Curry, over at Xboxic.com has posted a relatively in depth preview of Mad Tracks from his trip to the Load Inc offices. The more I find out about this game the more I think it's the perfect game for a Friday night with a case of beer and a bunch of friends.

Check it out here.

If you start up Joust, you'll be prompted to download an update. Although this news is actually several days old, we refrained from posting about it because there was no official announcement about what the patch was for. However, most of us assumed it was a patch to fix the broken Wave 100 achievement and we can now confirm that the patch does indeed enable this elite achievement.

Check out XBox Live user Jovanel's gamercard.

The 12 achievements for the highly anticipated (and no longer free) XBLA poker game have been revealed. They seem like a decent set...decide for yourself.

Over the next week or so, IGN will have a five part feature focused around XBLA. This series promises to reveal some new XBLA games, so stay tuned. The first part of this feature is part 1 of IGN's new interview with XBLA's Greg Canessa. Check it out.

At 1am PST this morning (That's 4am for those of us on the east cost), Microsoft released the third title of their XBLA Wednesday promotion, Galaga. At just over 15 MB, the 1981 arcade classic comes with "...over 250 levels, full worldwide leader boards , unique Dual Fighter combination attack mode, all with the original music and sound effects."

For those of you who remember and love this game, make sure you check at least download the demo. For those of you who expect a certain amount of "extra" put into their arcade classics, go back to playing Frogger, as this is simply a very bare bones emulated version. There is no online play, no updated sprites, and even the achievements are lackluster. Achievements are only unlocked after your game is over, which isn't all that big of a deal because chances are you'll have them all within about an hour.

Lucky for me, I'm a huge Galaga fan.

If you are reading this, it means that you've found XBLArcade.com's beta site for version 3

 

Here's what needs to be worked on:

• Final fix up for the forums
• Final fixup for the rss feeds
  
• Import site
• Go Live

We're trying to get to go live for this weekend, wish us luck.

I have just received my September 2006 issue of the Official Xbox Magazine, which has a pretty nice section of Xbox Live Arcade goodness. While it shares everything that we already know, there is one part that caught my eye, as will yours:

It says that before Labor Day, which is September 4th, we will be seeing four additional arcade games released; Texas Hold 'em Poker, Time Pilot, Scramble, Lumines Live!. Other details include:

- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 will have Live Play, (Of course?)
- Vision camera will work with Uno, Texas Hold 'em Poker, Hardwood Hearts, Hardwood Spades
- Scramble will feature side by side competitive multiplayer, for two (No co-op?)
- Lumines Live! will be 1,200 Microsoft Points

Joystiq has interviewed XBLA's Greg Canessa, and some interesting things came out of this, including:

- Texas Hold 'em Poker will not be free
- Texas Hold 'em Poker will have a 'bankroll' system
- The next batch of XBLA games will be announced in around a week
- Releases have been secretly cuing up

Visit Joystiq for the lengthy interview.

Two games have been announced for Xbox Live Arcade, according to Game Informer. Xbox' successful indie game Alien Hominid is to make it's way onto the Arcade later this year, while Castle Crashers will be early 2007.

Why not make Alien Hominid backwards compatible? .. For those who do not own the game on the Xbox, it wouldn't be a problem. But for those who do have the original, would you throw down 800 - 1200 Microsoft Points for a game you already own - for achievements, HD Support, etc..?

Thanks to Hexx and Audie for this information.

Betcha guys didn't see this coming... .. ....

Ok, ok, we all seen it coming. Following the Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays release schedule, Cloning Clyde has released today for 800 Microsoft Points.

Do you think it's worth 800 points? Are you disappointed? Surprised? Love it? Hate it? Let us know. I personally love the game thus far, and I like the fact that these small developers can create original, fresh, innovative content and give us the 'bang for our buck'.

Many kudos to NinjaBee.