A couple of years ago, World of Rabbit - The Dig became a mini hit on Windows Phone. The game is a wonderfully animated time management game set in a world where rabbits wage an underground battle against robots.

The sequel to World of Rabbit - The Dig was released in the Windows Phone Store the other day and takes your rabbits on a high seas adventure. World of Rabbit - The Crossing shares the originals lively animations and you still have to battle those pesky robots. Just this time around you do so in an arcade styled game.

Available for low-memory devices, World of Rabbit - The Crossing compliments the original rather nicely and is a fantastic addition to the Windows Phone gaming library.

The premise of World of Rabbit - The Crossing has your rabbit army sailing the high seas to collect artifacts needed for their survival. To collect these items, the rabbits must navigate open waters full of dangerous robots set on destroying them.

The arcade styled game play has you swiping at the robots as they attack your ship, collecting the artifacts and safely returning to your homeport. The game includes bonus features such as lockscreen wallpapers and 3D printable toys (for those of us lucky enough to have a 3D printer laying around the house).

We've only tinkered with World of Rabbit - The Crossing for a short time and it comes across as an entertaining, addictive gaming title for Windows Phone. We'll spend a little more time with the game over the next few days and get a full review up on the site.

In the meantime, feel free to let us know what you think of the new World of Rabbit title below in the comments.

• World of Rabbit - The Crossing - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Thanks, Jawad96, for the tip!

Back in June we reviewed a twin-stick shooter called JoyJoy, from the maker of Bombcats Special Edition. I found JoyJoy to be the absolute best game of its kind on Windows Phone, owing largely to its perfect controls and vibrant, peppy theme.

Now developer Radiangames is back with a shooter of a much different color: Super Crossfighter. Like JoyJoy, this game started life on the Xbox 360 where it was called Super Crossfire. The Windows Phone version (which launched simultaneously with Android and iOS, and supports 512 MB phones) has tons of balance tweaks and improvements that make it feel like a whole new game. Super Crossfighter is absolutely massive for a shoot-em-up, so genre fanatics won't want to miss it.

Warping to and fro

Super Crossfighter and JoyJoy are both shoot-em-ups, but the two games couldn't play more differently. Whereas JoyJoy resembles Geometry Wars in gameplay, Super Crossfighter hews much closer to Space Invaders and Galaga.

You won't need to worry about a second virtual stick or 360 degree aiming here; Crossfighter's ship fires straight ahead at all times. Meanwhile, the enemies move back and forth in simple left-and-right patterns à la Space Invaders. They never actually descend all the way into your ship though, so don't worry about getting squashed.

Seeing as how the Super Crossfighter ship can't move up or down, dodging enemy fire could get pretty hairy. Luckily, the game's unique warping mechanic gives players some freedom of movement. You can warp from the floor to the ceiling or vice versa at any time. This can help to avoid enemy fire, but the enemies can also flip and shoot up or down as well. The slightly 3D camera tilts along with the change between floor and ceiling, making for a dynamic (and possibly disorienting) perspective.

Many of the enemies in the game bear green shields that completely protect them from normal fire. Knocking out the nearby shield generators will disable those shields, at least. Alternatively, the rechargeable Super shot will blast shielded and unshielded enemies alike. To charge it up, you'll have to collect the purple gems dropped by enemies. Once you have enough gems, you can unleash a solid energy blast that tears through enemies – even shielded ones.

From time to time, a Space Invaders UFO-like ship quickly darts across the screen. Down it in time and the UFO will drop a power-up. You have to warp to pick up the item, a mechanic that should probably be explained by tutorial. Of the random item drops, one grants a temporary shield and another slows time for a while. There is at least one other power-up but I couldn't figure out what it does. Adding voice samples or on-screen text to identify the items would add some welcome clarification.

Campaign and upgrades

Super Crossfighter features a stunning 160-stage campaign, divided up into six chapters. Each chapter starts out with a little text crawl amounting to "the aliens are jerks, so we have to shoot them." The text is too serious and boring for its own good, but easily skipped.

After choosing between three difficulties (one of which must be unlocked), players will have to complete an entire episode in one go. You get several lives to work with, naturally. Should those run dry, you can continue from checkpoint waves (usually fairly close to where you died).

Every few waves, players will gain three skill points to spend on upgrades. You can choose between ten different upgrades, such as increasing your shot power, how far the shots spread, and ship armor (lives). Some upgrades cost more than three points. To get these expensive prizes you'll have to save up points instead of spending them.

The main campaign's 160 stages will take several hours to complete, which feels very generous given that most shmups are like 30 minutes long at most. But wait, there's more! Players can unlock a second "Dark" campaign with 160 more levels to blast through! Dark can only be played on the top two difficulties.

My main gripe about the campaign is its distinct lack of boss ships. Larger ships do pop up as you get farther into the levels, but they're still just part of normal levels. It would be more satisfying to face a true big boss at the end of every chapter.

Also, games like this really benefit from online leaderboards. Shame that Super Crossfighter doesn't have 'em.

Survival mode and Unlocks

As if two gigantic campaigns weren't enough, Super Crossfighter also packs three unlockable Survival modes. The goal in these is simply to rack up the highest possible score with a finite number of lives. The upgrades in each Survival mode are preset, adding to the challenge.

