Games

Slayer Pinball.  We’ll just let that sink in for a moment as the absurdity of these two things colliding may cause your head to spin.

Anywho, the pinball game landed on the Windows Phone Store over the weekend and fetches for $2.99 without a trial. Because of that we’re taking one for the team and we’re going hands on to let you know if it’s worth it.

Slayer Pinball is released by Sony Music, which is similar to Sony Pictures Television. That latter company recently released Wheel of Fortune and JEOPARDY! to Windows Phone also without trials. We’re not sure what Sony has against trials but it’s not because their games are bad—they’re just a bit overpriced (we actually really like JEOPARDY! and WoF a lot).

Slayer Pinball ain’t half bad—the graphics are good, stuttering is at a minimal and it has Slayer thrashing in the background as you play on what has to be the most demonic board ever. In that sense, as a straight up pinball game it’s a lot of fun.

Microsoft has added a new perk for Xbox LIVE Rewards Gold members. MyAchievements, as it is called, offers benefits for players who have achieved certain Gamerscores. The program is live and has already unlocked the different tiers for players who have reached each milestone, of which there are three.

Last week’s Xbox release, Extraction: Project Outbreak (review coming tomorrow!) was a surprising strategy title mixed with elements of action. This week, we get another strategy title, but otherwise it couldn’t be more different. Babel Rising 3D will soon be on the Windows Phone Store, courtesy of developer Mando Productions with Ubisoft publishing. Yes, this is Ubisoft’s first Windows Phone title (Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell came from Gameloft under license from Ubisoft).

Extraction: Project Outbreak differs from what we’ve come to expect from Chillingo games on Windows Phone. Besides a complete lack of cuteness, it’s also pretty tough! At first players will have to come to grips with the game’s unique controls. Then they’ll encounter a steep rise in difficulty that seems designed to encourage spending money on PDLC and/or pad the length of the game more than anything else.

Thankfully your favorite Windows Phone Central game reviewer/ninja has unlocked all 20 of Extraction’s Achievements and will now help you do the same.

Very seldom does an Xbox for Windows Phone game get cancelled after its announcement. In fact, Microsoft hardly even announces new mobile games in advance any more, making practically every game that materializes a surprise (if its Achievements haven’t been discovered first).

It’s hard to imagine nowadays, but back in August of 2010, Microsoft announced a whopping 50 Xbox Live WP7 launch titles, most of which eventually made it to the Windows Phone Store. That said, several games on that list have never been released. A few stragglers like Real Soccer continue to trickle out even now, but we can safely assume that most or all of the rest have been quietly cancelled either by Microsoft or the original developers.

Now that the lengthy introduction is over, head past the break for our exclusive behind-the-scenes look at one such cancelled Xbox game: Loondon, from Indonesian developer Flip-n-Tale.

Just two days ago we put the Xbox Windows Phone game Little Acorns though its paces in our detailed review. At the time, the platformer game with super cute graphics was fetching for pricey $2.99. Now, the game has serendipitously dropped to just $0.99, which last we check is the exact price-point many of you go crazy for.

We gave Little Acorns high remarks noting "...objectively speaking Little Acorns works much better as a phone game. If you crave a mobile platformer, you’d be nuts not to get this one." Anyway, if you were on the fence before and hesitant to buy, we think that price cut should change matters. No word if this is permanent or just a sale (it's technically not the deal of the week, which is GeoDefense Swarm).

You can pick up Little Acorns here in the Store for the ultra low price. Thanks, Brad and Andy, for the tips!