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[HadesGigas]

I hate to ask, but... what time do new XBLA games go up each Wednesday? 3 a.m. EST?

5 am-ish eastern.

 

[Danthrax]

5 am-ish eastern.

Thanks. I may stay up for PD.

 

[Shard]

LucasArts Working On Monkey Island 2: Special Edition?

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3178250

If you're a Monkey Island fan, there might be good news in your very near future. According to anonymous sources, Kotaku reports that LucasArts is ready to announce a remake of Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, possibly as soon as at GDC next week.

This would of course be a follow up to last year's The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. Like that remake, this Monkey Island 2 special edition reportedly would also have updated graphics and "audio" (which we assume would probably mean voice-overs will be added, like with the first game's remake). The Monkey Island 2 special edition will also -- reportedly -- be released on Xbox Live Arcade, PC, and iPhone like the first game, but will also be released on the PlayStation Network as well.

So check back during our GDC coverage next week to see just how accurate all this turns out to be.

 

[CadetMahoney]

LucasArts Working On Monkey Island 2: Special Edition?

Nice, can't wait.

 

[Shard]

http://golgothstudio.com/devblog/announce/golgoth-studio-update/

’d like to take the Opportunity of this New nice Picture showing the Boss Ending of the Level 3 to inform our community and All people who follow us about our Golgoth Studio life on different point.

1 – 1st Party,
Actually we are Licensed developper for All 1st party & platforms [Xbox 360, PS3 & PSP and Wii & DS] it was for us the first step before propose our Different Game concept on Digital Platform.

2 – Toki
Toki Game Concept was Approved for the Playstation Store network, Wiiware and Gameforwindows, and we finally signed an L.O.I [Letter of Intend] with an U.S Publisher for the XBLA version [ We need to wait to sign a final agreement to confirm the name of the Publisher]. So yes, you well read, Toki should Finaly release on All platforms, but not at the same Time. Now like everybody ask us, when Toki will release ?, so it’s the One million dollars question We Work actually really hardly on a new mode to answer to some specific request from 1st party. This new mode name [adventure] allow Gamers to play in Co-op and include many others suprises. But this new mode delay our initial shedule to the end of summer 2010. So thanks all for your patience ! Keep in mind that we do our best to finish the game As soon as possible, but Quality and content are the much important things for us.

 

[toythatkills]

Shard, you know full well there's a monthly XBLA thread now, stop trying to undermine it, for whatever reason, by posting all your stuff here.

 

[sciplore]

Shard, you know full well there's a monthly XBLA thread now, stop trying to undermine it, for whatever reason, by posting all your stuff here.

I thought that thread was for all the xbla games info/interviews/etc known to be released in that month, this thread was still for the overall xbla stuff right?

 

[LocoMrPollock]

Shard, you know full well there's a monthly XBLA thread now, stop trying to undermine it, for whatever reason, by posting all your stuff here.

Why would we need a monthly thread and why haven't I ever seen it?

 

[toythatkills]

I thought that thread was for all the xbla games info/interviews/etc known to be released in that month, this thread was still for the overall xbla stuff right?

Well if that's the case then I'm going to look like a dick :lol

But nah, there's absolutely no need to have a big XBLA thread, and monthly threads, and official threads for each XBLA game. If there's monthly thread, this needs to be left to die.

 

[LocoMrPollock]

Well if that's the case then I'm going to look like a dick :lol

But nah, there's absolutely no need to have a big XBLA thread, and monthly threads, and official threads for each XBLA game. If there's monthly thread, this needs to be left to die.

It's stupid to have a monthly thread. This one barely gets any action to begin with.

And yes, you look like a douche.

 

[Psychotext]

And yes, you look like a douche.

.

Besides, if that's how the god of XBLA wants it, that's how he gets it.

 

[toythatkills]

It's stupid to have a monthly thread. This one barely gets any action to begin with.

That was the reason monthly threads were proposed, to see if it was any more popular than this one which is just a PR-fest

 

[Steverulez]

I'd rather have a big thread for XBLA... and Shard does a good job with getting info etc

 

[xbhaskarx]

Shard, you know full well there's a monthly XBLA thread now, stop trying to undermine it, for whatever reason, by posting all your stuff here.

