The XBLA incarnation of cult Ninja platformer N+ is due to receive another healthy dollop of DLC.

For a measly 200 MS Points, players can guide their agile stick figure avatars around 150 single player levels, 50 multiplayer 'race' levels and 25 'survival' multiplayer maps. Add to this the July DLC update (150 single player, 50 multiplayer) then throw in the built in level editor and N+ probably has enough levels.

Also out this week are 200 points worth of new boards for Buku Sudoku at something like one sixth of a point per puzzle - that's pretty much a metric plethora.

N+ and Buku Sudoku DLC release this Wed [Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Metanet, developers of XBLA's N+, are hard at work on their next title, Robotology, and have been openly discussing their development hurdles at their blog, a refreshing level of transparency on the process. Central to their difficulties right now seems to be moving past sprites to animation in the 2D setting:

We don't have animation properly "sussed" yet, otherwise we'd be able to better explain what the various aspects of the problem are.. all we can say for sure is that once you eschew sprites, it gets tricky ;) Of course, this is the whole point — if you want to avoid the limitations of a sprite-based system, you're necessarily going to have to deal with all of the problems that using sprites lets you avoid.

In the same post, though, the Metanet guys reveal they've set up an expansive Etsy shop of N+-themed merchandise. Merchandise! If you like cuffs, there are all kinds featuring scenes from the game, and some good-looking ninja shirts too.

Robotology: Back To The Drawing Board [metablog, via GameSetWatch]

The guys at Metanet are begging the internet to stop, they want to get off. After comments from a Game Developers Conference interview with Gamasutra made their way online, comments that slammed the crap, shit and liquid feces clogging the plumbing that is Xbox Live Arcade, people got various things bunched up, rubbed raw and in a tizzy. The N+ team wants to couch those complaints, writing on their official blog, "We didn't intend to provoke outrage, we simply spoke candidly". Add to that some tenderness about royalties being cut for Live Arcade development and people can get understandably testy.

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For those of you not wanting to wait until April for the handheld versions of the tiny ninja game that has Crecente tearing out hunks of his long, flowing hair, get yourself to an Xbox 360 this Wednesday as the classic PC flash game N makes its way onto Xbox Live Arcade as N+. With 450 levels that are sure to test even the most serene ninja's patience, a built-in level editor for creating your own challenges, and online multiplayer in both co-op and competitive flavors, N+ is surely worth 800 of your hard-earned fictional units of Microsoft currency. Not convinced? Try the free PC game over at Metanet's downloads page for a taste of what's in store for you this Wednesday.

N+ on XBLA this Wednesday (the 20th)!! YES!!!!!!! [Metanet Blog - Thanks Michael!]