Capcom has announced that Mega Man 9 will be landing on Xbox Live Arcade October 1st, a mere two weeks hence. Strangely, the Blue Bomber's retro revival will be hitting both the Wii and Playstation 3 a week earlier (that's next week for those keeping score) on September 22nd and 24th, respectively. Why the wait for the Xbox Live Arcade version? Capcom isn't saying, but we have a feeling it might have something to do with a certain gum chewing, ass kicking XBLA game needing a little elbow room next week.
When it was announced at E3 2008 the potential of Portal: Still Alive for the Xbox Live Arcade excited fans of the popular holiday '07 first-person-puzzler. While the title is still anticipated for its bonus content, which is available for free now at BigDownload, many were disappointed that the title simply offers the same experience in downloadable form. As a testament to the popularity of the game and not the shortcomings of the Arcade release, players simply wanted more. Luckily original ideas have found a way into the XBLA release of Portal. Unfortunately they come in the form of new achievements for the game.
Of the twelve achievements uncovered by MyGamerCard nine are original challenges for console gamers to play with when the game hits the service later this year. Well, at least we get something new! Hey, we don't mean to be hard on the game but its like when our parents scold us. They aren't mad, they're just disappointed. Yet, we still can't wait for the game ... sort that one out!
File this under 'how did we miss this?'. A new trailer for Duke Nukem 3D was released earlier this week, and let's just say that it got our nostalgia zones all tingly. Sure, Duke brings back some good, good memories, but the trailer also reminds us that the Xbox Live Arcade version of Duke Nukem 3D is packed with new features. At the top of the list is 8 player online co-op and deathmatch (the original only supported 4 players). Let's not forget the ability to save and share gameplay videos either, or the ability to rewind the game when you die (no more saving every 5 seconds, hooray). Now, we might be a little biased, but we'd say that Duke Nukem 3D looks to be the best frakking Xbox Live Arcade game ever and you should buy it when it releases next week.
Or, you could, you know, wait to hear how the game actually plays over Xbox Live.
Tipster VIP0R informs us that someone at Microsoft may have made a little boo-boo this morning. While browsing Inside Xbox, VIP0R came across the page pictured above. According to the page, the Sierra Online's Zombie Wranglers is already available on Xbox Live Arcade. Unfortunately, this contradicts the fact that the game is not, in fact, available on Xbox Live Arcade. VIP0R informs us that the link in the page led to a blank page. Furthermore, it seems the Inside Xbox page has now been replaced with a more appropriate page regarding Feeding Frenzy 2.
Does this mean we'll be seeing Zombie Wranglers next week? It's possible, though certainly not assured. Heck, it's possible the image above is no more than Photoshop trickery, though it looks legit to us. We'd be happy to see Zombie Wranglers release next week, so long as it doesn't interfere with the launch of Duke Nukem 3D, of course.
Okay, we have to come clean: we haven't actually bought Braid. Yes, we dumped effusive praise upon its digital being. We even devoted an entire feature to convincing people how great it is, but still we did not buy it. Why? Because we were awaiting the learned opinion of one man. Yes, that man is (of course) Soulja Boy. We'd like to attempt to summarize his opinion of Braid but, frankly, it has a profound eloquence that cannot be captured by mere mortals like us. Suffice it to say that you're just going to have to watch it yourself. Find it after the break (it's NSFW, by the way).
This is sort of a slow week for XBLA. It's not that the games -- Feeding Frenzy 2 and Domino Master, lest you haven't heard -- are bad. It's just that they aren't exactly mind-blowing either. But hey, we can't have AAA, hardcore titles every week. Where would we find the money, right? Besides, Grandma likes dominos. Rather than driving all the way over to her house so you can play in person, now you can save the hassle and do it over Xbox Live! Find out just how easy it is in our latest episode of XBLA in Brief.
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For the third consecutive week The Behemoth's latest release, Castle Crashers, has remained the most played Xbox Live Arcade release. Still reeling from its online play hiccups, Castle Crashers has been singled out as one of the most successful releases to ever hit the service. Released nearly two years since it was announced, Castle Crashers was at the forefront of a price listing controversy that pegged the beat-em-up as the first 1800MS point Arcade release but was then confirmed at a slightly lower price of 1400MS 1200MS points.
After stealing the top slot for the third time we wonder, are any upcoming releases tempting enough to take over? If you said Feeding Frenzy 2 congratulations. You're so wrong.
