• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Xbox Live Arcade - Announcements and News 2011 Edition

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
BhbXv.png


Well, we have finally reached the new year and given that the old thread has 2010 edition stamped on its title, it seem that the time for renewal is upon us. In short, new year, new thread. Also, thanks to besiktas1 for all of the nifty graphics and screencaps.



gZAH1.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live_Arcade

On November 22, 2005, XBLA was relaunched on the Xbox 360. The service was integrated into the main Dashboard user interface, and the Xbox 360 hard drives were bundled with a free copy of Hexic HD. Every Arcade title on the Xbox 360 supports leaderboards, has 200 Achievement points, and high-definition 720p graphics. They also have a trial version available for free download. These demos are playable and most of them offer only a fraction of the levels, modes, and content of the full game. A full version of the game must be purchased to allow the user to upload scores to the leaderboards, unlock achievements, play online multiplayer (with a few exceptions), and download bonus content.

Several new features and enhancements have been added through software updates including a friends leaderboard, additional sorting options, faster enumeration of games, an auto-download feature for newly released trial games, and "Tell a Friend" messages.

On July 12, 2006, Microsoft launched the "Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays" program, which promised a new Arcade game to be launched every Wednesday for the rest of that Summer. When that summer ended, Microsoft announced that new titles for XBLA would also be released on Wednesdays.

In order to promote the service in retail, Microsoft released Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 as a compilation disc of six games. On October 18, 2007, Microsoft announced the Xbox 360 Arcade console SKU which includes full versions of Boom Boom Rocket, Feeding Frenzy, Luxor 2, Pac-Man Championship Edition, and Uno.

On May 22, 2008 Microsoft's general manager of Xbox Live, Marc Whitten, detailed changes for the service that included increasing the size limit of the games to 350MB and improving the way digital rights management is handled. Furthermore, Microsoft created an internal games studio to create "high quality digital content" for XBLA.

On July 30, 2008, Microsoft announced the XBLA Summer of Arcade. Anyone who downloaded one of the titles released over August, (Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Braid, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Galaga Legions and Castle Crashers) would be entered into a prize draw with a grand prize of 100,000 Microsoft Points, 12 Month Xbox Live Gold subscription, and an Xbox 360 Elite console. Another Summer of Arcade began the next year on July 22, 2009. Anyone who purchases all the titles released, ('Splosion Man, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, Trials HD and Shadow Complex,) will receive an 800 point reward. The next Summer of Arcade began on July 21, 2010, and features Limbo, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, Monday Night Combat and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. A "Shopping Spree" promotion ended November 1, 2010, in which anyone who spent over 2400 points during October 2010 received an 800 point reward.

The original size limit imposed by Microsoft for Xbox Live Arcade games was 50MB, in order to ensure any downloaded game could fit on a 64MB Xbox memory unit. The limit has since been changed to 150 MB and now 2 GB, the latter of which is a technical limitation of the system (rather than an arbitrary limit imposed by Microsoft).

By March 10, 2006, three million downloads had been made.By January 30, 2007 that number had grown to 20 million.The service reached 25 million downloads on March 6, 2007 with 45 million downloads projected by the end of 2007.

On March 27, 2007 Microsoft declared Uno to be the first Xbox Live Arcade game to exceed one million downloads.

Nearly 70 percent of Xbox 360 owners connected to Xbox Live have downloaded an Arcade title with the attach rate being 6-7 titles per user. Original games typically receive 350,000 downloads in the first month. Titles have an average 156% financial return over twelve months with the first two months of sales accounting for just 35% of total volume. Average conversion rate (from trial download to purchase) across all titles is 18% (a low of 4% and high of 51%).

On September 19, 2007, Microsoft announced the top ten Arcade downloads worldwide as Aegis Wing, Uno, Texas Hold 'em, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, Bankshot Billiards 2, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade, Worms, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Contra.
[edit] Pricing and releases

Xbox Live Arcade games are purchased using Microsoft Points (MSP). Titles range in price from 200MSP to 1600MSP, with the vast majority selling for 800MSP and under. The games are generally aimed towards more casual gamers, striving for "pick up and play" appeal.

Several games were temporarily were free for a limited time, including Texas Hold 'em, Carcassonne, and Undertow.Others are permanently free including Aegis Wing, a game created by three Microsoft interns, TotemBall, a game that can only be played with the Xbox Live Vision camera, Yaris (a Toyota-backed advergame), and Dash of Destruction, which was released on December 17, 2008 as a Doritos advergame. On November 30, 2007 Microsoft introduced "Xbox Live Arcade Hits", where games are permanently reduced in price (a similar concept to their "Platinum Hits" for regular retail Xbox 360 games). As of July 22, 2008 current Arcade Hits include Lumines Live!, Assault Heroes, Zuma, Doom, Bankshot Billiards 2, Small Arms, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, and Marble Blast Ultra.

