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XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) News, Announcements, Reviews, and Impressions Thread

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Is Hybrid any good?

I thought it was pretty neat but limited. The population is not zero, but it's low enough that you don't get the diversity you're hoping for. But the worst problem I found is that the game has really really poor lag compensation--so when I occasionally got a laggy match, it was basically unplayable.

The demo comes with an hour or 90 minutes of free time, so try it out.
 

Kevtones

Member
I thought it was pretty neat but limited. The population is not zero, but it's low enough that you don't get the diversity you're hoping for. But the worst problem I found is that the game has really really poor lag compensation--so when I occasionally got a laggy match, it was basically unplayable.

The demo comes with an hour or 90 minutes of free time, so try it out.


Thanks, I'll give it a shot!


400 points is an easy jump-in point and maybe it'll get a boost with the sale?
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
400 points is an easy jump-in point and maybe it'll get a boost with the sale?

In my experience sales haven't typically helped the population for multi-only games, but it's hard to say. Of course the population is going to vary based on your timezone and hours of availability too, right. I wouldn't want to talk anyone out of anything.
 

Kevtones

Member
In my experience sales haven't typically helped the population for multi-only games, but it's hard to say. Of course the population is going to vary based on your timezone and hours of availability too, right. I wouldn't want to talk anyone out of anything.


I'm alright with some low-pop, I still play Wolfenstein 2009!
 

Rlan

Member
Takedown: Red Sabre

DEVELOPER: Serellan
PUBLISHER: 505 Games

boxartlg.jpg


banner.png


Fight smart in lethal close-quarter tactical combat. Non-linear environments mean engagements change every time you play. Tactics and realism rule the day.

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Takedown-Red-Sabre/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802584113e7
 

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
My guess for this years Summer of Arcade:

Charlie Murder
Ascend
Super Time Force
LocoCycle

and something else.

Edit: removing LocoCycle because it's going to Xbox One so will probably not be out until launch day on 360.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
More than five years after I started playing it, I beat Roogoo's absurdly hard par time challenge yesterday and got the online achievements today. According to TrueAchievements I'm the 35th person in the world to 100% the game.

The game got delisted a long time ago--dispute with the publisher I think--and a pretty long time after the delisting they reset the leaderboards. As a consequence, there are only like 50 people on the leaderboards and I'm #1 by a looooonnnnngshot. LOL.
 
More than five years after I started playing it, I beat Roogoo's absurdly hard par time challenge yesterday and got the online achievements today. According to TrueAchievements I'm the 35th person in the world to 100% the game.

The game got delisted a long time ago--dispute with the publisher I think--and a pretty long time after the delisting they reset the leaderboards. As a consequence, there are only like 50 people on the leaderboards and I'm #1 by a looooonnnnngshot. LOL.

Heh, I should challenge you. I bought the game the week it came out and have played it for maybe twenty minutes? I highly doubt I'd have the patience to work on the hard achievements, though. And there's people playing online to get the online achievements? Or did you organize it with someone? I'd be absolutely amazed if there were people playing that online.

Started State of Decay and it seems decent. For the high prize it got right off the bat and all the great reviews so far it doesn't seem like anything super special (just met Lily, to give context on my time in the game). I definitely like the base upgrading aspect that allows for some choice in what you do but combat seems quite simple and mostly just been me running around to campsites and looting everything. Honestly it feels like how I played Oblivion by just roaming the hills, basic melee combat, and looting everything possible. I'm not saying it's bad, but so far just basic and I'm waiting for things to take off.

Edit: Randomly started Axel and Pixel having downloaded it at least a year ago and never started. Went through and got every achievement in 03h07m. And also put myself above most everyone on the leaderboards. My overall score is around #190 out of 24,000ish people, well above Stumpokapow. And I don't know anyone that would actually enjoy those mini-games, which are really the only good way to change your score, so have fun getting back on top!
 

aku:jiki

Member
I thought Roogoo's par times were ridiculous until I skipped the insane 7th level (or whatever it was) and kept playing past it. It really is only that one's that difficult. I actually ended up enjoying it a lot, the pace of the game when going for par times is awesome. Everything at light speed!
 
My guess for this years Summer of Arcade:

Charlie Murder
Ascend
Super Time Force
LocoCycle

and something else.

