Volume is always good, volume is always good.  That’s what I keep telling myself when we get days like this with these kind of releases. Quite frankly, these kind of releases are bizarre, the only good thing is that Tower Bloxx Deluxe is a Microsoft published title which continually gives me hope that Outpost Kaloki X (also MS Published) will someday be a BC title.  I will say Stacking is supposed to be pretty good, but personally I haven’t played it.  Enjoy.

• Daytona USA $9.99
• Stacking $14.99
  • DLC w/Achievements: The Last Hobo King $4.99
• Tower Bloxx Deluxe $9.99

Welp, last week I think I took a trip back in time.  In addition to playing Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds (Frau DLC Pack), I also jumped back into two other 360 games…Borderlands 2 and Burnout Paradise.  I’m not sure why I picked up Paradise (well Big Surf Island was on sale, that’s true), I know I’ll suck at it :).  But then, that’s the only racing series that I actually enjoy myself at, regardless of how I’m finishing.  I think I’m gravitating towards more 360 games lately because I finally have my upstairs finished to the point where I can play a 360 BC game downstairs on my Xbox One and then if my wife wants to watch something, I go upstairs and resume that game.  The power of cloud saves and backwards compatibility.

Anyway, sale time.  This week is the usual Bound by Flame, Mars: War Logs and Realms of Ancient War (still not BC) sale (hey…where is Faery: Legends of Avalon?).  There is one odd ball thrown in there and that’s the original Puzzle Quest which is a steal at that price.  I wish I could earn the achievements all over again, but unfortunately I’ve beat it to death, DLC included (which sadly only takes a couple of hours).  Lots of Resident Evil stuff, but sadly none of it is BC either.  Maybe that will change this week.  We can hope.  Enjoy.

This is why I check on Monday the previous week’s sale page.  I’m guessing this happened around the same time as the DLC for Mass Effect 2&3 dropped in price.  This includes DLC for Burnout Paradise, Dragon Age Origins, SSX, and Skate 3.  I went ahead and bought Big Surf Island for Paradise, $3.49 is a steal.  It’s a shame the other two packs are still $4.99 and way overpriced.  My guess is that the sale for these DLC will last another week but on the odd chance it only goes through tonight, well at least I put it up here.  I do apologize, but life gets in the way sometimes (especially with these unannounced sales).

(Also including the Mass Effect 2/3 DLC on sale since I’m a nice guy)

Almost Final Note: Mass Effect 3: Citadel (2 of 2) is free, but requires you buy the first one (if you weren’t already aware). 

Final Note: If you buy the Assassin Creed IV season pass, you get the season pass for the Xbox One version free. 

Well thank goodness, I thought I was going to have to call out the search party.  We have four games today, two of which I actually own (Luxor 2 and Poker Smash).  So that’s always a good thing.  Unfortunately, Street Fighter IV is not Super Street Fighter IV which is the one I own.  As most of you know that frequently read this column, I am obsessed with compilation discs.  Luxor 2 is on a compilation disc called Xbox Live Arcade – Compilation Disc (simplistic I know) and can be had cheaply at most used shops.  It should work, but I’ll verify tonight.  And I don’t know a darn thing about Madballs except I think I had a couple growing up.  That’s about it, enjoy.

• Street Fighter IV $19.99 (cheaper on disc)
• Poker Smash $9.99
• Luxor 2 $9.99 (cheaper on compilation disc)
• Madballs Babo: Invasion $9.99

Welp, saw this via a tweet from CAG, but Mass Effect DLC is on sale.  I won’t bother listing ALL the titles but there is some free stuff and cheaper stuff.  It’s not fantastic but it’s certainly worth looking at for fans of the series.  Also, Heavy Weapon is up as part of GWG today.  Finally, I would like to bring up that it’s been now 2 weeks since we have had a BC announcement.  That has me concerned and I certainly hope the Major has something in store for us today around lunchtime.  We shall see.  Enjoy.