In May 2008, Microsoft announced that games older than 6 months would become eligible for delisting from the service if they had a Metacritic score below 65 and a conversion rate below 6%. The objective was to "focus the catalogue more on larger, more immersive games and make it much easier to find the games you are looking for." However, Microsoft has never removed a game using the method.

In February 2010, it was announced that nine games from Midway Games would no longer be available for purchase, "due to publisher evolving rights and permissions", (even though Sony's PlayStation Store never did as such with its own downloadable Midway games) referring to the purchase by Warner Bros. of some assets of Midway Games, including certain rights related to the nine games. Similar fates befell the XBLA version of Double Dragon when its publisher went under. Yaris was an advergame that was pulled from the system after a year due to the timely nature of its contents.

obF2G.png

Radiant Silvergun
Publisher: Treasure; Develeoper: Treasure; Estimated Release: TBA

radiant-silvergun-20100915075250073_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stDBIZQTlX8


Dungeon Defenders
Publisher: Reverb Publishing; Develeoper: Trendy Entertainment Estimated Release: Jan 2011

dungeon-defenders-20100825105138659_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LI75p9J08


Bastion
Publisher: Supergiant Games; Develeoper: Supergiant Games; Estimated Release: Q2 2011

bastion-20100904022002112_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX48y24t9iU


From Dust
Publisher: Ubisoft; Develeoper: Ubisoft Montpellier; Estimated Release: Q2 2011

dust-20100818094041238_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccy8mg7IB40


Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Publisher: Fuelcell Games; Developer: Fuelcell Games; Estimated Release: TBA

insanely-twisted-shadow-planet-20100330094546463_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI6kDGXQfBg

Spelunky
Publisher: Mossmouth; Develeoper: Mossmouth; Estimated Release: TBA

spelunky-xbla-05-news.jpg



Fire Pro Wrestling
Publisher: Spike; Develeoper: Spike; Estimated Release: TBA

fire-pro-wrestling-20100915075717044_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyBdTaD9WDk


Bangai-O[ HD: Missile Fury
Publisher: D3 Publisher; Develeoper: Treasure Estimated Release: TBA

bangai-o-hd-missile-fury-preview-20100830044345739-000.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqX2QGSSZsQ


Ms. Splosion Man.
Publisher: Microsoft; Developer: TwistedPixel; Estimated Release: TBA

Ms-Splosion-Man_XBLAboxart_160w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLhxOPLc0qE


Skulls of the Shoguns
Publisher: Haunted Temple Studios; Developer: Haunted Temple Studios; Estimated Release: TBA

skulls-of-the-shogun-20100629032406855_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t7ip73Cq8s


Boulder Dash XL
Publisher: Catnip Games Developer: Kalypso Media; Estimated Release: TBA

ss_preview_bd5.jpg.jpg



Battleblock Theatre
Publisher: The Behemoth; Developer: The Behemoth Estimated Release: TBA

958900_20090722_790screen003.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F09ydQfs70s

Dust: An Elysian Tail
Publisher: Microsoft; Developer: Humble Hearts; Estimated Release: TBA

DustTitle.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmSAQwbbig8


Toki
Publisher: Golgoth Studio; Develeoper: Golgoth Studio; Estimated Release: TBA

05_toki-arcade-remixed.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXmDlhjHKAk

Hybrid
Publisher: 5th Cell; Develeoper: 5th Cell; Estimated Release: TBA

gamhybridannounce530.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgRiv5cZHfg


Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection
Publisher: Crave; Develeoper: Farsight; Estimated Release: TBA

pinball-hall-of-fame-the-williams-collection-20090820063332289_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_qIdV1848


Retro City Rampage
Publisher: Vblank Entertainment Inc.; Developer: Vblank Entertainment Inc.; Estimated Release: Q2

retro-city-rampage-20122010-01.png

http://uk.ign.com/videos/2010/12/20/retro-city-rampage-official-trailer


Rock of Ages
Publisher: Atlus; Developer: ACE TEAM; Estimated Release: Q2

rock-of-ages-20101112100940892_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwGeq-CMf4w


Sine Mora
Publisher: Digital Reality; Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture; Estimated Release: TBA

sine-mora-20100818012759513_640w.jpg
 

Grisby

Member
Appreciate the updates Shard, keep up the good work. Looking forward to a bunch of good deals and games, :D
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Grisby said:
Appreciate the updates Shard, keep up the good work. Looking forward to a bunch of good deals and games, :D


Thank you and I look forward to that stuff as well.
 
