Plants Vs. Zombies, Fable Coin Golf and more coming to Windows Phone 7

By Adam Rosenberg February 25, 2011

Windows Phone 7 is still somewhat new to the mobile operating system space, but Microsoft is hoping that gamers at least will be sold by its built-in interconnectivity with Xbox Live. The challenge of course is convincing all of those people who have already purchased apps for Apple iOS and Google Android to give up those purchases and switch to an entirely new marketplace. The Microsoft platform offers Xbox Live Achievements and leaderboards for its games, which is certainly tempting for the more die-hard Xbox 360 gamers, but the software selection just isn’t there. Yet.

Microsoft has announced a sales initiative for the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace that is not so different from pre-planned release “events” on Xbox Live Marketplace. For a six-week period this spring the company will release a series of popular mobile games that have yet to make their way to the platform. The “Must Have Games” sale kicks off in late spring and introduces one game per week, including Angry Birds, Plants Vs. Zombies, Hydro Thunder Go, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, geoDefense and Doodle Jump, according to Microsoft’s Major Nelson. All games will offer Xbox Live Achievements and track player scores on leaderboards.

Also coming to the Windows Phone 7 platform are two apps that connect directly with Xbox 360 content. Halo: Waypoint is a centralized stat-tracking service that corrals all user stats from the various Halo games into one place, with in-game unlocks offered as rewards for achieving milestones, such as unlocking certain achievements. Also coming is Fable: Coin Golf, which “draws upon the wealth of traditional British pub games” and allows plays to transfer any gold winning into Fable III on Xbox 360 or Windows. It also offers three weapon unlocks for the game’s upcoming downloadable content pack, Traitor’s Keep.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Gaming

How to unlock fast travel in Another Crab’s Treasure

Kril with a coconut shell

Another Crab's Treasure is a fantastical soulslike set deep under the ocean where danger lurks around every corner. And like other games in the genre, it's often brutally difficult to overcome the various challenges you'll encounter. As such, you may find yourself wanting to backtrack for level grinding, to uncover new secrets, or to buy additional items in the game's main hub. However, you may notice early in the game that you haven't yet unlocked the ability to fast travel between the multitude of Moon Snail Shells (aka "bonfires") you've found. Here's how and when you'll unlock fast travel.
How to unlock fast travel
In the opening hours of the game, you may notice that you can access your skill tree, which will show a skill called Shelleportation. But you may be discouraged to see that you aren't able to apply any points to it yet. That's because the game doesn't open up this feature until you've advanced a few hours into the story.

To unlock fast travel, you'll need to work your way through the first few main areas of the game until you reach a boss called the Polluted Platoon Pathfinder. After beating this baddie, you'll soon find yourself teleporting to the Moon Snail's Domain. Here, you'll learn about the power of Umami, as well as unlock access to your skill tree.

Gaming

Best gaming chair deals: Save on Corsair, Razer, and more

Razer - Iskur Gaming Chair.

Sitting down to play video games for hours and hours can be a lot of fun, but it can also be pretty bad for your health. Beyond just the lack of circulation, most modern chairs are not really made to have us sit in them for long periods, and so they don't offer things like lumbar support or breath to help keep us cool. Luckily, gaming chairs have come to the rescue, and if you're looking to at least help keep your body safe and healthy, going for a gaming chair can make a big difference. That said, gaming chairs can be quite expensive, which is why we've gone out and found some of our favorite gaming chair deals for you to pick from.
Homall Massage Gaming Chair -- $85, was $170

The Homall Massage Gaming Chair is affordable, but it will get the job done of keeping you comfortable while playing video games with its ergonomic design and high-quality PU leather materials. It's got head and waist pillows with a massage function that sets it apart from other cheap gaming chairs. The backrest can recline between 90 degrees and 180 degrees so you can find the perfect angle, and it also has a retractable footrest for an extra sitting position.

Gaming

All Fallout games in order, chronologically and by release date

A woman and a dog leaving a vault in Fallout 4.

War never changes. The retrofuturistic apocalypse world of Fallout has graced fans with pretty regular releases since 1997, letting us explore the North American wasteland in the aftermath of a nuclear war in a variety of regions.

It can be a little hard to keep track of the series' timeline if you aren't listening to every holotape in every game and keeping your own log of events. On top of the best Fallout games, we now have to consider where the new Fallout TV show fits in the timeline. We aren't going to get into every timeline detail here (the series' lore is surprisingly deep and detailed) but we will let you know exactly what year every mainline titles takes place in and how you can play them in order.
Fallout games by release date