The monthly thread is not for the info Shard is posting.
It's like the weekly PSN thread: It's only for the XBLA games and other XBL content that comes out that month.

 

[toythatkills]

The monthly thread is not for the info Shard is posting.
It's like the weekly PSN thread: It's only for the XBLA games and other XBL content that comes out that month.

Yeah, but PSN doesn't have a big thread like this. Nor do the Nintendo services. Either this or the monthly threads are superfluous.

If this stays, the same discussions will be in three places at once.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

If this stays, the same discussions will be in three places at once.

You do realize you are responding to Shard's newsfeed dumps, right? Discussions ain't going to be anywhere.

 

[Sanjuro]

Yeah, but PSN doesn't have a big thread like this. Nor do the Nintendo services. Either this or the monthly threads are superfluous.

If this stays, the same discussions will be in three places at once

 

[xbhaskarx]

Either this or the monthly threads are superfluous.

I disagree. But even if that was the case, I'll take superfluous threads over not enough XBLA exposure.

I don't think many people who want to comment are not going to comment because they don't know whether to post in this XBLA thread or the monthly XBL thread. However, there are many people who never check this big XBLA thread (maybe they're not interested in reading PR for games that are up to a year away from release), but they may be interested in posting in a thread for new releases.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

The whole point of Monthly Threads were to get rid of the need for Official Threads for every single XBLA game.

The idea was that the vast majority of XBLA games would just be discussed in the monthly thread, with a few exceptions (such as Perfect Dark). But it seems people have continued to make official threads for every single game, anyway.

 

[sciplore]

The whole point of Monthly Threads were to get rid of the need for Official Threads for every single XBLA game.

The idea was that the vast majority of XBLA games would just be discussed in the monthly thread, with a few exceptions (such as Perfect Dark). But it seems people have continued to make official threads for every single game, anyway.

March is kinda an exception though because of the "spring of arcade" thing going on, there are big games released this month so of course they were going to end up with their own Official threads. I liked the month thread idea cause it focused on the soon to be released games and it was quick access to things like deal of the week without searching for it in this thread.

 

[Shard]

March is kinda an exception though because of the "spring of arcade" thing going on, there are big games released this month so of course they were going to end up with their own Official threads. I liked the month thread idea cause it focused on the soon to be released games and it was quick access to things like deal of the week without searching for it in this thread.

Yea, that is the true intent over those monthly threads, to give those games that don't get the official threads some exposure.

 

[Diablohead]

This thread has info for games not in said month, so I prefer this thread, sorry.

The month thread for march is of no interested for me right now until PD and games room come out. I also get a lot more info here.

 

[RadarScope1]

Well if that's the case then I'm going to look like a dick :lol

But nah, there's absolutely no need to have a big XBLA thread, and monthly threads, and official threads for each XBLA game. If there's monthly thread, this needs to be left to die.

Um, no. I think you are confused.

 

[toythatkills]

Or vice versa.

 

[Captain N]

If someone is looking for a game that was announced it'd be much easier to come to this thread. It would be a pain in the ass to figure out what month it was announced and when in the month to find what you need.

 

[mujun]

The whole point of Monthly Threads were to get rid of the need for Official Threads for every single XBLA game.

The idea was that the vast majority of XBLA games would just be discussed in the monthly thread, with a few exceptions (such as Perfect Dark). But it seems people have continued to make official threads for every single game, anyway.

Yeah, this.

With a monthly thread we can have talk about things like Lazy Raiders and Greed Corp in one thread which means the thread lasts longer and you only have to keep an eye on one thread.

Both the official threads of the above two games are long gone now seeing no action whatsoever which is a pity as both are quality games and only 800 pts each.

 

[wizword]

This type of thread is bad. It is very difficult to follow what is coming out on xbla versus psn and wiiware. I would rather have a weekly xbla impression thread than this because I wouldn't know whether a game is worth a buy or not besides the demo they give. I am definitely not going to try out a game demo/arcade game and spend an hour downloading the thing if I don't know the quality.

