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EB-Gamestop launches download service, "largely garbage" declares 1UP
EB Games and Gamestop have launched a download service, staking claim in the growing industry trend to distribute content digitally. If you're familiar with the conglomerate retailer's websites, the setup is straightforward, giving browsers near-instant access to over 1,000 PC titles; though it's a collection that has been criticized by 1UP as being "largely garbage." We're also concerned about prices. The games range from $9.99 to $49.99, but, for example, Texas Hold 'Em and Zuma, which are featured on the Gamestop (pictured) and EB pages, both retail for $19.99, whereas XBLA versions of the same games retail for just $10. Still, as 1UP points out, there are a few gems to be unearthed from the trash heap (e.g., 1942, Civilization III, Deus Ex, & Heroes of Might and Magic). Unfortunately, the sites lack a satisfying interface for sorting out these favorites from the rubbish. Looks like an act of desperation to us. This service needs a makeover and more reasons for us to check it out. Anyone cashed in on a game yet? How are the download speeds? [Via 1UP] Shop - Gamestop Shop - EB Games
Mortal Kombat on XBLA in November, reveals Midway
When my dad was coming up, one's identity was forged in this simple distinction: The Beatles or the Stones? In my day it became: Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? This "classic" debate should enjoy a bit of a revival when Midway's Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is hoisted onto Xbox Live Arcade alongside Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting next month. Which franchise do you tend to ally with?Note: Midway has not announced UMK3's price or disclosed online multiplayer details.
Gamer auctioning XBL gamertag for PS3 [update 1]
Rance6, a gamer in Italy who has managed to stack up over 5000 hours of gaming and a gamerscore of more than 80,000 is auctioning off an Xbox 360 hard drive containing his identity, "ALL LIVE ARCADE INSIDE" (which isn't possible, since all of the XBLA games weren't released in Italy -- sounds more like an advertisement you'd see on a seedy adult bookstore), and more than 1GB worth of saved games. He claims to be the "1st IN THE WORLD," and he and his team of farmers must be proud. The Xbox 360 was released in Italy on December 1st, so even if Rance picked one up then, he's had just over ten months to build up those 5,000 hours. Our rusty math skills work this out to mean he's been gaming 16 hours a day to clock this. The poor guy must be really sleep deprived.Why is he parting with something so dear that represents so much of his time and effort? He ungrammatically states on the eBay auction page, "I am selling cause PS3 coming out."The auction ends on October 11th and is already up to $6,000. For that amount, Rance6 and co. should be able to buy a PlayStation 3 coated in gold, along with a copy of all the launch titles and a Wii to boot. We can't imagine that he hasn't killed every zombie, run every race, and settled the Geometry Wars once and for all on the 360, so more power to him as he changes consoles.[Thanks, Ethan][Update: clarified ALL LIVE ARCADE ARE BELONG TO US situation]
Duke Nukem on XBLA has "already been discussed"
"Mr. Broussard, do you have a minute?""Make it quick, I'm in the middle of a WoW raid.""I'm sorry ... quick?""You know, the opposite of slow?""Right! Well, Doom was released on Xbox Live Arcade just recently.""Oh, I know, I was playing it all day yesterday. Good stuff.""That's the general consensus, yes. Which is probably why every gamer ever now wants a port of Duke Nukem 3D as well.""Hmm, I like that idea. Provided Microsoft wants it too, I'm sure we could make that happen ... right after I level up some more."At least, that's how we imagine such a discussion to go down within the finely decorated offices of 3D Realms. Following Doom's successful outing on Xbox Live Arcade, fans have already begun a clamorfest (not an actual word) for an Xbox 360 port of that other FPS classic, Duke Nukem 3D. Commenting on the official 3D Realms forums, staff member Joe Siegler assured visitors that the idea had been favorably considered, but that getting a game onto Microsoft's service wasn't as easy as e-mailing them the original code. "I talked about this yesterday with George, he's all up for the idea, but we don't have the time to do the port ourselves, plus there's the issue of whetther [sic] Microsoft would really want it. Don't just assume they would, there's a big submissions procedure to go through. Plus their release schedule is booked solid for quite awhile now, even if we delivered it to them today, I would imagine it wouldnt' [sic] come out for awhile anyway."Imagine that. Still, if Microsoft were to eventually give the game their stamp of approval and a developer like Nerve were tasked with porting the game, it would probably be well worth the wait. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
EA's premium ripoff: football tutorial videos on XBLM
Electronic Arts released today a set of video strategy guides for NCAA 07 Football and Madden NFL 07 over Xbox Live. Each five-minute tutorial costs 160 MS points ($2.00) and covers either Running, Passing, Run Defense, or Pass Defense. While $2.00 is relatively cheap, a tutorial is a feature of the game that should be included when you buy it, especially at $60. On top of that, tutorials (video and otherwise) are available all over the internet for the low, low price of nil. GameFaqs has an enormous .txt strategy guide, 1UP has an in-depth guide of Madden NFL 06, and both IGN and Madden Planet have video tutorials that you can use for free. Not only that, but with these guides you can play Madden on your Xbox 360 while reading/viewing the free guides, making their application that much more pertinent. We decided to try one of the videos out, purchasing a Passing strategy guide for Madden NFL 07. The 246.34 MB downloaded provided little that would help our game. The video depicts a series of in-game passes with the occasional overhead view; once or twice arrows and yellow circles were used to highlight a player but it did not complement the announcer. To understand the voice-over commentary, it is assumed that you have a good grasp on formation and position terminology. If "using the safety to cover the back" goes over your head, this video is not for you -- then again, if you are well-versed in football slang, you will likely learn nothing new anyways.
