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Fable Coin Golf, Game Room coming to Windows Phone 7
After dropping details on Avatar Kinect and the crazy amount of Kinects sold in its first 60 days on shelves, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer moved onto another recent Microsoft product launch: Windows Phone 7. While the Crackdown and Halo brands already have some presence on the platform, Ballmer took the opportunity to reveal that another major Microsoft Game Studios brand is making the leap to the small screen. Fable Coin Golf brings everything you know and love about Fable to your phone ... specifically, the coin golf part. Alright, so we didn't see what Fable Coin Golf is exactly, but Ballmer did reveal that all the gold earned in Fable Coin Golf (presumably earned playing golf?) will be sent straight to your Fable 3 character on the Xbox 360, ala Fable Pub Games and Fable 2, for the old-timers in the house. During a montage that followed the reveal, we also spotted the retro-themed Game Room service, specifically arcade classic Centipede. We'll try to dig up more on the service's mobile offering during CES this week. For now, make your best guess as to what precisely Fable Coin Golf is.
Game Room adds Blades of Steel; Sunset Riders and Twinbee rumored
Hey, remember Game Room? Despite ongoing troubles at Krome, the studio continues to add emulated arcade, Intellivision and Atari 2600 titles to Xbox Live's retro download service -- and the latest update is actually pretty awesome. Game Pack 012 has launched with the arcade versions of Blades of Steel and Trick Trap 1771, plus the Atari 2600's Pitfall 2 and the Intellivision's Vectron. And there are still 11 titles to come from the pack! GamerBytes reports that "Game Room hackers" have discovered the identities of the rest of Game Pack 012's pending releases, and they're even more awesome than the launch titles, including Konami's cute-em-ups Twinbee and Detana!! Twinbee, the run-and-gun Western Sunset Riders and the four-player Atari classic Warlords. See the full (rumored) list after the break. [Image source: The Arcade Flyer Archive]
Centipede crawls out of latest Game Room update
Some good news for patient Game Room fans today, as Game Pack 008 has been released -- and Centipede along with it. Joining Atari's classic segmented shooter are three other Atari 2600 titles: 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe, Beamrider and Cosmic Commuter; in addition to Intellivision's Thin Ice. As usual with Game Room updates, the remainder of Game Pack 008, which includes six more Atari 2600 games and four more Intellivision titles, will be released over the coming weeks. Xbox.com: Add Game Pack 008 to your Xbox 360 download queue (free to install)
Game Room 'Game Pack 007' now available
The 007 update for Microsoft's Game Room is available for download right now, and will enable 15 new games in total: three Konami Arcade games; nine Atari 2600 games; three Intellivision titles and zero James Bond games. However, not all of the games are available right now -- the Game Room Facebook account lists the first five, and a message posted further down the thread notes that the rest will trickle out over "multiple weeks." Here's what's available as of right now: Barnstorming Fishing Derby Gyruss Hover Force Quadrun We'll update you on the rest of the games as they're made available.
Game Room adds Asteroids, Time Pilot and more
Game Pack 004 is now available for Game Room, featuring seven new titles. The two standouts are Asteroids and Time Pilot, classics of the arcade days of yore. Also in the pack are a handful of Activision Atari 2600 games, including Stampede, Grand Prix and Demons to Diamonds. Rounding out the pack is the arcade game Space Duel and the Intellivision title Shark! Shark!. The pack itself is free, while individual games run 240 ($3) to 400 ($5) depending on the license. Xbox.com: Add Game Room Game Pack 004 to your Xbox 360 download queue
Xbox Live Marketplace in May: Rocket Knight, Dragon Age DLC and more
You know that dusty piggy bank you've had sitting on the shelf forever? Look, forget the kid's college fund -- she's not going to college for, like, years -- and bust that thing open! There's going to be some solid content on Xbox Live Marketplace this month. In the mood for XBLA games? How does Rocket Knight or Zeno Clash tickle your fancy? Oh, so you want some DLC -- Dragon Age: Origins will have more to offer the tireless adventurer later this month. Want to learn the Secret of Monkey Island? During the week of May 17, the secret will be half-off. See what we mean? Head past the break for more XBLM release highlights for the month provided by Microsoft.
New Game Room additions this Wednesday, Krome still developing Game Packs
The delayed update for the Xbox 360's Game Room, featuring Pitfall! and Super Breakout, will arrive this Wednesday, May 5, according to a representative from Krome Studios. Prompted by last week's tweet by an Xbox Europe representative -- saying that Game Room content had been "delayed until further notice" -- coupled with the unfortunate layoffs at developer Krome Studios, we followed up to find out if Game Room development had been affected by the developer's current situation. A Microsoft representative stated, "We're working to bring you additional Game Room titles as soon as possible! We appreciate your patience, and we've been thrilled by the community response so far. ... We enjoy working with Krome and they are doing a great job on Game Room." Asked directly whether it was still developing Game Room content, a Krome spokesperson told Joystiq, "Krome is continuing to work on Game Room content. The recent layoffs have not impacted Game Room at all or any of our titles in development. We're looking forward to the release of new Game Packs for Game Room."
