E3 2011: Bastion, From Dust headline Summer of Arcade

LOS ANGELES--Microsoft didn't have much to say about games aimed exclusively at Xbox Live during its press conference this morning. However, following the event, the publisher rectified that fact, detailing the fourth annual Summer of Arcade Xbox Live promotion. The first of five games will arrive on July 20.

Microsoft has yet to confirm the exact order of this year's Summer of Arcade promotion, but it did reveal which games Xbox 360 owners can expect. Signal Studios' will be following on from its 2010 Block Party success with Toy Soldiers: Cold War. Plastic army men again rule the day, as players engage in strategy-action hybrid gameplay set in the '80s. Cold War includes a co-op campaign, as well as a survival mode and minigames.

Fuelcell's Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will also be party to Summer of Arcade. The side-scrolling 2D action adventure offers an imaginative look at the Shadow Planet worlds, playing home to surreal environments and deranged enemies.

Popular iOS title Fruit Ninja is also coming to the Xbox 360, and it will boast Kinect functionality. The popular casual game from Halfbrick has players using their arms to slice at waves of fruit as they appear onscreen.

Supergiant Games and Warner Bros. Interactive will also be adding Bastion to this year's Summer of Arcade. The role-playing game relies heavy on storytelling, offering more than 40 hand-painted environments that gamers explore to uncover the origins of Calamity, a civilization-destroying event. Befitting the RPG genre, Bastion also features numerous upgradeable weapons and a New Game Plus mode once the main story has been completed.

The fifth title coming to Summer of Arcade will be Ubisoft Montpellier's From Dust. Originally announced at Ubisoft's E3 2010 press conference, the game is a new take on the God game genre designed by Another World creator Eric Chahi. Players will control a tribe as it grapples with a primitive world, full of ancient artifacts and lost mystical powers.

Microsoft did not attach a price tag to any of the aforementioned titles.