

Fruit Ninja... So, wait, Fruit Dealer made a video game?

Actually, Fruit Dealer is the villain. He's the one throwing all the fruit and the ninja.

Dastardly... Can anyone stand up to such reckless hate?

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MrRedwine

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Edited By MrRedwine

Bastion will, of course, be amazing. From Dust looks really cool to me on a techy sandbox kind of like Black and White level. Fruit Ninja did not last me long on my phone, so I doubt I would pick up a console version. And that Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet looks intriguing, but not right up my alley. All in all, not a bad set of games.

Nothing will ever compare to the awesomeness that was two years ago with Castle Crashers, Shadow Complex, 'Splosion Man, and the other one which shall not be named.

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AgentJ

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Edited By AgentJ
@ez123 said:

Weakest Summer of Arcade yet.                                         

This. does Street Fighter Third Strike Online not count as summer of gaming?
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xpgamer7

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Edited By xpgamer7

No idea why Fruit Ninja needs to exist on a console especially on summer of arcade. Other than that all the other games seem awesome.

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WinterSnowblind

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Edited By WinterSnowblind

@sofacitysweetheart said:

I don't say this often, but Comic Jumper was absolute garbage. After everything that was hyped about that game and it turned out to be a very unplayable inside joke for 1200 points. I hope Ms Splosion Man and that Kinect game they're working on (which looks exactly the same as Comic Jumper) are not picked for anything.

I think that's harsh. Comic Jumper wasn't a brilliant game, the gameplay was definitely a disappointment.. but it was still hilarious and I don't think one bad game should negate everything else a studio does. 'Splosion Man and the Maw were still amazing games and I can't really see what can go wrong with Ms 'Splosion Man, it's more of the same but with more varied levels.

Gunstringer.. should have been a basic 2D platformer, without Kinect.

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EightBitShik

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Edited By EightBitShik

I'm excited about Shadow Planet, Bastion and maybe Toy soldiers other then that I am really disappointed in the games this year even the ones I'm excited about.... I read an article about a month ago where an analyst basically said "X" games are going to be it..... He only got one right damn I was way more excited about that other list. Bastion... was the game I was most excited about but I checked the six people who have made it really have zero experience in making games...so I'm crossing my fingers, because at least I like Greg.

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rmanthorp

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Edited By rmanthorp  Moderator

FRUIT NINJA!

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deactivated-5865c6a5c9438

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Aww man, I can't wait for Bastion.

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Coombs

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Edited By Coombs

I can't wait for Bastion, 
The narrated tale style looks really fun. 
 
I've been stoked for this one for months

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BraveToaster

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Edited By BraveToaster

I definitely need to play Populous to see what it's about. From Dust is interesting and I'm definitely getting Bastion.

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Edited By mattbosten

Really am looking forward to Bastion from everything that we've seen of it so far. From Dust also looks fairly interesting but I've seen nothing of the new Toy Soldiers or Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet.

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ManMadeGod

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Edited By ManMadeGod

Any idea on the price points for these games?

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xshinobi

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Edited By xshinobi

So I guess the PC version of Bastion is dead now :(.

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Zereta

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Edited By Zereta

After seeing Fruit Ninja Kinect, I think I have to say that that is my most anticipated game in Summer of Arcade. Followed very closely by Bastion and then Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. And of course, From Dust. Frankly, I couldnt give a fuck about Toy Soldiers but meh. 
 
Might be the strongest Summer of Arcade ever for me. Even edging out 2008's one. 
 
@Xshinobi said:

So I guess the PC version of Bastion is dead now :(.

Nah, its just a timed exclusive then. Same thing happened with lara croft and the guardian of light last year. Announced on all platforms from the get go, but exclusive start for XBLA, providing it a spot on SOA
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Bass

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Edited By Bass

@ManMadeGod: It's not known, but each game will probably fit into the $15 dollar (1200 MS point) range. There will also probably be some sort of discount for buying each game in SOA.