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Nearly 1/3 of 360 owners unaware of XBLA
In the first industry research column, part of a series coming to GameDaily.biz, Frank N. Magid Associates look at the current state of online gaming on the Xbox 360 as well as Xbox Live Arcade usage. In an online survey of 1800 U.S. homes, 149 were found to own an Xbox 360. Among these homes, 64% were found to play games online, which isn't terribly surprising given Microsoft's focus on Xbox Live as a differentiating factor between the Xbox 360 and other consoles. Much more interesting are Magid's statistics concerning Xbox Live Arcade. While the survey discovered that 70% of the surveyed homes have used Xbox Live Arcade, only 28% have actually made a purchase. What is really alarming, however, is that a full 30% of those surveyed were completely unaware of Xbox Live Arcade. In other words, nearly a third of those surveyed didn't know that XBLA even existed. If this percentage translates to all 360 owners, then Microsoft has some serious marketing to do.Then again, we're not too surprised. After all, 60% of PS3 owners don't know that their console has a Blu-Ray drive.[Via Joystiq]
Bomberman: New maps and costumes coming
While speaking with a Hudson representative on Xbox.com, regular X3F reader AnOffday confirmed that new costumes and maps are coming to Bomberman Live. This hardly comes as a surprise, as the promotional materials sent out by Hudson include several levels and costumes not currently in the game. You can actually see some of these levels in our Bomberman Live gallery (which we've thoughtfully attached to this post. Still, it's nice to get official confirmation. Now, if only we knew the release date and price, we could have our bomb and explode it too.%Gallery-5187%
Joystiq hands-on: Commanders: Attack!
The first thing to came to our minds when we saw Commanders: Attack! is Nintendo's turn-based strategy series Advance Wars. It's not a bad comparison, but it does give you an accurate description of how the game is played: two sides taking turns, moving troops, capturing buildings and entering attack / counter-attack combat with other troops. Where it differs from the game, most obviously, is the high-definition visuals. Also, while each Commanding Officer has special stat bonuses and abilities, troops cannot enjoy the bonus unless they are within the officer's sphere of influence. The art style of the troops is inspired by what people in the 1930s thought the future might look like.A fog of war is set for all maps. All in all, there are 15 campaign missions and six maps for the four-player multiplayer modes. Alongside the currently-available Band of Bugs, it's good to see quality strategy titles invade the Xbox Live Arcade. Commanders: Attack! is due out by the end of this year for both the XBLA and the PC.%Gallery-4934%
Joystiq hands-on: Battlestar Galactica
Don't expect deep gameplay with this title based on the popular science fiction series. Battlestar Galactica, for Xbox Live Arcade and PC, is 3D space shooter played on a 2D plane. The controls are quick to grasp -- turning, shooting, activating shields and locking on for missiles -- although we had a bit of trouble initially with chasing enemies.We only had a chance to try out a couple of levels. There are four ships to choose from each side, humans and Cylons, each with various offensive, defensive and speed ratings. Death triggers a respawn, and the only penalty is lost time (beating levels is generally dependent upon time). There are 10 single-player missions based on battles from the show. Multiplayer has its own set of ten maps and two gameplay types: deathmatch and domination, where you capture turrets that destroy the opponent's base ship.According to producer Connie Brammeier, the game is intended for mass appeal. We get the feeling that hardcore Battlestar Galactica fans are going to be disappointed by the lack of depth in the title. The game is expected out in the third quarter of this year.%Gallery-4928%
Yie Ar Kung Fu received a makeover
One half of tomorrow's Wednesday's Xbox Live Arcade twofer releases will be the classic Yie Ar Kung Fu and it will be featuring a small makeover. Viewable in the gallery below are a few comparison shots of Yie Ar Kung Fu from its classic days and the updated sprites and backgrounds used in the XBLA version. You should be able to tell the noticeable graphical differences (unless you are missing your eyes, but then how would you be reading this? Hmm ...), but it's up to you to decide if you're liking the "new and improved" or the retro look. Though, we think we can all agree that the flying chubby man roxorz. Fly chubby man, fly!%Gallery-4915%
Joystiq hands-on: Marathon Xbox Live Arcade
Being the last day of E3, we were bound and determined to finally lay our greedy little hands on Marathon: Durandal for Xbox Live Arcade. Having been turned away from Marathon's suite thrice yesterday, we were eager to finally get a hold of Bungie's seminal shooter (being developed for XBLA by Freeverse). Seeing as we only had a short time with the game, we decided to set off into multiplayer immediately. There were several maps to choose from, but "Giant Flaming Pit of Lava" caught our eye, so off we went.
