Games

The Xbox Windows Phone version of Monster Burner started out as a free game before jumping up to 99 cents a few days later. Like most freemium games, it features In App Purchases that speed up player’s progress in the game. Using the in-game currency, you can buy upgrades to increase your firepower and life or single-use items to slow down the enemies and make tough levels a bit more manageable.

The game doesn’t force players to buy coins; you’ll earn some every time you complete a level. But while the first upgrade of any type sells for a reasonable price, subsequent upgrades cost astronomical prices. Even if you repeat an easy and high-coin level like Plains 3, it would still take hours of grinding to afford the best upgrades on your own.

Fear not! We’ve caught wind of a trick that reduces grinding times tenfold. Using this method, you could easily earn an average of 10,000 coins every two minutes! Read on for our full guide and video.

Way back in March, Microsoft announced a big batch of Windows 8 games that would be launching the following weekend. These mostly included Xbox-enabled games, but they mixed some indies in there too. And all of those games did launch that weekend but one: Temple Run: Brave from Disney and Imangi.

We never learned what caused the holdup, but the important thing is Temple Run: Brave has launched for Windows 8 and RT at last! In our previous article I said it might not have Xbox Live features, and unfortunately that has proven to be the case. At least Windows tablet and PC users can now enjoy an installment of the popular Temple Run series… No word on a Windows Phone port of this one, unfortunately.

Head past the break for a hands-on video and our full impressions!

Windows Phone doesn’t exactly overflow with pinball titles; we’ve got the cheap-but-buggy Da Vinci Pinball on the Xbox side, and a few indie games of varying quality. Two of those, Pinball League: The Juggler and Pinball League: The World of Dr. Pickaxe come from a Greek developer called Tainicom. The mobile version of Pinball FX2 sadly remains vaporware. We recently checked in with Zen Studios and they declined to give a status update, so it’s either cancelled or on indefinite hold.

Windows 8, however actually does have a great Xbox-enabled version of Pinball FX2 to keep pinball fans happy. Perhaps for that very reason, indie pinball games are few and far between on Microsoft’s tablet and PC OS. Still, Tainicom saw an opportunity there and has just released The World of Dr. Pickaxe on Windows 8 and RT. Despite the shortened title, it is a direct port of the phone game and was ported using MonoGame.

Read on for our full Windows 8 impressions!

Earlier this week we reported that N.O.V.A. 3 would come to Xbox Windows Phone 8 on Wednesday, but that information sadly turned out to be incorrect. Check out our Monster Burner story for more details, and let’s not shoot the messenger!

So what are gamers who’ve been left waiting for a rigorous and downright manly 3D sci-fi shooter supposed to play this week? Well, besides the obvious answer of Monster Burner, your next best is the Xbox Red Stripe Deal of the Week. The new sale game is Sally’s Salon Luxury Edition from Game House! It is now on sale for 99 cents, down from $2.99. Definitely an excellent substitute for shooting aliens full of holes.

In all seriousness, if you need a more hardcore gaming experience on the cheap, you’re in luck! Spectral Souls, the console-style strategy RPG is discounted for the first time ever with a whopping seven bucks slashed off its price. The Encyclopedia Britannica app rounds out the Red Stripe Deals of the week.

Since last week we’ve been undergoing a small communications hitch with Microsoft’s gaming division that will hopefully be cleared up soon. Earlier this week though, French site MonWindowsPhone passed along the news that N.O.V.A. 3 would be today’s Xbox release, so we reported it as such. Of course we asked Gameloft to verify the release date, but they could only say for certain that it will come out in May – not specifically today.

A short while ago, a different Xbox Windows Phone game popped up in the Store: Monster Burner from Ubisoft! That’s not a bad thing, because it’s FREE, seems like a fantastic game, and runs on both Windows Phone 7 and 8. But given that Gameloft couldn’t say for sure whether N.O.V.A. 3 will come out today, we are left slightly unsure about its release status. Will we get one Xbox game this week or two?

That question aside, most of you guys will dig Monster Burner in a big way. Read on for our first impressions.

A common complaint among most of you is that Microsoft sometimes appears to be lacking dedication to its own platform. When a Microsoft owned property, like Skype, gets a feature on iOS before Windows Phone it’s hard to argue. Apps like Photosynth took months after Windows Phone 8 launched to come to the Store. So when Microsoft launches a new game Halo game you’d expect something to happen with the Halo Waypoint app right? That didn’t exactly happen last year, but the app was updated updated this week. Let’s see what’s new.

So Microsoft Studios updates the Halo Waypoint app. An app that hasn’t seen any love or attention since Halo 4 launched. The latest update (version 1.7) finally includes “stats” for Halo 4.

Microsoft is scheduled to reveal the next Xbox console (codenamed Durango) in two weeks’ time on May 21^st. The announcement of the reveal event marks the first time the console maker has publicly acknowledged the existence of the upcoming system. Still, the gaming industry has known about the next Xbox for quite some time now thanks to the usual steady trickle of leaks and rumors.

One of those rumors that we haven’t addressed here at Windows Phone Central is that the new console would require an internet connection in order to function. We’ll expand on that rumor in just a bit. The new rumor (which I take for truth) is that the next Xbox will not require an always-on internet connection after all. Thank goodness!

The Harvest has returned, but not on Windows Phone 8. The popular RPG is still available for Windows Phone 7, but has yet to be updated to take advantage of Windows Phone 8. Now those who are using Windows 8 will be able to enjoy the addictive gameplay as the title has just been made available on the Windows Store. What's more is The Harvest has been expanded on.

Countless Windows Phone gamers are currently pelting pigs with ball-shaped birds in the original Angry Birds (also known as Angry Birds Classic), which is free right now on both Windows Phone 7 and 8. But the release of that classic game hasn’t prompted Rovio to rest on its laurels. As it turns out, the Finnish developer has another Angry Birds sequel in the pipeline for us. Unfortunately it’s not Angry Birds Friends or Bad Piggies, but still a game Windows Phone needs: Angry Birds Rio.

What do we have to look forward to with Rovio’s latest offering and when? Read on to find out!

When we didn’t hear from Microsoft about an Xbox Windows Phone release this week, we feared that there wouldn’t a new game today. It turns out that we should have had faith, because a new release did quietly slip out, and it’s an interesting one!

Following on the heels of their early April release, Amazing Alex, Rovio now breaks in the month of May with the game that started their rise to fame: Angry Birds. We’re not talking about a new Angry Birds sequel or the oft-requested spin-off Bad Piggies. No, a Windows Phone 8-exclusive version of the original Angry Birds (now called Angry Birds Classic) has just arrived with all the content missing from its unloved Windows Phone 7 predecessor. Windows Phone 7 gets a new, updated version as well but without the Xbox features. And best of all, both versions are free until May 15!