 

[Arpharmd B]

This type of thread is bad. It is very difficult to follow what is coming out on xbla versus psn and wiiware. I would rather have a weekly xbla impression thread than this because I wouldn't know whether a game is worth a buy or not besides the demo they give. I am definitely not going to try out a game demo/arcade game and spend an hour downloading the thing if I don't know the quality.

Um no this thread serves it's purpose just fine.

There is information in here on games that release wayyy down the pipe. If you don't like this thread then don't open it. I come here to learn about games when they are announced, achievements when they are found out, etc.

Speaking of which, is there any firm date on After Burner Climax yet?

 

[goldenpp72]

Well if that's the case then I'm going to look like a dick :lol

But nah, there's absolutely no need to have a big XBLA thread, and monthly threads, and official threads for each XBLA game. If there's monthly thread, this needs to be left to die.

Screw that shit, this is and should always be the general all in one xbla thread, I check it routinely. I'd rather have one thread to observe than many.

 

[akilshohen]

Screw that shit, this is and should always be the general all in one xbla thread, I check it routinely. I'd rather have one thread to observe than many.

I agree

The monthly is what's gonna get confusing

 

[mujun]

I agree

The monthly is what's gonna get confusing

Easy, using March as an example any demos (Just Cause 2), Indie games (Soulcaster), XBLA games (Toy Soldiers, Perfect Dark, etc) that come out in March are listed in the OP of the March 2010 thread and then discussed in that same thread. Works well for smaller games as bigger ones like Perfect Dark will keep the thread alive and people aware of the less popular stuff that hit in the same month.

Meanwhile this thread continues with all the stuff Shard brings to it (thanks again!). I check this thread regularly hoping to hear something about Things on Wheels for example (word is they've locked down April..... 2015 for it) or the latest pics of the Toki remake.

 

[Noogy]

I definitely prefer this format over the monthly type. The bigger games will always have their own official thread anyway, and this is a good place for general XBLA discussion and news.

The less threads I have to check, the better. Please keep at it, Shard.

 

[Shard]

GDC 10: Puzzle Quest 2 Blowout
Hands-on impressions and gameplay footage of this match made in heaven.
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/107/1075675p1.html

March 8, 2010 - Back in 2007 role-playing games and puzzlers were joined in holy matrimony to create the union that is Puzzle Quest (PQ). The hybrid had wide appeal with both casual and hardcore gamers and became an instant classic. Developer Infinite Interactive followed it up with Puzzle Quest: Galactrix last year, but the sci-fi game was a little too different to satisfy some players. For a more familiar PQ experience, Infinite Interactive is now putting the finishing touches on Puzzle Quest 2. We played a bunch of the sequel today and are eager to play more.

This is the "true" sequel to Puzzle Quest, whereas Galactrix was its-own-but-similar thing branded with the Puzzle Quest name. The match-three game here is definitely classic PQ, but the story and characters are entirely new. This franchise seems to be going the Final Fantasy angle, where each new installment stars a new cast and tells a new tale.

Puzzle Quest 2 is being developed by Infinity Interactive, maker of the original. Its goal was to refine the gameplay and visuals of the first game into a more streamlined experience that still appeals to both hardcore and casual audiences. Some features have been removed, such as the abilities to train mounts and research spells. There are still plenty of mini-games, though -- they've just been built into the actual story. Whereas in the first Puzzle Quest these mini-games were optional diversions players could use to strengthen their characters, here they need to be played to pick a lock, disarm a trap, or loot a treasure chest.

The visual refinements are also noticeable. This time around the characters look like they stepped out of a modern comic book. The barbarian class, for instance, looks like a badass cartoon Conan.

Each class is represented by a male and a female. Here are the Barbarian dude and lady.
First things first: when starting a new game you'll need to choose a character. There are four classes to choose from with male and female types for each class. You can play as a Templar, Sorcerer, Barbarian, or Assassin. As you would expect, each class possesses different attributes. The Templar has high hit points (HP) but low attack power and the Assassin has relatively low HP but is proficient in agility and intelligence, for example. Infinite Interactive and D3 are hoping the classes provide contrasting experiences so that you'll want to play the game multiple times as different characters.