Edit: removing LocoCycle because it's going to Xbox One so will probably not be out until launch day on 360.

Doodle Jump Kinect seems likely considering the past few had have one big kinect title.

By the way, Ascend is free 2 play, so I'm not sure if it will be in the SoA, but perhaps it will? Really looking forward to it. All the talk of Dark Souls-esque gameplay and co-op has me very excited.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
I thought Roogoo's par times were ridiculous until I skipped the insane 7th level (or whatever it was) and kept playing past it. It really is only that one's that difficult. I actually ended up enjoying it a lot, the pace of the game when going for par times is awesome. Everything at light speed!

2-7 is one of the few levels where you not only need to play perfectly, but the RNG needs to give you shapes in the right order and power-ups at the right time.

But most of world 5 and world 6 is pretty tricky still, in that you need to get pretty near 100%. Especially frustrating when you complete just under par time but the extra two second tick while the "level complete" text is up makes you lose :/

Heh, I should challenge you. I bought the game the week it came out and have played it for maybe twenty minutes? I highly doubt I'd have the patience to work on the hard achievements, though. And there's people playing online to get the online achievements? Or did you organize it with someone? I'd be absolutely amazed if there were people playing that online.

Had to organize it. Basically, I had beten Roogoo in 2008, in 2009 I took a stab at par times, I almost had them all finished when I lost all of my 360 saves (Lost Odyssey post-game, Fallout 3 full game + 3 DLCs completed, Infinite Undiscovery an hour or two before the end of the game, Rocket Riot on the last level, a bunch of other very frustrating losses). It's only recently that I've taken another stab at it. So once I got the par time thing, I said "good god, I wouldn't normally care about this, but so much has gone into this, I need to feel that triumph".

Edit: Randomly started Axel and Pixel having downloaded it at least a year ago and never started. Went through and got every achievement in 03h07m. And also put myself above most everyone on the leaderboards. My overall score is around #190 out of 24,000ish people, well above Stumpokapow. And I don't know anyone that would actually enjoy those mini-games, which are really the only good way to change your score, so have fun getting back on top!

Hahaha I love the open hostility going on up in here ;)
 

Gaspode_T

Member
Man some of those Axel and Pixel mini games pissed me off so much, I respect your gaming skillz

XBLA...going down with this ship means spending all the $ knowing you will have to keep a 360 around to play them...sigh...well technically I have an Atari 2600 still (not kidding either)
 
Hahaha I love the open hostility going on up in here ;)

You're one of the only people on my friends list that I can pretty much be certain will be on leaderboards for my XBLA games, and that's with nearly 100 friends. I've actually thought of deleting more people and working on adding more people from here that play more often just so leaderboards are more interesting to look at. And generally I don't get above you on most games since I rarely work at doing much more than beating a game once or perhaps working on most the achievements, but that doesn't always mean improving leaderboard standings. So having one game where I placed higher than you on most the individual leaderboards (you beat me on the car mini-game) allows for some general ribbing.

Man some of those Axel and Pixel mini games pissed me off so much, I respect your gaming skillz
They really weren't all that bad. Looking at the times TrueAchievements.com shows that I got each of the achievements I did the balloon one eight minutes after a story achievement popped (and I let the credits roll, so probably only around five real minutes of playing to get that achievement). The car mini-game achievement was 23 minutes later. And then 15 more minutes for the boat one. I definitely was most frustrated by the boat one but after a bunch of failed attempts, almost always at the same area, I found a good path through it, stopped focusing on getting every star, and mainly scored well by simply staying alive.
 

aku:jiki

Member
Just picked up Shred Nebula with the discount and even at 400MSP, I can't recommend it to anyone. I have no idea what went wrong here - does the entire development team have giant, mutant hands with 10 fingers on each or something? They expect you to be able to use LT, LB, X and Y all simultaneously and constantly, while RT does nothing of value. It's the dumbest control scheme I've ever used in my life, and it can't be changed. Everything else is decent but the controls make it basically unplayable.

Sanctum 2, on the other hand, is great fun. Really enjoying the gameplay mechanics as well as the lavish attention to detail - every level is huge and allows for lots of exploration, allowing you to find cool little easter eggs and even playable arcade versions of Breakout and Pong. It's frustratingly hard, though.
 