Update: We need coffee, price of Castle Crashers is and always has been 1200MS points.
With two very remakes under its belt -- Pac-Man CE and Galaga Legions -- it looks like Namco Bandai has some more arcade remakes in mind. Speaking to MTV, Tadashi Iguchi, director of the team that made both Pac-Man CE and Galaga Legions, revealed that there are plans to do more remakes, which he refers to as "reconstructions". "I would like to make an action game with the same team again," says Iguchi, adding that a specific title has not been chosen, but he is "interested in making games that players who liked games in the 80's will enjoy." Might we suggest Rolling Thunder? Pleeeeease?
Another week, three more games on Xbox Live Arcade. We've got Samurai Shodown II, Shotest Shogi and Rocket Bowl, a classic fighter, a Japanese board game and a wacky bowling game, respectively. As is our sworn duty, we take a look at all three of them in the latest XBLA in Brief. Check out our latest installment and find out which ones are for you.
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Good morning on this beautiful (depending where you are) Wednesday and say hello to a trio of new Xbox Live Arcade releases. Landing on the service today is the mini-golf, bowling hybrid of Rocket Bowl; the classic fighter Samurai Shodown II; and the popular Japanese board game Shotest Shogi (ironically not available for Xbox users in Japan).
Each tagged with an asking price of 800MS space bucks, this week marks the second consecutive three-lease Wednesday for everyone's favorite digital games service. We'd go into a whole witty spiel about this week's releases right about now but we're too busy praying to the waffle stuck to our ceiling that SamSho2 has a working online mode. What are our chances?
As a general rule of thumb, there is one thing that can make an awesome game even awesomer. That one thing, as we're sure you've already guessed, is a chainsaw. Smart company that it is, The Behemoth has announced that not only will upcoming Castle Crashers DLC add two new characters -- the King and the Necromancer -- but also a chainsaw. Why is there a chainsaw in what is obviously a medieval world? Shut up is why.
Those of you experiencing connection problems -- like us -- fear not, for The Behemoth has promised that fixing the technical issues in Castle Crashers is "top priority." Considering that the patch has no given release date, that makes the release of the DLC even more nebulous. Other details, like the price, are also up in the air. Here's hoping we get our patch and our DLC sooner rather than later.
XBLA is packed to the brim this week with three full releases landing on the Xbox 360's download service. All told, we have Gin Rummy, Shred Nebula, and Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball. One of them is a wacky sports game, one is a space shooter, and one is a card game. See if you can guess which is which! Failing that, you could always just watch the latest episode and find out if any of these are worth your time and money.
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It's time for a special Friday Fanswag boys and girls. We've gotten our hands on five redemption codes for Shred Nebula from CrunchTime Games. Not only that, but we've scored five CrunchTime T-shirts to go along with each copy. In case you haven't noticed, CrunchTime has a sweet logo. Even if you don't know who the folks at CrunchTime are, you'll be proud to wear their shirt. It just so happens that Shred Nebula is a nice space shooter with deep play mechanics and online dogfights, so it's win-win, really. To enter:
Leave a comment on this post telling us about your favorite space battle.
Only one comment will be accepted per person. Posters of multiple comments will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until 5:00PM, Eastern Time, Friday, September 5th, 2008. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec).
Later today, we'll pick five winners via a random drawing.
Five winners will each receive a redemption code for Shred Nebula on XBLA and a CrunchTime Games T-shirt, worth a total of $25.
It was once rare for Xbox Live Arcade to receive two games in a single week. Heck, it was once rare for XBLA to receive one game in a single week. And here we are, getting three in one week. All told we have Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball, Shred Nebula, and Gin Rummy. So, we've got a party sports game, a space shooter and a card game. The only question now is whether or not anyone will want to open their wallents after the veritable treasure trove of games that dropped in August. Both PvN Dodgeball and Shred Nebula will set you back 800 Microsoft Points. Gin Rummy is a mere 400. All three are now available on Marketplace for your perusal.
We recently got a chance to play some dodgeball with Blazing Lizard. Specifically, we're talking about the company's new Xbox Live Arcade game, Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball. Even more specifically, we got a chance to try out the game's various multiplayer modes. Those following the game may recall that originally the game was to contain only a no-rules, non-traditional version of dodgeball, but Blazing Lizard decided to delay the title in order to add some more traditional modes. We got to try out both of these new modes as well as the original free form mode known as Combat Dodgeball. Read on for our hands-on impressions of each mode.