The match-three battles will be familiar to anyone who played Puzzle Quest (or Bejewelled, for that matter). But you'll notice new gauntlet icons on the puzzlefield. These are used to activate your equipped weapons. It's basically an additional way to attack your enemy. You still match skulls to deal damage to an opponent, but now you can also equip weapons and use them when you've reached their gauntlet quota. So, say your Barbarian is equipped with a sword that requires seven gauntlets to use. Once you've cleared seven gauntlets from the field you can select your sword and deal five damage points to the bad guy. In this way you can also activate shields for defense bonuses. But beware: enemies can also equip and use weapons. The mechanic seems like a fun addition to the Puzzle Quest formula that we look forward to exploring.

While the puzzle battles are pretty familiar, moving about the game world is completely different. Gone is the world map with various towns and caves to visit. Puzzle Quest 2 takes place entirely in the town of Verloren and the dungeon below it. This is more of a dungeon-diving game and most of your quests and side quests will lead you into the depths underneath the village. Like the first game, you can take on multiple quests at once and keep track of them all in your journal. Eventually you'll reach warp points that will allow you to jump to previously explored areas of the dungeon. And there is always the opportunity to just run around killing monsters if you want to do some grinding. Unlike the original PQ, purple gems don't provide experience. They now provide mana and experience is awarded at the end of battle.

You also have a much closer view of the world this time around, due to the camera being zoomed into your characters. You'll be able to walk right up to individuals and engage in conversation while some light voice acting lends the NPCs personality.

Click here to watch the new Puzzle Quest 2 trailer.
The opening moments when you arrive in Verloren will teach you the ins and outs of Puzzle Quest 2 and its various mini-games. We had to help put out a fire by playing a mini-game where matching blue gems would douse the flames but red gems would fuel the heat. Moments later we were helping break down a barricade with a mini-game where matching gems would produce door symbols, and a certain number of door symbols had to be cleared in order to pass. Other mini-games we tried out included looting chests, disarming traps, and picking locks.

There are only slight differences between the XBLA and DS versions. You'll find the same characters, quests, and side quests on each, but on DS you can only carry 27 items (as opposed to an unlimited amount on XBLA) and the portable game only has two save slots. Other than that, the two versions should be nearly identical. We played both today and can vouch for their similarities. Multiplayer will be included in both versions, over Xbox Live and Ad-Hoc on DS.

Puzzle Quest 2 will be here this spring. We played for about an hour today and can't wait to continue our quest.

 

[Shard]

GDC 10: Final Fight: Double Impact Progress Report

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/107/1075648p1.html

March 8, 2010 - Enchanted Castle was the bomb in the early '90s – at least the bomb in terms of the kiddie birthday parties I was going to as a child. You'd go to this establishment in the suburbs of Chicago, have terrible pizza, watch a mechanical dragon give your friend a birthday cake, and run around with your friends like your hair was on fire. Still, the best part about the place – other than driving any adult around you mad – was the fact that the joint was really an enormous arcade.

In that arcade was the Final Fight machine.

A side-scrolling beat-'em-up, Final Fight let me team up with one of my friends, choose between three characters, and punch our way through the streets of Metro City. I don't remember ever getting all that far in the game, but I remember Cody's fingerless gloves, Haggar's bare chest, and picking up pipes to nail enemies in the head with. Now, those old school dreams are about to become a reality once again thanks to Final Fight: Double Impact's arrival on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

This week at GDC, Capcom's giving attendees the chance to log some hands-on time with the download that also packs Magic Sword. Lucky for you and I, Capcom was nice enough to let me at the title ahead of the crowds so that I could revert to being a seven-year-old and tell you all about it.


Oh my God, Final Fight: Double Impact is so good - you get to beat up girls and the bosses are tough and the graphics are cool and I'm really excited for it.

