Microsoft isn’t bluffing: Log on to Xbox Live® within the first 48 hours after launch and download Texas Hold ‘em completely free of charge! This full-featured poker title for Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360™ will launch on Wednesday, August 23, at 0800 GMT (1:00 A.M. Pacific Time).

For 48 hours only—through 0800 GMT (1:00 A.M. Pacific Time) Friday, August 25—as a special limited-time only promotion, all Xbox Live Gold and Silver members can download the game at no charge.Starting at 0801 GMT (1:01 A.M. Pacific Time) Friday, August 25, Texas Hold ‘em will be available for 800 Microsoft Points.

I have to say that this works for me, I can’t complain about it because I will get it for free my only thing is how are they (Microsoft) going to justify the others paying 10 dollars for this game if you don’t get it in the first 48 hours especially when UNO was only 5 dollars and that was an awesome game.
-Steve

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Pac-Man will be out on Wednesday (8-09-06)on Xbox Live Arcade and if history repeats itself the game will differ from the original Arcade classic in which way only time will tell. Make sure you download the demo first before dropping your 400pts. For me I will pass on this title because I had it on the first version of XBLA and don’t think that I should have to pay for it on the 360 version of the arcade. If you do download this game please give us your take on it here at XBL Radio.

-TOG out-

Wednesdays, this summer, have been hailed as ARCADE Days for XBLA. However, it seems as most of the hump-days have offered lackluster titles. Frogger, Galaga, and SF have all come and gone. Nothing new and original in any of these three games. However that doesn’t seem to be hindering the downloads for the Arcade. SF2 is a boni-fide success. Frogger and Galaga seem to have sold as well. Even with the above mentioned games; are XBLive subscribers happy with the Arcade? XBLR has brought this topic up many times, and the answer is no, more often than yes. However MS may be getting crossed signals due to the success of most inexpensive titles selling rapidly. Are we purchacing these titles due to a desire for the games, or is it merely we have MS points and we might as well use them for something besides gamer-pics?

Here is a brief list of what you can expect in the upcoming weeks:
Texas Hold ‘Em on August 16: (Not free anymore, but probably the most anticipated)
Time Pilot on August 23: (Is this game really in demand?)
Scramble on August 30: (Not much to get excited about)
Lumines Live! on September 6.: (The one game that should be fun multi-player)
No definative release dates for most games.
Cross-checking the release dates with the respective games’ Web sites on Xbox.com reveals nothing, as there are no listings for Time Pilot or Scramble and no clear release dates for the other games (except for Lumines Live! which shows an incorrect July 2006 date).

XBL Radio is hosting a free UNO tournament for our listeners. This is free to enter and you will have a chance to win 1600 MS points if you win the whole thing. All you have to do is post here by Friday the 11th of August by 12 pm pst with your gamertag. We would like to also know when your availability is because we have to be fair to everyone and we will try to get all that want in to be able to play so we will go out of our way to schedule night gamers with other night gamers and day gamers with day gamers. This tournament will start on Sunday the 13th and continue till we have one winner. I will post a tournament bracket later to see the results and who your playing. It will be up to the winner to let me know who won the match. The rules will be simple, you don’t show you lose and standard scoring no custom scoring. If you have any questions feel free to email me at Steve@xblradio.com or ask here in the post.

Make sure you come back to the site for more info, I will post the tournament bracket up on Sunday and you need to see that to see when you play.

Here is a gameplay video of Lumines Live which is coming to the Xbox Live arcade in the coming months. But be warned it will costs you 15 dollars to buy if you want the game which is a little to pricey for me, especially when I think what I games I can get for 15 dollars on the xbox live arcade.

Steve519

Download: [Lumines Live! Gameplay Video]

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Are you the kind of person who hates his pets dying on him because he couldn’t do everything a pet owner should do? Or maybe you’re the kind who doesn’t want the responsibility of taking care of pets? Regardless which type you are, this game might interest you.

AquaZone, an aquarium simulation game originally made for Sega’s Saturn console in 1996, is now making its way to the Xbox 360. Virtual pets don’t die, and their appearance will depend on what the owners like - precisely the reason why people are inclined to “take care” of virtual pets.

For those who do not want the responsibility of taking care of a pet that will eventually die (or just like fish watching using a plasma TV), AquaZone may be the perfect game. Now being formatted for the Xbox 360, this aquarium simulator will have several varieties of fish to choose from. There will also be plants, rocks, and even shells that you can place inside your fish tank to make it a more comfy habitat for your virtual fish.

There will also be other downloadable goodies on the Marketplace so that your fish tank will not be stagnant. You can download new pet fish too, and have fun with them by virtually feeding them.

AquaZone will start shipping in September, so make sure you have your \$35 to pay for your lovely, hassle-free and entertaining virtual pets.

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THQ’s financial filings reveal that the company is preparing to bring a port of the classic puzzle game to the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade.

THQ has acquired the rights to release the classic arcade puzzle game Tetris on the Xbox 360 in the US and Europe.

The news comes on the heels of a dispute between publisher THQ and The Tetris Company, which recently granted Nintendo the rights to develop its own DS-based version of the puzzle classic.

No release date is known, but it’s not likely to be far off. We’ll keep you posted.

http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=64308

Whilst compiling his own list of Xbox Live Arcade sales figures, Neogaf forum goon C4Lukins uncovered a few interesting points about a handful of Arcade games. Full list of sales figures and meaningless trivia after the jump.

Would you believe that more than twenty thousand UNO gamers suck to the point of having never won a single-player game? And where simple mathematics would dictate that with four default lives and receiving 50 points upon death, (4 x 50 = 200) people are actually able to get less than 200 points in Joust! The other little notes:

The worst finishing time on the first level of Marble Blast Ultra, is over an hour.
Over 40 people purchased Geometry wars between 1am and 2am Central time while I was compiling this list.
Cloning Clyde sold 8500 copies on its first day, and 5410 on its second day.

By checking out the lowest scores in the Leaderboards - since Microsoft never releases sales figures - C4Lukins managed to compile a list of how many of each arcade game’s been sold. Here’s what he’s got as of Friday, July 21:

Astropop- 21,321
Cloning Clyde- 14,063
Crystal Quest- 29,557
Feeding Frenzy- 50,229
Geometry Wars- 188,428
Joust- 45,010
Marble Blast Ultra- 107,886
Mutant Storm Reloaded- 38,726
Robotron 2084- 22,887
Smash TV- 78,790
Uno- 143,223
Wik Fable of Souls- 15,591
Zuma- 70,264

Those are, at any rate, figures he’s absolutely sure of. Interesting stuff, and it’s good to see Cloning Clyde do good. http://www.xboxic.com/news/1312