Castle Crashers add-on leads XBL slate

The bad news is that Microsoft won't be adding any new titles to its Xbox Live service this Wednesday. On a brighter note, the publisher does have an add-on pack for The Behemoth's best-selling Castle Crashers lined up, as well as two titles slated to arrive on the Xbox 360's online platform next week.

The Castle Crashers - King Pack is the first of two add-ons The Behemoth has in store for its highly stylized--and well-rated--beat-'em-up. The King Pack will sell for 160 Microsoft points ($2), a price The Behemoth emphasizes was dictated by Microsoft.

Two new characters headline the King Pack: Open-Faced Gray Knight and the titular King. Also included will be three new weapons--the NG lollipop, the NG gold sword, and the king's mace--as well as a seal animal orb. Three new spells will also be introduced: king's healing, which restores life to an entire group, gold knife, and kingley jump.

On Monday, Microsoft will add Terminal Reality's sci-fi shooter BlowOut to its Xbox Originals offerings. The game was initially released to mediocre reviews for the original Xbox in 2003. In it, players assume the role of Major John "Dutch" Cane, who leads a mercenary outfit armed with military-backed top-secret weaponry in a bid to save the known universe from a horde of mutated, parasitic aliens. Terminal Reality is currently at work on Ghostbusters The Video Game, which is slated for release on multiple platforms June 16.

As for next Wednesday's weekly Xbox Live update, Microsoft has penciled in Twisted Pixel's The Maw. A 2009 Independent Games Festival finalist in the category of Technical Excellence, The Maw is an action puzzler in which an adorable alien named Frank controls the titular purple Maw, who is both excessively dangerous and utterly timid. Players use the Maw to consume smaller creatures, which in turn causes it to grow so that it eats ever-larger beings. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's hands-on of The Maw from last year's Penny Arcade Expo.