Developed by the community for the community, the XBLIG Companion app is now available to download on your Windows Phone!

The XBLIG Companion app allows users to browse and purchase games on the Indie Games section of the Xbox Live Marketplace all from the comfort of their own phone. It’s something the XBLIG community has been after for a while now in order to expose the platform to more customers and, well, it’s just something you might think Microsoft would have provided anyway.

The app also provides fresh picks by some of the XBLIG community’s most dedicated publications, so there’s also some form of filter which is utterly necessary for XBLIG, let’s face it. With any luck, the iOS and Android versions of the app will be along soon too.

For now, if you have a Windows Phone you should head over to the marketplace and download that app, it should come in handy and it’s essential to show support for community-driven projects like this.

You can find out more information about the XBLIG Comapanion app over on the Windows Phone marketplace.

Orbital Games snake-like 2D survival shooter Octopede has arrived as promised onto the Xbox Live Indie Games platform, and is available now to purchase for 80 MS Points. In apparent generous celebration of the release, the PC version is being offered via Desura for the next few days at $1.50 (instead of the standard, already just fine price of $3).

Snake was always one of my favorite games growing up. Despite its dated mechanics and overall lack of general thrill, the concept of it was quite genius. Something so simple could (and did) provide me with hours of entertainment. So I’m always happy to see other developers take their swing at the venerable franchise.

Octopede, by Orbital Games, is just such a title that attempts to take the core concept of Snake and make it into something more modern that would probably be more palatable for modern gamers.

Here’s the official description:

In Octopede, you play as a lone computer program in the desperate search for more megabytes. With more ‘data’ eaten, the computer that you are in becomes more aware of your presence, sending out enemies and obstacles to try and eradicate you. Survival is based on skill and makes the game more competitive and exciting.

Using a large array of weaponry ‘the worm’ can blast through enemies and firewalls, prolonging survival and raising your overall score. The worm’s ability to move in 8 directions gives a new edge to the traditional 4 way moving patterns usually found on other snake games.

Octopede is available right now for PC via Desura for a ridiculously low price of $1.49, on sale from $2.99 for the next few days. An Xbox Live Indie Games version is also in the works and should be released soon.

[Desura, Orbital Games]

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