The Survival games, Ace difficulty, and other unlocks all cost Victory Points. You get these just from playing; there are no in-app purchases. Super Crossfighter's Unlocks menu has a ton of great stuff to choose from, including a score multiplier, a permanent extra shot for your ship's gun, and more.

My favorite unlockable is the Super Music Player. As you'd expect, it works like a sound test. But you can also alter the pitch and add filters to all nine songs. This creates some interesting and enjoyable variations on the game's standard techno soundtrack.

Speaking of music, I find that the sound effects drown out the music during gameplay. I wish we could adjust the volume of either element, but the game only lets you turn them on or off.

Finally, the game has several non-Xbox Achievements to earn. You get some Victory Points whenever you unlock one.

Controls

Surprisingly, JoyJoy's greatest strength ends up being Super Crossfighter's biggest weakness: the controls. The default control scheme has players moving the ship left and right using a slider at the bottom-left corner of the screen. The slider just feels weird and unresponsive, making the game less fun to play. There is also a tilt option, but that would never provide the responsiveness necessary for a shoot-em-up. Under these control types, pressing both thumbs on the screen simultaneously warps the ship.

Luckily, the "Arcade" control scheme is pretty good. Arcade replaces the movement slider with left and right buttons. It also adds a dedicated (and much appreciated) warp button at the bottom right corner of the screen. The game lets you adjust the distance between the left and right buttons somewhat, but the left button will always be too close to the corner of the screen. It never feels completely comfortable to me.

JoyJoy's virtual sticks were perfectly positioned and comfortably large as well. Super Crossfighter could follow that example by repositioning the movement buttons and placing them up and to the right a bit instead of so close to the edge of the screen. Alternately, a Gameloft-style virtual stick that repositions itself wherever the user places his or her thumb would work great. And for goodness' sake, don't make Slider the default control scheme!

Finally, the Android version supports MOGA controllers. So should the Windows Phone game.

Overall Impression

Control issues aside, Super Crossfighter is one of my favorite shmups on Windows Phone. It has a good unique mechanic (warping), a crazy number of levels, and lots of fun things to unlock. This is a premium game, but it gives a lot more bang for your two bucks than similar titles. Shooting game fans will flip (or at least warp) over it.

• Super Crossfighter – Windows Phone 8 – 29 MB – $1.99 – Store Link

Earlier this summer, we travelled to QuakeCon in order to catch a first look at Bethesda's new Doom game that is coming to Xbox One and PC sometime in the future. Xbox 360 owners can already play the first three Doom games thanks to the awesome Doom 3 BFG Edition, but mobile gamers aren't so lucky. iOS has Doom Resurrection and the Doom RPGs, but neither Windows Phone or Android have an official Doom game to their names. Windows Phone does have an unlicensed port called Doom GLES though.

Speaking of unlicensed Doom, we also have an app called Doom Shooter from M4Multimedia that will put a smile on Doom fans' faces. Doom Shooter is a free camera app/lens for both Windows Phone 7 and 8 (including 512 MB devices) that lets you pretend to shoot everything on your camera feed with the trusty Doom pistol. You can even add blood splashes to your photos for maximum authenticity. Doom Shooter has some obvious room for improvement, but the simple joy of seeing Doom graphics overlaid on your selfies can't be denied.

Looking like Doom

After launching the app, you'll find your Windows Phone's camera feed surrounded by a fairly authentic Doom overlay. The top and left sides of the screen have green-ish borders similar to what you would see when your hardware couldn't handle running the game at full-screen (such as the 3DO and Sega 32X versions).

The bottom of the screen houses the familiar gunmetal Doom user interface. From left to right, this includes a kill count, health display, arms (indicating which gun the user has selected in the real game), the Doom marine's face, armor display, and ammo count. Tapping the marine's face makes a grunting sound, which I believe would play when searching walls in the original Doom.

Naturally, the Doom marine's gun overlaps the bottom-center portion of the actual video feed area. Tapping the gun causes the marine's hand to rise up along with a muzzle flash. The genuine Doom pistol sound accompanies the animation, creating the effect that you are shooting at whatever you have on camera. The kill count in the bottom-left corner of the screen also rises every time you tap the gun. Relaunching the app is the only way to reset the count.

Picture taking and settings

To actually take a picture, you can either press your phone's camera button or tap the on-screen Capture button from the pop-up menu on the right side of the screen. The app immediately saves the image and asks whether you would like to share it. If you tap "ok," the app will send you to the phone's photo folder. From there, you can opt to share the picture like you would any other. Tap the phone's Back button to return to the app.

Pressing the "Switch Cam" button from the pop-up menu will switch between rear- and front-facing cameras on phones with two cameras. Shoot yourself or your friends with harmless virtual bullets!

Any photos taken will show the Doom marine's gun in its relaxed position. There doesn't seem to be a way to take a picture while the muzzle flash displays, unfortunately. But you can toggle two different blood splashes from the app's Settings menu. "Splash HD" shows a smooth red splash with bullet holes, whereas "Splash 8bit" (which should be 8-bit) displays a pixelated blood effect similar to those of the actual game. Either way, the blood splashes will be transparent. They only appear on the pictures you save, not while tapping the gun to make it fire.

The app also plays a synthesized female voice sample each time you launch the app. "Tap the gun to shoot," it politely instructs. But the original Doom doesn't have any voiced dialogue at all, so the sample feels inauthentic. The voice can be toggled in the Settings menu, but the app doesn't save the setting. Blast it.

