Weekly Arcade Rundown: XNA beta released, Time Pilot on Live, Space Giraffes

This marks the first of what will become a weekly feature. It will cover the week's news that relates to Xbox Live Arcade, from new releases to general announcements.First off, a new game is now available for download - Time Pilot. It can be purchased for 400 Microsoft Points. Next week's release is Scramble, which will be available Wednesday, September 6th for 400 Microsoft Points.
While only one new XBLA game was released, another was announced: Jeff Minter, who created the Xbox 360's music visualiser, will be bringing a game to XBLA. There are so far not many details about it, but Jeff Minter's LiveJournal says it is "a sequel to Tempest 2000/3000. The main character is the Space Giraffe." And that is what it has become known as, although it still doesn't have a real name. It will also come with some extras: You will get "new Neon effects supporting the webcam input as unlockables." Although there wasn't a release date set, it was revealed that it will sell for 400 Microsoft Points.
[Via Joystiq]
Also, as the XNA Game Studio Express Beta is now available for download. Don't know where to start? Here's a Tutorial on beginning your game development. If you find any bugs, make sure to report them so they can get worked out. So far you can't play the games on the Xbox 360, but that will change once the full version is released.

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Details on the XNA Framework

The XNA Team Blog has a post about what the XNA Framework is and does. It's interesting, and if you have any interest in XNA you should check it out.
Read the post
[Via Let's Kill Dave!]

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Xbox Live Vision, Wireless Racing Wheel, Wireless Headset, and Faceplates - details and prices

At the German Games Convention, Microsoft confirmed the bundles the Xbox Live Vision Camera will be sold in, along with the prices for the Wireless Racing Wheel, Wireless Headset, Wireless Gaming Reciever for Windows, and new faceplates. Here are the details:
The Xbox Live Vision Camera will be sold in two bundles, as follows:
Xbox Live Vision, which includes 1 month of Xbox Live Gold Membership, a headset, free downloads of UNO and TotemBall, will retail for around $39.99. The Xbox Live Video Chat Gold Gold Kit is the same as the first, except for it comes with a year of Xbox Live Gold Membership, a free download of Robotron (along with UNO and TotemBall), and 200 Microsoft Points. It will sell for about $79.99. The U.S. release date stays the same (September 19th), but in Europe it has been changed to October 6th.
The Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel will be released in November for around $149.99, and (while supplies last) people who purchase it will also get a limited edition force feedback version of Project Gotham Racing 3.
Also in November, the Wireless Headset will be available for around $59.99.
Then, in December, the Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows will be released for about $19.99.New faceplates will be available in early November, including ones for Halo, Viva Pinata, and Forza Motorsport 2.

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Create your own games for Xbox 360

Microsoft announced that they are making XNA Game Studio Express, a program that helps you create games for Windows and the Xbox 360. A free beta will be available August 30th for Windows. The full version will be released around the holidays, and while free for Windows there will be a $99 annual fee to share and play games on the Xbox 360.
Here's where you can go for more info:
Let's Kill Dave - a list of links to different articles about it
Gamerscore Blog - a good overview
Joystiq - a good write up on what it is
Joystiq - how Sony tried (and failed) at this before, and how Microsoft can do better
Xbox-Scene - The most interesting FAQs, and a description of how it will work with the 360
XNA Team Blog
XNA FAQ

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