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Commanders: Attack of Genos screens aplenty
Having confirmed that Commanders: Attack of Genos would debut on Xbox Live Arcade alongside Discs of Tron this week, we can now bring you brand new images of the title. Having scrutinized the screens, we can say that the comparisons to Nintendo's Advance Wars series certainly seem valid. Lest you haven't played Advance Wars, that's a good thing. If the gameplay hold up to the level of the visuals, we should be in for quite a treat.%Gallery-15799%
This Wednesday: Commanders, Discs of Tron assault XBLA
Turn-based strategy and relentless disc flinging will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade this week, with Commanders: Attack of the Genos and Discs of Tron scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. Sierra Online's Commanders pits you (a commander, we suspect) against an invading army of genetically modified miscreants who, at the very least, are polite enough to wage war in turns. Fifteen missions, fifteen specialized units and a "retro-futuristic" setting can be had for 800 MS Points ($10).%Gallery-15772% As the title succinctly implies, Discs of Tron is primarily concerned with opponents hurling Tron discs at each other, very often while standing on discs within Tron. The disc-less download, which sports enhanced graphics and "CD-quality sound," will require you to discard 400 of your MS Points ($5).%Gallery-2940%
Lost Planet: Colonies, Assault Heroes 2 rated by ESRB
Although Capcom has yet to announce Lost Planet: Colonies (or even explain what it is), Gamespot has pointed to the Xbox 360 and PC game's existence on the ESRB's frequently revelatory database. The mysterious Lost Planet: Colonies was first discovered last year, when Germany's USK rated the game and fueled speculation regarding the game's genre and relation to Capcom's 2007 action smash. The ESRB also lists an equally unannounced Assault Heroes 2 for Xbox 360, which logic would dictate is a sequel to XBLA's well-received Assault Heroes.
XBLA in Brief: Boogie Bunnies
We occasionally do hands-on features (or even full reviews) of certain Xbox Live Arcade games or demos that catch our fancy. There are other games, though, that slip through the cracks. So, this week we're endeavoring to give you a quick glance at Boogie Bunnies. Honestly, Boogie Bunnies isn't worth much more than a quick glance anyway, at least if the trial version is anything to go by. Boogie Bunnies is a by-the-numbers puzzle game through and through, and not a great one at that. The objective is simple, faced with an oncoming grid of ridiculously cute multicolored bunnies, you must launch your bunny into others of the same color. Connect three or more and they will disappear. Doing this cleverly will cause other bunnies to fall into other bunnies of the same color, thus destroying them and creating a chain reaction. And that's pretty much it. Oh, wait, the red bunnies also destroy other bunnies adjacent to them, like a bomb. And that's pretty much it. %Gallery-13754%
X3F hands-on: Arkadian Warriors
Xbox Live Arcade doesn't have much in the way of dungeon crawlers, with the possible exception of Gauntlet, which isn't really a dungeon crawler. Enter Arkadian Warriors from Sierra Online and Wanako (Assault Heroes). Arkadian Warriors aims to fill the gap in Xbox Live Arcade's roster. Honestly, we're a little surprised no one jumped on this genre before, as it's really a pretty good fit for Live Arcade. We took the trial version of the game for a spin, read on for some detailed impressions.%Gallery-11772%
GripShift and Arkadian Warriors releasing this week
After Microsoft deprived us of new Xbox Live Arcade gaming last week they're trying to redeem themselves by offering up two XBLA games this week. They must really feel bad. Releasing to the Arcade on Wednesday, December 12th will be both Sidhe Interactive's GripShift and Wanako Games' Arkadian Warriors each for 800 Microsoft points. We know a select few of our fellow fanboys have been eagerly awaiting GripShift and some even Arkadian Warriors, so this Wednesday those select few shall be super, super happy. Anyone willing to commit to spending 800 points on either title or will a trial be necessary?
Sierra making "mass-market" online game with BigWorld suite
It seems like every time we hear about a new title, the first thing we hear is an announcement about what engine or dev tools its developers will use. This time, Sierra has licensed the BigWorld Suite, parts of which are also used in Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's Stargate Worlds and John Romero's forthcoming MMO project.The announcement was made by BigWorld Technologies, not Sierra, and it didn't reveal much about the nature of the game, except that it it will be (according to Gamasutra) "targeting a mass-market audience." King's Quest Online? Probably not, but if only! If you want to know more about BigWorld, Ten Ton Hammer did a great interview with one of the guys behind it earlier this year. Oh, and just so you know; Sierra is/was owned by Vivendi Games, and so is (like Blizzard) now part of the epic corporate monstrosity known as Activision Blizzard. All your studio are belong to us.