Finally, the Settings let you turn vibration on or off. Leave it on and your phone will shake a bit when you fire the gun.

Gun types

The Settings menu also promises that additional guns will be added in the future. At present, users only get to play and take pictures with the standard pistol.

M4Multimedia plans to allow us to switch between the pistol, shotgun, machine gun (which should be chain gun), and plasma gun in the future. Those will be welcome additions, but they don't represent the full range of weapons from the first Doom. The app will still be missing the chainsaw, rocket launcher, and BFG9000. I don't know why the developer wouldn't add the full arsenal; it can't be that much more time-consuming to implement a sound effect and a couple of images for each weapon.

The app currently costs nothing, but the extra weapons won't be free. Users will have to acquire them via in-app purchase. Provided the full set only costs a dollar, and we get the entire range of weapons instead of only four, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it up.

Not quite perfect

Although the app and overlay look very Doom-like at first glance, they do have some differences and imperfections keeping them from pure Doom greatness.

First off, white text (in a modern aliased font) commanding "Tap the gun to shoot your opponent!" always occupies the top-left portion of the screen. It can't be turned off, and it appears even in screen captures/photos taken with the app. I understand displaying it right when the app starts up, but it definitely shouldn't stay there and mar the pictures we take.

Speaking of authenticity, the kill counter in the bottom-left corner of the screen uses a modern aliased font instead of the proper Doom counter font. It wouldn't be that hard to get the real numbers from screenshots. Hopefully the developer makes the effort in the future.

The app does display counters for the various ammunition types in the bottom-right corner of the screen, just like the actual game. But here the bullets counter doesn't decrease; it just stays at 43. That doesn't make for lesser screenshots like with the Kill counter, but it would still be a cool touch to see the number deplete (and then refill) when the user fires shots.

Overall Impression

Doom Shooter can't replace the fun of actually playing Doom, something I hope we get to do natively on Windows Phone before long. If you really wanted to play it that badly, you could use an emulator to play the Super Nintendo and GameBoy Advance versions. EmiPSX cannot currently play the Playstation One version of Final Doom (and probably not the original Doom either), unfortunately. Update: it turns out there is an unofficial Doom port in the Windows Phone Store called Doom GLES!

Still, this is an app that any fun-loving Doom fan should own. The photos you take will look a lot like the real thing – less detail-oriented people probably won't spot the UI inaccuracies. Hopefully M4Multimedia will tweak and improve the little niggles before too long.

There is a certain simple glee in walking around shooting real-life things with your phone. Imagine how cool a true augmented reality Doom game would be!

• Doom Shooter – Windows Phone 7 and 8 – 2 MB – Free – Store Link

Do you remember getting frustrated when playing Flappy Bird? This game that has just launched on Windows Phone will also get you very frustrated. More Here Eye is about trying to get as far as possible by going through or over colored blocks. Let's see how long you can play until you decide to throw your phone against the wall.

We've just installed More Here Eye on our Nokia Lumia 930. We haven't thrown our device against the wall yet, but our best score so far is 11 blocks. Head past the break to watch some gameplay video.

There's a very simple tutorial in More Here Eye that will get you started right away, but it took several rounds until I finally understood what to do. You play as an eye that can change colors. If there's a colored wall, you need to match it, so that you can go through it. If it's a colored floor, you have to change to any color that doesn't match, so that you don't fall down.

It sounds easy, but it' not. The eye moves very fast, so you have to react quickly. To swap colors, there are four buttons with their corresponding colors. Yellow and blue are on the left side while and red and green are on the right side. It would be beneficial to memorize the button's locations. The number of blocks you have successfully passed are displayed on top.

Game ends when you crash into a wall or sink down the ground. The current score is displayed on the left, while the best score is shown on the right. Playing again is just one click away.

More Here Eye is a free download from the Windows Phone Store. There are no ads or in-app purchases, either. Another thing that a lot of you might like is that it is supported by Windows Phone devices with 512MB RAM. Go check out More Here Eye and let us know how far you can make it.

If you're a fan of Minion Rush, we've got good news for you, as Gameloft released an update today that brings the much-awaited Jelly Lab along with new missions and costumes.

Here's all the new features found in the update, according to the changelog:

• Two new costumes to help you win more challenges: the Jelly Jar and Lucy disguise!
• Experience the game through the Jelly Lab and progress by accomplishing new types of missions.
• Play your way through the Jelly Lab and discover all the locations from the previous updates.
• If you've played the game before, don't panic! You can use all your previous progress and achievements in this new, even more fun version of the game!
• Overall bug fixes and optimizations.

The download size of the game is now at 103MB, owing to all the recent additions. Head on below to download the game, and let us know what you think of the recent update.

• Download Despicable Me: Minion Rush

Thanks Usama for the tip!

Skwirmy Free is a Windows Phone game that is reminiscent of the old Snake games but with a survival twist. You play the role of a worm that goes around eating up the neighborhood, seeing how large you can grow and avoid being eaten by the other bugs.

The more Skwirmy eats, the longer he becomes. This makes maneuvering skwirmy around the game screen a little more challenging and makes skwirmy a larger target for the other bugs to attack. The game has nice graphics, a decent challenge but lacks that intangible that keeps you drawn into the game.

Available for 512MB devices, Skwirmy is a decent game but I don't think it's strong enough to be your go-to Windows Phone gaming title.

