Alongside all the cool freebies to celebrate Xbox Live's 5th Birthday, Microsoft has announced a new program called Xbox Originals. Simply, the new program allows you to download classic Xbox games directly to your console.

The program will begin on December 4th alongside the latest dashboard update which will also include features like the Family Timer.

The following games will be available at the launch of the service:

• Burnout 3: Takedown
• Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
• Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
• Fable
• Fuzion Frenzy
• Halo
• Psychonauts

All the games will be available for 1200MSP.

Join me for a wee bit of dissection and discussion after the break.

[via Xbox.com]

The Xbox 360 version of Xbox Live Arcade breaks the century mark this week with a licensed family oriented game and a new IP from Frozen Codebase and THQ. The games are Shrek-N-Roll and Screwjumper! respectively.

Are you more excited for puzzly family fare or base jumping while blowing stuff up?

Both games come in at 800MSP and will be available everywhere (except Korea and Japan) this Wednesday.

[via Gamerscoreblog]

Short and sweet: Chair Entertainment says their Unreal 3-powered, twin-stick, underwater shooter Undertow will arrive on XBLA on November 21st.

I guess October was just too much to hope for. Then again, this might be the most notice we've ever gotten for an XBLA game. And I am not complaining one bit.

To celebrate the upcoming release, they've graced us (well, technically IGN) with a new trailer. Enjoy!

[via IGN, thanks Blue_Falcon]

In case you have forgotten, Snack Strong Productions is sponsoring the Unlock Xbox contest -- a way to take your Doritos-themed XBLA arcade game idea and turn it into reality.

The finalists were announced back in August. Now, working betas of their games are up and running on the Unlock Xbox website. The winner will be determined by your votes, so get over there, play some games, and let your voice be heard! Just remember that the winner will be announced November 19th, so don't wait too long.

Once a winner is selected, NinjaBee (a subdivision of Wahoo Studios) will take the winning game and flesh it out into a full blown XBLA title for all of us to download. In my mind, that's a great choice of developer -- a team with lots of experience and creativity to burn.

[via Press Release/UnlockXbox.com]

We knew Mutant Storm Empire was coming this week (Yes!) but it looks like it will be the only full release this week. However to cheer us all up, Microsoft has sent out a press release (after the break) that details the next crop of titles for XBLA. We won't mention that War World and Sensible Soccer are still conspicuously absent. Wait, I already did mention it. Oh. Sorry.

List now, details and press release (Get Your Freak On!) after the break.

N+, Screwjumper!, SHREK-N-ROLL, Spongebob Squarepants: Underpants Slam, Switchball, Undertow, and Word Puzzle (glad we got that name straight finally).

[via Press Release]

In the midst of darkness, a bright light has shone down from the heavens to lift my spirits. That light, Mutant Storm Empire, will arrive next week (spooky...on Halloween!). It'll be 800MSP, by the way.

Maybe my begging helped this finally get out the door?

Beyond being excited, the only other comment I can muster is this: Took you long enough!

[via Eurogamer, thanks to all that sent this in, I am indeed thrilled!]

We may not have an official announcement yet, but at least we've got some official confirmation. Robbie Bach (President, Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division) spoke with the Financial Times about the new SKU and had this to say:

"Arcade becomes [for us] the ability to bring in a new set of audiences. They're probably a little bit more casually focused, they're looking for a new family experience or they're more price focused."

After putting that quote throught the Anti-PR spin machine I came up with this: "We're desperately trying to avoid the hardcore image of the past but Nintendo is kicking our butts with those pesky 'non-gamer' types. So now we're gonna push this new Arcade dealie in the hope that we can stop the bleeding."

There is still some confusion about what is included in the Arcade package (hopefully this will be cleared up with the announcement) but it appears to come with 5 full arcade games (UNO, PAC-MAN C.E., Feeding Frenzy, Boom Boom Rocket, and Luxor 2) and also 5 demos. Does anyone out there have better info than that?

As a side note, nice that you get PAC-MAN C.E. instead of classic PAC-MAN. I love me some championship edition.

[via the Financial Times]

It's official. Battlestar Galactica will finally arrive on XBLA next Wednesday.

The PC version of the game will go on sale on the day before but it will cost a full $19.99. The XBLA version clocks in at half that or 800MSP. Not a bad deal for us console lovers.

Are you ready to blast some Cylons?

Requisite feature list after the break. Oh, and Destructoid has a review up too. Or you could peruse the site Sierra has created for the game. Plenty of options for all of you.

[via Yahoo Biz, DaKing240]

IGN helps us get to know a character that goes by "Tempest" in a short character preview of XBLA's upcoming scrolling shooter Omega Five. And they hint at a release date.

Honestly though, all they really needed to tell me about Tempest is that he has four arms and shoots lava and molten metal. He shoots acid too? Okay, why not? Sounds like a death dealing machine to me.

Up to this point we've only really seen a female protagonist but apparently there are more characters and each one provides a different feel and weapon loadout. Variety is the spice of shooters after all.

But most important of all, at the bottom of the preview they proclaim that Omega Five should arrive in November. Any marking of calendars out there?

I still can't get over the fact that Natsume (aka "The House That Harvest Moon Built") is making this game. Really? There's no weeding or petting of animals in this one?

[via IGN]

After a flurry of activity and information about Rocketmen: Axis of Evil back in August, Capcom has been very quiet about the game.

However, the refreshingly forthwright Christian Svensson (Sr. Director of Strategy at Capcom) has blessed us with more knowledge. And what's better, it's about the release date. On the Capcom forums he says:

Release, worldwide, cross platform is targeting mid-late October (slightly later than originally envisioned as we've decided to do full localization for Europe) however we need to find a window where both XLA and PSN can prop as near simultaneously as possible, which doesn't always work on our schedule. So long story short, it could be a bit later due to factors out of our control.

Sounds like we'll be playing this game within the month. And finally a bit of news that is positive for Europe (as opposed to the usual contest/free game that you unfortunates don't get) -- full localization. Cause to celebrate?

[via Capcom Forums, thanks prym3]