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Official Xbox Live Arcade Thread

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R

Rlan

Member
I'm betting NOTHING comes out this week.

It might suck, but hey, whoever gets released this week is gonna be FUCKED by GTAIV
 
R

Rlan

Member
Ticket to Ride on Partnernet:

http://www.xblah.net/2008/04/i-told-you-so-1-ticket-to-ride-on.html

A rediculously huge amount of stuff shows up on Team Xbox, Gin Rummy, Sea Life Safari, and Zombie Wranglers announced (finally)

http://features.teamxbox.com/xbox/2198/Sierras-Summer-08-XBLA-Lineup-HandsOn-Preview

(and my take)

http://www.xblah.net/2008/04/told-you-so-2-3-and-4-gin-rummy-sea.html

"Meh" video of Commando 3 on On The Spot:

http://www.xblah.net/2008/04/meh-preview-of-commando-3-from.html

and quick repeat of Assault Heroes 2 date with commentary:

http://www.xblah.net/2008/04/assault-heroes-2-coming-out-may-14th.html
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Len Dontree said:
When is Vigilante 8 coming out?
Click to expand...

Unknown at this time.

Anyway, New Chessmaster Live DLC now available on the XBLM for free.

http://www.xblarcade.com/node/1894

Free Chessmaster Live DLC

Fri, 2008-04-25 23:20 — ashn0d

According to Major Nelson's blog, Chessmaster Live just got a free DLC pack. Titled "Fork My Fruit", is available everywhere except Japan and Korea and the Dash text states:

Enjoy new ways to play chess with this original mini-game: learn or perfect your art of moving chess pieces in Fork My Fruit.

Not sure what that really means, to be honest.
Click to expand...


A couple of new screenshots for Things on Wheels

ToWScreen1_2.jpg


ToWScreen2_2.jpg


Team Xbox Things on Wheels Interview

http://interviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/2194/Things-on-Wheels-Interview/p1/


New Behind the Scenes Trailer of Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball

http://www.xblarcade.com/node/1890

Gamespot Bionic Commando Rearmed Multi-Player hands-on Preview

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/bioniccommandore/news.html?sid=6189860&mode=previews
 
S

Sean

Banned
MicVlaD said:
Even Rocketmen and Commando 3?
Click to expand...

Rocketmen is shit, but Commando 3 looks pretty neat actually. Plus it includes the SF2 HD beta which I'm sure will justify the purchase for most.

twinturbo2 said:
So, what's this week's download? Things On Wheels looks sweet. :D
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I would be surprised if there was a release this week with GTAIV coming out and all...
 
P

pswii60

Member
Rlan said:
Unfortunately doesn't work like that - it's a completely seperate system that only test and dev kits have access too. They don't have access to regular old Xbox Live either.

And a new installment of "What needs to be on XBLA?"!!!

#6 - New Power Stone

http://www.xblah.net/2008/04/what-needs-to-be-on-xbla-6-new-power.html
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Awww Powerstone 1/2 on Dreamcast were like sex on toast. Friggin awesome. Why the hell Capcom haven't ported them over to PSN/XBLA yet is beyond me. Perfect match for the services.
 
S

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
Sean said:
I would be surprised if there was a release this week with GTAIV coming out and all...
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But doesn't XBLA skew towards the more casual demographic? I don't see how an M rated mafioso masterpiece would be in direct competition with something like a board game or toy car racing game. But I wouldn't expect any action games this week. I think they learned their lesson with Halo 3 / Undertow.

If MS was really on top of things they would bundle codes for free XBLA related content (like DLC and gamerpics) with games like GTAIV and use that to drive up sales and consumer awareness.
 
X

xbhaskarx

Member
SapientWolf said:
If MS was really on top of things they would bundle codes for free XBLA related content (like DLC and gamerpics) with games like GTAIV and use that to drive up sales and consumer awareness.
Click to expand...

They really need to increase consumer awareness.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Joy of Stick Impressions: Sierra Online's upcoming XBLA Games

Joystick impressions: Assorted Sierra XBLA games

by Zack Stern Apr 28th 2008 5:00AM


Sierra recently showed off its upcoming crop of XBLA games at a media event. While a couple have promise, most could be buried by the quantity or quality of competitors. All are confirmed only for XBLA, but Sierra is considering PSN versions of most. All will be out this Summer.

Assault Heroes 2 is yet another top-down, two-player, cooperative shooter. Either sharing a screen or connecting online, players move with one control stick and fire in any direction with the other. On-foot, in land-based vehicles, or in spaceship levels, the enemies just keep coming. A few team-based super-attacks seemed interesting, and the weapon upgrades have promise. But the 3D-perspective art-design feels like the game's most unique aspect. While the fights unfold in a 2D-plane, perspective effects show enemies swooping in from overhead or from the side. It's a nice touch in a genre shooter.