This Wednesday: Switchball and Word Puzzle [verb] XBLA
It's hard to believe that the seemingly innocuous phrase, "having a ball," could be tinged with cruelty. You see, the life of a nondescript videogame ball is actually quite miserable, rife with surreal landscapes, tilting mazes and suspiciously long half-pipes that only lead to pointless goals. Sierra Online's graphically splendid Switchball only exacerbates this sad state of affairs, featuring a shiny sphere capable of changing its physical properties (to overcome puzzles!), but not its emotional state. If you spend 800 MS Points ($10) on it this Wednesday, consider how you'd feel if tears rolled down your cheek and up the back of your head. Hitting Xbox Live Arcade on the same day is Word Puzzle, a game that primarily deals with the useful thingamabobs that made this sentence possible. For 800 MS Points, you'll receive "intricate 3D boards," Vision camera support and the chance to use "exploding word bombs." Those should give the stereotypical Halo crowd a head start, at least.
Sierra Online looking for Wii Ware game producer
Ever since it was officially announced, we've been impatiently waiting for Wii Ware to come along. As it turns out, many of you lovely readers seem to be excited too.If you're a hands-on person, as opposed to froth-at-the-mouth people like ourselves, then why not consider getting into the Wii Ware production business? Now would be an ideal time considering that Sierra Online, a division of Vivendi Games, is looking for someone to produce the company's downloadable Wii titles. We wonder if this means that Sierra is bringing some adventure game goodness to our favorite console? The job will also include producing downloadable games for the PS3, PC, and Xbox 360.Unfortunately, being excited about Wii Ware won't be enough to get you this job. First off, you have to live in the Los Angeles area. Then there's the little, itty bitty matter of having experience with this sort of thing. We suppose that those of us without any qualifications for this job will just have to bide our time and wait for Wii Ware to hit our consoles at home. We only hope that it won't be long before we can kill viruses, build countries, and pop bubbles.
Sierra Online details upcoming PC, XBLA lineup
Vivendi Games' Sierra Online division has revealed a number of details concerning its lineup of XBLA and PC releases throughout the remainder of the year, including a number of previously announced titles as well as two new games, one where you get to shoot aliens (pictured) and another where you..well...play with bunnies. Earlier this year following the appointment of XBLA's former portfolio lead Ross Erickson to Sierra Online we predicted that the company had big plans for the downloadable space, and given the breadth of today's announcements that assumption looks more correct than ever. The two new titles announced today include a particularly interesting sounding "third person retro-arcade shooter" called Aces of the Galaxy, where players man the turret of an AI-driven spaceship to shoot down waves of bad guys, and the strangely titled Boogie Bunnies, where players will match up colorful rabbits in a "match-three puzzle game." Both of these will arrive for both the PC and XBLA this winter. In addition, Sierra confirmed that Wanako Studios' top-down XBLA shooter Assault Heroes will make the move to retail shelves and unspecified digital download services for the PC for $19.99 on October 23. The earlier acquired Latin American studio is also developing the hack-and-slash dungeon crawler Arkadian Warriors (formerly called Artemis Warriors), which will launch this fall from Sierra for the PC and over XBLA, though we hope that this time they'll manage to get multiplayer working from day one.
Switchball, Commanders: Attack! & more XBLA bound
TeamXbox pulled some strings and got the pre-E3 dish on three new XBLA offerings from Sierra Online. Over on their site they posted a dump truck sized load of screenshots, game details and videos for Sierra Online's three Arcade games including Switchball, Commanders: Attack!, and Battlestar Galactica. No word yet on the games' release dates or how much they'll cost, but we're sure more info will trickle in when the games get officially announced at E3. Fanboys: Attack!
Assault Heroes finally patched ... almost
Let's say your game shipped with a horrendous multiplayer bug that prevented many people from connecting to online co-op sessions. Would you fix it? Would you fix it quickly? If you're part of Wanako and Sierra Online, and your game is Assault Heroes for Xbox Live Arcade, then your answer is clearly "no." Yes, Assault Heroes was added to the XBLA library last December and played host to a serious co-op problem, namely that co-op games could not be joined by many people. Now, seven months later, a title update for Assault Heroes has finally been released. There's only one problem: you can't download it. In a particularly delicious bit of irony, you are greeted with an error message the moment you accept the update prompt. Oy vey. Let's hope the Assault Heroes team gets their ducks in a row and fixes this problem soon.