Report: Krome Studios lays off 30-50 more staff [update]
Aussie developer Krome Studios (Game Room, Blade Kitten, Star Wars: Republic Heroes) has allegedly just completed another round of layoffs, with the number of employees let go this time ranging from 30 to 50. Develop notes that Krome had somewhere around 400 employees before the first known round of layoffs last year. AusGamers reports a possible financial reason for letting people go: Krome allegedly did not receive the license to develop the The Force Unleashed 2 for Wii "as a result of poor review scores for other Krome titles." IGN adds perspective about the impact of the layoffs, estimating that Krome "accounts for some 25 percent of games development in Australia." Krome CEO Robert Walsh made it very clear last year that developers' budgets "have probably doubled or tripled during the console transition," which likely doesn't make it easy to run a studio -- especially such a large one. We've contacted Krome for comment and will update if we receive a response. Update: Krome has responded to Joystiq saying, "We regret to confirm an unspecified number of positions have been eliminated today at Krome. The industry worldwide is facing new challenges and Krome is not immune to the effects of this. Beyond that, we cannot make a comment." Source -- Rumour: Aussie developer Krome hit with layoffs [IGN] Source -- Krome loses more work and more employees [AusGamers] [Via Develop]
Xbox Live April schedule redux: More Game Room, Tecmo Bowl
You'd think one April Xbox Live schedule would be enough, but apparently not for Microsoft. The company just issued another release schedule packed with Xbox Live Arcade, DLC, Games on Demand, Avatar goodies and Deals of the Qeek. Leading the pack is the long-awaited release of Tecmo Bowl Throwback. Xbox owners can also expect new Game Room titles, Left 4 Dead 2 and BioShock 2 DLC and a half-priced The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. Check out a full list of the impending releases after the break.
Game Room update coming April 28, adds Pitfall and more
Since its launch in March, retro aficionados have been stuck with the original lineup of Game Room titles. We then learned that Game Room would begin receiving weekly updates every Wednesday -- after a delay of a few weeks. Good news for old-school gaming junkies then, as Microsoft has announced that the first wave of new Game Room titles will arrive April 28. Seven new games will be released, including favorites like Pitfall! and Super Breakout. In further news, the April 28 Game Room update marks the beginning of weekly updates, so you can expect new titles to start showing up going forward. See next week's games after the break.
No new old games in Game Room until late April
Downloadable arcade game services seem to be doomed to shaky starts. Nintendo's Virtual Console Arcade launched in March 2009 in North America and didn't see a single new game after its launch day until June. It's currently home to just 12 games. Microsoft's Game Room is off to a similar start. After its (buggy) launch last week, which brought with it an admittedly hefty lineup of 30 games, there won't be any more new additions for around a month. "New games will be added to the service every week, starting in late April," a rep said on the Xbox forums. But hey, at least that's a commitment to weekly releases, unlike, say, Virtual Console Arcade, to which games are released randomly, on no schedule and without warning. [Thanks, Miguel!]
Video tour: Game Room
After a small snafu this morning, Microsoft's Game Room service is now up and running. We figured people might like to know the ins and outs of the new service, so we decided to put together a quick video tour. In the video above, you'll learn about creating and decking out your own arcade, buying games, visiting the Showcase Arcade and, of course, actually playing the retro fare on offer. Check it out and leave your own thoughts on Game Room in the comments.
PSA: Microsoft Game Room now available [update: it's working now]
Update: The service seems to working properly now. The good news: Microsoft's new cross-platform Game Room service is now available. It's free to download and gives you access to 30 different classic arcade games that can be played on Xbox 360 or PC. The bad news: You can't actually play any of those games. Upon the initial Game Room load, users are prompted to download at least one of two game packs, after which the service should load up the games and let you start playing. Unfortunately, Game Room simply hangs on the loading screen, allowing you to enjoy the retro music playing in the background, but not the actual retro games. Major Nelson has stated via Twitter that Microsoft is aware of the issue and it is "being investigated." He reminds users that the Game Room application itself is still available, and it should be okay to download it now and wait for the issue to be resolved. We'll update this post once we hear any new information. Update: As some of our commenters have pointed out, there is a workaround. First, sign in with an offline profile or disconnect your internet source (ethernet or wireless). Then load Game Room. It should get past the initial loading screen. Once everything is loaded, you can then sign into Xbox Live and all the games should be accessible.
Microsoft loads up 56 Achievements in Game Room
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/xbox/Microsoft_loads_up_56_Achievements_in_New_Game_Room'; Inside MGC has posted a list of achievements for Microsoft's upcoming Game Room for the Xbox 360. If you're surprised to hear that a series of "interactive menus" has Achievements attached, you're not alone -- we didn't really expect there to be so many points hooked into this thing. There are a full 1,000 achievement points to be had in 56 achievements, and they seem squeezed in there pretty tight -- you'll get points every three medals, and even some points for just spending time in the arcade (36 hours total). In short, Microsoft really, really wants you to play in the Game Room a lot. There's less than a week left until it releases on March 24, so we'll see then if an enticement like this pays off. [Thanks, Jason Y!]