Skwirmy's Layout

Skwirmy's main menu has your typical options to jump into game play, access the game's settings, visit the online leaderboard, view the help section and rate the game in the Windows Phone Store.

Settings are fairly basic with options to adjust the sound and music levels and set how you hold your Windows Phone (flat or tilted). This angle is important because Skwirmy uses your Windows Phone tilt sensors to steer Skwirmy around the playing field.

Game Play - Eat or be eaten

The game screen is not very complicated. Your score and length are displayed in the upper corners of the screen with an ad-banner resting in between the two. Skwirmy pops out of a hole in the ground and using the tilt sensors, you squirm him around the screen gobbling up everything in sight.

The more Skwirmy eats, the longer his body becomes. The longer his body becomes, the easier a target he becomes to the ants, centipedes and other insects scurrying around the screen. Skwirmy can survive a few bites from the other insects but as you would guess, if his body is completely consumed the game ends.

Overall Impression

Skwirmy isn't a terrible game. The graphics are nicely drawn-up, the game play challenging and it is not a bad gaming title to pass the time with.

The problem I found is that there is nothing to keep you pulled into the game. While there is the goal of staying alive and growing Skwirmy as long as possible, the game needs more. Something to set it apart from all the other snake-like games.

Maybe different gaming environments or levels of play where you have to achieve a set points score or length. Even bonus items would help give Skwirmy more pull such as a helmet that would give Skwirmy temporary invincibility or a grenade that would stun all the insects making them easier to gobble up.

While Skwirmy could use a little more meat on the bones, as is, the game isn't a total wash. It is a nice title to have in your gaming library for those times you need a break from your go-to games. It is a free, ad-supported title (you can get rid of the ads via IAP) so it won't set you back but the time it takes to install to try.

• Skwirmy - Windows Phone 8 and 7.x - Free - Store Link

YoYo Games, the creators of the GameMaker: Studio software tools for game developers, have announced they will add support for Microsoft's Xbox One console sometime in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The added support will allow GameMaker: Studio users to import their games to the Xbox One without having to change any code. However, users must have an Xbox One hardware development kit to take atvantage of the support. YoYo Games will provide GameMaker: Studio to developers who are signed up for Microsoft's indie game-based ID@Xbox program.

In addition, YoYo Games said that GameMaker: Studio will offer enhanced support for Windows 8.1, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8.1. Perhaps even more important, the company pledged to extend GameMaker: Studio support for future Microsoft operating system releases.

Do you think this announcement will let more indie games show up on the Xbox One?

Source: YoYo Games

Microsoft is planning to add a number of new features to its Xbox One game console in the coming months, and today the company revealed several of them ahead of its Gamescom press event.

Here's a list of the features Microsoft announced today that will be added to the Xbox One in the near future:

• Friends section – The new Friends section has been available for a few early access Preview members and we're expanding it to everyone enrolled in the Preview program. The new Friends section enables users to see at a glance what's going on with their friends. They can stay up-to-date with their current activities, the most popular games their friends are playing, and a Gamerscore leaderboard to see who has improved their Gamerscore over the last 30 days.
• Snap Center – Some of gamers' favorite features in the Xbox 360 guide, are coming to Xbox One in a way that's now truly be side-by-side with games. Messages, friends, parties, and achievements will all be available in the new Snap Center, providing a seamless way to switch back and forth without having to leave a game.
• Threaded Messages – Keeping gamers in their games while they multitask has been a huge focus. The new Messages app features threaded messages with the full conversation history – including embedded links to Game DVR clips – that can be viewed without interrupting gameplay.
• Media Player – A new app will be available soon that enables users to play media files from either an attached USB device or from a network connected home media server that supports DLNA protocols. The preview version of the Media Player app will initially only support USB devices, with DLNA support coming soon. Xbox One will support more formats than Xbox 360, including support for dozens of new file formats like mpeg 2 TS, animated gifs and mkv which will be added by the end of the year.
• Stream TV to SmartGlass – Launching first in markets receiving the Xbox Digital TV Tuner, Xbox One owners will be able to stream their TV across their home network to their smartphones and tablets using the Xbox SmartGlass app. They can also pause, play and rewind as well as change channels, without interrupting gameplay on the Xbox One. This will work for SmartGlass apps on Windows, iOS, and Android.
• Boot to TV – Now Xbox One owners will be able to set their console to boot directly to television when coming out of connected standby.
• Live TV mini guide – For markets where OneGuide is available, a new mini guide on the bottom of the screen will display details about the TV content that is currently playing. Users can quickly change channels and see what's on other channels, while still watching TV.

Microsoft also announced that the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner that was announced last week will get a limited preview program ahead of its full launch in October in UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Finally, the company says it is doing a lot of work on the backend to prepare for the launch of the console in 29 new markets later this year.

What do you think of these new features that will be added to the Xbox One?

Source: Xbox Wire

Shiny The Firefly is a wonderfully drawn up arcade styled game that is available for Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices (low-memory included). The game's backstory has you playing the role of Shiny, a firefly who has lost all his babies.

To gather all the children, Shiny must navigate a colorful garden maze and avoid mosquitos, toads, wasps, centipedes and other dangers. The arcade has simple mechanics and at times a puzzle game approach.

Shiny The Firefly has a casual pace, plenty of challenges and is a nice gaming option for your Windows Phone library. The biggest hurdle this game will have to overcome is the lack of a trial version.

