Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade 2012 Dated and Priced

As the Summer months are generally much quieter in terms of retail releases, it’s always good time to turn to the digital channels or get through some of your ‘pile of shame’ in preparation for the madness that will be Holiday 2012. As is the norm, Microsoft’s annual Summer of Arcade promotion will be kicking off July 18th with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD, through till August 15th with Dust: An Elysian Tail. As per usual, there’s a good mix of titles from all genres, and in an attempt to offer something for everyone, there’s even a Kinect title in there too!

The full schedule (from Major Nelson) is as follows –

Date	Title	Price (MS Points)
July 18	Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD	1200
July 25	Wreckateer	800
August 1	Deadlight	1200
August 8	Hybrid	1200
August 15	Dust: An Elysian Tail	1200

As is similar with previous promotions, you’ll be able to get 400 points back if you purchase any three of the titles. I guess it couldn’t have been an all or nothing approach since there’s a Kinect title in there, and if you didn’t have one….well you’d be stuck with a game you couldn’t play.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is likely to be the most anticipated title of the bunch, and it’s looking to be a return to form for the series, or at least play on the nostalgia factor. Wreckateer is an angry birds style physics puzzler which utilises Kinect to aim, fire and even control the shot after the fact. Deadlight is a very impressive looking side-scrolling adventure title in the vein of Flashback, Another World, and more recently War of the Worlds, providing a more linear atmospheric title as opposed to the more open landscape seen in Shadow Complex. Hybrid is an interesting looking competitive third person multiplayer shooter, with a large focus on cover, though not how you might expect. Instead of having free reign of movement through the environment, you’ll pick a piece of cover and move to it through the air, though there’s a little give and take, as to keep the routes slightly less predictable. To wrap it up, Dust: An Elysian Tail is a beautiful looking 2D side-scrolling adventure title coming from a very small team, one to keep an eye on.

The line-up is looking pretty strong this year, which titles will you be picking up?