Bomberman Live & Yie Ar Kung Fu XBLA double header
Coming straight from E3 is confirmation of another Xbox Live Arcade double header next week with both Bomberman Live and Yie Ar Kung Fu releasing Wednesday, July 18th. Bomberman Live will feature (literally) tons of bombing excitement and fully customizable bombers for only 800 Microsoft points, while the mysteriously missing from Xbox.com Yie Ar Kung Fu will be available for a more modest 400 Microsoft points. And please fanboys, please pray to God that Hudson didn't muff up our classic Bomberman as we all can agree that Act Zero was a horrible attempt at entertainment.
Texas Hold 'em gets Vision support
We're not sure how we missed this, but today XBLA game Texas Hold 'em received an update enabling the long rumored Vision camera support. The update rolled out this morning and not only added Vision support, but also fixed a few bugs, added custom matches, improved matchmaking, enhanced rich presence, and multi-language support. The update goes on to say that the "Vision Camera also allows players to use a series of game faces using the snapshot mode for all-ins, wins, losses, folds and more". Interesting stuff indeed! Whip out the Vision camera, go play some poker, and try and steer clear of those who like to use their camera to be vulgar. Eww.DeadPlasmaCell also warned us that finding games was nearly impossible after the update was applied. We'll report back in if we hear of any widespread matchmaking problems.[Thanks, DeadPlasmaCell]
Sonic and Golden Axe speed to Xbox Live Arcade
This week's Xbox Live Arcade titles are Golden Axe and, finally, Sonic the Hedgehog. Both cost a mere 400 Microsoft Points, with Golden Axe allowing for co-operative play on Live and locally. The Achievements for both titles were made available yesterday, and led us to believe that at the very least, GA was coming today. Fortunately, we were only half right, as Sonic finally made its debut under the Sega Vintage Collection line of titles. With any luck, we'll see Ecco and Sonic 2 follow suit.
Marathon: Durandal confirmed for XBLA
The torrent of Xbox 360 news from the E3 press conference continues as, Microsoft confirmed in an Xbox Live Arcade reel that Marathon: Durandal is indeed heading to Xbox Live Arcade. Given that the game was rated by the USK and subsequently pulled from the USK's database, this should come as no surprise to X3F readers. The brief clip showed off at the press conference revealed improved graphics over its aging PC/Mac counterpart. For those unaware, the Marathon series is something of a spiritual precursor to the Halo series, featuring many similar plot and design elements. In essence, Marathon is the primordial ooze out of which Halo born. No price or release date have been announced.Oh, and, for the record, we totally called it (last year even).
Sonic, Golden Axe achievements, GA this week?
We've got a double whammy of Xbox Live Arcade news today. First of all, the achievements for both Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe have been uncovered. This has in turn spurred the rumor that Microsoft will unveil Golden Axe as tomorrow's XBLA release. Some are comparing this to last year's surprise release of DOOM during X06. Golden Axe is definitely a classic title, but we were hoping for something a little more exciting, like, say, Marathon. At any rate, we at least have confirmation of one more Sega classic on XBLA. Take that for what it's worth.Read -- Golden Axe coming this weekRead -- Sonic and Golden Axe achievements[Thanks, Scott]
Live Free or Die Hard XBLA bound?
