Traditionally, when Monday morning rolls around, Major Nelson (Microsoft’s Larry Hryb) pops up on his blog to let Xbox 360 owners what new game they can expect to be downloading from the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) come Wednesday.  This week, however, it hardly seems necessary, as most gamers know that the long-awaited first episode of Penny Arcade Advenutres: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness will finally make its début.  (We don’t yet know if any other games will also be made available, but it doesn’t seem likely.)

Also releasing for the PC, Penny Arcade is a sort of steampunk-themed, action-adventure take on Gabe, Tycho and other characters from the popular webcomic.  After your home is destroyed by a certain fruit-loving robot, you team-up with private investigators Gabe and Tycho (of the Startling Developments detective agency) to track it down, save the city from various evils (including zombies, other robots and, of course, mimes) and locate a new apartment.

Announced last week, Major Nelson today did confirmed that two new Xbox Originals, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows and Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse, can now be downloaded for 1,200 Microsoft Points each.  That should help tide gamers over during the two whole days before Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is released.  We hope...