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Xbox Live Arcade - Announcements & Updates 2010

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Fire Pro with avatars...

Japan's venerable wrasslin' series, Fire Pro-Wrestling, is back and now on the Xbox 360. And now with Xbox 360 Avatars as playable grapplers.

Spike, the developer of the Fire Pro-Wrestling series as of the year 2000, will be creating a new entry for Xbox Live Arcade for release in 2011. Fire Pro-Wrestling lets you customize your avatar wrestler from a selection of costumes, unlock new moves over the course of your career in the squared circle and compete online.

Fire Pro-Wrestling has always been known more for its deep gameplay and character customization, something we hoped continues in the newest iteration. Avatars, though. Hmmm.

http://kotaku.com/5639340/fire-pro+wrestling-returns-now-cuter-to-xbox-360

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Radiant Silvergun XBLA Trailer



The Haunt Announced
NanaOn-Sha, the creators of Parappa the Rapper and Vib-Ribbon, are departing from their musical roots. Microsoft Game Studios are working with the developer on Haunt, a Kinect controlled horror game for Xbox 360. Haunt takes place in a haunted house loaded with traps and ghouls to trick. There’s a mystery and rumors surrounding the house, but those story details will have to wait for another day.

Haunt_capture_1.jpg


Here’s an early look at what Microsoft is bringing to Xbox Live Arcade in 2011.
 
I suppose this is the best place to ask. Can someone explain something to me...we know that CC and Trials are over a million with not even counting UNO does that mean at least one of these is over a million? Wouldn't this also mean the others are pretty high up the scale as well?

From TGS last night;

McWhertor: Five of the top six bestselling XBLA games come from Japan - MvC2, Bomberman Live, SFII HD Remix, Castlevania: SotN

Like for example my SOTN number doesn't come anywhere close to say Shadow Complex just based on the leaderboards I can see.

Just asking as it seems after Dead Rising Case Zero not showing on the boards anywhere near what it has sold(>500k) in two weeks and silver members not showing up on leaderboards for the game..... coupled with this there seems to be some holes in the numbers off leaderboards and actual sale through. I guess I'm just trying to get a better understanding of what has sold and if we can accept these leaderboards at face value for sales data.
 
Lakitu said:
Also, what's The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom like? I saw it on XBLA and I've never seen it before. It looks really neat in the screenshots.

Short but sweet. Like Braid, don't look up the answers to puzzles, you'll feel happier solving them yourself. Similar to Braid, 2-3 hour main game. Unlike Braid, 3-5 hours extra challenge content.

PC version is cheaper IIRC so if you have a PC that you like gaming on and aren't hooked on Live/Achievements, get it there.

I don't have a ton of GAFfers on XBLA (not really sure why, I've just never bothered to add most of the regulars in this thread) but I know a fair few others bought the game.
 
I bought it on Steam, I enjoyed what I played, I am just annoyed that it runs a bit slow on my Laptop, around 2/3rds normal speed.
 
Stumpokapow said:
Short but sweet. Like Braid, don't look up the answers to puzzles, you'll feel happier solving them yourself. Similar to Braid, 2-3 hour main game. Unlike Braid, 3-5 hours extra challenge content.

PC version is cheaper IIRC so if you have a PC that you like gaming on and aren't hooked on Live/Achievements, get it there.

I don't have a ton of GAFfers on XBLA (not really sure why, I've just never bothered to add most of the regulars in this thread) but I know a fair few others bought the game.

Thanks. Unfortunately all I have is a laptop that I'm not sure is capable in running games, so I'll have to get the points eventually for the XBLA version. There are a lot of games that I already want to get, but whenever I have a few extra, I'll go for this. Looks like something I could get into judging by the footage.
 