Honestly, this is the game you remember from back in the day except this time it's in HD. When you boot up the game, you have to choose to play Final Fight from the Capcom arcade cabinet on the screen, and then you actually play the game with the border of the cabinet lining your screen so it appears like you're playing it at the arcade you remember it from (Enchanted Castle FTW). From there, it's an old school boot screen and you're into the streets of Metro City and brawling towards the right side of the display. You'll beat down the guys in their yellow jackets, bust telephone booths to grab weapons, and go toe-to-toe with the boss known as Damno.

Haggar's still got his spin attack and Cody and Guy still have their fast-paced moves, but the big draw this time around is going to be online play. From the main menu, you're going to be able to decide if you want just anyone to pop into your game, only people you invite, or if you don't want anyone from the online world. When you finish playing, it updates the online leaderboards. Of course, local co-op play is also supported.

If you don't like that arcade cabinet border I was talking about, you can choose to have the game take up the whole screen or just have a black border. Similarly, you can choose to have the graphics running in their original arcade look, crisp on your HDTV, and so on. You can even turn off the remastered music so that your ears can be transported back to a simpler time.


Only adding reasons to be excited for Final Fight: Double Impact is the fact that Magic Sword is part of this download, too. From the main menu, you can choose to swap machines and have a whole new cabinet to play with. I don't have any heartwarming memories of Magic Sword, but from the little I got to play, the side-scrolling hack-n-slash looks like fun. You look like Conan the Barbarian, stab sorcerers with your sword, and hurl fireballs in-between grabbin' coins and smashing treasure chests.

There's no solid release date or price point for Final Fight: Double Impact, but the games are definitely fun and easy to jump into. If you're an old school fan, there's art to unlock and scope out, and if you're a noob just looking for Trophies/Achievements, there's criteria for in-game awards that pop up when you start playing a title; stuff like beating Final Fight as Guy or polishing off a level in a certain time. Capcom has said in the past that Double Impact is set for April, so we shouldn't have to wait much longer to get our hands on the final product. Until then, keep checking IGN for updates.

 

[Iknos]

Can't imagine people talking about upcoming releases in a monthly thread. Where would someone post those if this thread was gone?

 

[RadarScope1]

This type of thread is bad.

Then why open it?

Nearly twenty thousand posts. I think it's working just fine.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

Cool that Final Fight and Magic Sword support online play.
Might just grab it for some good dumb fun.

 

[Metalic Sand]

Puzzle quest 2 is looking badass.

Like others have said this thread is better than the monthly. I like coming here to be able to find whatever XBLA related. Let shard keep doing his thing. Its nice being able to just see his post and see whats new on XBLA.

 

[Somnid]

Megathreads are bad for a reason and this is also why you guys are so clueless about it. It's not about your special little club in here. The reason the Nintendo thread went from mega to monthly was so that it would be more useful for people who do not regularly post in and visit the the mega thread. Instead the OP is updated with useful info and should it die out someone else can pick it up. The same sorts of disscussion happened in both, ESRB updates and future stuff that doesn't need a thread still goes in there, but it's easier to search by month than it is through 20,000 posts.

It's fine if you're hardcore and want to talk about all the tiny details but think about the people who aren't in here every day but just want some of the latest info. Just kill this one and move on.

 

[Snuggles]

I like both. This one is good for announcements or updates or whatever on games but the monthly is good for current content that is about to release or that just recently released, with that thread we'll have info about what's coming out soon and we can discuss the games that don't have official threads. I think it'll work fine this way, it's not a big deal.

 

[pizzapizza64]

I support Shard and this current thread. Long live the Offical Xbox Live Arcade Thread!

 

[mujun]

I can't understand whether you people saying you want to stick with the mega thread are against a monthly one in addition to it. You know something that focuses on what hit in any given month allowing those people who are interested in picking up some content, be it a demo or an XBLA game, to do so without having to sift through this thread looking for the relevant post.

Sure official threads are good too but many of them disappear forever after a few posts. Not to mention the fact that it's sort of hard to decide which games should get one and which shouldn't in borderline cases.

Might be a moot argument anyway, I'm not planning on doing up a thread so...

 

[UraMallas]

I personally think monthly threads would be better. Or, both this thread and a monthly thread.

