The dates and prices have been announced for Microsoft's hotly anticipated Summer of Arcade XBLA promotion. Included amongst the publisher's crème de la crème of downloadables are Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, Deadlight, Wreckateer, Hybrid, and Dust: An Elysian Tail.

Summer of Arcade kicks off July 25th with Tony Hawk — an HD remake that has been nearly 10 years in the making, and should do considerably well in taking elder gamers back to their teenage years — and concludes on August 15th with Dust: An Elysian Tail, a combination platformer melee-combat title with a gorgeous, hand-painted art style.

Many are wondering which of the five titles released as part of the Summer of Arcade will be this year's Bastion or Limbo, or more specifically which will be haunting our dreams long after we've completed them for the second or third time. Our money is on Deadlight, the 'Cinematic Survival Platformer' that has airs of I Am Alive or Naughty Dog's The Last of Us. What we've seen of the game thus far has looked pretty compelling, with visuals that rival any full retail release.

Looking for a little better understanding of each Summer of Arcade game? Here's a trailer:

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Amongst the Summer of Arcade games this time around there is only one game priced at the typical 800 Microsoft Points (the Kinect-controlled Wreckateer), with the other games all sitting at 1200. The release of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has certainly opened up Microsoft's eyes to the potential for higher XBLA price tags, and the success of that title only further emphasized that inclination.

This may very well be the last we see of 1200 MSP priced XBLA promotions, so enjoy them while they last. But hey, pretty soon Microsoft might be rewarding player's achievements with MS Points, so maybe it isn't all bad.

Date	Title	Price (MS Points)
July 18	Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD	1200
July 25	Wreckateer	800
August 1	Deadlight	1200
August 8	Hybrid	1200
August 15	Dust: An Elysian Tail	1200

As always, any gamer that purchases three of the five titles will net themselves an extra 400 MS Points to be spent on a future downloadable title of their choice. And rest assured we will review each and every one of these titles to let you know which are worth checking out.

Which of the Summer of Arcade titles are you most look interested in playing?

Source: Major Nelson