Xbox Summer of Arcade launches July 20 with 'Bastion'

(All rights reserved - Ubisoft)

Xbox's annual Summer of the Arcade begins with the July 20 launch of Bastion, with other offers to include Fruit Ninja Kinect, Toy Soldiers: Cold War, From Dust, and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, along with a "buy five get one free" deal.

Each launches at a price of 1,200 Microsoft Points (equivalent to $15, €14, £10), save for Fruit Ninja Kinect, which is 800 ($10, €9, £7).

Whereas the previous year's Summer of Arcade promised a 1,200-Point rebate for those who bought all five promo games, getting the most out of this one hinges on the ownership of a Kinect motion sensor.

Those who stump up for all five will get the 1,200-Point Crimson Alliance - a multiplayer dungeon crawler from ex-Bungie developers ( Halo series) - for free come September 7.

July 20: Bastion
Action adventure with hand-drawn art style and a funny, attentive narrator. Twice nominated at both the 2011 Game Critics Awards and 2011 Independent Games Festival.
supergiantgames.com/?page_id=242

July 27: From Dust
Use water, lava, earth and plant life to save a nomadic tribe from environmental extinction. Long-awaited return to games by creator of Another World / Out of this World.
fromdustgame.com

August 3: Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Hollywood animator Michel Gagné ( The Iron Giant, The Indestructibles, Ratatouille) turns his hand to gaming with a side-scrolling shooter designed to play like a cartoon.
insanelytwistedshadowplanet.com

August 10: Fruit Ninja Kinect
Halfbrick's iPhone phenomenon goes hands-free, slicing and dicing fruit of all shapes and sizes in both Classic and Arcade mode. Two-player mode allows for head-to-head challenge.
fruitninja.com

August 17: Toy Soldiers: Cold War
Plastic toys crossed with 1980s action movie classics - especially Rambo. Co-op and split-screen multiplayer modes are among improvements to original.
signalstudios.net/toy-soldiers-cold-war