Treasure talks Radiant Silvergun XBLA and Bangai-O: Missile Fury:

http://www.1up.com/news/treasure-radiant-silvergun-xbla

Radiant Silvergun for Xbox Live Arcade

What's interesting about the announcement of Radiant Silvergun coming to XBLA is that, if you remember, when we spoke with Maegawa two years ago, he was somewhat doubtful that it would happen. At the time, he said that moving the game to the Xbox 360 and enhancing it along the way could require a significant amount of development resources, of which he wasn't sure Treasure wanted to spare. Last year, he went so far as to say that even though Microsoft had requested they bring the game to XBLA, it just wasn't in the cards. So why the change in heart? According to Maegawa, it was because enough Treasure fans had clamored for it -- that they paid attention to the comments on sites like 1UP and ultimately decided to go forward with the project. Because in Maegawa's mind, the game was going to need to be a complete HD re-imagining -- which is not the case now. He said enough fans simply wanted the original game, albeit still spruced up for the 360, but not necessarily completely redone -- that they decided to make it happen.

Instead of pouring lots of efforts into the visuals (though make no mistake, the game has been enhanced -- Maegawa states that they touched things up where appropriate), Treasure instead focused on a new mode, the secret Ikaruga shooting style teased in the trailer. And while he wasn't able to elaborate on the mode too much (it's a secret!), he said most fans of Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga should be able to have a good sense of what it will play like. Interestingly, Maegawa, who is usually very modest about Treasure's work, says he's having a really great time playing the Ikaruga mode -- he says that it's almost like an entirely new game.

I also asked why he felt that Radiant Silvergun is such a beloved game around the world (even though it was previously never even released in the U.S.), and how many consider it to be the greatest shoot-em-up ever made. Maegawa thinks that it's probably because it's not your traditional, straightforward shooter -- when they first set out to make the game, they wanted to come up with something very different. Through things like the chain system, Radiant Silvergun has elements of puzzle games and a lot more strategy to it -- in fact, Maegawa admitted that he was never all that big on shoot-em-ups himself, but what they did with Radiant Silvergun really appealed to him.

Bangai-O for Xbox Live Arcade

Another game Treasure has been working on is Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury for XBLA, which was just recently announced (and Ray Barnholt previewed it on 1UP). I asked Maegawa why they decided to bring the series (which previously had releases on the N64, Dreamcast, and DS) to the Xbox 360 now. According to him, there were a couple of reasons, the most important being that they liked the challenge of it. Maegawa said that they were a little disappointed with what they were able to do with the DS version because of the hardware limitations (because of all of the bullets and sprites on screen). So on the Xbox 360, they wanted to be able to pull off 1000 bullets and 1000 enemies at a time. Also, they wanted to see if they could pull the entire game off without using 2D sprites at all this time; Bangai-O on 360 is accomplished entirely with polygons. Again, just sort of as a challenge to themselves.

Another reason they liked the idea of bringing the game to the Xbox 360 was that it allowed them to give players more options with the level editor -- Maegawa pointed to how you can now even edit where you have different music in levels (such as placing a certain theme for a boss area).

But in general, I asked if Maegawa could describe what the point of Bangai-O is, given that it's sort of a difficult game to describe (on one hand it's this hardcore mech shooter with tons of bullets on screen, and on the other it has things like fruit that you collect -- which sort of sit at odds with each other). He laughed, but said that it's a series they have a lot of fun making -- he described it as a game they work very seriously on to make something stupid. Which, might not come across as well because of the translation, but essentially, it's a shooter that doesn't take itself too seriously.
 
Lakitu said:
Also, what's The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom like? I saw it on XBLA and I've never seen it before. It looks really neat in the screenshots.

It's really good, buy it if you like Limbo/Braid type puzzle games.
 
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/bangai-o-hd-missile-fury-preview-the-tension-is-getting-good/

Bangai-O Missile Fury Preview

For the uninitiated, Bangai-O is a free-scrolling shooter in which you guide a big robot (represented by a tiny sprite) through levels absolutely jammed with other robots, mines, turrets, and other things that fire projectiles, with the goal of destroying a certain number of targets. You have a choice of weapons including homing, bouncing, and piercing shots, equippable at the beginning of each stage. "EX" attacks allow you to radiate thousands of bullets outward, and increase in power depending on the number of bullets already on the screen. The levels are also filled with tiny houses, which give you giant fruit that fills your EX attack gauge and gives you points. It's as frenetic and tense as it sounds, and it's a style of shooter that is completely unique to this series.