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
Would have strongly preferred Super Time Force to be in there.

As it is now, it has two Beat-em-ups, so I can't complain. New Flashback is interesting enough to me, and Brothers... I first remember hearing about it through PSN videos, so I find it weird to see it here.

It's got a decent mix, the games are a nice shift of genres, and it's nice not to see any obvious FPS style things, or a Kinect only title. But these feel less exclusive than older SOAs...

Also, I wonder what the "Buy all games" deal will be this year? Unless it's woven into Punchcard, or something like that.
 

Vert boil

Member
I'll update throughout the day.

DOTW

Worms - 200msp (was 400)
Worms 2: Armageddon - 200msp (was 400)
Worms: Ultimate Mayhem - 400msp (was 800)
Worms Revolution - 600msp (was 1200)

-----

Battlefield 3
--Premium - 2000msp (was 4000)

DJ Hero 2
--Linkin Park mix pack - 320msp (was 640)

Final Fantasy XIII-2
--Lightning: Requiem of the Goddess - 200msp (was 400)
--Mog's Outfits: A Wondrous Wardrobe - 120msp (was 240)
--Noel's Outfit: Battle Attire - 120msp (was 240)
--Noel's Outfit: Black Mage - 120msp (was 240)
--Noel's Outfit: Ezio Auditore - 120msp (was 240)
--Noel's Outfit: N7 Armor - 120msp (was 240)
--Noel's Outfit: Spacetime Guardian - 120msp (was 240)
--Opponent: Gilgamesh - 160msp (was 320)
--Opponent: Lightning & Amodar - 120msp (was 240)
--Opponent: Nabaat - 120msp (was 240)
--Opponent: Omega - 120msp (was 240)
--Opponent: PuPu - 80msp (was 160)
--Opponent: Ultros & Typhon - 160msp (was 320)
--Sazh: Heads or Tails? - 200msp (was 400)
--Serah's Outfit: Beachwear - 120msp (was 240)
--Serah's Outfit: N7 Armor - 120msp (was 240)
--Serah's Outfit: Summoner's Garb - 120msp (was 240)
--Serah's Outfit: White Mage - 120msp (was 240)
--Snow: Perpetual Battlefield - 160msp (was 320)

Guitar Hero (various)
--Avenged Sevenfold track pack - 220msp (was 440)
--Classic Rock track pack - 220msp (was 440)
--Def Leppard track pack - 250msp (was 500)
--Metallica: Death Magnetic - 720msp (was 1440)

Hitman: Blood Money - 1600msp/20$ (was 2400/30$) US price, check your region

Oblivion
--Shivering Isles - 800msp (was 1200)

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14
--14 Course Pack - 1600msp (was 3200)

-----
Sunny Day Sale

Guardians of Middle-earth - 600msp (was 1200)
--Season Pass - 600msp (was 1200)


Battlestations: Midway - 800msp/10$ (was 1600/20$) US price, check your region

Battlestations: Pacific - 1600msp/20$ (was 2400/30$) US price, check your region (this might drop to 15$ later on)

Catherine - 1200msp/15$ (was 3200/40$) US price, check your region

Dungeon Siege 3 - 800msp/10$ (was 1600/20$) US price, check your region

Game of Thrones - 800msp/10$ (was 3200/40$) US price, check your region

Kung-Fu High Impact - 400msp/5$ (was 1200/15$) US price, check your region

The Cursed Crusade - 800msp/10$ (was 2400/30$) US price, check your region

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes - 1200msp/15$ (was 3200/40$) US price, check your region

Tomb Raider Underworld - 800msp/10$ (was 1600/20$) US price, check your region

-----
Gold only offers,

Fable 3 - free (cash option expired but switching to msp at checkout still seems to work)

Joy Ride Turbo - free (Japanese Gold account needed)

----------

Released today,

banner.png


Zombie Driver HD
--Apocalypse Pack - 240msp
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
So we have about 15 months to spend our MSP balances (Microsoft announced that the fall update will kill MSP and that they will give you a cash credit equivalent, but that credit equivalent will expire 12 months after conversion).

Anyone like me with a 5-digit balance getting a little nervous, or do you guys expect there'll be enough sales and new releases to burn 'em off?
 
