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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.
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!
Missile Command Launches onto XBLA
Today's Xbox Live Arcade release is Missile Command, the retro crap Atari shooter where you fire at ... oncoming missiles. With updated graphics, a new Throttle Monkey gameplay mode, and multiplayer over Xbox Live or locally, this nostalgic classic costs 400 Microsoft Points. Unfortunately, according to the read out at Major's blog, this game is currently unavailable in Japan or Korea, but everyone else is free to check out the trial and see if this oldschool goodness is up their alley.
Carcassonne tiles onto Arcade
As we announced on Monday, today's Xbox Live Arcade offering is Carcassonne. For 800 Microsoft Points you can get your hands on some castle building action. It's got 5 player live multiplayer and 4 player local MP, Live Vision camera support, and a nice range of balanced Achievements. It hopefully will bring a similar crowd as Catan did, allowing for a more laid back and social experience, so long as the camera support isn't abused. Hopefully we'll catch you online soon.
Penny Arcade questions Doritos Unlock Xbox contest
The guys at Penny Arcade seem a little perplexed as to the Unlock Xbox marketing campaign from Doritos. Apparently, putting together a videogame based on a tortilla chip is pushing the envelope for ridiculous ideas, intense experiences notwithstanding. While the idea of getting your Arcade title's concept published on Xbox Live Marketplace is definitely a cool one, the necessity to incorporate some Doritos branding into the gameplay does seem a little cheesy. Do you mind the product placement suggested for submissions to the contest, or do you think the opportunity is too good to complain about such details?
Bomberman Live explosive interview
DAKing240 over at Xbox 360 Achievements got to sit down with Peter Dassenko, Associate Producer at Hudson Entertainment about their upcoming Xbox Live Arcade release, Bomberman Live. The interview covers a lot of interesting points, like the development process for the game, and how they came up with some of the title's more interesting Achievements. It's a good read,and Peter has some uniquely clever ways of answering some of the questions. Check out the full interview by clicking the "Read" link.
Carcassonne building up to XBLA this Wednesday
Board game enthusiasts rejoice! Carcassonne is coming to town Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday. Not only does the game include the standard 72 tiles, but the "Rivers II" expansion with an additional 12 tiles. Feel free to brush up on the rules before Wednesday, but the game comes with a step-by-step tutorial that'll teach you the basics as well. The multiplayer on local allows 4 players and 5 players across Xbox Live, with support for the Vision Camera. At a price of 800 MS points, will you be picking this up Wednesday?
Video: New Lumines Live! DLC on display
The next pack of downloadable content for Lumines Live! is being previewed over at GameTrailers and is also available in HD. It shows 5 or so seconds of each skin in what's being dubbed the "SOS Charity Campaign Pack". It will be released on June 27th, and will set you back 350 MS points, but at least you know that it's going towards a good cause. Would you be down with some more content for Lumines, or are you a little wary of Q Entertainment's take on micro-transactions?
Wing Commander Achievements step into the Arena
Wing Commander Arena's Achievements have been uncovered for all fanboys to gaze their eyes upon. It has the Xbox Live Arcade standard of 200 Gamerscore awarded across 12 Achievements. This also is the second Arcade title to be published by Electronic Arts, the first of course being Boom Boom Rocket. The Achievements themselves seem to have a heavier focus on multiplayer than that found in other titles and hopefully will be a lot of fun to unlock should the game be a blast as well. We'd like to remind you that the rumor from back in January, and its source, was right. Stay tuned at X3F as we've got some pretty cool Wing Commander news coming down the pipeline.
Band on Bugs swarms Arcade
Band of Bugs, the insectoid strategy game from NinjaBee is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. For 800 Microsoft points you get a single player campaign, standalone missions, multiplayer and a map editor. Also available are two packs with three gamer pics a piece, for just 50 points each and a theme for 150 MS points. This game has caught our attention for bringing some unique experiences on Xbox Live Arcade, are you going to give it a shot today?
Band of Bugs squashes out its Achievements
NinjaBee Games was kind enough to give out an exclusive peek at the Achievements for their upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title, Band of Bugs. Unfortunately, there is no award for tinkering around with the map editor that we showed you video of last week, but all in all it looks pretty evenly spread out. Also, the release of Achievement information only shows how much closer we are to a game's release, especially XBLA titles. Do you expect Band of Bugs to be another hit from NinjaBee?