Clutter-free layout

Along with options to jump into game play and access the game's settings, Shiny The Firefly's main menu has options to visit the game's Facebook and Twitter pages, share the game and exit the game. Shiny The Firefly's settings are brief and cover muting the sound, choosing your language support, viewing the developer credits and resetting the game.

Shiny The Firefly currently includes three worlds (a fourth is listed as coming soon) that contain 33 levels of play each. Each world has its own featured danger (wasp, toad and spider) and are filled with wonderful animations and drawings.

Simple game play

The game screen layout has the number of babies collected in the upper left corner and your lives in the upper right. Blue dots are displayed to sides of the screen to indicate the direction your baby fireflies are located. A green dot is displayed to indicate where the hive you have to deposit your babies in is located.

While a series of tutorial messages will appear throughout the game, the mechanics for Shiny The Firefly are simple. You'll need to guide Shiny through a garden maze, avoid the dangers and collect your baby fireflies. To move Shiny, just tap the screen where you want Shiny to fly to. Double tap the point on the screen to have Shiny fly faster to that point.

As you approach a baby firefly tap Shiny to light up his tail and the baby will follow you. Once you've collected the required amount of baby fireflies, you'll need to guide them to the hive where they will be safe.

As you navigate the maze, you will run into various dangers including mosquito swarms, waterfalls and spouts, centipedes and other garden dangers that can ruin Shiny's day. You can use Shiny to push rocks into place to block insect swarms or water dangers to allow you safe passage.

You also have coins floating around the garden that can be collected. I'm not sure if the game will eventually have a store where you can purchase bonus items and such but for now, it appears the coins only affect your final score.

Speaking of a final score, each level is scored on the number of coins collected, your time to complete the level, the number of fireflies rescued and lost.

The first level is a wee bit on the easy side to get you accustomed to game play but they will become more challenging as you move along.

Overall Impression

Shiny The Firefly may not appeal to everyone with its casual pace and lack of action. However, I think if you give Shiny The Firefly a try many will find it being an appealing Windows Phone game for players of all ages.

While graphics are nicely drawn up and game play has its fair share of challenges there is one annoying feature with Shiny The Firefly. The game lacks a trial version.

Shiny The Firefly really needs a trial version to let you play the first level or so. Otherwise, the lack of a trial version will turn away potential buyers regardless the quality of the game.

On the plus side, it is a universal game in that if you get it for Windows Phone you can get it for Windows 8 at no extra cost.

All in all, Shiny The Firefly comes across as an entertaining Windows Phone game but the slower game pace may not turn everyone's tractor.

• Shiny The Firefly - Windows Phone 8 - $2.99 - Store Link
• Shiny The Firefly - Windows 8 - $2.99 - Store Link

Gamers in Europe who are big soccer fans who have yet to buy an Xbox One will likely want to check out Microsoft's just announced bundle of the console with a free digital version of FIFA 15.

Electronic Arts' latest game in the pro soccer series will likely be a massive hit in Europe and today, gamers in that part of the world can pre-order the Xbox One FIFA 15 bundle for €399.99, except in the UK, where it will be sold at the price of £349.99. In addition to the console and game, the bundle will also come with a 14 day trial for Xbox Live Gold, an HDMI cable, a chat headset, and an Ultimate Team Legends Gold Pack for FIFA 15. The bundle itself will start shipping on September 25th. You may remember that Microsoft tried to boost Xbox One sales before the launch of the console in 2013 with a FIFA 14 bundle that was only available in Europe.

What do you think about Microsoft offering yet another FIFA bundle for the Xbox One?

Source: Xbox UK on Twitter

Microsoft will sell an Xbox One with a 1 TB hard drive with its upcoming Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare bundle, which will also include custom artwork for the console itself as well as its controller, for the price of $499.99. This hard drive offer double the storage space compared to all previously released Xbox One consoles.

As you can see in the box image above, the console will have Advanced Warfare-based art, and the controller will have a custom design as well. Of course, the bundle will come with a free copy of Activision's latest game in the best selling first person shooter series. The bundle will sell for €499.99 in Europe, and will be priced at £429.99 in the UK. There's no word yet on when the bundle will go on sale.

What do you think of Microsoft increasing the hard drive space from 500 GB to 1 TB with this bundle?

Source: Major Nelson on Twitter

Microsoft will be launching a ton of indie games for the Xbox One in the near future and today, the company showed off a number of them as part of its Gamescom press event, including a port of one of the most unlikely PC game sales success of all time, Goat Simulator.

The game, from developer Coffee Stain Studios, was released April 1 on the PC as a kind of April Fools joke, but it has since sold nearly one million copies. There's no word on when the Xbox One version will be released.

Microsoft also showed off a ton of other ID@Xbox games during their Gamescom press event, including ports of hit PC games such as the MOBA title Smite and the upcoming and very impressive first person shooter SUPERHOT. What do you think of Microsoft increasing its support for indie games for the Xbox One?

Source: Xbox UK on YouTube

Today's Gamescom conference has offered some fresh looks at upcoming Xbox One games such as Rise of the Tomb Raider (exclusive to Xbox One in 2015!), Quantum break, and Forza Horizon 2. Microsoft also announced a brand new title: ScreamRide for Xbox One and Xbox 360.

