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Katamari not rolling onto XBLA after all
More Xbox Live Arcade news today, as Live Arcade Portfolio Manager, Ross Erickson, quashes the rumor that Namco's Katamari Damacy would make an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade. The rumor originated from an issue of EGM, stating that a new Katamari would hit Wii, PS3, and Xbox Live Arcade. Erickson decried the rumor in the XBLArcade* forums, calling it "total crap." Some doubt the quote's authenticity, but XBLArcade's Tomacco confirms his identity -- and he's been known to comment here as well. Sorry, 360 loving Katamari fans, looks like you're stuck with the PS2 version and an unhealthy obsession with cosplay.[Via Joystiq]*XBLArcade is one of the fine sites on our blogroll. You've seen our new blogroll, right? It's in the middle of the page under the Blogsmith logo. Check it out, scour those sites, send us tips. The circle of life continues.
Eternity's Child unconfirmed, but possible
Yesterday, we reported on the development of Eternity's Child, a 2D side-scroller with a unique aesthetic. The games official website claims that the game is headed to Xbox Live Arcade "this year" and its creator, Luc Bernard, told GTR's Godfree that it was on its way to becoming official. We decided to hit up Worldwide Xbox Live Arcade Games Portfolio Manager, Ross Erickson, and get his response. Erickson told us that he "can't comment on that right now." Those familiar with PR speak will instantly focus on the last two words in that statement: "right now." Typically, false rumors are flatly denied, whereas "no comment" could go either way. We know that Ross likes good games, and we wouldn't be surprised if Eternity's Child hits the arcade so long as it passes muster.
New Rally X hits the Arcade
It was sweet while it lasted, but the Xbox Live Arcade streak has come to an end. We had 4 original Arcade titles in a row: Small Arms, RoboBlitz, Assault Heroes, and Novadrome. This week ... well, this week we get New Rally-X. Think Pac-Man, only with cars. There's a new assortment of Namco picture packs, too -- one each for Galaga, Pac-Man, and Dig Dug. It's a shame we couldn't see the continued downpour of XBLA goodness (what we wouldn't give to see Castle Crashers or Worms HD). Then again, what should we expect? You always get leftovers after Christmas, right?Here's hoping 2007 brings a slew of original titles to our favorite download service. That's right, a slew. What Live Arcade game are you anticipating the most? Are there unannounced games you'd like to see?
X360F review: RoboBlitz
RoboBlitz has had a lot going for it from day one. Since it was first announced, it was something special. Oddly enough, the hype surrounding RoboBlitz had little to do with gameplay, but rather the fact that the game uses Unreal Engine 3. Of course, that's a huge claim coming from an Xbox Live Arcade title that has a mandatory size cap of 50 MB. RoboBlitz's other major bullet point was physics driven gameplay. According to Tian Mu, co-founder of RoboBlitz devs, Naked Sky, every element of gameplay is driven by physics, right down to character animation. All in all, RoboBlitz was trumpeted as a game that could redefine the retro-friendly Xbox Live Arcade. We spent a good week playing RoboBlitz, delving into its physics, killing baddies, and, ultimately, finding out if it lives up to its promise.
Microsoft launches XNA Creator's Club
Though you might envision a "creator's club" to be some sort of blunt object used to beat beautiful games out of misshapen code, it's actually the next step in Microsoft's ongoing XNA initiative. The "community-powered arcade" is now within reach of any gamer and would-be developer willing to download XNA Game Studio Express (for Windows XP) and spend some time coming to grips with the Visual C# and .NET frameworks its based on. Chris Satchell, general manager of Microsoft's Game Developer group, recounts Microsoft's cunning strategy of having one creative idea at a time. "When it comes to encouraging development on XNA Game Studio Express and through the XNA Creators Club, the limits are truly endless. What users will see today is just the beginning of the plans we have to revolutionize game development one creative game idea at a time."Of course, you'll also want to make your masterpiece playable on an Xbox 360 ("playable" being the keyword so often forgotten by some developers). In order to migrate your game to the 360 and to gain access to samples, game assets and other goodies, you'll need to join the XNA Creator's Club. It's been added as a purchase on the Xbox Live Marketplace, priced at $49 for four months or $99 for an annual subscription. Early adopters will have an opportunity to get their games published on Xbox Live Arcade in a contest launching next month.Well, what are you waiting for? Get cracking on your non-derivative 3rd-person shooter, Cogs of Conflict! Download -- XNA Game Studio Express[Full, slightly boring, press release after the break.]
