On Xbox Live: Haunt, Scarygirl

From today, at 9AM GMT (2AM PDT), you can play new games for Xbox Live Arcade and get other Xbox Live Marketplace downloadable content for Xbox 360. Here’s an overview of what Microsoft announced worldwide.

Content: Haunt
Price: 800 Microsoft Points (that’s US$10 / €9.60 / £6.80 / CAN$12.40 / AU$13.20)
Availability: Check availability in your Xbox LIVE region
Dash Text: Welcome to Benjy’s Mansion – a spooky haunted house where you are the first visitor for a generation! Haunt leverages the power of Kinect to enable you to freely explore the house using just your body as the controller – you’ll need to stay on your toes in order to outsmart the mansion’s host of fiendish ghosts and unravel the sinister secrets that shroud the mansion in mystery!

Content: Scarygirl
Availability: Check availability in your Xbox LIVE region
Dash Text: Based on Nathan Jurevicius’ Scarygirl graphic novel – winner of the 2009 Aurealis Award for Best Illustrated Book/Graphic novel – Scarygirl presents a wondrous adventure into a distinctive and beautifully bizarre world. The titular character Scarygirl is an abandoned child with a tentacle arm who dresses like a pirate, and is haunted by a strange man in her dreams. She sets out into the world to discover the meaning behind her bad dreams, but Scarygirl is hardly helpless, as she has a tentacle-powered arsenal up her sleeve.

New Games on Demand are:

* LEGO Star Wars III
* Hellboy: The Science of Evil

The latest Xbox Live Marketplace demos are:

* The Darkness II Demo
Dash Text: Embrace the Darkness and download the demo. Become Jackie Estacado and master your demons as you experience the thrill of Quad-Wielding: slash, grab and throw with your Demon Arms while simultaneously firing two weapons.

* Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Demo
Dash Text: The minds of New York Times bestselling author R.A. Salvatore, Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston have combined to create Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a new role-playing game set in a world worth saving. Build the character you’ve always wanted and continuously evolve it to your style of play with the revolutionary Destiny system. Choose your path and battle through a master-crafted universe featuring some of the most intense, responsive, and customizable RPG combat ever.

New Game Add-ons:

* Gears of War 3: Fenix Rising Map Pack – 800 Microsoft Points
Dash Text: If you own Gears of War 3 Season Pass DO NOT purchase this content here as you will be charged again. Fenix Rising Map Pack This pack adds five new multiplayer maps: Academy, Anvil, Depths, The Slab and a remake of Escalation from the original Gears of War. Also included are 250 Gamerscore and four new multiplayer characters; Recruit Clayton, Savage Marauder, and new variants of Thrashball Cole and Savage Kantus. SEASON PASS owners should only access this update from the in-game store to avoid a duplicate charge.

The Deal of the Week is:

This week, Xbox LIVE Gold members can save Microsoft Points on an assortment of select Marketplace items. The special pricing will be available until January 16. All of the below are 50% discounted unless otherwise noted.
* GTA IV (25% off)
* GTA IV – The Ballad of Gay Tony
* GTA IV – The Lost and Damned
* GTA San Andreas (33% off)

New Avatars are:

* Bruce Lee
* Max Payne 1&2
* Spartacus