ScreamRide comes from Frontier Developments, the UK developer responsible for Kinectimals, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, and the Xbox One launch title Zoo Tycoon. Whereas Zoo Tycoon merged the developer's love for animals with a simulation element, ScreamRide is entirely focused on building a futuristic theme park. That should be right up their alley, considering Frontier has previously developed both the Roller Coaster Tycoon series and the Thrillville series for consoles. Keep reading for our impressions and the announcement trailer!

Fast and furious

ScreamRide looks like a spiritual successor to both Roller Coaster Tycoon and Thrillville. Players will build a theme park filled with gigantic rollercoasters. According to the trailer, "Your measure for success is screams." It sounds like at least one of the goals will be to scare the crap out of park visitors. We certainly see a lot of screaming people riding impossible rollercoasters. (Speaking of which, the cartoonish art style for the humans is pretty hideous.)

Unlike its predecessors, ScreamRide has a big focus on physics and destruction. Roller coasters can actually launch through the air and crash into structures. In real life, that would be a worst-case scenario. But the game description explains that "creativity and destruction are equally welcomed," which implies that players won't be punished for going off the rails and wrecking some buildings.

Microsoft and Frontier promise three unique game modes, although we don't know just what those will be yet. Players will be able to participate in more than 50 unique events, seemingly providing a mission-based structure to the simulation. One of those modes will probably be a free building mode free of goals though, just like in Zoo Tycoon.

Graphically, ScreamRide looks to display some impressive environmental destruction. Hopefully that will make up for the relatively simplistic geometry and less-than-beautiful park visitors. Knowing that Frontier has so much experience with theme park simulations, we can safely expect a large and engrossing simulation from ScreamRide.

ScreamRide is due out in Spring 2015 for Xbox One and Xbox 360. Fingers crossed the Xbox 360 version won't be gimped like Zoo Tycoon was!

Microsoft will finally add one of the most requested features to the Xbox One soon as it will allow owners of the console to pre-load and pre-order digital versions of selected games, starting with the company's own Forza Horizon 2.

Microsoft made the announcement at the very end of its Gamescom press event in Germany today, with Xbox head Phil Spencer stating that both Forza Horizon 2 and FIFA 15 will be available for digital pre-order soon, Other unnamed future Xbox One games will also be made available for digital pre-orders in the coming months.

This is a feature that Sony has already added to its PlayStation 4 console, so this new development for the Xbox One brings Microsoft's console further in line with the features available on its biggest rival. What do you think of Microsoft adding this feature to the Xbox One?

Source: Major Nelson

Popular game engine Unity is one of the greatest boons the videogame industry has ever sent. By creating a game in Unity, developers can easily port it to a variety of platforms. Just look at how much the Windows Phone gaming scene has improved since Unity titles started showing up in March of last year.

Unity also has strong Xbox One support. First announced back in November, all members of Microsoft's ID@Xbox program receive a free limited Unity Pro license with Xbox One deployment add-on. It's not unlike today's separate announcement that ID@Xbox users will get free GameMaker: Studio support. The GameMaker offer hasn't started just yet, but the public preview of Unity for Xbox One officially kicked off this week. That's cool and all, but the games are the really exciting part. Read on to find out about some of the most promising Unity games coming to Xbox One.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

Xbox One development made easy

Some core Xbox One development features are included directly inside of Unity. But a great many of the Xbox One-specific functions that developers will need are distributed within an independent package of plugins (the Xbox One deployment add-on).

One of the challenges of Xbox One development is the console's high number of asynchronous APIs. Unity's native plugins make the integration of Microsoft APIs with Unity as much more painless process. Constructs like the EventQueue assist with calling into Unity systems from asynchronous callbacks.

For the folks at home, Wikipedia defines a callback as "a piece of executable code that is passed as an argument to other code, which is expected to call back (execute) the argument at some convenient time." A callback that occurs at a later time instead of immediately is asynchronous. There you go, you're ready to head out and get your computer science degree!

The current version of Unity for Xbox One is based on Unity 4.3. The Unity company does not plan to update the Xbox One release to Unity 4.5 (which debuted in May). Instead, Xbox One support will skip to Unity 5.0 at the appropriate time. Unity plans to continue supporting Unity 4.3 (including XDK upgrades) into 2015. Developers who start working with 4.3 won't be left in the dust.

Upcoming ID@Xbox titles made with Unity

Cuphead from Studio MDHR

One of the games everybody frothed over at E3, Cuphead is strikingly beautiful. The hand-drawn art style emulates that of 1930s cartoons, with large-eyed and expressive characters. Cuphead will be a one- or two-player action platformer – always a fun genre. The cupheaded protagonists must battle huge and interesting monsters by jumping, dodging, and firing blasts from their fingers. We'll have to wait until 2015 to play Cuphead, but it looks to be more than worth the wait.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime from Asteroid Base

The Unity title I'm most looking forward to as a game is Lovers. One or two local players will man a spherical pink spaceship as it flies through procedurally generated star systems. The randomized gameplay means you'll have a different experience every time you play, not unlike popular space sim FTL. If you're not playing in co-op, an AI space dog will take over as your partner. Lovers looks very cute and very different.

Ori and the Blind Forest from Moon Studios

Another E3 highlight, Ori and the Blind Forest also looks rather stunning. Players take on the role of a forest spirit who must discover his purpose within a heavily atmospheric world. Ori and the Blind Forest is a 2D Metroidvania-style game, much like the phenomenal Guacamelee. If Moon Studios can get anywhere near that level of quality (and the inspiration they claim from Zelda: a Link to the Past and Super Metroid certainly can't hurt), then we could be looking at a new genre classic. Ori will launch later this fall.

