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Roguelike fans need not spend their time in dank, dark dungeons all by their lonesome. During a panel here at GDC 2011, Andy Hull confirmed a multiplayer component is in the works for the Xbox Live Arcade game, Spelunky.

"We'll have more information about the multiplayer modes closer to release," he said, revealing a lone screenshot to attendees showing four different spelunkers on the screen at once. Sadly, the shot was up only briefly, so we were unable to snap a photo. We've contacted Andy Hull and the game's creator, Derek Yu, and will update accordingly when we hear back.

Update: We've got a thrilling four-player co-op screen for you just past the break.

Roguelike fans need not spend their time in dank, dark dungeons all by their lonesome. During a panel here at GDC 2011, Andy Hull confirmed a multiplayer component is in the works for the Xbox Live Arcade game, Spelunky.

"We'll have more information about the multiplayer modes closer to release," he said, revealing a lone screenshot to attendees showing four different spelunkers on the screen at once. Sadly, the shot was up only briefly, so we were unable to snap a photo. We've contacted Andy Hull and the game's creator, Derek Yu, and will update accordingly when we hear back.

Update: We've got a thrilling four-player co-op screen for you just past the break.

Roguelike fans need not spend their time in dank, dark dungeons all by their lonesome. During a panel here at GDC 2011, Andy Hull confirmed a multiplayer component is in the works for the Xbox Live Arcade game, Spelunky.

"We'll have more information about the multiplayer modes closer to release," he said, revealing a lone screenshot to attendees showing four different spelunkers on the screen at once. Sadly, the shot was up only briefly, so we were unable to snap a photo. We've contacted Andy Hull and the game's creator, Derek Yu, and will update accordingly when we hear back.

Alongside releasing a batch of new, explosion-filled screens, Twisted Pixel announced that its first Kinect game, The Gunstringer, will be heading to Xbox Live Arcade, rather than brick-and-mortar stores.

This confirms what we suspected when the game was listed on Xbox.com with "Xbox Live Arcade" as its publisher -- a detail that was quickly removed by Microsoft. As promised, below you'll find a herd of new screens, and we're told a new trailer will be coming shortly.

Fancy Pants Adventures started life as a well-received Flash game, and was on show in its downloadable XBLA/PSN incarnation at EA's "Spring Showcase" event last week in NYC. Fancy Pants -- the game's main man -- isn't much in the way of size; he's a stick figure with a pair of sweet orange pants and a little brillo tuft atop his circle head.

The lightweight, hand-drawn art style of stick figures and basic levels helped the game stand out to me among the many Unreal 3-powered titans surrounding it. And playing it, I learned, was an absolute blast.

As promised, the "Expert Remix" and fan-created "Cramps" chapters of Super Meat Boy on Xbox Live Arcade are now available for the cheaper-than-fast-food price of free. Accessible through "The Internets" -- the hub world included in the XBLA version of SMB -- each chapter features a slew of sharp, sometimes spinning objects that serve to stop Meat Boy's path to victory. While Cramps is hand-crafted by community member NovaSilisko, the Expert Remix levels are plucked from the original game's chapters and made extra difficult (a full list of the levels remixed can be found after the break).

Also of note: "The Internets" is now unlockable at an earlier point in the game, requiring either 15 bandages or 40 completed levels. And while we appreciate the sentiment in lowering the barrier to entry, we'll be looking directly down our noses at you folks who needed the extra help. We're sorry -- it's just what Meat Boy does to us.

Beyond the requisite winged atrocities, demons and a possessed subway car, these new Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime screenshots feature plenty of fireworks displays, courtesy of the new gang's overactive proton packs. And, hey, it looks like you can totally cross the streams now!

#bioniccommandorearmed2 In 2008, GRIN released Bionic Commando Rearmed, a remake of the original 1988 NES version of Capcom's platformer. It was homage, and it was good. I'm not so sure it needed this sequel. More »

#xbox360 Microsoft's next big Xbox Live Arcade push, the "House Party," kicks off next week with the release of Contra spin-off Hard Corps: Uprising. When can you expect the rest, like Beyond Good & Evil HD and Torchlight? And how much? More »

#video One of the most popular indie games on Xbox Live Arcade last year was Baby Maker Extreme. Here's the sequel. You are still pushing out babies who are still acting like total jerks. More »

#microsoftgamestudios Code name Class3 is not an action game with zombie targets. It's an open-world zombie survival game, and it's coming to the Xbox Live Arcade courtesy of Undead Labs and Microsoft Game Studios. More »

#fightinggames If you like your fighting games strictly on a two-dimensional plane and with just a single gender, you might want to start paying attention to Skullgirls, a new independently developed fighting game coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. More »

Last time we heard about Swarm, the game was given an "early 2011" release window on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Today, we have news from developer Hothead Games that the crowd controller will hit digital marketplaces sometime in the month of March.

Rounding out the release news is a new "Ask Dr. Mike" trailer and several colorful new screens of the adorable little blue hoard in action. If you're looking for a leg up in the game before it arrives later this year, Dr. Mike has a smattering of helpful hints waiting just after the break.

If you have to pee really, really badly, well, you probably should head to the bathroom anyway, but reading this post about savings on water-themed Xbox Live Arcade games certainly won't help.