2011 is going to blow away 2010 on Arcade. How about a list of titles (with publishers, developers) and expected or estimated release time frames in the OP, man?
 
2011 should be pretty awesome. Fire Pro, Radiant Silvergun, Bangai-O, Clash of Heroes HD... Personally, I'm hoping Hard Corps Uprising and Trouble Witches Neo are out soon.
 

h3ro

Member
I hope Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online comes out this year.

Maybe towards the end of the year since it seems the early year big Capcom fighting game will be MvC3 and it's looking likely for the Super SFIV AE update to arrive in the summer time.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
Grisby said:
Looking forward to Magicka (RPG from Poker Smash guys, think its them), Fez, and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVt4KO8SpAA).
Magicka is from Arrowhead and it's PC only for now. Poker Smash is a Void Star Creations game. They were making an RPG but it was canceled.

Dungeon Defenders should be coming out this month. I'm also looking forward to Necromachina, which sort of disappeared off the face of the earth shortly after being announced.
 

besiktas1

Member
I love this thread thought I'd help.... Match of the day is on, so I'll update it later tonight :)

BhbXv.png


gZAH1.png


obF2G.png

Radiant Silvergun
Publisher: Treasure; Develeoper: Treasure; Estimated Release: TBA

radiant-silvergun-20100915075250073_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stDBIZQTlX8


Dungeon Defenders
Publisher: Reverb Publishing; Develeoper: Trendy Entertainment Estimated Release: Jan 2011

dungeon-defenders-20100825105138659_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9LI75p9J08


Necromachina
Publisher: Square Enix; Develeoper: Feel Plus; Estimated Release: TBA

273879.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn2SXJjAl6M


Bastion
Publisher: Supergiant Games; Develeoper: Supergiant Games; Estimated Release: Q2 2011

bastion-20100904022002112_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX48y24t9iU


From Dust
Publisher: Ubisoft; Develeoper: Ubisoft Montpellier; Estimated Release: Q2 2011

dust-20100818094041238_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccy8mg7IB40


Fez
Publisher: Polytron; Develeoper: Kokoromi; Estimated Release: Please be soon :(

post-432-126576643398_thumb.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHXxUpBJ4gM


Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Publisher: Fuelcell Games; Developer: Fuelcell Games; Estimated Release: TBA

insanely-twisted-shadow-planet-20100330094546463_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI6kDGXQfBg

Torchlight
Publisher: Runic Games; Develeoper: Runic Games; Estimated Release: Cancelled?

torchlight-20091118021853991_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7I_XNrQfwc

Spelunky
Publisher: Mossmouth; Develeoper: Mossmouth; Estimated Release: TBA

spelunky-xbla-05-news.jpg



Fire Pro Wrestling
Publisher: Spike; Develeoper: Spike; Estimated Release: TBA

fire-pro-wrestling-20100915075717044_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyBdTaD9WDk


Bangai-O
Publisher: D3 Publisher; Develeoper: Treasure Estimated Release: TBA

bangai-o-hd-missile-fury-preview-20100830044345739-000.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqX2QGSSZsQ

Clash of Heroes HD
Publisher: Develeoper: Estimated Release:

Hard Corps Uprising

Trouble Witches Neo
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Just read up on Spelunky. Looks like that will make up for the lack of a sequel to Miner Dig Deep. Is there an ETA on it?
cjelly said:
XBLA makes retail look so dull.
Yup. I bought three retail games in 2010, and about 25 XBLA and XBLIG titles. It's basically what I do between major retail releases like Reach and (soon) Skyrim.
 

Adam J.

Member
I'm really looking forward to future entries in the Namco Generations series and and hope they are as good as Pac Man CE DX.

Also hoping that we see some new XBLA titles from Epic (Shadow Complex 2?) and the team at Ubisoft that made Scott Pilgrim.
 

pirata

Member
Live Arcade blows the 360 retail releases out of the water this year (although I could personally say the same thing for just about every year). Also, shouldn't the new game by Behemoth be on here, or is that not exclusive?
 
Jonsoncao said:
An RSG, Ikaruga, and Bangai-O compilation disk would be awesome, like Qubed
They should also negotiate with Konami to port Gradius V to make my life complete.

edit: serious XBLA question, did they can Beyond Good and Evil for XBLA because of size limitations?
 