Roundabout from No Goblin

And now for something completely different! Roundabout has been making the rounds at shows like PAX, where its humorous premise impressed critics and players alike. In this game, you play as a constantly rotating limousine. The goal is to navigate through levels without crashing into too many obstacles while delivering passengers to their destinations. Watch the trailer and you'll see the game's undeniably offbeat potential.

ID@Xbox

Windows Phone Central has previewed and reviewed a number of ID@Xbox games already, including Worms Battlegrounds, Guacamelee, Another World, and more. Check out our ID@Xbox playlist on YouTube for genuine gameplay footage from each game.

Developers who are interested in joining the ID@Xbox program should visit www.xbox.com/id to sign up. Be warned that according to some reports, non-established developers face a lengthy wait to gain acceptance to the program. We're very interested in how ID@Xbox works… Stay tuned for future investigative coverage.

Microsoft will give fans of its Halo franchise even more to ingest when the company launches the Halo Channel, an interactive multi-media app for both the Xbox One and Windows 8.1 devices on November 11, with a launch for Windows Phone 8.1 coming sometime after that date.

Microsoft has a quick look at the Halo Channel's features:

• Live and Timely Content – Along with a library of original programming and entertainment, access timely Halo news and live events including eSports broadcasts via the Halo Channel. Through robust Twitch integration viewers can watch Halo broadcasts, follow their favorite players and launch into the game with the press of a button. In addition, the Halo Channel can display stats and data during matches, allowing you to monitor players in real-time.
• Interactive and Sharable – Interact with Halo content with a personalized viewing experience, social sharing, Halo Encyclopedia integration and a best-in-class video platform. Instantly connect with the Halo community and your friends through social media, sharing your favorite Halo moments and content. Pull up the Halo Encyclopedia and learn more about the scene you're watching, including characters, weapons, vehicles, locations and more.
• Rewarding – Unlock a variety of exclusive in-game content for upcoming Halo titles – including Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo 5: Guardians – by watching original Halo programming and entertainment, participating in some of the interactive community polls or trying your hand at trivia that will test your knowledge of the Halo universe.
• Multiplatform Access - Sync your Windows 8.1 device to your Xbox One, and use it as a controller or a second screen where you can access the Halo Channel. At any time, you can begin your viewing experience on one screen and seamlessly continue it on another.

What do you think of this new app for Halo fans that will be coming to all of Microsoft's current platforms?

Source: Xbox Wire

Today's announcements from Microsoft at Gamescom have been pretty exciting for console gamers. We saw the announcement of a brand new theme park simulator, ScreamRide, for Xbox One and 360, as well as fresh looks at several upcoming Xbox One games like Halo: The Master Chief Collection. And hey, Quantum Break looked pretty exciting in motion to boot.

But the real bombshell of the presentation was the news that Rise of the Tomb Raider from Square-Enix and Crystal Dynamics will be exclusive to Xbox One in 2015! Tomb Raider has been a mainstay gaming series since the Playstation One and Sega Saturn days, with this year's HD remake of the Tomb Raider reboot gracing both Xbox One and Playstation 4. But the sequel Rise won't show up on the Playstation 4, giving Microsoft a big peacock of a feather in its cap.

It's a good thing Microsoft had that exclusivity announcement today, because the Rise of the Tomb Raider presentation would otherwise have been very low-key. Instead of a new trailer or gameplay footage as we would typically expect from a press conference like today's, all we got were still images while the presenter spoke about the game. I'm still psyched though!

Crystal Dynamics promises that Rise of the Tomb Raider will redefine survival action. Big words considering it's likely to be very close to the previous entry, but that's not a bad thing considering how good Tomb Raider was! Players will explore vast areas in beautiful and dangerous locations around the world. The tombs will be "bigger, better, and more challenging." Shoot, I was pulling for small tombs. Oh well, I can tough it out.

The dynamics of exclusivity

The decision to make a previously multiplatform game exclusive to a single platform (even one as awesome as the Xbox One) is bound to be met with criticism from supporters of competing consoles like the Playstation 4. I guess technically Nintendo has a system too, but nobody was expecting Rise of the Tomb Raider on it.

Make no mistake, somebody always loses out when a big game (or series) goes exclusive to a single platform. Think of how annoyed we all are that Bayonetta 2 is stuck on the Wii U instead of more popular systems. But here at Windows Phone Central we are Microsoft supporters and Xbox gamers. Most of us will benefit from this exclusivity.

The Xbox One retail exclusives so far have sold okay but failed to really drive adoption the way Microsoft would hope. Was anybody climbing over themselves to get the pretty-but-shallow Ryse, or the always-sterile Forza 5? Dead Rising 3 certainly has its share of fans, although the widespread perceptions of the game's performance issues (and the series' slightly more niche appeal) have kept it from becoming a true system seller.

Rise of the Tomb Raider, however, is a game that players from the 32-bit era onward are likely to appreciate. The Tomb Raider reboot (and Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition) met with praise from critics and fans alike, despite a few questionable gender issues and greater focus on action than tomb raiding. Many Xbox and Playstation gamers have been looking forward to Rise since its announcement at E3 this year. Rise is the closest thing to Sony's Uncharted series that Microsoft has, come to think of it. Some of those Playstation owners and Uncharted fans will be tempted to give the Xbox One a shot now!