Missile Fury displays in widescreen, allowing more total space for enemies; its processing power also allows for more bullets on the screen, with no trace of the slowdown that has become a trademark of the series -- though I have no doubt that Treasure will figure out some way to overdo it. And if Treasure doesn't, you can in the built-in level editor.

The EX attacks are now accompanied not by the system slowing to a crawl, but by a quick zoom on your character that is both impressive-looking and kind of disorienting. In any Bangai-O game, the EX attacks come pretty much one after another, so the screen ends up zooming in and out over and over again, like an EXTREME CLOSE-UP, WHAAAAAAA!

The other noticeable change since the DS game: I didn't see many of the unique, comical elements added in Spirits. At least in the pre-made loadouts for the TGS stages, there was no baseball bat weapon, no sword weapon, no ninja enemies or random soccer balls on the stages. I also didn't see any of the weapons combining like they did in Spirits.
 
Spelunky confirmed for Super Meat Boy:

5003634460_be14a09bf0.jpg

Spelunky (from Spelunky)

Unlocked with 70 bandages
Ability: Explosive jump.
Downside: Explosive jump.

Spelunky is awesome, pressing jump again in mid air will cause a bomb he's holding to blow up sending him flying in the direction he's facing at neck breaking speed, pressing jump again will cause spelunky to shoot downwards. Once the player has "exploded" there's no going back, you have no control over him till he hits a the wall, the ground or most likely a large saw. That said, his explosive jumps can be perfect for getting into those hard to reach places, speed runs and simply showing off.

The six other announced characters are explained as well. There are 15 total.

http://supermeatboy.com/37/Character_roster_update_/
 
Alien Breed 2: Assault adds new game mode, launches September 22
http://www.examiner.com/pc-game-in-...ault-adds-new-game-mode-launches-september-22

Alien Breed 2: Assault, brings an all-new 'Survivor' mode to the game and hits PC and Xbox™ LIVE Arcade Wednesday, September 22nd 2010.

Assault puts you in the shoes of Conrad, Chief Engineer aboard the dying ship Leopold, who continues his fight for survival across the fatally damaged space vessel. Fighting through waves of enemies, Conrad's mission is to re-ignite the alien space craft’s engines.

Alien Breed 2: Assault includes a single-player campaign, an all new “Survivor” mode, and two-player online co-op play. Survivor Mode, which can be played single-player or two-player co-op, pits you against endless, relentless waves of enemies (until you die, anyway).

"As the second adventure in the Alien Breed trilogy, we’re really happy with how much Assault adds to an already strong gameplay formula. We've got some awesomely destructive new weapons to purchase and upgrade, two monstrous new boss battles, and some really exciting set-pieces”
--John Dennis, Head of Design, Team17 Software Ltd

Alien Breed 2: Assault features

New “Survivor” mode: Resist endless waves of intense alien horde attacks in specifically designed arena environments, or team up with a friend in order to reach the highest score in two-player co-operative assaults!
New Set Pieces: Fight the breed through stunningly choreographed action sequences.
New Equipment: More equipment to combat the horde including Hardened Armor and new weaponry: 1) Hyper Blaster – a destructive chain-gun, and; 2) The Rocket Launcher – blow the horde away!
NEW Alien Foes – Enter into conflict with the all-new ‘Webber’ alien and endure dramatic encounters with new and shocking bosses.
Single-Player story mode: The single-player campaign mode that follows the continuing narrative of the game through five huge and challenging environments.
Two-player co-operative play mode: Work together to defeat the alien horde across specially customized assault maps for two players, over Steam or Xbox™ LIVE Arcade.
Exclusive Xbox LIVE Avatar award items: ‘Barnes’ Helmet and Body Armor (male and female versions) awarded to the player by killing a set number of aliens (the helmet) and by completing the single-player story mode (the body armour).
 