Soltrio Solitaire DLC flies under radar
New game content is available for the Xbox Live Arcade card game, Soltrio Solitaire. It adds 10 new game modes for the low price of 150 MS Points. Considering the game started out with 18 modes of play at 800 Microsoft Points, that's a pretty dang good price. Then again, you have to remember that it is Solitaire, which may not exactly be up your alley. Either way, the content is there and reasonably priced if you're interested.
Tycho: Retro games shouldn't be reviewed
Sure, this may only be the fourth of the current comic streak for Xbox 360 related strips from Penny Arcade, but it definitely brings up a valid point that deserves discussion. Retro titles from our "mispent youth", as Peter Moore so elegantly put it, are usually somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15 to 25 years old. Sure, they may get reskinned with some extra pixels per sprite, but the vast majority are the same game they were when they were on early consoles or in cabinets. Should they be treated the same by reviewers as retail games, or should the fact that these are pieces of gaming history give them a little grace? After all, if you don't like retro titles, haven't played the original game, or didn't enjoy the title, you could always not buy it.
Video: Band of Bugs map editor
Ninjabeegames uploaded a video to their YouTube account of the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title, Band of Bugs. The video showcases the game's map editor, as well as some gameplay near the end. We think this is the first map editor to be included in an Xbox Live Arcade game. Overall it looks to be pretty solid, and will allow for some unique experiences when playing the game online. Do you think a map editor is a good idea, or should creativity be left to the developers? [Thanks, Tarl]
Prince of Persia Classic hits XBLA this Wednesday
While Ubisoft may have spilled the beans in regards to Prince of Persia Classic's releasing this Wednesday, Microsoft has caught up and officially confirmed that announcement, as well as price point. The updated title, with its snazzy new mazes, traps and graphical enhancements, is going to run you 800 Microsoft Points. We suppose that could have been expected, but it still may turn a few off from the title. We'll have to wait and see if the demo pulls us in, nostalgic memories notwithstanding. What's your take on the game and price?
Pac-Man CE Wokka's onto XBLA
As announced yesterday, today's Xbox Live Arcade release is Pac-Man: Championship Edition. For 800 Microsoft Points, you can get a revisited look at the Pac-Man experience, with reworked gameplay and mazes, complimented by psychedelic graphics scheme. But in the end, some would say that it's still just Pac-Man, and you can get the original, and his female counterpart for the same price as CE. So will you be giving this a shot, or are you going to shoo him away? Oh, and we need to decide on a consistent spelling of his sound effect, as "Wokka", "Wakka" , and "Waka" can all be cited within the bowels of Fanboy Towers.
Video: New Small Arms maps and characters in action
We recently revealed to you that Gastronaut studios has a couple of maps and new characters coming over Xbox Live Marketplace downloadable content for Small Arms. Well, Godfree over at Gamertagradio has a video showcasing Ivar and Gullarp in the new arenas. Since the new characters are barbarian in nature, the new areas follow suit. Unfortunately, we only have the name of one map, Iceberg, as the other is shown through a mission instead. So how do these look, or would you rather have them come with new weapons?
Finally, some Sonic & SEGA XBLA details
For the first time since its announcement back at The Last E3 Evar we finally have some new info regarding SEGA's involvement with Xbox Live Arcade, and the original Genesis/Mega Drive launch title, Sonic the Hedgehog. We were a little worried that Nintendo's Virtual Console scooped Microsoft, as the title's been available since the Wii's launch. SEGA's apparently going to be releasing their XBLA titles under the "SEGA Vintage Collection", with Sonic leading the pack. More screens available by clicking the "Read" link. So, is it about time, or does it really take AGES to be this good?
GTR covers last weekend's Street Trace NYC Event
Godfree and the GTR crew posted up their coverage of the Street Trace NYC Community Event in New York City (naturally). They've got a variety of flavors, such as Episode #98 of their weekly podcast, the above video, or the slew of pictures from the event. All in all it was a big success, and apparently had some the best pizza Godfree's ever had the pleasure of eating. We're green with envy, as we're geographically challenged in regards to NYC based events and we love us some pizza. So give it a watch, listen or look, and hopefully you'll enjoy the game itself once it hits Xbox Live Arcade soon.
Gabe plays Catan ... at least, we think it's Gabe
Friday's Penny Arcade pertained to last week's XBLA release Catan, starting off with the revelation of Gabe, of all people, sitting down to play a round. Obviously, that's slightly out of character, although it is revealed in the accompanying podcast that Mike actually has played the real life counterpart, and much to everyone's surprise, hated the game. Today's strip is a continuation of the storyline, but no longer relates to Catan anymore, for obvious reasons. We spent the better part of our weekend trading wool for ore, what about you? Expect a full X3F review on Catan to come later this week.
