Posts with tag livearcade
Posted Jul 11th 2007 9:00AM by David Dreger
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade, E3
This week's Xbox Live Arcade titles are
Golden Axe and, finally,
Sonic the Hedgehog. Both cost a mere 400 Microsoft Points, with
Golden Axe allowing for co-operative play on Live and locally. The Achievements for both titles were made
available yesterday, and led us to believe that at the very least,
GA was coming today. Fortunately, we were only half right, as
Sonic finally made its debut under the Sega Vintage Collection line of titles. With any luck, we'll see
Ecco and
Sonic 2 follow suit.
Posted Jul 11th 2007 7:30AM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, E3
The torrent of Xbox 360 news from the
E3 press conference continues as, Microsoft confirmed in an Xbox Live Arcade reel that
Marathon: Durandal is indeed heading to
Xbox Live Arcade. Given that the game was
rated by the USK and subsequently
pulled from the USK's database, this should come as no surprise to X3F readers. The brief clip showed off at the press conference revealed improved graphics over its aging PC/Mac counterpart. For those unaware, the
Marathon series is something of a spiritual precursor to the
Halo series, featuring many similar plot and design elements. In essence,
Marathon is the primordial ooze out of which
Halo born. No price or release date have been announced.
Oh, and, for the record, we totally called it (
last year even).
Posted Jul 10th 2007 5:45PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
We've got a double whammy of Xbox Live Arcade news today. First of all, the achievements for both
Sonic the Hedgehog and
Golden Axe have been uncovered. This has in turn spurred the rumor that Microsoft will unveil
Golden Axe as tomorrow's XBLA release. Some are comparing this to last year's surprise release of
DOOM during X06.
Golden Axe is definitely a classic title, but we were hoping for something a little more exciting, like, say,
Marathon. At any rate, we at least have confirmation of one more Sega classic on XBLA. Take that for what it's worth.
Read --
Golden Axe coming this week
Read --
Sonic and
Golden Axe achievements
[Thanks, Scott]
Posted Jul 5th 2007 12:35PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
Old school gaming fans rejoice! The official page for
Bomberman Live has appeared on Xbox.com. Well, to be more precise, it's not
published on the
Xbox Live Arcade page yet, but it's available for those who know where to look. It's actually been there for some time, but now we have some new reinforcement that the game is on its way to XBLA soon. Yes, the game has been rated by the ESRB, so things are looking good. We're so excited that we just might
explode. Get it? Get it?! Oh, never mind.
Posted Jul 4th 2007 10:00AM by David Dreger
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
Just so you fanboys know, that shot of T. Hawk is
full resolution, from
Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, of course. Capcom Digital posted that image, complete with an analysis of how they remaster frames to incorporate the new artwork. They use Sagat's standing Roundhouse as an example. Rey then demonstrated how the art is broken up into tiles, and they use those as a guide for when they're redrawing the frame. This prevents a scenario causing a foot to go through an opponent's head due to a hit detection issues. A good read, and it also shows the comparison shot of T. Hawk, as well as the line art for Sagat. Go take a look!
Posted Jul 4th 2007 9:30AM by David Dreger
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
Today's Xbox Live Arcade
release is
Missile Command, the retro crap Atari shooter where you fire at ... oncoming missiles. With updated graphics, a new Throttle Monkey gameplay mode, and multiplayer over Xbox Live or locally, this nostalgic classic costs 400 Microsoft Points. Unfortunately, according to the read out at Major's blog, this game is currently unavailable in Japan or Korea, but everyone else is free to check out the trial and see if this oldschool goodness is up their alley.
Posted Jul 2nd 2007 5:15PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
Well kids, we knew it was coming. Yes, it was
prophesied long ago that
Atari's Missile Command would hit
Xbox Live Arcade some day. That day is this Wednesday. This ain't your grandpa's
Missile Command either. Nope,
this Missile Command comes with fancy new 3D graphics and updated music. Sure, the primary goal is still to destroy incoming missiles, but now it's in
kuh-razy 3D and it has achievements! The press release informs us that you destroy said missiles in order to defend planet Zardon (not to be confused with Zordon). The game features 2 person multiplayer locally or over Xbox Live and ... um ... well, that's about it. It's
Missile Command. Take it or leave it (for 400 points).
Posted Jun 29th 2007 12:05PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
Let's say your game shipped with a horrendous multiplayer bug that prevented many people from connecting to online co-op sessions. Would you fix it? Would you fix it quickly? If you're part of
Wanako and Sierra Online, and your game is
Assault Heroes for
Xbox Live Arcade, then your answer is clearly "no." Yes,
Assault Heroes was added to the XBLA library last December and played host to a serious co-op problem, namely that co-op games
could not be joined by many people. Now, seven months later, a title update for
Assault Heroes has finally been released. There's only one problem: you can't download it. In a particularly delicious bit of irony, you are greeted with an error message the moment you accept the update prompt. Oy vey.
