It only took a year, and now Lumines Live is ready to join the 800 point club. Our readers may recall that the game debuted last year for the always controversial price of 1200 MS Points. This created no end of anger among many XBLA fans. In addition to the high price, players were expected to pay extra for features like playing against the computer. Still, Lumines stands as one of the best puzzlers on Live and now it can be had for the much more respectable price of 800 MS Points. If you haven't sampled the musical genius of Lumines yet, you really should give it a shot.
The next pack of downloadable content for Lumines Live! is being previewed over at GameTrailers and is also available in HD. It shows 5 or so seconds of each skin in what's being dubbed the "SOS Charity Campaign Pack". It will be released on June 27th, and will set you back 350 MS points, but at least you know that it's going towards a good cause. Would you be down with some more content for Lumines, or are you a little wary of Q Entertainment's take on micro-transactions?
According to the 'stiq, the next title from Tetsuya Mizuguchi expected to hit XBLA is Every Extend Extra Extreme. E4 is going to be an updated version of the PSP's E3. The freebie PC version of Every Extend was originally developed by Omega. From the sounds of the press release, it looks like you'll be able to play with your own music, along with playing a versus mode online. Unfortunately, the schedule for the release is later this year, so don't expect it to be showing up as a surprise download during GDC. Have you played Every Extend before, on either the PC or PSP?
How many MS Points does it take to say, "I'm sorry?" Any 360 gamer worth his or her salt will remember the Great LuminesCatastrophe of '06. Allow us to explain ... no, there is too much. Let us sum up: Lumines Live launched on Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 points. The catch here is that the 1200 point purchase did not get you the full game. There were myriad reasons for this (stay under the 50MB limit, etc...) but the end result was that we were expected to pay for things like Vs. CPU mode and an expanded Puzzle mode and more skins for the solo mode. After the already large asking price, many felt insulted or even outraged. Well, kiddies, it looks like MS and Q? were listening, as new Lumines content arrives next Wednesday, and it's cheap! There are three pieces of content arriving next week. The first is a new video skin called Heavenly Star (sounds familiar) which will be free to Xbox Live Gold Members. The second is the Vs. CPU pack that will be available for 100 points. The third is the Puzzle/Mission pack which will also cost 100 points. These promotional prices are to be offered between January 24 and February 21. After February 21, the two content packs will cost 300 points, and we're not really sure what happens to the Heavenly Star video (presumably it will disappear or cost points).
A tip of the hat to MS and Q? entertainment for heeding our call and slashing these prices. Will you grab this content now that it will be available at a discounted price?
We know, it seems like all the news is about Lumines lately. It'll subside, we promise. Until then, however, we have to put in our two cents on a hot topic. No doubt you've read some of the reports about Lumines Live! and it's evil downloadable content. Either that, or you've discovered it yourself after clearing one round of Vs. CPU mode. We all knew that there was an "Advance" pack coming, but if you were under the impression that the "Advance" pack would make your game complete, you're wrong. Three times wrong. We think it's time for a rant.
It's that time. Time to announce the winner of our Lumines Live! contest. We received a digital ton of entries, some good, and some not so good. Some of them were clever, and some not so clever. Find out who we picked and see some honorable mentions after the break.
Last night, the overlords at Joystiq bestowed upon us a free redemption code for the long awaited Lumines Live. We were faced with a serious moral dilemma. Do we keep the code for ourselves so that we can "review" the game, or do we give it away in a fantabulous contest. In the end, our "good" side won out, and we've decided to give it away! How do you win? Find out after the break.
Update: The contest is now closed and the winner has been announced. See the winning entry and some honorable mentions here.
Those of you hoping to see Lumines Live and Dig Dug hit on the same day (it could happen, right?) are about to be sorely disappointed. In a recent interview, Lumines creator, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, was asked when Lumines Live will release on XBLA. His answer: "Next month. The middle of next month. I think so." Not exactly the hard confirmation many of us were hoping for, but at least you don't have to stay up late checking Marketplace for Lumines tonight. Of course, we can't stop you from waiting up for Dig Dug.
Already victim to unimpressive reviews and sales in its homeland, Ninety-Nine Nights is about to hit American shores. Soon we will finally have a mindless slasher to compare with Dynasty Warriors 5 -- and Kurosawa fans may shudder when they learn that the game's "story" was inspired by Rashomon. But why wait for the full release when there's a demo up right now? Go forth loyal X360F readers and partake of this demo (available in all regions). Upon its completion return here and tell us what you think. Was it mindless fun, or just mindless?
If you don't have an HDD and you were looking forward to Ninety-Nine Nights, you'd better start saving. QJ reports that Ninety-Nine Nights, releasing this August in the US, will require a hard drive to play. At least that's the story according to Xbox.com. Personally, I find this a little suspect. Surely something like this would have been covered when the game released in Japan.
Assuming it's true, without an HDD it's going to cost you at least $160 to play this. Ouch. Of course, you could just skip Ninety-Nine Nights entirely, because it's not supposed to be very good anyway.
See an image of the Xbox.com product info after the break.
We know, it seems like all the news is about Lumines lately. It'll subside, we promise. Until then, however, we have to put in our two cents on a hot topic. No doubt you've read some of the reports about Lumines Live! and it's evil downloadable content. Either that, or you've discovered it yourself after clearing one round of Vs. CPU mode. We all knew that there was an "Advance" pack coming, but if you were under the impression that the "Advance" pack would make your game complete, you're wrong. Three times wrong. We think it's time for a rant.
It's that time. Time to announce the winner of our 
Last night, the overlords at Joystiq bestowed upon us a free redemption code for the long awaited Lumines Live. We were faced with a serious moral dilemma. Do we keep the code for ourselves so that we can "review" the game, or do we give it away in a fantabulous contest. In the end, our "good" side won out, and we've decided to give it away! How do you win? Find out after the break.