So there is three big releases this week: Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue and Alien Breed 2: Assault.

But Blade Kitten is also to be released this Wednesday on Steam so may it be a possible XBLA release as well?
 
Spelunky (from Spelunky)

Unlocked with 70 bandages
Ability: Explosive jump.
Downside: Explosive jump.

Spelunky is awesome, pressing jump again in mid air will cause a bomb he's holding to blow up sending him flying in the direction he's facing at neck breaking speed, pressing jump again will cause spelunky to shoot downwards. Once the player has "exploded" there's no going back, you have no control over him till he hits a the wall, the ground or most likely a large saw. That said, his explosive jumps can be perfect for getting into those hard to reach places, speed runs and simply showing off.
I don't remember that feature in the original Spleunky. I wonder if it was a last minute swap for Splosion Man.
 
Chiaroscuro said:
So there is three big releases this week: Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue and Alien Breed 2: Assault.

But Blade Kitten is also to be released this Wednesday on Steam so may it be a possible XBLA release as well?
No way they release four games in one day.
 
Coming soon to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace


Here is a list of upcoming content scheduled for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace*

Please see the blog post I’ll make for each of these for pricing and/or regional availability




Xbox LIVE Arcade:

September 22: Alien Breed 2: Assault Episode 2, 800 Microsoft Points
September 22: DeathSpank 2: Thongs of Virtue, 1200 Microsoft Points

September 22: Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, 1200 Microsoft Points

September 29: Hydrophobia, 1200 Microsoft Points

October 6: Comic Jumper, 1200 Microsoft Points

October 13: Pinball FX 2, Free game download. Tables purchased individually with free import from original “Pinball FX”

October 20: Super Meat Boy, 1200 Microsoft Points



Xbox LIVE Deal of the Week** :

Week of September 20: Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing, 320 Microsoft Points

Week of September 27: Toy Soldiers, 800 Microsoft Points


**Special pricing available for Xbox LIVE Gold Members



Xbox Games On Demand:

September 21: Lara Croft Tomb Raider Anniversary

September 28: Assassin’s Creed II



Xbox LIVE Avatar Marketplace:

September 23: Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
September 28: Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood



Xbox Game Add-Ons

September 21 Red Dead Redemption - Liars and Cheats, 800 Microsoft Points

September 28: Borderlands - Clap Trap's New Robot Revolution , 800 Microsoft Points

September 29: Toy Soldiers - Invasion! , 400 Microsoft Points

http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/09/21/coming-soon-to-the-xbox-live-marketplace-september-21.aspx
 
New site for Hydrophobia;

http://www.hydrophobia-game.com/

Apparently it got a 9/10 and Editor's Choice from OXM. Hope it lives up to my hype. Until next week.

Trials HD Joins Exclusive Club: As noted in the August report, Trials HD broke 1 million units sold, with its life-to-date total now standing at 1,005,000 units through August 2010. The game achieved this feat in only 12 months, making it the 2nd fastest selling million-seller of all time, behind only Battlefield 1943. Only four titles - Uno, Castle Crashers, Battlefield 1943 and now Trials HD - have reached this milestone, and at current rates no other titles currently available will reach the milestone by end of year.

http://www.planetxbox360.com/article_11798/Xbox_Live_Arcade_Sees_Best_Month_of_Sales_Ever_in_August


This is exactly what I'm talking about above. No way this and the above 4/5 best selling games on Live are from Japan can be correct.

Edit: When did they add voting for deals of the week? New? Well that is kind of nice, 5 choices which the winner will be featured in October.
 
Jtyettis said:
Edit: When did they add voting for deals of the week? New? Well that is kind of nice, 5 choices which the winner will be featured in October.

Where did you see that ?

As for the XBLA best sellers coming from Japan, I might guess the guy was talking about the JP marketplace.
 
I thought Blade Kitten was coming out on the 22nd? That's what the Xbox.com page said too.

