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

FerranMG

Member
buy SOTN if you do not own it already, best metroidvania which is not super metroid.

All right, will check this out! :)

The XBLA version of NBA Jam is basically the same game as the retail version, if you didn't like that then I'd probably steer clear. It is a great game though, I really enjoyed it.

Castlevania is a perfect port and is one of the best games of all time. It hasn't aged at all.

I think a remake of NBA Jam was released first for XBLA and 360, and then they made a "sequel" which is the On Fire Edition, only available for XBLA.
I have the first one, and I'm thinking about getting the second one.
 

vixlar

Member
The XBLA version of NBA Jam is basically the same game as the retail version, if you didn't like that then I'd probably steer clear. It is a great game though, I really enjoyed it.

Castlevania is a perfect port and is one of the best games of all time. It hasn't aged at all.

I thought the XBLA version was better. Something with online or with the team on fire. Even it has a different name. The retail version doesn't have the "On Fire Edition".

The roster on this game have been updating, and I think those updates doesn't apply to retail version.

But, as you say, the core game is almost the same. So, if you didn't like the retail version, you won't enjoy the XBLA version.
 
Anyone know anything about the Joe Danger 2 DLC? New achievements showed up weeks ago, and yet I've seen nothing confirming this DLC even exists.

I event tweeted Hello Games and they have not responded. Strange.
 
UraMallas, don't blind-buy Mercury HG - I'd get the demo first. I'm sure it's a great game, as Stump says, but the genre of the game might be incompatible with your tastes. When it was on sale a few weeks ago, people recommended Mercury HG, and as soon as I tried the demo I said "nope."

Play it with a custom soundtrack. I know it sounds like a tiny thing, but it makes a massive difference to how awesome the game is. I mean, I like it anyway, but it's on a whole other level with your own music.
 

Vert boil

Member
Released today,

boxartlg.jpg


Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - 1200msp, 1.32GB.


Also,

Capcom Arcade Cabinet
--1942 - 320msp
--Pirate Ship Higemaru - 320msp
--SonSon - 320msp
(Complete pack will be out May 21st, 2000msp)

Guardians of Middle-earth
--Elrond - 160msp
 

legbone

Member
currently downloading blood dragon. i haven't woke up to download a title this early in a long time. can't wait.

took the day off work for it. been a long time since i've done that also. hope it lives up to the hype. i was a child in the 80's (born in '74) and far cry 3 was my one of my favorite games last year so i'm sure it will be fine.

was kind of hoping monaco might make it out. i was one of the lucky few that grabbed the demo when it accidentally made it to live. i now realize how unlucky i actually was. after playing the demo i'm frothing at the mouth for the damn thing to release. maybe friday.

anyone heard anything regarding monaco?
 

PopfulMail

Member
Skipped the demo and bought Blood Dragon. Only played for a hot minute for heading to work.. but the intro and tutorial are amazing!!
 
What the fuck lol

Snoop plays himself in Way of the Dogg, the role of a sensei, encouraging the main character America Jones, in the midst of his revenge fuelled quest to follow the Way of the Dogg to bring peace to the city. Way of the Dogg is a brutal, rhythm-action, beat-matching combat adventure set to Snoop’s music. It’s a story of redemption and revenge and as rookie street-fighter, America Jones, you must bring peace to the city under Snoop Dogg’s tutelage. There’s trouble on the street and your weapon’s the beat so pick a side, take your chances and find the way: The Way of the Dogg.
 
Is there any in game footage from Way of the Dogg? Can't find any on 'tube.

Also, a Pacific Rim game? Goddamn, I'm not getting too excited though, will probably be a cheap cash in with hokey controls.
 

Vert boil

Member
Have they show all of those creatures in promo material for Pacific Rim already?

Some people (including myself) have been avoiding all of the media for the film so it would be better to just post text links so people can look if they want to.
 

sangreal

Member
Have they show all of those creatures in promo material for Pacific Rim already?

Some people (including myself) have been avoiding all of the media for the film so it would be better to just post text links so people can look if they want to.

Yeah, that's why I posted it as a link... I don't know, but I would assume it's spoilers
 
Have they show all of those creatures in promo material for Pacific Rim already?

Some people (including myself) have been avoiding all of the media for the film so it would be better to just post text links so people can look if they want to.

Apologies, had a brain freeze and forgot that some people might be on a media blackout.
 

aku:jiki

Member
Pacific Rim looks like it's just a reskin of Real Steel. Gameplay looks very similar and even the menu designs are the same... Weak.
 

aku:jiki

Member
Not that anyone's surprised, but Way of the Dogg is kinda awful. I thought it looked like a harmless little rhythm action game but it's got all these annoying new ideas that bring it way down; the camera's swinging around constantly, and the HUD moves around too and you're constantly searching for the right spot to focus on to time the next beat right.

