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X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Encleverment Experiment, NBA Unrivaled, 0D Beat Drop
There are three games up for grabs on XBLA this week, and all of them offer something different. Encleverment Experiment (800, $10) seeks to test your brain power as well as the brain power of your friends (or random strangers on Xbox Live). Meanwhile NBA Unrivaled (1200, $15) brings arcade basketball with massive dunks (and odd character animations). Finally, 0D Beat Drop (800, $10) ... drops some rhythm-infused puzzle action onto XBLA. Watch the latest XBLA in Brief and see if any of them are up your alley. Download the trial version of Encleverment Experiment Download the trial version of NBA Unrivaled Download the trial version of 0D Beat Drop [iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly. [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
Encleverment Experiment begins on XBLA Nov. 11
Aside from being a pretty cool name for a band, Encleverment Experiment is a new Xbox Live Arcade game from Blitz Arcade. Debuting on Wednesday, November 11th, the Avatar-supporting bout of brainage offers 16 different minigames and puzzles, including word searches, mathematical exercises and odd-one-out type things. Thankfully, the difficulty can be toned down from difficult (for adults) to something quite a bit easier (for children or bloggers).If you're keen to enroll in "Professor Ivor Question's mental faculty," it'll cost you 800 points ($10). As an early test of your skill, see if you can count how many puns there were between the quotation marks.Highlight for solution: 19. Look closely. %Gallery-77503%
PSN and iPhone Droplitz on sale again, Facebook version released
Atlus has announced that the Blitz Games puzzler, Droplitz, is on sale once again. The price has been slashed fifty percent, knocking the game down to $4.99 on PSN and a paltry $0.99 on the iPhone. Unfortunately, Steam and Xbox 360 users are out of luck, as the price on those platforms remains $10. However, if you still want to get your Droplitz on but don't feel like forking over the cash, Atlus has also released a Facebook version. It's available now, just itching to keep you from accomplishing anything meaningful. Just like the rest of Facebook! Atlus didn't elaborate on how long the sale would last, so interested PSN users and iPholk should probably act fast.
Invincible Tiger punches PSN and Xbox Live this week [update]
Namco just sent word that its side-scrolling beat-em-up, Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao, will be available on Xbox Live and PSN this week. No word on price for the title as of yet, but can you really put a price on the ancient art of kung fu? Actually, we might be thinking of a different Kung Fu ... Anyway, we've put in for comment on price and will be sure to update you all as soon as we hear something. Invincible Tiger costs 1200 MS Points or $15.%Gallery-70944%
Everybody is kung fu fighting in this Invincible Tiger gameplay footage
The kung fu action of Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao is crane-kicking the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store sometime soon, and we've got a pair of gameplay videos to showoff the over-the-top action. Sweep in and take on wacky enemy forces in an arena style combat game. One-inch punch Evil Overlord's (yes, that's the bad guy's name) minions and reclaim the Star of Destiny. Do some other karate named thing and be, uh ... awesome? You get the idea. Check out more Invincible Tiger action after the break.
Temporary price dropz for Droplitz on Steam and iPhone
Atlus just announced a sale on Blitz Games' puzzler, Droplitz, during which you can pick up the Pipe Dream-esque game at comically low prices. The Steam version has been marked down 80% to $1.99, and the iPhone version is marked down to just $.99. That's right, you can either buy a misprinted coloring book at Dollar Tree, or you can buy a video game. The Steam discount ends August 28; the iPhone discount is "for a limited time," probably ending around the same time. If a buck isn't cheap enough for you, Atlus also put a Lite version of the game on the iPhone App Store.