It's official: Small Arms this Wednesday!
Microsoft has officially confirmed what we had all hoped, Gastronaut Studios' Small Arms is finally hitting Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday for 800 points. Small Arms, for those of you who have somehow missed our near continuous coverage, is a 4 player fighting game featuring crazy characters that use any means necessary -- from molotov cocktails to sniper rifles -- to blast each other to smithereens. Described by many as Metal Slug meets Smash Bros, people (especially us) have been salivating for its release. The wait is almost over, folks. This Thursday, eat some turkey and look for some 4 player action on Live. That's what we'll be doing. Full press release after the break.
Small Arms in time for Turkey Day?
We know, we know. We just won't shut up about Small Arms, but Mike from the Xbox Domain just sent us an interesting find. Check out this list of the official Live Arcade game forums at Xbox.com. Look closely, and you'll see that Small Arms is the only unreleased Arcade game with a forum. What's more, it looks like both the Defender and Small Arms forums were created last night. Is it possible that Microsoft had Small Arms on deck to release and hit a snafu? Was Defender on standby for just such an occasion? We don't know, but we suspect that MS has a pretty large catalog of old arcade titles that are ready to be published at a moment's notice, just in case a bigger game hasn't made it through certification (and of course there are the UNO decks to fall back on). The upshot of all this is that Small Arms just might be releasing next week -- or maybe even as another surprise Friday release à la UMK3. Will Small Arms see the light of day before Thanksgiving? We hope so, because it sounds like the perfect way to wind down after a turkey dinner.
Atari games on XBLA, holiday titles confirmed
Alongside the press release for Contra hitting XBLA, Microsoft sent another press release outlining a slew of Atari classics heading to Live Arcade next year. The six Atari games to be released are: Centipede/Millipede Battlezone Asteroids/Asteroids Deluxe Missile Command Tempest Warlords All of the games will feature both original and "evolved" versions. The evolved versions, similar to Konami's offerings, will feature revamped graphics and sound. All games will have leaderboards and achievements, and multiplayer games will have Live support. Surprisingly, many of these games are receiving some pretty impressive new features, including Live Vision support for Battlezone and Warlords. It looks like many of the games will receive three dimensional upgrades instead of simply using high definition sprites, too. Finally, and this is not a joke, Centipede evolved has motion blur. Motion. Blur. In Centipede. If that's not worth $5, we don't know what is.Also worth mentioning, the press release confirmed that the following titles should hit the Arcade before the end of 2006: Small Arms Assault Heroes Novadrome (?) Heavy Weapon Defender It should be noted that this isn't necessarily all the titles we'll be seeing by year's end (we're looking at you RoboBlitz). Full press release after the break.
XBLA, Contra and Gyruss coming "soon"
There's a small section devoted to Xbox Live Arcade in the latest issue of Konami's newsletter -- creatively titled, "Konami News". In the newsletter, Konami announces that both Contra and Gyruss are coming "soon." How soon is soon? We don't know, but there are ten more Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays this year, and we can only hope that these games are destined for two of them. (Small Arms first, please.)The article contains some previously unreleased info on both games. Contra will feature updated graphics and sounds, online multiplayer (!), and leaderboards. But does it have "the code?!" That's all we want to know. Gyruss will feature updated graphics, new versus and co-op modes, and leaderboards. We have to hand it to Konami for actually upgrading its old arcade games for XBLA. That's the kind of thing more developers should do -- unlike Namco, who actually removed multiplayer from games like Pac-Man and Galaga. So, are you excited for Contra? Any other Konami games you'd like to see resurrected?[Thanks, J.Goodwin]
Crash Dummies on XBLA?