Let's hope the
Assault Heroes team gets their ducks in a row and fixes this problem soon.
Posted Jun 28th 2007 2:00PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace
Those sneaky solitaire solicitors! They're at it again. Yet another batch of downloadable content (DLC to the kids) for
Soltrio Solitaire on
XBLA has hit
Xbox Live Marketplace. In fact, it came out
yesterday, and we didn't even notice. That's how sneaky it was. The pack includes an entire 10 new solitaire modes, all for a measly 150 points. According to our friends at XBLArcade (the sleuths who uncovered this info), the PC version contains dozens of modes, so more DLC for
Soltrio Solitaire is a distinct possibility for the future. We're sure that somebody,
somewhere, is very excited about this.
Posted Jun 27th 2007 5:45PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
A few years ago, if someone used the phrase "casual games," you probably would have imagined someone playing darts or shuffleboard in a newly smoke-free bar somewhere. Only recently, aided by Nintendo's DS and Wii juggernauts and download services like
Xbox Live Arcade, have casual games become serious business. Everyone and their dog is stumbling over themselves to create casual games. EA, Eidos, Ubisoft: everyone is doing it. Of course, PopCap has been doing it for a while now. Gamesindustry.biz recently sat down to talk with Jason Kapalka, chief creative officer for PopCap games.
Speaking to the success of casual games, Kapalka notes that PopCap enjoys nearly a 20% conversion rate on Xbox Live Arcade titles. That's 1 in 5 people who decide to buy a PopCap game --
Heavy Weapon, for example -- after playing the trial version. This is compared to less than 10% rates for the PC and mobile markets. So, yes, casual games can certainly mean big bucks for a smart company.
Continue reading PopCap talks casual game design, XBLA
Posted Jun 27th 2007 12:00PM by David Dreger
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
As we
announced on Monday, today's Xbox Live Arcade offering is
Carcassonne. For 800 Microsoft Points you can get your hands on some castle building action. It's got 5 player live multiplayer and 4 player local MP, Live Vision camera support, and a nice range of balanced
Achievements. It hopefully will bring a similar crowd as
Catan did, allowing for a more
laid back and social experience, so long as the camera support isn't abused. Hopefully we'll catch you online soon.
Posted Jun 26th 2007 6:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: Fan stuff, Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is finally starting to pick up steam and, as a result, more game genres are being represented. We've got fighters, beat 'em ups, puzzle games, arcade classics, board games, and many more. There hasn't been much in the way of turn-based strategy though. That is, there wasn't until
Band of Bugs. Coming to us from NinjaBee, the same folks who brought us
Cloning Clyde and
Outpost Kaloki X, Band of Bugs takes the same lighthearted, humorous approach to turn-based strategy. Read on to find out how
Band of Bugs fares.
Continue reading X3F hands-on: Band of Bugs
Posted Jun 26th 2007 2:30PM by Richard Mitchell
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
The kind and generous souls over at Uncle Gamer are at it again. This time, they're giving away a redemption code for
Band of Bugs, the latest release from our friends at
NinjaBee. We've been having a lot of fun with
Band of Bugs so far, and that feeling will only be made better when you realize you didn't pay a dime for it, right? If you'd like your shot at some free, lighthearted strategy goodness, head over to Uncle Gamer and enter. They're accepting entries until Friday, so get cracking!
Posted Jun 26th 2007 8:00AM by David Dreger
Filed under: News, Fan stuff, Xbox Live Arcade
The guys at Penny Arcade seem a little perplexed as to the Unlock Xbox
marketing campaign from Doritos. Apparently, putting together a videogame based on a tortilla chip is pushing the envelope for ridiculous ideas, intense experiences notwithstanding. While the idea of getting your Arcade title's concept published on Xbox Live Marketplace is definitely a cool one, the necessity to incorporate some Doritos branding into the gameplay does seem a little
cheesy. Do you mind the product placement suggested for submissions to the contest, or do you think the opportunity is too good to complain about such details?
Posted Jun 26th 2007 7:30AM by David Dreger
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
DAKing240 over at Xbox 360 Achievements got to sit down with Peter Dassenko, Associate Producer at Hudson Entertainment about their upcoming Xbox Live Arcade release,
Bomberman Live. The interview covers a lot of interesting points, like the development process for the game, and how they came up with some of the title's more interesting
Achievements. It's a good read,and Peter has some uniquely clever ways of answering some of the questions. Check out the full interview by clicking the "Read" link.
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