Sea Life is aimed at kids, putting them in an on-rail, underwater photo-hunt. In each dive, players frame and snap pictures of ambient life. In my tour, the amount of on-screen action was limited, but I was impressed by the sharp details of shoals and fish. Some of the 60 critters only come out at certain times, so players will probably take a few sessions to complete the five areas. Your guide looks strikingly like Steve Zissou; here's hoping the legal teams let that one drift by.


Zombie Wranglers looked great in my peripheral vision before I was able to try it. The style reminded me of Jet Grind Radio's 2D-shaded, 3D world. But the gameplay seems derivative; you repetitively wander through towns, helping quell a zombie invasion. Individual characters add mild variety, with a couple different weapons. And a few end bosses are unique. But Zombie Wranglers otherwise layers a lot of monotony.


Card games on display included Gin Rummy and Lost Cities. They both allow up to four players online, but there's no split screen since you'll want to hide your hand. If you like card games but don't like cards, these could make your list. You can't just play Uno, can you?
Click to expand...
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/portal-was-offered-to-xbla-but-rejected

Portal was offered to XBLA, but rejected

GamesIndustry.biz has learnt that Valve asked Microsoft if it was possible to place its award-winning Orange Box title, Portal, on Xbox Live Arcade for download, but that it was rejected.

"We'd love to do that. Right now it's something we'd love to do. I'd love to sell Portal on Xbox live," said Doug Lombardi, marketing director at Valve. "[But] the platform holders aren't doing that right now. There's a size limit and all kinds of other things.

"We've asked them, we said we were open to it. So it's a decision for the platform holder and how they want to make the games available and how much bandwidth they want to [allow]."

But Lombardi did hint that something might be possible in the future: "I think it's a trade-off, we'll see it one day.

"It always happens once it's been proven and I think it's been proven now on Steam, so I'm sure it'll migrate back to the consoles just like everything else does."

Portal was one of five titles available as part of last year's acclaimed Orange Box release, and won three awards - including Game of the Year - at this year's GDC event in San Francisco.

Microsoft increased the size limit for Xbox Live Arcade titles last March to 150MB, up from its previous limit of 50MB.
Click to expand...

This will be fun.
 
P

Peronthious

Member
xbhaskarx said:
They really need to increase consumer awareness.
Click to expand...

They just need to increase awareness of what's available on XBLA. If you don't make a valid effort to find out what's on the platform, you don't know. I don't know why they don't do some sort of front screen advertising on the dashboard when there's a new arcade release.
 
C

chickensoup

Member
Rlan said:
Unfortunately doesn't work like that - it's a completely seperate system that only test and dev kits have access too. They don't have access to regular old Xbox Live either.
Click to expand...
Does anyone have a test or dev kit I can borrow please? Anyone? Please?

;-)
 
R

radjago

Member
Has SFIIHDR been given a release date yet? OXM said on their podcast they'll be giving away download codes for the game on their show next week.
 
S

soldat7

Member
Shard said:
Microsoft really needs to learn about the concept of counter-programming, this is the perfect time to unleash a Buku Sudoku upon the XBLA, when nobody but casuals will notice.
Click to expand...

No kidding. MS could use some better marketing folks in their XBLA division, to be honest.
 
R

RadarScope1

Member
Shard said:
Microsoft really needs to learn about the concept of counter-programming, this is the perfect time to unleash a Buku Sudoku upon the XBLA, when nobody but casuals will notice.
Click to expand...

Truly. Wouldn't all the casual stuff like Bliss Island that they spent several weeks releasing a month ago have been better served coming out this week and next? I guess they have a team of monkeys working round the clock on the release sked.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Shard said:
Microsoft really needs to learn about the concept of counter-programming, this is the perfect time to unleash a Buku Sudoku upon the XBLA, when nobody but casuals will notice.
Click to expand...
Cynic alert: Perhaps they're trying to put as little additional strain on Live this week as possible so as to make sure the GTA IV launch doesn't bring it down. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an overall reduction of content going up this week, not just by cutting an XBLA game.
 
C

Chiaroscuro

Member
I was playing my DC yesterday (Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur) and I was thinking how great it will be if Sega releases some arcade games (not genesis ports) in XBLA with online scoreboards.

A small list of requests:

Crazy Taxi
(Originally on Naomi board, a good DC port)

crazytaxi.jpg



crazytaxi_a.jpg



Daytona USA 2: Battle on the Edge and Power Edition
(Originally on Model 3 board, no good port)

daytona2.gif


daytona2_c.gif



Dirt Devils
(Originally on Model 3 board, no console port)

dirtd.gif


dirtd_b.gif


Planet Harriers
(Originally on Hikaru board, no console port that I know)

planetharriers.jpg


planetharriers_a.jpg


Ollie King
(Originally on Chihiro board, no console port that I know, made by smilebit of JSRF fame)

ok.jpg



ok_c.jpg


Power Drift
(Originally on Sega Y board) I know this is old, but I would like a 3D remake with newer graphics, netplay, etc. Also I believe Outrun fits XBLA better than retail (I know that the Xbox ones did not sell well). A good produced XBLA of this kind could be up to 1600 pts.