Making an appearance on the ESRB ratings website is an entry for Live Free or Die Hard. Nothing overly special here as it'll probably end up being just another sub-par movie based game ... but wait. The ESRB website lists the Live Free or Die Hard developer to be Sensory Sweep Studios who have worked on numerous DS and PSP titles with their only Xbox connection being Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting for the XBLA. So, it'd be logical to expect Live Free or Die Hard to end up being an Arcade title. Interesting. We can't really come up with gameplay ideas to blend a blockbuster action movie with the XBLA other than the obvious game where you see who can scream "Yippee-ki-yay motherfrother" into the headset the loudest. Yeah, that'd be one Arcade game we'd enjoy playing with our family.[Via Game Stooge]
Possibly coming soonish: Super Contra
We've known for a while now that Konami's Super Contra is to be headed to the XBLA (thanks ESRB) and now it's looking like the game will be releasing sometime soon. Over on the eXophase forums they've mentioned that Super Contra is available and playable via PartnerNet and posted a few screenshots to boot. So, the game is pretty much complete and we should be hearing release dates for this and other XBLA games in a few days during E3. Super Contra ... coming soonish to an XBLA near you.[Thanks, zshadow]
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!
Sensible Soccer achievements roll in
Sensible Soccer achievements have just rolled in, detailing what exactly one would need to achieve August 29th to earn their 200 Gamerscore points. The achievements aren't anything uber exciting, although the artwork is pretty nifty in all its 8-bit glory including our favorites "Possession" and "Champs". What can we say, we enjoy zombies and cheerleaders even if they are a tad blocky. Achievements detailed in a Codemaster provided graphic after the jump with actual Gamerscore points still pending.[Thanks, Shawn]
GOAL! Sensible Soccer gets dated
Yesterday, developer Codemasters confirmed with Pro-G that upcoming XBLA game Sensible Soccer will be releasing on August 29th, which is just a few weeks after the soccer FA Premiership season kicks off. Marketing genius! Not only did Codemasters confirm the release date, but they also mentioned that the Sensible World of Soccer 96-97 remake will cost 800 Microsoft points. Now only if we could learn to cut our grass into those beautiful diamond shapes.
New Boom Boom Rocket DLC is on its way
Bizarre Creations has confirmed that they are currently working on downloadable content for their firecracker of an XBLA game Boom Boom Rocket. The specifics like price and release date are still unknown, but what we do know is that the DLC will include five new songs. Which new songs? Well, that also has yet to be confirmed, but they did hint that the new tracks will be harder and should pose a challenge to even the most experienced Boom Boom Rocketers. We'll be sure to keep our ears open and our eyes peeled for any new info that heads our way concerning the new Boom Boom Rocket DLC. Boom!
Bomberman Live rated, on XBLA soon?
Old school gaming fans rejoice! The official page for Bomberman Live has appeared on Xbox.com. Well, to be more precise, it's not published on the Xbox Live Arcade page yet, but it's available for those who know where to look. It's actually been there for some time, but now we have some new reinforcement that the game is on its way to XBLA soon. Yes, the game has been rated by the ESRB, so things are looking good. We're so excited that we just might explode. Get it? Get it?! Oh, never mind.
Butterfly Garden soft releasing this Fall
Butterfly Garden, the game where you mate, discover, and trade butterflies in a relaxing social atmosphere, will be making a soft release later this Fall. The Xbox Domain caught up with developer Autonomous Productions and learned that a stripped down version of Butterfly Garden will be entered into Microsoft's Dream Build Play XNA contest considered its "soft release". This soft release version will not include everything the game has to offer, but will be a test ground for visual water effects, controls, and to see what the overall reaction to the concept is like. Autonomous Productions also mentioned that Butterfly Garden should be ready to go Spring of 2008 for release on the XBLA. Butterflies never got us so excited.
T. Hawk gets HD Remix'd, plus more remastering info
Just so you fanboys know, that shot of T. Hawk is full resolution, from Super Street Fighter II HD Remix, of course. Capcom Digital posted that image, complete with an analysis of how they remaster frames to incorporate the new artwork. They use Sagat's standing Roundhouse as an example. Rey then demonstrated how the art is broken up into tiles, and they use those as a guide for when they're redrawing the frame. This prevents a scenario causing a foot to go through an opponent's head due to a hit detection issues. A good read, and it also shows the comparison shot of T. Hawk, as well as the line art for Sagat. Go take a look!