I think that's similar to that DS game, Ouendan was it? I only played it like once and the "beat" moving around wasn't a problem...on a 2" screen. It's a much bigger problem on a 50".

Also, it's a cutscene game where there has to be stupid talking every 12 seconds. Do not want!

Edit: Oh, and since I know others were as concerned as I... The in-game bio has been updated to reflect Snoop's current Lion status.
 
I actually quite liked Way of the Dogg, and am seriously considering buying it. I never found the camera a problem, it's basically like Rock Band in that you totally zone that stuff out, it's for spectators, my attention was solely on the notes. It's kind of a cross between Ouendan and Theatrhythm with hip-hop and blaxploitation.

I wish there was a harder level in the trial because I'd quite like to see how difficult it gets. There are something like 20 chapters though and if that equals 20 tracks, it's a pretty easy buy even for someone who doesn't care much about that genre of music
 

aku:jiki

Member
I actually quite liked Way of the Dogg, and am seriously considering buying it. I never found the camera a problem, it's basically like Rock Band in that you totally zone that stuff out, it's for spectators, my attention was solely on the notes.
The important difference, though, is that Rock Band has a singular focal point that you can easily zone in on. That focal point keeps moving constantly and they keep flipping if you're supposed to start from the right or the left and I don't think moving the concept from a tiny screen to a large one worked out.

It starts to get harder in the second level, with lots of those stupidly tiny "hold a direction and press" icons. Those are what really pissed me off, they're way too hard to easily notice with all the other shit going on. I can't imagine what level 20 is like... Space Dogg? Way of the Giraffe?
 

Rlan

Member
Way of the Dogg is making me so angry. It has the worst user interface I have ever seen in a professional product.
 

aku:jiki

Member
Yeah, fuck this, Way of the Dogg is garbage. I realized that going in, obviously, but I thought it'd at least have the good sense to be so bad that it's amusing, but it doesn't even do that right. The UI is awful and confusing (what's the difference between an arrow on the line, and an arrow on a button icon?), but the worst part is that it starts coming apart technically as you go.

I'm on level 6 now and the framerate is starting to suck and it's making me miss beats, and even worse, the fucking thing even misses some of my inputs even when the framerate is behaving. I think it's when they make the line super tiny and neither I nor the game can keep up with the inputs in that extremely small window.

You know, I remember when XBLA had a portfolio manager that at least sort-of cared about putting good games on there, not just dumping licensed shovelware shit and going golfing. I don't understand how whoever it is keeps his job; how much more obvious can it possibly be that there's a lot more profit in nurturing something like Castle Crashers, than there is in just dumping some barely-functional game starring a faded musician no one really cares about anymore? You really don't need to be some analytics genius to figure that one out, yet we get amazing shit like a reskinned Real Steel for another movie and an unplayable game with Snoop in it, while MS drives away games like Dungeon Defenders 2, Orcs Must Die 2 and so on with their awful policies. I don't know, it's just frustrating to watch. Hire me, I'll fix this bitch!
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
God Mode was not at all interesting to me. It's a sort of cooperative third person shorter consisting basically of pretty repetitive enemy spawns, almost like a wave-based type game, like Horde Mode or whatever. It's got a kind of funky theme, it's pretty good looking, but shooting doesn't really feel that great, the community is quite small, and really nothing about it really made me want to buy it.

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is very funny, very visually interesting (unique! purple is very underused in games!), and seemed to have a pretty wide variety of combat mechanics. Several different guns, a combat scoring system that incentivizes creative or high quality play, no regenerating health*, a super campy B-movie retro-sci fi plot. I'd definitely consider buying it.

Sacred Citadel is a very pretty looking beat-em up combo brawler that reminded me mostly of a sort of 2.5d non-planar Guardian Heroes. Surprisingly good looking, nice music. Combat didn't really grab me too much, seemed much simpler than Guardian Heroes but more complex than, say, The Simpsons or Turtles in Time. One thing that rubbed me a little the wrong way is that having a level scoring system + level-ups/equipment improvements basically means that to go for high scores you should play through the whole game and then replay levels with a high level character, rather than rewarding good play the first time. Demo lasted a while and showed good variety. Another game I'd definitely get on sale.

Way of the Dogg is exactly as bad as other people have said. Iffy framerate, nonsense UI, the music doesn't sound very good, the "characters" and "story" are stupid, the demo is bad--a really poorly presented tutorial of the game's 80000 mechanics, followed by one plot fight where the enemy "cheats" and beats you up even if you play perfectly ??? And an extra complaint -- for a game whose primary art assets are controller buttons, they use non-standard graphics for the prompts which gives the whole thing a cheap, shitty feel.
 
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