So we have about 15 months to spend our MSP balances (Microsoft announced that the fall update will kill MSP and that they will give you a cash credit equivalent, but that credit equivalent will expire 12 months after conversion).

Anyone like me with a 5-digit balance getting a little nervous, or do you guys expect there'll be enough sales and new releases to burn 'em off?

There must be a massive backlog of games waiting for a slot. There will be games. Are any of those worthy of your points tho...
 
I'd expect one more big holiday sale so cross your fingers for that having games you want.

Has anyone bought Battleblock Theater? I liked the demo but does the full version stay as fun?
 

Vert boil

Member
Changes to some announced/rumoured games,

Crimson Dragon: Moved to next gen.

Far Cry Classic: Announced for Summer and it seems to be the original pc verison, not Instincts. MS press says it will be 560msp but I'm taking that with a grain of salt. Some sites are linking it to the SoA but I think there are reading too much into the Summer date.

LocoCycle: Split-gen. Earliest release should be November.

World of Tanks: Announced and F2P. Beta sign up here.

And according to the faq, Walking Dead 400 Days should be 400msp.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Must say I am. That's why I'm waiting on GoD deals if any.

Honestly, a few months ago I went through the entire list of 360 games to see what I'd want but didn't own, and I came up with fewer than 10 titles and most of them were sub-50 Metacritic stuff that I was morbidly curious about like Blood Drive or Mayhem 3d.

And there's a few big budget titles I've missed, but I actually expect that the Gold GoD program will cover some holes there
 
Far Cry Classic: Announced for Summer and it seems to be the original pc verison, not Instincts. MS press says it will be 560msp but I'm taking that with a grain of salt. Some sites are linking it to the SoA but I think there are reading too much into the Summer date.

Link? Definitely in if so
 
Honestly, a few months ago I went through the entire list of 360 games to see what I'd want but didn't own, and I came up with fewer than 10 titles and most of them were sub-50 Metacritic stuff that I was morbidly curious about like Blood Drive or Mayhem 3d.

And there's a few big budget titles I've missed, but I actually expect that the Gold GoD program will cover some holes there

Well you know, there are a couple games that I would love to buy/try out. I've got lots of MSP thanks to the $4.99 glitch from a couple weeks ago. I was thinking about games like Deadly Premonition (not that expensive) or... Game of Thrones. How lucky, this morning it appeared in the Sunny Day Sale. But why is it not available for me in EU (FR)? It's at 39.99€, other games have changed (like Catherine), others have stayed the same (like Sherlock, yeah, why not, I would have tried it).

I wanna spend my MSP but I can't really. It's like they really don't care about anything but the US market.

Dayum.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Well you know, there are a couple games that I would love to buy/try out. I've got lots of MSP thanks to the $4.99 glitch from a couple weeks ago. I was thinking about games like Deadly Premonition (not that expensive) or... Game of Thrones. How lucky, this morning it appeared in the Sunny Day Sale. But why is it not available for me in EU (FR)? It's at 39.99€, other games have changed (like Catherine), others have stayed the same (like Sherlock, yeah, why not, I would have tried it).

Game of Thrones, Sherlock, and Catherine all have the same US publisher (Atlus) but in the EU Game of Thrones and Sherlock are published by Focus and Catherine by Deep Silver, so that's probably some of the cause of the regional disparity.
 

Jhoan

Member
Huh? It's showing up as $20 for me.

Click the Pay with Microsoft Points option then it should be free.

It's pretty fascinating to see MS finally following in Sony's foot steps and offering free games to Gold members after seeing how successful the former has been with it. I guess it's pretty nice. Since the Halo series never caught my attention (I simply have no interest in the series), I suppose Halo 3 as a free game next month is cool. Maybe that'll get me into the series.

This week's sales kind of blow. I was expecting something good. I suppose Tomb Raider: Underworld is pretty good at 800 MSP so I might check that out. Hopefully next week's DoW is good because I'm sitting on about 2740 MSP. Microsoft also sent me an a Birthday email since my birthday is next week and gave me a measly 20 MSP. How generous of them.

I've never played the Worms games before since it never caught my attention. Are they any good? I suppose I'll give a couple of those games a download and try out the demos.
 
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