The decision to make Rise of the Tomb Raider an Xbox One exclusive is a financial one. As with Bayonetta 2, Microsoft must have made Square-Enix an offer on Rise that was simply too good to refuse. As Crystal Dynamics explains in a blog post meant to pacify Playstation owners, "We know [Microsoft] will get behind this game more than any support we have had from them in the past."

The combination of Microsoft funding and promotional spending could certainly help Rise do very well. I don't think it will sell quite as well on just the one system (even with Microsoft's backing) than it would have on two, but the developers still come out ahead thanks to all that funding and promotion. Xbox One gamers are going to want Rise of the Tomb Raider, and players who haven't hopped on-board with the latest console generation yet now have another reason to do so – and hopefully go with Xbox One as their system of choice.

Note that the wording of the announcement still leaves open the possibility of the game coming to another console in another year. I heard "exclusive in 2015," which doesn't promise exclusivity in 2016. But we shall see! And Playstation 4 gamers can still get Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris this December. Being a smaller downloadable title, that one is not quite the same kind of game as Rise. But I'm very excited for it.

What do you guys think of Rise of the Tomb Raider becoming an Xbox One exclusive so soon after its announcement at E3?

Microsoft went all out at their Gamescom press event today in Germany, announcing a bunch of new titles, game bundles and more new features coming to their Xbox One game console.

Microsoft offered more information on the upcoming multiplayer beta for Halo 5: Guardians, which will be available for people who buy Halo: The Master Chief Collection on the Xbox One. The beta will last from December 29 to January 18 and will concentrate on arena multiplayer modes. Microsoft says:

"Featuring intense 4 vs. 4 showdowns, arena combat in Halo 5: Guardians will start players with the same loadout, ensuring matches are perfectly balanced and competitive. The Multiplayer Beta includes seven maps and three game types, as well as a variety of different armor sets to customize your Spartan with."

It will also support dedicated servers and run at 60 frames per second. Microsoft also announced that Sanctuary will be one of the remastered multiplayer maps found in Halo 2: Anniversary, the graphical remake of the game made for the original Xbox that will be included in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Microsoft finally showed off gameplay from Quantum Break today, the time bending third person action game from developer Remedy, the team behind Max Payne and Alan Wake. The over eight minute clip showed the game's hero using his time powers to not only stop time around him but to stop time around just one enemy. There's still no release date for the game, however.

Microsoft showed off new gameplay footage during the press event of titles like Evolve (with an Xbox One beta to start in January), Fable Legends (with a multiplayer beta coming in October), Forza Horizon 2, Sunset Overdrive and many more. What do you think of today's announcements from Gamescom?

Source: Xbox Wire

If you enjoyed playing Manuganu, a fun 3D platform game we've reviewed last year, then you're going to love the sequel. Manuganu 2 brings back many features from the original, but adds new ways of getting around. You run, jump, roll, fly, and swim to the end of each level while dodging obstacles and enemies. It has been available on iOS for about a month, and has just been released for Windows Phone and Android devices.

We've installed it on our Nokia Lumia 930. Head past the break to watch some gameplay on video.

There's no separate section for tutorial, but the first few levels explain the game mechanics. The main character, Manuganu, is endlessly running and you have to press the action button on the right to make him jump, fly, or swim, depending on the level. It's very easy to control. On the left side of the screen is a halt button. Use this button to make Manuganu stop immediately. It's useful for dodging enemies or avoiding getting crushed by obstacles, but you can't hold this button too long if you want to earn stars.

Manuganu 2 has 40 levels available with four boss levels. At the end of each level you can earn up to three stars depending on items you've collected and the amount of time it took to finish the level. Try to collect all the items along the stages to win extra awards. There are alternative paths to choose from so you may want to try levels more than once to see if you've missed anything.

Manuganu 2 costs 99 cents from the Windows Phone Store, but there's also a free trial available if you don't feel like spending any money. We really like this game. It has the right amount of difficulty. It's not too easy or too frustratingly difficult. The graphics also look great. Try it out and let us know what you think in the comments.

Thanks for the tip, Mohamed A.!

The second "season" for Microsoft's Xbox One revival of the Killer Instinct fighting game franchise will begin on October 15 and will eventually add eight new characters to its ranks.

Killer Instinct Season 2 is being developed by Iron Galaxy, the creators of the cult hit indie fighting game Divekick. It will start with two new fighters out of the box, TJ Combo and Maya, and the developer will add one new character every month for the next six months. It will also include new gameplay modes and accessory packs for the fighters.

As with Season 1, Killer Instinct Season 2 will give gamers the option to purchase each fighter separately for $4.99. They can also spend $19.99 for the Combo Breaker bundle which gives them access to all eight new fighters. In addition, there will be a Killer Instinct: Season 2 – Ultra Edition for $39.99 which offers access to all eight new characters, a selection of alternate fighter costumes and accessory packs and the Xbox One port of Killer Instinct 2 Classic, first released in 1996 and now adding support for online multiplayer.

Gamers who purchase the Ultra Edition between September 23 and October 14 will be able to get TJ Combo early, along with access to Killer Instinct 2 Classic. Will you be giving the second season of Killer Instinct a try?

Source: Killer Instinct forums