Rubicon Development, the creators of the XBLA title Novadrome, announced that they would be bringing two new titles to the Arcade, Shotest Shogi & Basement Pool. Though XBLA already has a billiards game, Basement Pool thinks it can offer the Arcade something new, with the main selling points being the variety of tables, and the physics and graphics. The game will only ship with 5 game modes however, and Bankshot Billiards 2 is already on the Marketplace, and it has 9 modes. The Basement Pool website promises that we'll more game modes as DLC, but is that DLC likely to free? Doubtful. If the game can hit at the same price as Bankshot, with camera support (which is unknown at the time) then it has a chance. But otherwise, it seems as though it's being sent to die.
Shotest Shogi on the other hand seems to have a good chance. Shogi as a game is as old as the hills, and is more popular in Japan than chess is in the west. As a chess variant, Shogi is actually a bit more complex than chess, and with a digital form of the game coming to XBLA, complete with tutorial, this could bring one of the oldest and greatest strategy games ever to an entirely new audience. Hey, we'll definitely be buying it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-26-2008 @ 8:18AM
xenocidic said...
"it seems as though it's being sent to die"
don't worry, that's their business model (cf. novadrome)
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 8:38AM
Chase said...
Shogi is a must, for me, as I do love the game. If they release Dou Shou Qi Live, I will explode in pants.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 9:09AM
GoBob said...
Too bad you can't play go on XBLA, but then again there's a couple of good go servers already. That, and it would likely be a lot of work. Would be nice to get the game some exposure, though.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 9:09AM
GoBob said...
Forgot to add that I have an excuse to learn shogi now. =P
2-26-2008 @ 9:30AM
Boff said...
"If the game can hit at the same price as Bankshot... ...then it has a chance."
I think it would do a lot better if it went for LESS than Banskhot Billiards.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 9:36AM
Collin said...
The Shogi game looks interesting. I will not dismiss the billiards game until I try the demo.
Want free 360 games? More info at
http://www.prizerebel.com/index.php?r=40950
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 10:05AM
Neuromancer said...
If this Basement Pool game has decent 3D graphics then it's already ahead of Bankshot Billiards 2, which Monkey Billiards from Super Monkey Ball on the Gamecube put to shame. Plus SMB had monkeys drinking steins of milk in the background, which is a plus for any billiards game.
Reply
2-26-2008 @ 12:03PM
JSBeckerist said...
Really? That cynical? I liked BSB2, I thought it was well played out, the graphics are wicked nice, the controls are slick, the game modes are fun (cutthroat with 2 friends is GREAT!)
My problem is the fact it costs 1200 MS Points. Apparently, so will this one, with LESS to offer. So stop being cranky...cranky...
2-26-2008 @ 11:46AM
ccc said...
Had little next to no interest in Novadrome.
Need to proof read.
Reply
4-01-2008 @ 8:08AM
Applewood said...
Heh, just to put a few things straight.
Novadrome was a porting job from an existing PC game - we didn't "develop" it. So yes, it fits our business model perfectly - put other peoples games ontol XBLA for a fee :)
Basement Pool has only 5 modes right now, but that's not all it will ship with. It will feature 18 different tables, top notch graphics, various single player options like leagues vs AI opponents, etc. etc. We intend to fill this game to the max as that's what people want. There will be camera and voice support as someone asked about and it will also only be 800 points.
Reply