All this week, Hydro Thunder Hurricane is going for 800 MS Points ($10), while both Hydrophobia and Aqua are dropped by 50 percent to just 400 MS Points apiece ($5). Now you can try out that enormous update that Hydrophobia received or go Steampunk-crazy in Aqua for just $5. Don't forget to bring a towel!

#hybrid The people who made the Scribblenauts and Drawn To Life are getting a little closer to explaining how their next game — a shooter, of all things — is unique. More »

#valve Monday Night Combat is now available on Steam. To ensure that you buy the damn thing, Valve and Uber Entertainment are injecting Monday Night Combat with Team Fortress 2 stuff and Team Fortress 2 with Monday Night Combat stuff. More »

Double Fine's Stacking, the gorgeous, funny and inventive adventure based on Russian matryoshka dolls arrives on February 8 for PlayStation Network, one day later for Xbox Live Arcade. Playing with dolls with cost $14.99 or 1200 Microsoft Points, depending on your platform. More »

#clips Then perhaps you'll find the game Orion: Prelude of interest. It combines Tribes and Counter-Strike influence with a feature few sci-fi shooters are brave enough to include: Tyrannosaurus rex. Perhaps you'll be interested enough to fund it. More »

If you're a fan of Xbox 360's Castelvania Harmony of Despair you're in luck. Konami today says that the game will be getting a new stage pack. Extra Stage: The One Who is Many is now available on Xbox Live Arcade for 320 Microsoft Points. More »

PopCap is bringing the 60-second action of Facebook's Bejeweled Blitz to Xbox Live Arcade later this year with all-new modes, including 16-player party play and head-to-head via Xbox Live. More »

Hard Corps: Uprising, Konami's cartoonish take on Contra, hits Xbox Live Arcade on February 16 for 1200 Microsoft Points. That's part of the Xbox Live Arcade House Party push. More »

Leading the charge on February 16 in XBLA's House Party promotion is Konami's "not-Contra" title, Hard Corps: Uprising, for 1200 MS points ($15). Alongside the news of the game's price, Konami dropped off a gaggle of new screenshots as well. No Bill or Lance to be found, unfortunately.

Runic Games' Torchlight has received lots of well-deserved acclaim since its release back in October of 2009. It took Diablo's well-traveled hack, slash, and loot action-RPG formula, and updated it with both some solid innovation and a lot of excellent polish. Now, after a lot of promises, Runic is bringing the game to XBLA, and the question is how such a PC-centric title will work on a console.

Microsoft let us have some hands-on time this week at CES, and after playing the game for hours on the PC and the better part of an hour on console, I can say the answer is: Pretty well. At this point, I wouldn't call the console version definitive at all -- there are a few quirks in the system like monsters getting caught in corners and some complicated menus (probably a given anyway, as Runic has revamped everything from the original with a brand new interface). But combat works great, the new menu systems are carefully considered and designed, and a vast majority of the PC version's polish shines right through like a Perfect-level gem.

#xbox360 A pair of friends vow to meet each other in the park each day, despite a twisted world that strives to keep them apart. This is the simple story behind ilomilo, a puzzle game much deeper than initial appearances. More »

Runic Games has announced that the Diablo-esque RPG Torchlight is coming to Xbox Live Arcade for the upcoming House Party series of releases. The game has apparently been remade to use the Xbox controller (with dual sticks for moving and attacking, bumpers for potions, and hotkeys assigned to triggers and buttons), and given a new interface for the console release. There will also be "new quests, armor sets, weapons, and a new pet" to play with as well. Consider us surprised -- it'll be interesting to see how a very PC title (that's found a lot of success on Steam) fits into Microsoft's arcade lineup.

The House Party will start on February 18, and will also include a release of the Beyond Good and Evil HD remake, Hard Corps Uprising, PopCap's Bejeweled Blitz Live, and Full House Poker. That's a quality lineup right there!

#ces Beginning in February, Microsoft will be holding a promotion called "Xbox Live Arcade House Party". There'll be five games released over a five week period, including Torchlight and the HD version of Beyond Good & Evil. More »

#milestones Independent developer The Behemoth got a rather lovely present on Christmas Day, when the Xbox Live Arcade version of Castle Crashers surpassed two million players. How will they celebrate? With an Xbox made of gold. More »

Uber Entertainment's über entertaining Monday Night Combat is on sale today for 600 Microsoft Points ($7.50), 50 percent off the regular price. If you decide to grab the inventive multiplayer shooter, don't forget to download the free "Spunky Cola Special" DLC, which adds more maps, more bacon, all-star leveling, protags and ... churros!

Monday Night Combat is currently in beta for PC, with an official launch date of Monday, January 17. When it launches, you'll have to shake $15 out of your moneyball. We'll watch.

Tis the season to shame your familial relations in contests of virtual athletic prowess! If you're a Gold subscriber, you can now grab a free demo for Kinect Sports on the Xbox Live Marketplace -- just make sure that you don't completely crush your Maw-Maw. She deserves better, you know?

#thq Don't let the farting, the peeing of pants and the tossing of cookies let you think that Russian doll adventure game Stacking is just about sophomoric humor. There's depth to this downloadable game, layers to this tale of a pint-sized chimney sweep. More »