Welp, for the last week I’ve been only playing Torment: Tides of Numenera and Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds (Frau DLC) and those honestly not all that much.  It’s certainly not from lack of desire, just lack of time.  I did get the online achievement for the Frau DLC so I can go back to slowplaying that game when I get more time (whenever that is).  Boosting sessions rarely work for me, but that one actually went through fairly well with little hiccups.  Anyway, we have sales this week, and some good stuff.  I’ve already bought Axiom Verge and Knee Deep for the X1 and might have bought two others if it weren’t for price (Her Majesty’s Spiffing) and a ton of unobtainable achievements (Westerado).    I would pay particular attention this week to the fact that Assassin’s Creed III & its season pass are on sale despite not being BC.  If you like the series, it’s a gimme at those prices.  Outside of that, a lot of usual suspects but maybe a few things that you had forgotten about.  Enjoy.

Welp, this past week I said goodbye to another game, PacMan 256.  I slowplayed that sucker to death (25 hours of game time over about 8 months) and it’s finally done.  With that, I started Torment: Tides of Numenera and I am enjoying myself so far.  There are a few issues with it, but it was so worth pre-ordering.  It’s unique…I hope to have a review in a week or two.  Anyway, we have some sales to talk about.  There are returning sales from Electronic Arts and a few new ones too with the likes of Mega Man 9 and 10.  Then there is also the Witcher 2 at an insane price (if you didn’t get it free those many moons ago).  Oh, the Frau DLC pack for Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds drops today.  It’s a little overpriced ($5.99) but it does have 500 achievement points.  Since I’m a big fan of the game, I’ll probably pick it up.  Enjoy.

It is March kids.  As a result, we have 4 very odd, very different releases to backwards compatibility this week.  You can see the tweets here and here.  Overall, I’m sure some kids are awfully happy as well as some Dead Rising fans, but it’s few and far between for sure.  But as always, we appreciate the volume and hope that the next batch serves up something far more interesting.  Enjoy kids.

• Cars 2 $19.99 (also available on disc but much more expensive)
• Meet the Robinsons $19.99 (also available on disc as a much cheaper option)
• Dead Rising 2: Case West $9.99
• Dead Rising 2: Case Zero $4.99

In the midst of typing out the usual Deals with Gold post, I saw this number also on Major’s site.  Since it involves BC games, I figured I would post it here as well.  Basically, it will act like EA Access in the sense that they’ll offer so many games, put them on your Ready to Install tab for you to play.  Just as long as you keep the $9.99 a month coming.  As mentioned, this includes BC games as well.  I spot Lego Batman, Fable III, Tekken Tag 2, and I think that’s Soul Calibur II at the end as well.  And I’m sure there will be plenty more (probably all four Gears of War, Shadowrun, some Halos, etc).  Anyway, it’s not for me as I’m too picky and choosy but for those with kids and the bandwidth to spare, it’s downright perfect.  Good stuff, keep it up Microsoft.

Welp, within the last week I 100%ed both Lego Batman and then in a 16 minute laugh session, Sonic Fighters.  Absolutely hilarious, at least one achievement was popping up every round.  Was it worth the $2.49 I spent?  No, but if I multiplied out what a ticket costs, I probably laughed more than I do at most stand-up comedians that I’ve payed for.  But I’ve basically cleaned up most of my games since Torment: Tides of Numenera drops today and hopefully my preorder is at Gamestop waiting for me (I know evil, but I get a steelbook out of it).

Anyway, we have lots of sales this week.  The most interesting thing is that we get three DLC packs totally free including the awesome expansion to Dragon Age Origins:  Awakening.  SSX and Battlefield Bad Company 2 also get DLC freebies (too bad I have no intention of playing though).  Pay attention to the Alien Breeds and Worms 2 who despite not being BC, are insanely low prices of $1.24 each.  Worms 2 is coming, I can feel it and the Alien Breeds are supposedly not bad games either.  Lots to look at and by the way….a word to the wise Bully, GTA IV (DLC as well) have either been cheaper or are currently cheaper on disc…just be careful.  Red Dead too.  Enjoy.