Duke Nukem on XBLA sounds cool, they know
This is really the sort of thing that would be perfect for Richard's "That should be on XBLA" series, yet here we are. Some of you correctly guessed Doom as the secret Xbox Live Arcade franchise, so good for you. Some other forward thinking Fanboys guessed Duke Nukem 3D which, I think we can all agree, would be similarly welcomed. Anyone who's spent sleepless nights playing multiplayer Duke knows how great Arcadification could be. Well, we're not the only ones who think it would be cool. The guys at 3D Realms are well aware how great Duke Nukem 3D was ... in fact, they've been working on a sequel for some time*. Following the release of Doom on XBLA, the prospect was raised on the 3D Realms forums to which a patient staffer replied, "It's already been discussed here. Whether it happens or not I can't say. It's ultimately up to Microsoft as to whether they want it or not." He elaborates here and here.Indeed, the XBLA approval process (as we know) can be pretty intense. The porting process and integrating Xbox Live is no cakewalk, and that's if the title even passes portfolio muster. With the big dog of early FPSs already on the platform, shouldn't Microsoft be looking elsewhere? Not to mention, we'd rather not have 3D Realms do anything to further delay Duke Nuke Forever. Let's just keep our eyes on the ball ...*Nominee for understatement of the year award.[Thanks, Shizzle]
Xbox 360 launches in South Africa
If you're a gamer living in South Africa, chances are that your visual periphery was dominated this past weekend by Microsoft's Xbox 360 launch and its accompanying marketing campaign. Nearly a year after the system's first-worldwide launch, the Xbox 360 became officially available to eager shoppers at the stroke of midnight on Friday, 29 September. Playable in-store kiosks, radio advertisements, campus tournaments and vaguely sinister cardboard stands announced not only the arrival of "the next generation of gaming," but the expansion of choice.Unless you wanted to import the original Xbox or stick your hand into the awkward and tangled mess of Gamecube distribution lines, the PlayStation 2 was the only console the average gamer could reliably and affordably find in game stores. The merits of Sony's system have long since been established and it's easy to argue that South Africa got the best console out of the bunch, though "best" loses much of its meaning when it becomes interchangeable with "only." Consider for a moment how your gaming habits might be affected if two out of three consoles weren't readily available to you. For comparison's sake (and because we didn't have much else to do) we attended one of the midnight launches at BT Games (Northgate) in Johannesburg, taking care to snap pictures and generally harass people who simply wanted to pick up their pre-orders in peace. Several midnight events took place all over the country, coinciding with the beginning of rAge -- a gaming expo we'll tell you about later.
The King is in your Xbox 360
Whereas some games, we predict, might be made to ebb the ever-growing obesity problem, fast-food giant Burger King is looking to encourage more quick dining by offering original Xbox and Xbox 360 games for $3.99 with the purchase of any value meal. Three titles, rated E for Everybody, will be released: Pocketbike Racer, Big Bumpin', and Sneak King. Inappropriate innuendo aside (and there's lots to be had), two games actually feature online play over Xbox Live. At $4 per game, one has to wonder why Burger King didn't go for the cheaper option of handing out digital download codes for tech-saavy youngsters to download the games as XBLA titles. Microsoft abandoned the original Xbox a long time ago, and most soda / fast food contests have evolved into codes that require you to make the effort to log onto their website to find out that you're a loser.Burger King's largest competitor, McDonald's, has a history of shacking up with the games industry to promote (financially) healthy burger-eating habits. With Nintendo, McDonald's has produced a number of kids meal toys and even set up DS-specific WiFi spots in its stores, not to mention a recent Mario-inspired commercial. And then there's a flash game about the workings of McD, but that's not exactly sanctioned by the golden arches ... Burger King games will be available November 19 up until December 24, which makes the titles perfect for that last-minute Christmas gift. Continue reading for more information on the individual titles.
