Don't forget that today is the last day to download your personal apology game from XBLA for free. For the uninformed, I will encapsulate the situation as best I can. Xbox Live had dicey service over the holidays and in an attempt to make up for it, offered Xbox Live Gold members a free game called Undertow. For those who have already downloaded the game, Microsoft will be pleased to offer you 800 MS points if you can traverse the mine field that is their customer service line.

Now that you are all caught up you can use the remaining hours of today to download your free game or attempt to get your free points. You have until midnight, so get crackin'.

This is just a friendly reminder to Xbox LIVE subscribers that Undertow is free until Sunday. Microsoft is apologising for the issues with their online service via this free XBLA download. And if you miss it, well, it's the equivalent to completely forgetting to water those roses that Crecente got his wife after that time she came home early and found him walking around in her high heels. In other words, if you want a proper apology, you've got to get when the getting's good. And for those who already own Undertow, we'd recommend you cash in on those 800 free points this week as well.

Read More »

We've gotten a few reports of customers who had purchased Undertow previously being laughed off the support line when calling Microsoft for compensation, as they indicated to us to do last week, so I decided to try the process out for myself. I called 1-800-4MY- XBOX, and after navigating the automated answer bot got in touch with a support specialist named Mark, who was amazingly cordial. I spent 7 years doing phone tech support myself, and Mark's level of cheerful professionalism was almost creepy. He took my information down and put me on hold to check the validity of my original purchase, which was made back when Undertow was released.

Unfortunately he couldn't find my information about purchasing Undertow in the first place, which might have been my fault, because I am pretty sure I used a promotional code to download the game - information I am sure would have aided him in his search - but he gave every indication that were he able to find my information regarding the purchase he would have happily refunded the original 800 points. I of course did not, seeing as I did not technically pay for the game, but it you purchased Undertow before the free game reveal you should be fine. If you're having trouble, perhaps you're talking to the wrong person. Remember to be patient, and if all else fails - ask for a manager. Not everyone working the support lines is as eerily cheery as Mark was.

Read More »

Hooray! A game I already own! Back at the beginning of the year, Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten announced that due to consistent outages of the service as well as in celebration of the success of the service, they would be offering an Xbox Live Arcade title completely free later in the month. Now I, like many, had assumed this meant a new release of some sort...you know, something tens of thousands of people hadn't already purchased. Instead we get Undertow, available to Gold and Silver members at no charge from 2:00 a.m. PST Wednesday, January 23 through 11:59 p.m. PST, Sunday, January 27. Undertow is an excellent game that I could not recommend enough back when it launched, meaning many of you already own it. So what will Microsoft do for us, the intelligent individuals who already picked up the game?

Read More »

Undertow has topped the Xbox Live Arcade charts since its release last week, and developer Chair Entertainment couldn't help but notice that many of you suck at it. Instead of using traditional Xbox Live methods of dealing with sub-par competition, the folks at Chair have decided to leave your mother out of this and simply release a list of ten helpful tips for dominating Undertow's excellent multiplayer mode. For example:

Use cover. There are areas the two smaller units (Marine and Dragoon) can hide from view. This is a great way to take enemies off guard. Hide in tall grass, behind pillars, buildings, or in clumps of rock and debris.

Read More »

As Americans everywhere dreamt of all the nifty things they could fry in those giant turkey frying pots once Thanksgiving subsides (Has anyone seen Fluffy?), Chair Entertainment's battle for underwater supremacy has gone live. Undertow is now available on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 points, which gets you 15 levels of single-player or co-op story mode and 16 player online battles across four modes of play. I've already downloaded the demo, and it is indeed a lot like Geometry Wars meets Battlefield, as promised. I'll be giving the full version a go later on, after I've written some more happy stories and stopped gazing endlessly from cat to clawed-up legs to deep fryer.

In 2005, the ambitious science fiction epic Advent Rising was released for the Xbox. While the game received a mixed reception that led to the premature ending of a planned trilogy, what the game did right gained co-creators and first-time developers Donald and Geremy Mustard industry recognition, which is almost worth as much as an award winning title. Two years later, the brothers are set to get noticed all over again as Chair Entertainment prepares to release Undertow, their first game for the Xbox Live Arcade. I got a chance to talk to Donald and Geremy about the company, their inspiration, and their hopes for their multiplayer underwater battle game.

Read More »

Every time I write about Undertow I have to spend a good fifteen minutes giggling over the developer's name. Chair Entertainment (heehee!) has revealed that their Battlefield meets Geometry Wars, Unreal Engine 3 powered shooter is hitting Xbox Live Arcade on November 21st, the day before Thanksgiving. If the game turns out as fun as I hope, I'll spend Turkey Day playing my PSP while the annual familial fight breaks out, wishing I were at home drowning myself in the 15 single player levels or two different 16 player multiplayer modes of Undertow. Lucky for me the other Thanksgiving contest my family participates in is the 'Who can leave the fastest after dinner' competition. The key lies in parking at the curb.

Chair's Undertow Gets Launch Date On XBLA [Gamasutra]