Microsoft Details Select XBL Ports for Windows 8

A few days ago, Microsoft revealed the first 40 games that will be launching for Windows 8. The list contained a few new titles, games that have been remastered for the new platform and others that seem to be direct ports. We have more information on four of the titles that appear to fit into the latter category.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane (Win 8)

Originally released for XBLA back in 2010 as part of the Summer of Arcade promotion, the game is now heading towards Windows 8. The arcade racer sees players blasting through 11 different water courses using a variety of rocket powered speedboats. The courses feature interactive triggers, jumps, many shortcuts and other "surprises" that can give players the edge over their opponents. The variety of single player races take place over modes such as Race, Championship seasons, Ring Master and Gauntlet. Players will have to choose carefully from the 11 different boats if they are to gain the edge over up to 15 opponents and, ultimately, their friends in the Xbox LIVE leaderboards.






Pinball FX 2 (PC)

Microsoft previewed Windows 8 back in March 2012 and in that preview was footage of Pinball FX 2 working on that platform. This game was not one of the surprises that leapt out of the list of 40 launch games. Zen Studios' robust pinball physics engine will attempt to bring the hit XBLA game from 2010 onto the PC. Details on the full version of the game are scarce, but Microsoft is hoping to introduce this game into the Windows 8 beta. The beta version will contain one table, and if the screenshots are anything to go by, it is most likely to be Sorcerer's Lair.






Toy Soldiers Cold War (Win 8)

Toy Soldiers: Cold War hit XBLA in 2011 as part of the Summer of Arcade promotion. The game combines tower defence with first-person action gameplay as players attempt to defend their Toybox against enemy forces. US and Soviet units, base defences and commando action figures are all at the player's disposal as they try to earn game changing bombardments. Survival Mode will pit players against continuous waves of enemies, while a variety of mini-games will see players competing to beat their friends' scores. The game will be optimised to use touch controls when playing on tablets.

Wordament (Win 8)

Wordament is the most recent game of the four to hit Windows 8 and is the only Windows Phone port. Released just five months ago, the game pits players against each other in a real-time competition to create words out of a 4x4 board of letters and get the highest score. Each board guarantees over 100 possible words and each tile can be played. At the end of each round, the in-game dictionary can help players find the words that they missed. Other themed games, such as Digrams, see secondary goals introduced to add a bit of spice to the game. Players can compete against both Windows 8 and Windows Phone users and will be able to keep track of their friends' progress through the Frenemies mode.







None of these titles have yet been given an exact release date, but Windows 8 is due to be released on October 26th. We'll let you know when we find out whether these will be launch titles or whether they will be releasing at a later date.