Trophies: Droplitz
0 Platinum 1 Gold 4 Silver 7 Bronze Difficulty: Moderate Online Trophies? No Time to Completion: 10 hours DLC Trophies? No View Trophy List Read More About the Game %Gallery-49990%
Swag Saturday Redux: Droplitz (XBLA) (Update)
Update: We picked a winner! Congrats, DudeGuyMan! Try again next Saturday, everyone else! We were left unsatisfied by the quartet of Droplitzes we passed out in the last Swag Saturday giveaway, so we thought we'd fire off yet another download code for Atlus' slime-filled puzzler. Good luck! Leave a comment telling us what the greatest puzzle game of all time is. (Of course, it's Yoshi's Cookie, but we're curious about what you think.) You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada, excluding Quebec. (Sorry, Quebeccians!) Limit 1 entry per person. This entry period ends at 7:00pm ET on Sunday, July 18. We'll randomly select one winner at that time to receive: one download of Droplitz for Xbox 360 (ARV $10.00). For a list of complete rules, click here %Gallery-49990%
Swag Saturday: Droplitz (XBLA) [update]
Update: This giveaway is now closed. Swag Saturdays continue on this 4th of July with Atlus' first downloadable XBLA game, Droplitz. Don't know much about the game? Well, watch the video to find out how to play this puzzler. Leave a comment telling us what XBLA game is your favorite game so far. Note: If you say Yaris, you are automatically disqualified from this contest. You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada, excluding Quebec. Note: In Quebec, you are legally required to like Yaris. Limit 1 entry per person This entry period ends at 7:00pm ET on Sunday, July 5. We'll randomly select 4 winners at that time to receive: one download of Droplitz for Xbox 360 (ARV $10.00). For a list of complete rules, click here
PSN Thursday: Droplitz, Mobile Light Force and DLC aplenty
North America wins the prize for Best PSN Update again this week. Droplitz emerges alongside a new PS1 game -- Mobile Light Force -- and some DLC for High Velocity Bowling, LittleBigPlanet and Cuboid. There's also a BIGS 2 demo and PSP fans can grab one of four full games, or some DLC for Rock Band Unplugged. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
XBLA in Brief: Droplitz, Garou: Mark of the Wolves
This week on XBLA in Brief, we take the trial versions of both Droplitz and Garou: Mark of the Wolves for a spin. Droplitz is a puzzle game that involves turning lots of dials so that the game's titular droplets make it safely to the bottom of the screen. Garou -- known as Fatal Fury outside of Japan -- is a fighting game from the fine folks at SNK. Watch the latest episode of our XBLA series above and decide if either game is worth your 800 ($10). Download the trial version of Droplitz Download the trial version of Garou: Mark of the Wolves [iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly. [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [M4V] Download the M4V directly.
This Wednesday: Droplitz and Garou: Mark of the Wolves hit XBLA
It's a twofer on XBLA this week, with a new puzzle game and an old fighting game. The puzzle game would be Droplitz, which has players twiddling dials and collecting small, "dinky little balls of indeterminate stuff." We can't help but be reminded a bit of Pipe Mania. Keep in mind that Droplitz is a single-player game only, with the full game running 800. The second game is Garou: Mark of the Wolves, also known as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, which was announced for XBLA by SNK late last week. The game is a port of the original arcade title -- also remembered as one of the last good Dreamcast games -- and features online play for two players. It can be yours for 800. %Gallery-49990% %Gallery-66348%
Drop everything and watch this Droplitz video
The video above is a rather amazing tutorial, explaining the basics of the upcoming iPhone, PSN and XBLA game Droplitz. As you watch, a very British woman will guide you through the game which, apparently, involves maneuvering your droplitz -- or "dinky little balls of indeterminate stuff" as the tutorial lady so wonderfully puts it -- from one end of the grid to the other, by rotating the pipe pieces. While the narration is the real star of the video, the game does actually look like quite good fun. There's no word on a release date yet, but we'll be sure to let you know as soon as Atlus announces one. Make sure you watch the full video to find out exactly why these droplitz aren't adorable little fluffy creatures with cute googly eyes and little button noses.
Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao -- in 3D!