X06 announcements crammed into a single post
Microsoft's X06 event started off in a thunderous explosion of news, with pieces of informative debris raining down upon the unshielded denizens of the internet since yesterday. If you're feeling clueless or overwhelmed, allow us to subject you to a helpful hail of bullet points: Peter Jackson reveals a new partnership with Microsoft Game Studios. The king of the rings and his newly established Wingnut Interactive studio will work on an original property for the Xbox 360, as well as an unnamed Halo title. One can only hope that the crappy-game-based-on-a-movie and the crappy-movie-based-on-a-game curses cancel each other out when it comes time to play Peter Jackson's Halo: The Game of the Movie of the Game. A new RTS, Halo Wars, is unveiled. Set in a time before the first Halo, the real-time strategy game is being developed exclusively for the Xbox 360 by Ensemble Studios. Many confused pundits take the opportunity to point out that the Xbox 360 does not have a keyboard or a mouse. Grand Theft Auto IV will have two "epic" downloadable episodes exclusively on Xbox 360. Rockstar and Take-Two promise that the new episodes will provide "hours" of new gameplay and will be available "just months" after the game's October 2007 release. The vague wording of the announcement fails to rule out the possibility that the PS3 could receive different downloadable episodes of its own. The next Splinter Cell game is console-exclusive to the Xbox 360 -- meaning handhelds and the PC are still fair game. Fewer people are upset by this than those who realize Splinter Cell: Double Agent isn't available on anything yet. Bioshock is exclusive to Xbox 360 and Windows when it releases "next Spring". The wording of the press release says nothing of the game should it release during any other season following Spring. Of course, nobody likes waiting ... Project Gotham Racing 4 is coming. And the surprise hit gamers with all the force of a linen sheet flapping in the wind. Rare is working on a new Banjo-Kazooie game. Presumably, players are still keen on collecting all the coins, apples, music notes, beans, feathers, diamonds, pearls, potions, rings, blocks, wrenches and / or yams mysteriously floating around the finely rendered landscape. Marvel Universe Online is announced for the Xbox 360 and Windows Vista. It's being developed by the folks behind City of Heroes -- perhaps you remember Marvel suing them for creating tools that allowed people to venture online as, err, Marvel characters. Doom and Sensible World of Soccer join the Xbox Live Arcade lineup. The classic first-person shooter was already available yesterday for 800 points ($10). The Amiga footie title has not been given a release date yet, though the press release insists on using the word "soon." The Xbox 360 HD-DVD costs $199.99 in North America and €199.99/£129.99 in the UK, France and Germany. It arrives in mid-November and will include the Xbox 360's Universal Media Remote and the HD-DVD version of Peter Jackson's King Kong. And with that, the circle is complete. Congrats, scavenger hunter, you've found the secret c o d e good for one free copy of B A N K S H O T B I L L I A R D S 2: PRF4Q W798V G7JX9 2RX2W VT94G (Contest ran on 12/30/2006. The code has been redeemed.)
DOOM possesses Xbox Live Arcade [update 1]
DOOM is now available on Xbox Live Arcade ... well, go get it! Update: Reader Dylan Copeland has brought to our attention that we promised to name drop whoever guessed the mystery XBLA game. Right you are, Dylan. Congrats to Ed for being the first to guess correctly that DOOM was the mystery game (and being the second comment on the post altogether). Honorable mention to Dylan Copeland for also guessing correctly and reminding us of our promise. And, by the way, the full game, as most of you know by now, is 800 points.
XBLA gets DOOM today, Soccer later
Id software's classic first-person shooter DOOM will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade today for 800 MS points ($10 US). The game will include the full, four-chapter single player game. Co-op and deathmatch modes will be available via split screen or online via Xbox Live. Coming soon will be Sensible World of Soccer, based on the 1994 Amiga title of the same name. The game will allow you to play with the original graphics or an "updated, high-resolution look and feel." No word yet on a ranking system. Scott Henson, Director of the Game Development Group at Microsoft, did remind us that all Xbox Live titles are required to have a leaderboard. How players will be ranked, however, has yet to be determined.
Metal Slug blasts its way onto XBLA
1UP is reporting that Metal Slug is heading to Xbox Live Arcade. In an interesting twist, there were no big announcements on the subject. 1UP simply noticed a blurb about the game in a pamphlet they received at TGS. Supposedly, the game to be released will be the original Metal Slug and not one of its many sequels. No release date has been given, but 2007 seems to be a fair guess at this point. We have two words for you SNK: online co-op. Make it happen.[Via Joystiq]360 at the Tokyo Game Show:TGS Marketplace content, 9/22Lost Planet and Viva Piñata videoMicrosoft TGS briefing video now availableToday's Marketplace content, 9/21DOAX2 video makes us feel naughtyLost Odyssey intro video
Metal Slug rolling onto XBLA
1UP reports of an SNK Playmore pamphlet circulating the halls of Tokyo Game Show, advertising Metal Slug for Xbox Live Arcade. Allegedly, the text translates to "the original," suggesting that Metal Slug 1 will arrive on Microsoft's download service. But when?Aside from the XBLA pipeline being jammed full of pending titles, Metal Slug also has its unofficial successor, Alien Hominid, to contend with. With Hominid well ahead of Metal Slug in the queue, and (hopefully) a more dedicated effort from Microsoft to diversify XBLA content as the service evolves, SNK's classic could fall by the wayside. We predict a late 2007 rollout.