It looks like Twelve Interactive's Crash Dummy Vs. The Evil D-Troit -- currently bound for the PSP, PC, DS, PS2, and Wii -- might be making an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade. According to the game's licensing consultant, SIC, "we have great faith in Crash Dummy & Twelve Interactive. We are also in discussions to put up the title on 360 live arcade. I am sure our partnership will result in many successful games together". We've never heard of the title before, but any new Arcade game is fine by us. See a video of the game after the break.
Our Lumines Live! micro-rant
We know, it seems like all the news is about Lumines lately. It'll subside, we promise. Until then, however, we have to put in our two cents on a hot topic. No doubt you've read some of the reports about Lumines Live! and it's evil downloadable content. Either that, or you've discovered it yourself after clearing one round of Vs. CPU mode. We all knew that there was an "Advance" pack coming, but if you were under the impression that the "Advance" pack would make your game complete, you're wrong. Three times wrong. We think it's time for a rant.
Lumines Live hits tomorrow [update 1]
A day with no Live. Thousands were faced with a difficult proposition. Do nothing ,or go outside. Fear not, pasty gamers, Microsoft understands what you have gone through. As a reward, you can download Lumines Live tomorrow! It's finally here! Starting tomorrow at 8:00 GMT (1:00 AM PDT), it's yours for the downloadin'. Remember that constant whining sound reverberating across the internet? That was all the fanboys (us included) just waiting for Lumines to finally drop. You should all be grateful that the constant droning will finally cease. Just in time for the new whining to begin: "1200 points! Whaaaaa!" And that's before we get into the soon-to-be-controversial 600 point "Advance Pack." Oy.But seriously, it's Lumines. Hooray, Lumines!Update: Major Nelson has let the world know that the "Advance Pack" is not available yet. It will come out later, presumably when everyone's addiction will force them to purchase it.
That should be on XBLA: Raiden
It's been a while, but it's time again for another exciting edition of "That should be on XBLA." This week, it's the arcade classic, Raiden (no, not that effeminate guy from MGS). If you've never played Raiden, then all you really need to know is that it's chock-full of shootery goodness. Read on to to discover the joy of Raiden.
That should be on XBLA: Power Stone
Last week we took a look at Bubble Bobble as a likely candidate for Xbox Live Arcade. This week: Power Stone. One of the first games released for SEGA's ill fated Dreamcast, Power Stone was a gorgeous and innovative fighter in it's day. Part Smash Brothers and part Jackie Chan, Power Stone allowed players to use anything and everything to win a fight. Of course, the eponymous power stones were a big help as well. Read on to see why this overlooked Capcom classic would make a great addition to Live Arcade.