Carcassonne coming in June
Sierra Online announced that Carcassonne will be hitting Xbox live Arcade this coming June. The last we heard from the title it was being announced back in August alongside Catan and Alhambra. There are no specifics as to when in June, but one could surmise that the release will fall on either the 6th, 13th, 20th, or 27th. How can we be so sure? Well, they're Wednesdays, for starters. If you want us to narrow our prediction down, we're going to stick with the 13th, as the number is lucky. Are you down for some tiling city action on Live Arcade?[Via QJ.net]
Vivendi Games buys Wanako, world trembles
Wanako Games, makers of the Live Arcade shooter, Assault Heroes, has been acquired by Vivendi Games. Given the (relative) praise that Assault Heroes received, the deal makes sense. Also, it has already been announced that Sierra Online -- a division of Vivendi Games and Ross Erickson's new home -- and Wanako are set to deliver another Arcade title 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures. It seems that both parties must have synced quite nicely, as representatives from both companies seem to share the same vision. Said Ed Zorbist, president of Sierra Online, "Wanako exudes the commitment to quality and a passion for developing great games that we ourselves strongly believe in."Alright. Yes. Good good. Now, can we please get to work on fixing Assault Heroes' co-op problems?[Via Joystiq. Thanks, J. Goodwin]
Vivendi acquires Wanako Games
Vivendi Games has announced its acquisition of the largest game development studio in Latin America, Wanako Games. Best known for its Xbox Live Arcade title, Assault Heroes, Wanako is expected to bolster Vivendi's Sierra Online division and expand its presence in the exceedingly colorful world of digitially distributed games. Wanako is currently working on 3-D Ultra Minigolf Adventures for Xbox Live Arcade. Wanako founder, Esteban Sosnik, seems pleased as punch by Vivendi's decision. "In working with Sierra Online on Assault Heroes it quickly became clear that our companies shared the same core values in game development and by joining together we could develop and deliver amazing products," he says. Indeed, this enhanced collaboration might just grant Wanako and Sierra Online the ability to develop and deliver an amazing patch for Assault Heroes, which has suffered from broken online multiplayer since its release over two months ago.
Vivendi buys out Wanako games
Vivendi recently announced their acquisition of Wanako Games, a Chile-based studio responsible for games like Assault Heroes. After the purchase, Vivendi said that Wanako Games would help Sierra Online to "enhance its internal product development capabilities in the fast growing console download online games space." Whoa, what's "fast growing console download online games space"? We know what they mean, but that's a pretty interesting way to put it.Essentially, we can expect a lot more downloadable content and games from Sierra Online and Wanako Games with this partnership. There's not really much else to say, expect that we can enjoy more stuff like Assault Heroes and such in the future -- anyone play that one, those of you with the XBox Live thing?
Joystiq review: Assault Heroes (XBLA)
It really is quite unnerving how rapidly a game like Assault Heroes can expose a terrifying desire, possibly even an instinct, amongst every single gamer alive. Perhaps it's just common sense, but when something moves, we absolutely have to kill it. Whether it's a tank, an alien, a robot or just a poorly constructed mass of pixels meant to represent evil, taking a step towards us is rarely interpreted as a welcoming gesture. No, sir. That step was your last. That isn't to say we're a naturally violent lot. Some games simply slip into that easily accessible groove where things come rushing at you and your brain automatically makes sure that a bullet's gone out to greet them. Assault Heroes taps into this familiar area with some precision, much like a group of miners donning helmets and heading into a nostalgia mineshaft. They'll come back with the shiny things you adore, but it's not like you haven't seen any of it before. Maybe you've witnessed it in a necklace or ... let's just forget this metaphor. It's crap.
Assault Heroes assaulted with co-op issue
As Jerry Seinfeld might put it, "what's the deal with Assault Heroes?" We posted our favorable impressions of the game last week, and we have since encountered a serious problem. During our first play test we encountered some connection problems with co-op games. In some cases we could never get one started and were left hanging on a "waiting" screen. Other times, we've been left hanging at the same screen in between levels -- after we've already established a connection. Playing with a blogger from Joystiq today (Ludwig Kietzmann), we managed to join 1 out of 3 games. According to Kietzmann, the one successful game we played was the first one he had ever been able to join since the game's release. We haven't played the title enough to assess how serious this problem is, but if it is widespread, then it needs to be dealt with. Have any of you encountered this problem? If so, speak up.
Assault Heroes impressions: shoot it all!
We hooked up with Gamertag Radio's Godfree to play some co-op Assault Heroes earlier, and except for some connection problems, we enjoyed the game quite a bit. Assault Heroes is a top-down shooter akin to many shooters of the nineties. The only direct comparison we can thing of would be Jackal, which also involved a jeep. Assault Heroes finds players driving and shooting in multiple directions, à la Geometry Wars. You start the game driving a heavily armed jeep, not unlike Halo's Warthog. There are three selectable weapons: the minigun, flamethrower, and flak cannon. The minigun is your all around weapon; it's medium range, rapid fire, and effective against most targets. The flamethrower is powerful but has very limited range. The flak cannon acts like a gauss rifle: it's long range and causes heavy damage, but it has a slow reload time. Players also have access to limited grenades that are great for causing heavy damage to structures and bosses. Finally, there is, of course, a screen-clearing nuke.
Assault Heroes assaults XBLA today
Just a reminder from your friendly neighborhood fanboys, Assault Heroes is now available for Xbox Live Arcade. We've downloaded the trial version and look forward to blasting baddies to bits. As soon as we get a little "me"-time with the game, we'll post some impressions. We do this as a service to those that are chained to desks (office or school) and cannot try the game themselves. As for the rest of you -- the crazy ones who stay up past midnight just to download Arcade titles -- do you like it thus far?
