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X3F TV -- XBLA in Brief: Samurai Shodown II, Shotest Shogi, Rocket Bowl
Another week, three more games on Xbox Live Arcade. We've got Samurai Shodown II, Shotest Shogi and Rocket Bowl, a classic fighter, a Japanese board game and a wacky bowling game, respectively. As is our sworn duty, we take a look at all three of them in the latest XBLA in Brief. Check out our latest installment and find out which ones are for you.[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes.[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon).[RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[M4V] Download the M4V directly.
XBLA updates with another trio of titles
Good morning on this beautiful (depending where you are) Wednesday and say hello to a trio of new Xbox Live Arcade releases. Landing on the service today is the mini-golf, bowling hybrid of Rocket Bowl; the classic fighter Samurai Shodown II; and the popular Japanese board game Shotest Shogi (ironically not available for Xbox users in Japan).Each tagged with an asking price of 800MS space bucks, this week marks the second consecutive three-lease Wednesday for everyone's favorite digital games service. We'd go into a whole witty spiel about this week's releases right about now but we're too busy praying to the waffle stuck to our ceiling that SamSho2 has a working online mode. What are our chances?
This Wednesday: Samurai Showdown II, Rocket Bowl, Shotest Shogi hit XBLA [update]
It's another triple-threat (erm, make that treat) this week for Xbox Live Arcade connoisseurs. Debuting after the Virtual Console version, the classic Neo-Geo fighter, Samurai Shodown II, arrives at 400 ($5) [800 ($10)] and should be worth all 32 quarters if it's a carbon copy of the arcade / ridiculously expensive home version.Joining the sword-clashing samurai are Rocket Bowl, D3Publisher's absurd – yet interesting – take on bowling, and Shotest (not Shortest) Shogi, a prim-and-proper multiplayer version of the classic Japanese table game from Microsoft. They're both hitting at 800 ($10) each.Also prepped to pop up in the Marketplace are 1200 new puzzles for Buku Sudoku (200 / $2.50) and the second set of expansion levels for N+ (200 / $2.50).[Update: "Starting on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Xbox Live members will have the opportunity to download Samurai Showdown II for 800. The game was previously listed incorrectly at 400, and we apologize for the error," reads an Xbox Press media alert.]%Gallery-31447%%Gallery-31450%%Gallery-31451%
An XBLA Threefer: RocketBowl, Samurai Shodown 2 and Shotest Shogi
For the second week in a row, we're being treated to an Xbox Live Arcade threefer. Because, you know, XBLA twofers are so 2007. And heading to the XBLA this Wednesday, September 10th will be D3Publisher's RocketBowl, the SNK Playmore 2D sword fighter Samurai Shodown 2 and AI Factory's chess-inspired Shotest Shogi. All games will cost 800 Microsoft points except Samurai Shodown 2, which will be available for the oh so nice price of 400 MS points.
Shotest Shogi passes cert; Basment Pool delayed
When Shotest Shogi and Basement Pool were originally announced, we were a bit harsh on the latter and quite welcoming to the former. Well thanks to that delisting process that Microsoft unveiled not too long ago, Basement Pool is going to be seeing a bit of a delay. Posting on the Indiegamer boards, Paul Johnson of Rubicon said that while the game is a pet project of his that will likely never really die, Rubicon is waiting for Bankshot Billiards to be retired before releasing Basement Pool to XBLA. And hey, as for Shotest Shogi, after a bit of a certification debacle, it's finally passed and it's only up to Microsoft when it goes live. For those unfamiliar with the concept, Shogi is a harder, deeper, and more complex version of chess. Thankfully Rubicon professes to have spent an inordinate amount of time on a tutorial mode, meaning that anyone who'd like to deepen their strategic thinking a bit should be able to find some enjoyment here.[Via Gamerbytes]
Upcoming XBLA game screeny blowout to the max!
Located after the break (in their respective game galleries) are hundreds upon hundreds of screenshots for the recently confirmed for release Xbox Live Arcade games Rocky and Bullwinkle, Wits and Wagers, TiQal and Shotest Shogi. And when we say hundreds upon hundreds of screenshots, we kid you not. The bandwidth needed for all these screens would require us to be owned by a ginormous corporate company ... thankfully, we are. So, enjoy your screenshot viewing, embrace these upcoming XBLA games and eat up as much bandwidth as you can stomach.
Doom, Assault Heroes become $5 XBLA Hits
Perhaps, like us, you occasionally feel the urge to parade through the neighborhood, toting nothing but an impossibly huge rocket launcher and a desire to vaporize anything that, well, isn't you. And perhaps, like us, you realize (before it's too late) that these impractical desires are best expressed in video games such as Sierra Online's Assault Heroes or id Software's iconic Doom. It's certainly a lot cheaper. In fact, the two aforementioned games will be added to Xbox Live's Arcade Hits program this Wednesday, March 19th, resulting in a 50% discount to 400 MS Points ($5) each. As Microsoft is keen to point out in the same press release, your determined point pinching may just come in handy for a lineup of new titles due to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade "in the near future:"
List of XBLA games that are headed our way
With today's Xbox Live Arcade Hits announcement, Microsoft also felt the need to dangle a freshly baked cookie in front of our noses by revealing a few games that are headed to the Arcade soon'ish. Among the games listed in their "coming soon" checklist are Rocky and Bullwinkle, Shotest Shogi, TiQal, Wits & Wagers and Capcom's Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3. So, you can pretty much choose one or two of those for an XBLA release next week. We're also giving you permission to uncontrollably complain if none of those five titles tickles your Arcade fancy. On the same token, feel free to uncontrollably praise the games if you're excited for a specific title.
Shotest Shogi & Basement Pool coming to XBLA
Rubicon Development, the creators of the XBLA title Novadrome, announced that they would be bringing two new titles to the Arcade, Shotest Shogi & Basement Pool. Though XBLA already has a billiards game, Basement Pool thinks it can offer the Arcade something new, with the main selling points being the variety of tables, and the physics and graphics. The game will only ship with 5 game modes however, and Bankshot Billiards 2 is already on the Marketplace, and it has 9 modes. The Basement Pool website promises that we'll more game modes as DLC, but is that DLC likely to free? Doubtful. If the game can hit at the same price as Bankshot, with camera support (which is unknown at the time) then it has a chance. But otherwise, it seems as though it's being sent to die. Shotest Shogi on the other hand seems to have a good chance. Shogi as a game is as old as the hills, and is more popular in Japan than chess is in the west. As a chess variant, Shogi is actually a bit more complex than chess, and with a digital form of the game coming to XBLA, complete with tutorial, this could bring one of the oldest and greatest strategy games ever to an entirely new audience. Hey, we'll definitely be buying it.