Steam version it is then if it's not. Don't feel like waiting.
 
Kafel said:
Where did you see that ?

As for the XBLA best sellers coming from Japan, I might guess the guy was talking about the JP marketplace.

Spotlight section in the Dashboard. These are the potential deals for October 18th:

-Deathspank for 800 MS Points

-Perfect Dark for 400 Points

-DA Orgins Addons
Leiliana's Song for 320 Points
Darkspawn Chronicles for 240 Points
Golems of Amgarrak for 240 Points

-Trials HD Content :
Trials HD for 800 Points
Big Pack for 240 Points

-BFBC2 Addons :
Onslaught Mode for 400 Points
SPECACT Upgrade for 320 Points.

Maybe this deserves a separate topic...
 
I'm getting Toy Soldiers for 800 pts. :D

Today I almost bought Deathspank.
I don't really know which one to buy (the original one, or Thongs of Virtue), but if one of them goes down to 800 points soon, then we have a winner.

BTW, (just in case none of them does :P), any recommendations yet on which one to buy?
 
FerranMG said:
I'm getting Toy Soldiers for 800 pts. :D

Today I almost bought Deathspank.
I don't really know which one to buy (the original one, or Thongs of Virtue), but if one of them goes down to 800 points soon, then we have a winner.

BTW, (just in case none of them does :P), any recommendations yet on which one to buy?

Deathspank ToV takes place right after the first and they play virtually identically because they were originally planned as one game. So buy them in order.
 
Tempest Pack Announced for Hydro Thunder Hurricane
DLC will feature new boats, environments and skins.
http://www.1up.com/news/tempest-pack-announced-hydro-thunder

The first batch of Hydro Thunder Hurricane DLC will be arriving next month.

Vector Unit has announced that the "Tempest Pack" will feature new Championship, Ring Master and Gauntlet events, as well as new environments, boats and skins.

The new skins will power-up existing boats, allowing them to run at much higher speeds than before. New environments include Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle and the medieval Castle Von Boom.

Look for the pack in October for a price to be determined.
 
Shard said:
Tempest Pack Announced for Hydro Thunder Hurricane
DLC will feature new boats, environments and skins.
http://www.1up.com/news/tempest-pack-announced-hydro-thunder
Excellent.

Chiaroscuro said:
As I called it, there was 4 big games released today. Blade Kitten is available:
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-AU/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258410a86/

What a crowed week.
Yeah, sucks for all 4 games, seeing how sometimes other games gets the week to themselves.
 
Stream of free DLC coming to Meat Boy:

"Super Meat Boy" is an insanely challenging, artful, throwback of a platformer which is headlining Microsoft's Games Feast in October. While the game is also coming out for Wii and PC, the developers have stated that the Xbox 360 version will have an exclusive chapter known only as "Teh Internets." What are Teh Internets? They're an awesome loophole.

Basically Teh Internets is a way for Team Meat to push brand new (and completely free) levels out to Xbox 360 users whenever they want. Usually, adding new content to a game on Xbox Live requires a lengthy and expensive approval process for every single piece of content. Teh Internets is a way around this. No certification will be required for this additional content because it's built using a standardized level creation tool.


Edmund McMillen, the co-creator of "Super Meat Boy," was kind enough to enlighten me on what sort of content we can expect:

"We will be updating with free content over time that not only allows for new Meat Boy chapters but also character specific chapters like playing the Sewers of Dross with Gish, a chapter that can only be beaten by Gish's wall and ceiling abilities."

McMillen continued, saying that they "plan on putting out about 6 new chapters by the time the PC version level editor [releases]." Once that happens, it's up to the users to start creating new chapters. "We will be holding monthly contests and uploading user-made levels alongside our own."

As for why a game developer would offer up a nearly endless supply of free content? Said McMillen: "It's our gift to the world."

"Super Meat Boy" is launching on Xbox Live Arcade on October 20 for 1200 MS Points. Wii and PC versions will arrive sometime after that.

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/09/22/super-meat-boy-level-packs/
 
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