Rlan

Member
So who's been playing Raskulls? Having fun? :)

Anyone care to make an official topic? I would, but I believe the rules stipulate people from the companies can't make them ourselves. Let's get some online games going!
 

besiktas1

Member
Keep the list coming I'll add them as we go :) Shard I hope you don't mind. Also when the coming soon list is posted on MN can you put them in OP too.

edit:

Clash of Heroes HD
Publisher: Ubisoft; Develeoper: Capybara Games; Estimated Release: TBA

might-and-magic-clash-of-heroes-20101001031722909_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-0xfrNibZs


Hard Corps Uprising
Publisher: Konami; Developer: ARC System Works; Estimated Release: TBA

hard-corps-uprising-20101216105454165_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3DzGdgz8LU


Trouble Witches Neo
Publisher: SNK Developer: Studio SiestA; Estimated Release: Q1 2011

troublewitchesneo.png

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2z5hcQ--gk

Outland
Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Housemarque; Estimated Release: TBA

outland-screens-20101001055700795_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gbkHaq5Eo8


Ms. Splosion Man.
Publisher: Microsoft; Developer: TwistedPixel; Estimated Release: TBA

Ms-Splosion-Man_XBLAboxart_160w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLhxOPLc0qE


Skulls of the Shoguns
Publisher: Haunted Temple Studios; Developer: Haunted Temple Studios; Estimated Release: TBA

skulls-of-the-shogun-20100629032406855_640w.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t7ip73Cq8s


Boulder Dash XL
Publisher: Catnip Games Developer: Kalypso Media; Estimated Release: TBA

ss_preview_bd5.jpg.jpg



Battleblock Theatre
Publisher: The Behemoth; Developer: The Behemoth Estimated Release: TBA

958900_20090722_790screen003.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F09ydQfs70s


e2: Also would you kindly change the picture of Necromachina to this please;
997563_20100616_640screen003.jpg
 
Diablohead said:
Anyone know what tomorrow might be for deal of the week? and any idea what is out this wednesday?

thumblg.png


Only $1.50...

Full list of "Deals":

Doctor Outfit (male/female) 120msp
Police Officer #2 (male/female) 120msp
Band Hero Mic w/Stand Prop 120msp
Black Tuxeedo (m) 120msp
Valentine Wedding Dress (f) 120msp
The Executioner Outfit -AC Brotherhood (male/female) 240msp
International Collection - Kilt (m) 80msp
International Collection - Flamenco Dress (f) 80msp
Spring - Bunny Outfit (male/female) 120msp
 
The Dutch Slayer said:
Not the ubi game from dust but that other XBLA game with dust in the title.
That 2D sprite game? is it out already or is that still not here?
Not out yet, Noogy posts here but i've not seen him active for a little while, maybe he is in crunch mode to finish it :p
 

Jay Sosa

Member
I just want a 2d J'n'r that's as pretty as Limbo controls as good as Splosion Man but in which I DON'T DIE EVERY 2 SECONDS because of fucking trial and error..
 

Noogy

Member
Diablohead said:
Not out yet, Noogy posts here but i've not seen him active for a little while, maybe he is in crunch mode to finish it :p

Severe crunch :p But yeah, Dust: An Elysian Tail will be a 2011 XBLA release :)
 
Noogy said:
Severe crunch :p But yeah, Dust: An Elysian Tail will be a 2011 XBLA release :)
hahahaha sorry about that I could not for the life of me remember the exact name of the game.
SORRY :(

anyway looking forward to it as ever! hopefully its in the first 6 months of XBLA releases I would really like that :D.
 

Noogy

Member
The Dutch Slayer said:
hahahaha sorry about that I could not for the life of me remember the exact name of the game.
SORRY :(

anyway looking forward to it as ever! hopefully its in the first 6 months of XBLA releases I would really like that :D.
That's fine, I'll be the first to admit that it's an unconventional name :)
 

Rad-

Member
Fez and Spelunky HD are must buys for me. Both sound more interesting than 99% of retail games. :lol

Also looking good are Ms. Splosion Man, Battleblock Theatre, Necromachina and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet.

Shame Magicka XBLA seems to be cancelled. Strange as I swear I remember seeing 360 controls in one gameplay video. I guess they didn't get any publisher for it like XBLA requires?
 

V_Ben

Banned
Rlan said:
So who's been playing Raskulls? Having fun? :)

Anyone care to make an official topic? I would, but I believe the rules stipulate people from the companies can't make them ourselves. Let's get some online games going!

I'm still amused by the fact that there's adverts for it in the minis version of Rocket Racing! :lol
 

V_Ben

Banned
Sorry for the double post, but it's worth mentioning that "Necromachina" isn't called "Necromachina" any more. It's "Moon Diver" in all regions now :)
 
Top Bottom