Microsoft's Game Room for Xbox 'rewinds' the hits in our hands-on demo
Microsoft showed off its new retro-tastic Game Room UI for Xbox 360 in playable form at GDC last week. While the "make a virtual representation of a gaming space" idea might seem ripped straight from Sony's Home, there aren't really any actual similarities -- outside of the fact they're both in 3D, at least. You dive disembodied through the different game rooms pretty intuitively, with different company collections on the bottom "level" of the mall-like UI, and upper levels set aside for your own collections of the games. Unfortunately, once you actually select an arcade cabinet, the UI gets rather overly complex, with all sorts of modes you can play the game in, sorts of scores to be tracked and an indecipherable menu tree that makes it a real chore to exit a game. We're sure arcade fanatics, ready to pit their scores against the best of them and looking for truly in-depth functionality are going to love all this, but for us poor simpletons it's a little much to take in all at once. Luckily, Microsoft saved the best for the actual gameplay. Not only does it nicely emulate inserting coins and even entering in codes on a virtual keypad, but when playing games in the non-ranked classic mode there's a "rewind" function accessible at any time with the tug of the left trigger. The screen gets those VHS-style wavey lines and you can mend your errors instead of losing a valuable life or having to start from the beginning. It's perfect for patching over the quarter-munching difficulty of some of these games, and it might even be enough to pull us away from our polygon-drenched gorefests now and then to don an inexplicable bear avatar and spelunk some Crystal Castles. Check out a video of Game Room after the break, and stand by for a launch of the service on March 24.
GDC Video Hands-on: Game Room (Xbox Live)
Microsoft is here at GDC showing off its upcoming Game Room service, and we got it on video just for you. The experience is probably exactly what you expected, but it's worth noting that while the service does utilize Avatars, you don't actually walk around the virtual arcade as your Avatar. Instead, the arcade rooms are essentially interactive menus (though you can select to play the classic arcade games from a normal menu, if you prefer). Check out our video preview above for a quick look at Game Room, which arrives on March 24.
Xbox Live Marketplace release schedule for March
Though we already know the bulk of the March release schedule for new content on the Xbox Live Marketplace, Major Nelson's blog recently laid out how the rest of the month will play out. Tomorrow, we'll get our hands on Scrap Metal for 1200 ($15), next Wednesday will see the release of Perfect Dark for 800 ($10), and on March 24, we'll get our hands on the (somewhat) free Game Room hub. Oh, and the Games on Demand service got a bit crazier today with the release of Condemned: Criminal Origins for $19.99. If you're an insatiable value-hound, you should turn your attention to the upcoming Deals of the Weeks: The original Fable will have its price reduced to 800 ($10) from 1200 ($15) during the week of March 15. All of Fallout 3's add-on packs, including Operation: Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and Mothership Zeta, will be offered at half price (400, or $5) during the week of March 22. For the rest of the schedule, including Avatar outfits and add-on packs, check out the list after the jump.
Xbox Live Arcade Block Party games, Game Room dated
March is going to be a pretty intense month for XBLA releases. So intense, in fact, that it's all being bundled under one promotional moniker: Block Party. Microsoft recently announced specific dates and prices for each of the games therein, and boy oh boy, has its saved the best for ... um, next-to-last. We already knew March 3 would see the release of Toy Soldiers for 1200 ($15). On March 10, we'll get our hands on Slick Entertainment's brutal racer, Scrap Metal, for 1200 ($15). On March 17, we'll be stocking up on supplies, boarding up the doors and windows, and enjoying Perfect Dark, available for 800 ($10). Things will come to a crescendo on March 24, when the Game Room hub will be released at no charge. The platform's games will run you 400 ($5) for a PC and 360-friendly version, 240 ($3) for just the 360 version, or 40 ($.50) for a single play.
XBLA Prices: Perfect Dark, Toy Soldiers, Scrap Metal
A press release from Microsoft has revealed the pricing of all games offered in the upcoming March XBLA Block Party promotion. Think of the Block Party as Microsoft's first-quarter crack at the Summer of Arcade, combining a month of releases under one convenient promotional banner. According to the press release the pricing for each title will be: Perfect Dark -- 800 ($10) Toy Soldiers -- 1200 ($15) Scrap Metal -- 1200 ($15) Xbox Game Room -- Free to download (Each title costs 240 [$3] per single license, 400 [$5] for use on PC and Xbox 360, or 40 [50 cents] per play) %Gallery-85318%
X10: Perfect Dark, Game Room, Scrap Metal, Toy Soldiers part of XBLA Block Party this March
Thanks to the Summer of Arcade, we've been conditioned to compulsively check Xbox Live Arcade during the hottest months of the year. But it would seem that March is the new summer, since that month now plays host to the XBLA Block Party announced during Microsoft's X10 event today. So, what do you have to look forward to? Well, Toy Soldiers kicks things off on March 3. If that doesn't grab you, don't worry, it'll be followed throughout the month by Scrap Metal, Perfect Dark and classics hub Game Room. Also, if it's anything like every block party we've ever been to, cocktail weenies will also be served. So that's something.
