Entertainment

Good news—the Windows Phone Marketplace for apps and games is opening for business today in five new spots—Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru and the Philippines.

If you live in one of these countries, tapping on the Marketplace tile will soon (it might a few hours for all the lights to come on) put loads of great apps and games at your fingertips. One important caveat: Your phone will need to have Windows Phone 7.5 installed to access the new stores. (Look here for update instructions.)

Here’s an early Valentine for game lovers. Today we’re unveiling the release schedule and pricing for the latest Must Have Games lineup, which we originally announced a few weeks ago at CES in Las Vegas.

There will be a new game to grab each week starting with Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit ($4.99) on February 1. Here’s the rest of the lineup:

BulletAsylum: February 8 ($2.99)

When Annie Wang the Co-founder, CTO and Creative Director of HerCampus.com agreed to join Windows in Vegas for the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, I literally jumped out of my seat! Annie, a Windows Champion and known student blogger, knows exactly what students want, what students are thinking about and asks questions that help students figure out what they really need to know. The following video recaps Annie’s first day at CES.

The hit pyro puzzler Burn the Rope just landed in the Windows Phone Marketplace. I love this game, which challenges you to torch as much rope as possible, while twisting and turning your phone to keep the flame alive. The Xbox LIVE title is $2.99 to buy, and free to try. Fire extinguisher not included.

Check it out

We’ve seen a lot of excitement and interest from students for the Windows PC and XBox offer over the last few days and  we have more good news.

While the current school year is coming to a close, it's never too early to start thinking ahead to next year. Are you about to head to college this fall for the first time? Planning another year on campus?  Worried what next year has in store?

Snow is falling as I write this, and soon twinkling colored lights will adorn rooflines and front yards everywhere. So, in case you want to decorate your desktop to match, I have a festive new Windows 7 theme for you – Holiday Lights!

When I was in college (The College of William & Mary, Class of 2000) all I had to work with was a struggling Pentium II PC running Windows 95 that my Dad built—and I was really grateful for it.  At least I could do my homework and play a networked game of Quake in warm peace.  About half my freshman hall had to make midnight trips to computer labs on sleet-slickened brick walkways to do homework—and forgo gaming entirely.

The Games on Demand “Spring Sale” continues this week with BioShock 2. BioShock 2 is available at 25% off ($37.49 USD) now through tomorrow March 15th 5pm Redmond time (Pacific). If you purchase both BioShock 2 AND the Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack add-on pack through Games on Demand, you will receive a free gift of 800 Microsoft Points!