Virtua Racing
(Originally on Model 1 board, several ports, but no arcade perfect, the original 3D racing game!)

vr_a.png


vr_b.png



I can only dream... (specially now that MS is refusing Arcade ports in Xbox ARCADE and Sega wants only to release quick genesis ports).
 
D

Dark Octave

Banned
GhaleonEB said:
Cynic alert: Perhaps they're trying to put as little additional strain on Live this week as possible so as to make sure the GTA IV launch doesn't bring it down. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an overall reduction of content going up this week, not just by cutting an XBLA game.
Click to expand...
Yeah, if they HAVE to release something this week, why not Sudoku. I would hate for Bionic Commando or Castle Crashers to be released during a AAA megahit week. Fuck Sudoku, unless they are doing something original with it.
 
N

No6

Member
GhaleonEB said:
Cynic alert: Perhaps they're trying to put as little additional strain on Live this week as possible so as to make sure the GTA IV launch doesn't bring it down. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an overall reduction of content going up this week, not just by cutting an XBLA game.
Click to expand...
You could be right, since I'm guessing a decent percentage of the people buying GTA4 will also be people who have automatic XBLA downloading turned on. Still, I wish they could have thrown a lower-tier title up just to get rid of it from the queue. Like Warlords.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
XBLA Top Ten

http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/04/29/live-activity-for-week-of-4-21.aspx

LIVE Activity for week of 4/21


Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1 Lost Cities
2 Ikaruga
3 DOOM
4 UNO
5 Brain Challenge
6 N+
7 Worms
8 Bomberman LIVE
9 Battlezone
10 Sonic The Hedgehog 2
The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.


These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade, full versions purchased that week
Click to expand...
 
kbear

kbear

Member
Anyone have some XBLA recommendations for the past ~12 months or so? I'm gonna DL like every demo but what were your favorites for the past year?
 
A

Archie

Second-rate Anihawk
kbear said:
Anyone have some XBLA recommendations for the past ~12 months or so? I'm gonna DL like every demo but what were your favorites for the past year?
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Pacman C.E. is the best game on the service, IMO. It is the only one that I still play daily.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Allegorithmic's ProFX and MaPZone Selected by WhiteMoon Dreams for Next-Generation Games Pipeline
Procedural Authoring Tools Save Time with Unique Approach; MaPZone and ProFX Chosen to Develop Upcoming XBLA Games

For Immediate Release

April 29, 2008

CLERMONT-FERRAND, France— April 29, 2008— Allegorithmic today announced that WhiteMoon Dreams, a new independent game studio, has chosen ProFX to complement its use of professional texturing solution MaPZone for development of its next-generation console titles. MaPZone was selected for its ability to rapidly author high-quality textures with maximum control, providing a cost-effective solution for game development pipelines. ProFX was selected for its ability to produce extremely small texture files. WhiteMoon Dreams will utilize ProFX and MaPZone to create assets for an upcoming XBox Live Arcade title.

"MaPZone and ProFX are truly innovative and effective tools,” says Jay Koottarappallil, president and chief executive officer of WhiteMoon Dreams.“Alone, MaPZone allows us to simplify the day-to-day task of creating and editing textures, and now with the addition of ProFX, our high-quality textures take up less storage space in our pipeline. These tools have truly addressed our need to create high-volume content for our new generation of game titles."

“Jay and his team are among the best technical artists I know, and I’m thrilled that they chose ProFX,” says Dr. Sébastien Deguy, president and founder of Allegorithmic.“This project is highly advanced, featuring truly innovative mechanics and world-building strategies. By incorporating exceptional technologies such as ProFX, it becomes a uniquely advanced endeavor as a whole. I’m very excited to see their games reach fruition this year!”

ProFX 2.6 is the only middleware that allows game developers to professionally render high-quality procedural textures. ProFX 2.6 procedural texture files are very small in size -- typically 500 to 1,000 times smaller -- making them ideal for use in massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs), virtual communities, casual and downloadable games.

MaPZone 2.6, ProFX’s authoring tool, is the industry’s most advanced texturing tool dedicated specifically to creating professional, high-quality textures. It enables game studios to produce texture assets up to two times faster than with previous techniques. Based on a revolutionary procedural approach, MaPZone gives artists unprecedented control when creating textures for animation, game, visual effects, online media, design and architectural visualization projects.

About WhiteMoon Dreams

WhiteMoon Dreams is a Pasadena, Calif.- based developer working on multiple projects and focusing not only on tasty gaming adventures, but also on new and innovative techniques to supplement or replace traditional game development methodologies. With a small team of industry veterans, some amazing technology and a whole lot of gusto, WMD aims to make people happy.
 
D

DuckRacer

Member
Rlan said:
Gripshift and Switchball too.
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Yeah, Switchball is excellent (up until the last world, at least >:|), especially with the patch that removes all the tearing in the game.

I'd also recommend Puzzle Quest and Exit.
 
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