 

[nextgeneration]

WTH happened in this thread? Anyhow, I like this thread and I appreciate all the hard work that Shard has done.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Well if that's the case then I'm going to look like a dick :lol

But nah, there's absolutely no need to have a big XBLA thread, and monthly threads, and official threads for each XBLA game. If there's monthly thread, this needs to be left to die.

Sorry, I disagree. This is THE thread I come to about XBLA. I love this thread and while I do like smaller official threads for certain games that warrant the attention, this is my baby here. Shard does all this amazing work and we can converse about anything XBLA. Personally, I like this thread quite a bit and give it an S+ for ultra awesome.

I can't understand whether you people saying you want to stick with the mega thread are against a monthly one in addition to it. You know something that focuses on what hit in any given month allowing those people who are interested in picking up some content, be it a demo or an XBLA game, to do so without having to sift through this thread looking for the relevant post.

Sure official threads are good too but many of them disappear forever after a few posts. Not to mention the fact that it's sort of hard to decide which games should get one and which shouldn't in borderline cases.

Might be a moot argument anyway, I'm not planning on doing up a thread so...

Logic dictates that the most recent data would be being talked about presently. Which would indicate that you should just look at the last couple of pages in the thread - it's not a fast moving thread. You really find a lot of information here and it's really not hard to find.

Hell, I love this thread because of the fact that I can just pop in and find out exactly what's going on and what's going to be going on soon.

 

[george21000]

I support Shard and this current thread. Long live the Offical Xbox Live Arcade Thread!

seconded

 

[watership]

I dig this thread's style. You pop in to see what's new in the past while. Big releases in arcade still get their own thread, but the most insignificant stuff gets mentioned here, along with the big stuff. I like that.

And calling out Shard for undermining a brand new wannabe thread? Come on. He's been doing it at least since 2007, putting the info out there. What was that about?

 

[watership]

This type of thread is bad. It is very difficult to follow what is coming out on xbla versus psn and wiiware. I would rather have a weekly xbla impression thread than this because I wouldn't know whether a game is worth a buy or not besides the demo they give. I am definitely not going to try out a game demo/arcade game and spend an hour downloading the thing if I don't know the quality.

For PSN and WIIware I get that a discussion thread is very important to decide if they want to purchase content. Demos for are universal for Xbla games, your bandwidth issues asside. And this thread has plenty of dicussion for recent games.

 

[Snuggles]

Shard's great and I appreciate the work that he's done, but if I wanna know what's coming out next Tuesday on XBL this thread isn't gonna do me much good. Same if I wanna know about last week or the week after this week or whatever. I don't want to dig through several pages to find whats coming out soon and what just came out now. That's why a monthly thread is great, it'll have all that info.
Also, like I said in the other thread, we have a super detailed PSN thread every week so it only makes sense to have a XBL thread as well to keep up to date.

 

[toythatkills]

Sorry, I disagree. This is THE thread I come to about XBLA. I love this thread and while I do like smaller official threads for certain games that warrant the attention, this is my baby here. Shard does all this amazing work and we can converse about anything XBLA. Personally, I like this thread quite a bit and give it an S+ for ultra awesome.

Hey, I prefer this thread too, and didn't see the point of monthly threads. But in spite of my comment it was agreed pages ago that monthly threads were the way to go.

Whether that one goes or this one goes, there's no point in both existing because eventually people will get bored of not knowing which one to check for the info they want and will not bother checking either. Or get bored of seeing the same stuff in both threads and again, stop bothering.

And calling out Shard for undermining a brand new wannabe thread? Come on. He's been doing it at least since 2007, putting the info out there. What was that about?

:lol

Mainly about his continual posting in this thread, combined with his first post in the March monthly thread which sounded incredibly bitter.

Either in an "I should have been the one to do this" or "my thread's more important" kind of tone.

Which makes his constant bumping of this thread seem, well, intentionally aimed at killing that one which a lot of hard work appears to have gone into.

He knew as well as I did that that's what people had agreed, and should have gone with it regardless of his own feelings.