This week on XBLA in Brief, we take a look at Portal: Still Alive. Sure, it seems like an easy choice for those wanting to try Portal without paying for The Orange Box. 15 bucks for the original Portal and 14 new challenge maps? Sounds pretty good to us. The only real question is whether or not the 14 additional maps are worth it to Portal fanatics. At a buck a map, we're inclined to say yes. Check out the latest installment of XBLA in Brief to see what's new in Still Alive.
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Update: As a commenter pointed out, Portal: Still Alive clocks in at 630MB. Microsoft increased the XBLA limit to 350MB in May. With memory cards capped at 512MB, Portal: Still Alive becomes the first Arcade title that cannot fit on a memory card and requires a hard drive.
Original Story: Is it possible to write this post without the following references: cake, lies and catchy songs? Well, let's see how this works out.
Now available on the Xbox Live Arcade is the Valve title that landed on over 30 Game of the Year lists in 2007 with an additional 14 maps: Portal: Still Alive. Asking 1200MS points, this version of Portal is the same title released last year but includes new challenge maps -- that would be the 14 we mentioned before -- making it a solid package for new gamers to the game. For the rest of us who've played it, we could see the benefit of grabbing the pack if we've ditched our copy of The Orange Box and wanted to net 200 new achievement points. Who here is picking Portal: Still Alive up on the Xbox Live Arcade today?
Hey, look at that. We finished this post without mentioning the cake, lies or the catchy song ... uh, those don't count.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has been in development for quite a while and even after a beta test we still don't have a firm release date. Capcom is secretive, that's just how they roll. So, when our Joystiq pals received a teaser email from team Capcom proclaiming that SSFIITHDR would be releasing to the Xbox Live Arcade "very soon", our inner Street Fighter fanboy was tickled with excitement.
Exactly how soon is "very soon"? We dunno, but sooner or later we'll know what "very soon" means and will soon have SSFIITHDR ... soon.
Let's just put this out there: Age of Booty is really, really fun. We know this because the trial version (the trial version) allows you to try online multiplayer for two days. Why it's taken nearly three years for an Xbox Live Arcade game to offer online play in the trial version, we have no idea. We just hope it's the beginning of a beautiful trend. Oh, Crazy Mouse came out this week too. That's all you really need to know about that one. Check out the latest episode of XBLA in Brief above.
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Update: Major Nelson confirmed with us that Portal: Still Alive will be priced at 1200 Microsoft points.
Attention -- the Aperture Science Enrichment Center cordially invites you back to experience its award-winning testing facility very soon on the Xbox Live Arcade. Play it again and for the first time with the complete original, 6 advanced maps and 14 new challenge maps. GamerScore Blog officially announced today that Portal: Still Alive will land on the marketplace on October 22. Unfortunately no price was revealed, which makes us think we're going to have to open the wallet wider than the average 800MS points. We can still dream, together.
Tiny ninja fans rejoice! A new level pack for the high jumpin', wall slidin' platformer N+ is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Oh, but that's not all. It's also 100% completely, totally free! So, that's pretty cool right? The folks at Metanet have also annoucned a new "contesque" in which you could win a copy of N+ on your platform of choice. All you have to do is send a picture of an N+ related costume or craft, or a piece of digital art. Head over to Metanet for full details, and go get that level pack!
We've got two new games landing on Xbox Live Arcade today. First up, we have Crazy Mouse, which is about a mouse that is just ka-razy for food. It's kind of like Pac-Man, but with mice, weapons, and food. On the other end of the spectrum we have Age of Booty, a real time strategy game of sorts, which has players scrambling to upgrade their pirate ships and capture hapless towns. Without a doubt though, the best feature of Age of Booty is that the trial version actually lets you try out Xbox Live multiplayer for a full two days. Why haven't we seen this feature before?
We're not sure, but we can tell that Age of Booty is (rum) barrels of fun. CrazyMouse will run you 400 points while Age of Booty requires 800 points of your hard-earned plunder.
Chinese developer Ultizen just announced that their arcade title Crazy Mouse will be releasing to the Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday, October 15th. And it'll be the first mainland China game to release to the XBLA.
For 400 Microsoft points, Crazy Mouse purchasers will get to experience 30+ levels of mouse scurrying, four player online multiplayer and all the cheese you can consume in one sitting. Not really, but one could speculate that an unlimited cheese eating buffet offer would help the game sell. As long as there's bleu cheese, we're in.
The long overdue, much anticipated and highly demanded patch for The Behemoth's Castle Crashers is done. You know, the patch that's supposed to fix the game's online issues. Like we said, it's done, just don't rejoice yet. See, it still has to travel on over to Microsoft certification where (GASP!) it could be rejected for some reason. And we don't have to tell you what a rejection from Microsoft will do to the patch's potential release. We shudder to think. Keep those fingers crossed for a patch release in a month's time, that is, if you still care.
Update: Jonah F. pointed out that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is a backwards compatible title, meaning there there's a possibility it will release as an Xbox Original versus the XBLA. We're cheering for the XBLA.
Marvel vs. Capcom fanboys rejoice! Word on the collective internet street is that the old-school fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 2 will be releasing to the Xbox Live Arcade or as an Xbox Original in the not too distant future. The rumor stems from the game's listing on the ESRB ratings search website where the game was tagged with both Xbox 360 and PS3 descripters. Though, since its discover, the listing has mysteriously disappeared. No matter, we have enough photographic proof (see above) as we need. So, fanboys, how excited would you be for some HD Marvel vs. Capcom 2 XBLA action?
Just as we were informed, Certain Affinity's pirate themed strategy game PlunderAge of Booty will be releasing to the Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday, October 15th. For 800 Microsoft points, you can expect an almost board game-like strategy game that supports four player Xbox Live versus, eight player system link, comes packed with 25 multiplayer maps and even a map editor. It was also developed by the "designer of the multiplayer game for Halo 2 and Halo 3" which is a blatant name drop if we ever heard one. Now if only we could remember where we buried our Microsoft point treasure ...
This week, after announcing the arrival of MLB Stickball, Microsoft surprised us with two additional titles, Beat'n Groovy and Shadow Assault / Tenchu. Of the three games, let us tell you that Beat'n Groovy is definitely the standout title this week. Let us tell you also that it's the standout title for all the wrong reasons. That should really be the takeaway from this week's XBLA In Brief, even if the other two are decent (particularly Shadow Assault) games. Hear our take on all three in the video above.
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The Gametrailers folks posted a comparison video that pits upcoming Banjo-Kazooie on the Xbox 360 versus old-school Banjo-Kazooie on the N64. After our expert analysis (watching the video) we can attest that the 360 version is nearly identical to the N64 version in terms of content, but has the added benefit of crisper models and a deeper color palette. The other bonus is the replacement of all Nintendo references with Microsoft Game Studios logos. Huzzah!
Freshly picked from Microsoft's massive library of Tokyo Game Show press kits comes brand new screenshots from a handful of the recently announced Xbox Live Arcade titles. You can view all the new screens in the galleries after the break for XBLA games including Arkanoid Live, Meteos, Space Invaders Extreme, Shadow Assault and R-Type Dimensions. There's a lot of screenshots to be viewed and you know your mission, so you best be getting to it!
On the Xbox Live Arcade news fronts, Microsoft just announced that Taito's Space Invaders Extreme and Arkanoid (with 120 stages and online play) will release to the XBLA this Winter. Also announced was old school racer R-Type and that SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters '98 UltimateMatch will release Spring of 2009 and Metal Slug 7 will be releasing to the Arcade at a time yet to be determined.
Now those, friends, are a few nice Xbox Live Arcade titles to look forward to.
