Microsoft sent out word that Alien Hominid HD, the award-winning Xbox Live Arcade game from The Behemoth, will be the “Deal of the Week” this week. It will see a 400 point price drop during this time and, as an added bonus, players who receive at least one achievement will unlock the playable Alien character for Castle Crashers.

A new trailer shows off the wintery playgrounds to be found in the upcoming “Snowblind” map pack DLC for Gears of War 2.

Coca-Cola has teamed up with Microsoft this week to give away $37,000 (£25,000) worth of Microsoft points on Xbox Live for free.

The partnership will see three million points given away via a Happiness Factory promotion on the service on a first-come-first-serve basis.

These points can be used on anything, ranging from dowloadable content for Xbox 360 games to songs for your Zune.

Starting the “Days of Arcade” promotion, EA’s donwloadable board game collection Hasbro Family Game Night has hit Xbox Live Marketplace today.

It’s a free 237MB download that offers four demos of classic Hasbro games Connect 4, Yahtzee, Battleship and Scrabble. The full version of each of these games costs $10 and requires players to download the client application.

Hasbro also promises three more titles – Boggle, Sorry! and Sorry! Sliders – which are listed as “coming soon”.

Black Lab Games today announced Operation: Star Hammer, an action shoot ‘em up coming soon to the Xbox Live Community Games portal.

The game will have players serve as a new recruit enlist with the Alliance of Planets Defense Force to save the universe from total destruction. Presented in a top-down view, players will fly a space fighter using full 360 degree freedom of movement. There will be sixty missions across three separate campaigns and both solo and multiplayer modes.

The game is due out Q2 2009.

A listing on Xbox’s official website reveals that a playable demo for Ubi’s upcoming flight-action game Tom Clancy’s HAWX is set to hit Xbox Live Marketplace on February 11.

The Xbox 360-exclusive demo will offer two missions and include co-op support for up to four players. The full game is due out on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 next month.

Want an Xbox 360 Elite, but no money to get it? Shortfuse Games is running a contest in Colosseum that will see one player getting the console by beating one of the game’s many bosses. However, just killing them won’t do – they’ll be judging style and finesse as well, so customize your character and perform some nice combos and specials to defeat the boss.

Colosseum is available on Xbox Live Community Games for Xbox 360. The contest ends March 15, 2009.

Having put the New Xbox Experience up, Microsoft has promised that it will soon increase the “fashion selection” choices for the new customizable avatars.

"Come back every two weeks to check out new items. We’ll be doubling our fashion selection over the next few months," reads an advertisement found by Xbox 360 Fanboy. It is not known if the new content will be free or not, but Microsoft has confirmed that they will come out in “theme packs”.

Microsoft is also currently planning unlockable avatar items based on in-game achievements. More on this as it develops.

With the release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix looming, Capcom today announced the “Season of Street fighter”, noting that it will feature an assortment of Street Fighter-themed downloadable content packs, music inspired by the series, and newly designed digital destination points for both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

First off is the release of the Super Street Fighter Pinball FX downloadable packs, which adds a SF pinball table to the popular XBLA game. A DLC pack for Uno, offering new Street Fighter Command Cards with signature Street Fighter power moves, as well as backgrounds and music.

Capcom additionally stated that it has another “little” surprise coming to the PlayStation Network later this year.

Finally, the publisher will release a direct-to-download music album of hip-hop tracks inspired by the legendary fighting series. It will feature the musical talents of artists such as DJ Qbert, Redman, Oh No, DJ Toure and more. These songs will be free of charge and exclusive to the PlayStation Network.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix launches on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network on November 25 and 26, respectively.

Since Activision is in party mode, the publisher has announced that it will host a Xbox Live weekend this month, letting players 14 years of age or older participate in a number of activities to celebrate Guitar Hero: World Tour.

The activities include an Xbox All NIghter on November 27; Play & Win sweepstakes from November 28 through 30; and Game with Developers on November 30 from 10pm to 1am GMT.

Those who play during the weekend can win special prizes, including Samsung home theater packages, 1GB memory sticks and more. However, most interesting will be the Game with Developers session where lucky gamers can have their ass whooped by the makers of the game themselves. Here are the people who are participating:

• GHDevTina – Producer
• GHDevLee – Associate Producer
• GHDevCorey – Production Coordinator
• GHDevAnthony – Midi Designer
• GHDevChris – Midi Designer
• GHDevJason – Lead Animator
• GHDevZack – Junior Programmer
• GHDevJosh – Jr. Sound Designer
• GHDevKristina – Mocap Supervisor
• GHDevJustin – Mocap Tech
• GHDevAdry – QA Tester
• GHDevBrandon – QA Tester
• GHDevTravisR – QA Tester

You can check out the event’s official website for more information.

Now that the New Xbox Experience has launched, Novaleaf Game Studio sends word that they will officially release Biology Battle as a launch title of Xbox Live Community Games today.

One of the many titles built by users themselves, Biology Battle is an unique take on the classic space shooter genre, having players take control of medical nano-bots during its mission inside of its target cell. It includes 360 degree movement and firing and offers both single-player and multiplayer modes.

The studio notes that it was created using XNA in Bangkok, Thailand, completed by “4.5 developers in 11 months.”

Capcom has announced that the highly anticipated Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for Xbox Live Arcade will be one of the first games to be featured in the New Xbox Experience with a branded destination experinece.

The game, which launches today, will see a single destination for itself go live on Xbox Live that will let you learn about new content, view the latest trailers and access downloadable content easily. A premium theme will go live for the NXE, offering a fully dynamic experience for those aching for Street Fighter action.

To celebrate the game’s release, a new trailer has been released. Check it out below.

Looking to talk smack and put down game developers? You’ll get your chance soon, as Rockstar and Microsoft are hosting an event for Midnight Club: Los Angeles, the recently released racer, on November 16.

Starting from 4 and lasting till 7pm EST, you’ll get your chance against a group of Rockstar developers. Also, from 7-9pm EST, you will also have the chance to race against MURS, an LA-based rapper.

It has been revealed that Microsoft will put in effect a new policy of removing underperforming titles on Xbox Live Arcade. This comes from Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten, who explained that games which have been out for six months, scored less than 65% on Metacritic and have a conversion rate of less than 6% will be removed.

“This way titles are not just considered if they are not selling well or not getting good reviews, but actually a combination of both,” he said. “We will also give a three-month notice before delisting any title. Overall I think you will find this will focus the catalogue more on larger, more immersive games and make it much easier to find the games you are looking for.”

He also revealed that their team is working on a new digital rights management tool that will allow gamers to better consolidate licenses for downloadable content to a single console for online and offline play.

There is a restriction in place on Xbox Live Arcade, limiting the size of games to a maximum of 150MB. However, that is soon going to change as XBLA planner David Edery has said that Microsoft is considering increasing the file size limit to a more respectable 350MB. He notes that the limit is meant to maintain the platform’s focus on smaller, more accessible games that can be played by everyone.

“It’s a steady progress. We’ve been listening to our partners, listening to our customers to try and get a feel for what’s right,” Edery told GamesIndustry. “We don’t want the size limit to hit the roof because we think there’s some value in promoting small pick and play experiences that don’t cost USD 20 million, it’s good for the ecosystem.”

No definite date was provided for the size limit increase, though bigger games are expected soon.