XNA confusing? Get the tutorial
Most of you are probably aware that the beta version of XNA is now available for download. So you downloaded it, and are now staring at your computer, waving your arms at it, trying to make it do something. Lucky for you, the fine folks at XNA Spot have got your back. They posted a tutorial that promises to help you install XNAl, build the included Space War kit, and start making your own creative changes. Now, we won't go into all the technical details because, frankly, we don't understand them and are in fact frightened by them. But you guys go ahead. Go get it and start making the next Live Arcade game all by yourself. Seriously. Go ahead. We'll wait.[Via Let's Kill Dave]
That should be on XBLA: Bubble Bobble
One of the absolute best features of the Xbox 360 is undoubtedly the Xbox Live Arcade. We've already seen some great games for the service, some originals (Cloning Clyde) and some retro classics (Street Fighter II). Naturally, we're all over original content. Castle Crashers just may be the most anticipated title at X360F (according to Chris Grant after it was announced, "I mean, Castle Crashers? How f*cking cool is that?" So, yes, XBLA will surely be a font of great original content, but there are still those among us who pine for more companies to sell us our youth. As such, we've decided to pick a game that's ripe for XBLA: Bubble Bobble. For those unfamiliar with the game, Bubble Bobble puts you in the shoes of two boys (named Bub and Bob, natch) who've had their ladies stolen away. As if that weren't enough, the boys are subsequently turned into dragons, and not kick ass fire breathing dragons either. Nope, these dragons blow bubbles. These bubbles, as you might imagine, are the primary gameplay mechanic. They're used to trap and kill enemies, and also as platforms. The game has a very strong puzzle dynamic and gets insanely difficult as you progress through the 100+ levels. And, of course, like all great games, Bubble Bobble features cooperative play -- and the most annoyingly catchy music ever to grace a videogame. In short, it's a simple, fun game that's easy for anyone to pick up and play. Make sure it has local and Live multiplayer, add leaderboards and some sweet achievements, and you've got the perfect candidate for XBLA. Do you, our loyal readers, agree? What other great games would you like to see on XBLA? Give us some ideas in the comments and we'll post a new candidate every week or so. Try and keep them realistic, obviously we won't be seeing any Mario on XBLA. Believe or not, companies do read our blog and they keep track of what people are saying. So, join us and we might even influence a little Live Arcade history.
Marble Blast updated, free maps!
Mike from K1lla's Xbox Domain sends us news of his super spiffy interview with Pat Wilson, lead programmer of Marble Blast Ultra from Garage Games. The topic of the interview: the impending update. The update promises to fix lots of little bugs found in Marble Blast, including some kind of fix for people who drop out of games to keep their stats from going down. The really big news is that the update will include 11 (eleven!) new multiplayer maps. Garage Games is planning on releasing themes and gamer pics on Marketplace as well. Unfortunately, there is still no concrete release date for the update. Hit the read link to check out the whole interview.
XNA: community arcade revealed
Doubtless, most of you caught this news over on Joystiq but it deserves mention here. Microsoft has announced the release of XNA Game Studio Express, a consumer version of its XNA development tools -- a beta version should be available on August 30th. This will allow homebrew developers to create games for both Windows and the Xbox 360, though a fee will be charged for the 360 functionality. The upshot of all this (surely, most of you are already there) is the ability of the 360 community to actually create the games we'll be seeing on Xbox Live Arcade.This initial XNA pack -- available for a $99 annual subscription -- will be followed next year with a professional version. The professional version should cost well under $1000 dollars, putting PC and 360 development within the grasp of even the smallest of would be game makers. Users of the XNA platform will also be given access to sample games (and perhaps allow users to trade?) to get the creative juices flowing.It will probably be a long time before we see your garage game hit the real Xbox Live Arcade, but the possibilities are very exciting. Any adventurous coders out there looking forward to this?[Via Joystiq. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]Related Items:Will Xbox 360 XNA succeed where Sony failed?XNA Game Studio Express FAQ not entirely worthless
One lonely shot of Mad Tracks
More than a few people were disappointed that Mad Tracks was not included on last Sunday's poll. As a form of penance, please accept this solitary shot of the upcoming Live Arcade racer. The game is based on the little pull back car toys -- you know, pull the car backwards and let it go: zoom! Check out Load, Inc's site for some images of the PC version. You can even get a PC trial of it if you want. The 360 version should hit the Arcade in October.Anybody played the PC version yet?
Galaga hits Live Arcade
It's Galaga! Available right now on Xbox Live Arcade! A game sure to make gamers, non-gamers, and even the significant others of gamers very happy. Everybody loves Galaga. Grab the demo, and if you like it, Galaga can be purchased for 400 points. That's a mere $5. Seriously, when you were a kid, if someone told you that you could play all the Galaga you ever wanted for five bucks, you'd go for it right?If by chance you have no idea what Galaga is, get the demo and experience gaming history. Otherwise, rejoice!