Okay, okay ... you can take off the red & blue glasses. The above video (and the one to be found after the break) are not, we admit, in 3D. Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao is though. Not as in "polygonal," but honest-to-goodness 3D -- as long as you have the proper equipment.Blitz Arcade was demoing the Namco Bandai published XBLA/PSN title yesterday on a Samsung DLP display capable of 3D output when used with special polarized glasses. While the game was more or less exactly what we played at New York Comic-Con, it was superficially deeper. The effect worked, even in conjunction with prescription glasses, lending the scenes impressive clarity while doing a great job of delineating the foreground / background planes gameplay traverses between.Our major gripe -- apart from the fact the mode will only work on certain TVs -- is that it really seemed like nothing more than a novelty. While sharp, it robbed the game of color and detail, leaving behind what reminded us of Sega's old "holographic" arcade games. We applaud Blitz Arcade for trying something different, though; we're just glad it's not the only way to play this stylized beat-'em-up.%Gallery-51406%
Say hai-ya to this Invincible Tiger trailer
It's kind of hard not to revel in all the chopsocky cheese present in the latest trailer for Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao. From the grandiose intro music to the over-the-top sound effects to the visible film grain, it just oozes the "so bad it's good" charm of old kung fu movies. Just throw an old drunken master and a Bruce Lee imitator in there and it would be complete. We should probably mention that it's actually fun to play, too.Invincible Tiger hits XBLA and PSN this summer.
Atlus to drip Droplitz on Xbox Live, PSN, PC and iPhone
We actually first told you about Blitz Arcade's Droplitz last summer, when we theorized the pipe-twisting puzzler might be headed to WiiWare. Now, the Japanophiles of Atlus are using the game as their first foray into digital distribution on nearly every platform ... except the Wii. Since you can see the game for yourself above, we don't really know what else to write about it. It looks really ... puzzley? %Gallery-49990%
New footage reveals CodaChain has characters, environment
The internet wizard over at superannuation has uncovered some YouTube footage (embedded after the break) of the upcoming Blitz Arcade title CodaChain. The footage doesn't show much -- the quality isn't great -- aside from the player controlling a little dude with headphones as he gathers up a steadily growing line of characters behind him. According to the official description of the title, each character gathered by the player brings a different special ability and adds a new track to the background music. The player uses the characters' special abilities to solve puzzles. Additionally, the game is set to support 2-4 players both offline and online.Platforms for the game haven't been specified by Blitz Arcade, but given that its recent Powerup Forever showed up on both PSN and XBLA, it's a fairly safe bet that CodaChain will as well.
This Wednesday: Meteos Wars will PowerUp Forever on XBLA
Namco-Bandai's latest XBLA release asks that you not power up for a bit, or even for a decent amount of time, but forever. That sounds like quite a time investment, but at least you should get a good gameplay return on your 800 ($10) investment in PowerUp Forever (shown). It's a shooter with randomly generated levels, from the folks (Blitz Games) that brought the world ... Sneak King.As we posted earlier today – and Microsoft has now confirmed – this Wednesday's second Live Arcade newcomer will be Q Entertainment's fab-o puzzler, Meteos Wars. Well, it was neat on the DS using stylus control; how exactly it will translate to a boring ol' console controller remains to be seen. But that's why there are trial versions, right? Upgrading to the full version of the game will cost you 800 ($10).Source: Gamerscore Blog: Meteos WarsSource: Gamerscore Blog: PowerUp Forever%Gallery-20735%%Gallery-30632%
This Wednesday: Prove you're smarter than a 5th grader on XBLA
Given the volume of f-bombs and uninformed hate speech overheard during, oh, every game played over Xbox Live ever, we have to question if some of the service's subscribers aren't actually 5th graders. Anyway.You can prove yourself better – and smarter – than them on Wednesday, when THQ and Blitz Arcade launch Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader: Make the Grade on XBLA. The quiz game will be priced at 1200 ($15). Failing to prove you're smarter than a 5th grader will cost you your pride.This week's Arcade update also includes a new multiplayer map for Marble Blast Ultra (including its own Achievement) for the low, low price of nothing. (It's free!)
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? releases to the XBLA this week
Jeff Foxworthy's television game show "hit" will be releasing to the Xbox Live Arcade this week in the form of Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Make The Grade. For 1200 Microsoft points (OUCH!), Are You Smarter will test your 5th grader intelligence using 6,000 school-aged questions spread across 21 various school subjects and plenty of Foxworthy humor (for good or bad). Are You Smarter also sports online and local multiplayer for up to four players.Yes, it's expensive and it's extremely niche, but we're sure it'll satisfy someone in the XBLA market. Let's just hope the game is redneck joke free.%Gallery-35460%