Not so special edition of Viva Pinata [update 1]
Not content with brainwashing our children with simple "standard" editions of the kid friendly Viva Piñata, Microsoft has made known their intentions to release a "special" edition of the title. What makes it special, you ask. You see beyond just the game, buyers of the special edition will receive playable demos of Lego Star Wars II, Frogger, Cloning Clyde, Time Pilot, and Marble Blast Ultra. That's right, they're bundling in demos that can be had for free on Xbox Live (with the exception of LSWII). Also included is a full length episode of the TV show (any drug dealer will tell you that the first taste is free). No doubt, MS is including these easily obtainable extras for the benefit of kids and parents who have yet to grasp the complexities of Xbox Live and its Marketplace. For gamers like us that understand our console, the extras hardly seem like a value add. Still, we're sure that this will force many parents to learn how to use Live properly. There may be no better educational incentive than the pleading scream of a child: "It says I need Xbox Live! Make it work!" Even though the value of the demos is questionable, you can't argue with the $49.99 price tag. Hell, that would be a deal if it came with nothing. Update: Fixed grammatical error -- two in one day. Jeez.
Rumor: Mystery XBLA game is Lode Runner
Our man, Godfree, over at Gamertag Radio sent us another tip about our would be mystery XBLA game. Shake the magic 8 ball with us ... "signs point to Lode Runner." Check out this detective work on IloveXBLA.com: "No joke, I'm fairly certain I figured it out. Let's look at the trail of tips. Ross Erickson says that Lode Runner in very good hands, which would dictate hands that want to put it on Xbox Live Arcade (since he wants the game). Luke Smith thinks it might be Bomberman On this GamerScore blog post they dropped a hint that Peter Moore said "what happens in Shinjuku stays in Shinjuku." Later on this GamerTag Radio thread Microsoft's John Porcaro dropped a hint that "what happens in Montana stays in Montana". Ok, so with the current hints down how did I make the connection. Here's my timeline. I originally thought the game must be Bomberman, so I was looking for links between Shinjuku, Montana and Hudson Entertainment the creators of Bomberman. Score! Hudson Soft moved to Shinjuku in 1985 shortly before releasing Bomberman. While on the page I noticed Hudson Software also released Lode Runner for NES, and remembered they are currently doing a DS version. Lode Runner was originally published by Broderbund, who operate out of MONTANA. According to Game Dev Map there are no current game developers operating in Montana. I don't think it can get any clearer than that. Case closed in my opinion, next week's release is Lode Runner!" Nice work. We couldn't agree more. Lode Runner is definitely a major franchise worthy of the hype that we've generated seen in the last week. What do you think? Did these guys nail it, or is it something else? [Thanks, Godfree]
The economics of Live Arcade development
Proponents of digital distribution have long argued that cutting out the retail middleman would allow more money to go directly to a game's developer, letting lower-budget games thrive. Now that Xbox Live Arcade is approaching its first anniversary, how are developers of top-selling games like Marble Blast Ultra making out?Not horribly, but not amazingly either, according to GarageGames' Jeff Tunnel In a post on his Making It Big in Games blog, Tunnel breaks down the publicly available information on game budgets, Microsoft's distribution fees and game sales to come up with a rough estimate of a $780,000 net for a game like Marble Blast Ultra. As Tunnel puts it "if you are a starving Indie developer this sounds like an infinite amount of money. But, in the world of publishers, this is not considered a big hit."Tunnel also mentions that XBLA development budgets are expanding quickly, following a trend in traditionally distributed games. Soon, Tunnel predicts, a $300,000 budget will be considered cheap for a Live Arcade game -- food for thought for anyone hoping to jump into 360 development with nothing but a $99 XNA license and a dream.[Via Edge Online]
Mysterious XBLA franchise still a mystery?
When my esteemed colleague Richard Mitchell reported that Microsoft's hyped-up XBLA news turned out to be four fun, but admittledly underwhelming titles, he said he hoped he was wrong. Now Godfree from GamerTag Radio is ready to make Richard's day with some quotes that indicate MS is saving their biggest arcade announcement for next week at X06:If you head over to Gamerscoreblog.com they posted TGS 2006 Xbox Media Briefing news & pictures on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 2:07 AM. But here where you can tell [360 PR dude] John [Porcaro] is playing with our minds with a hint. On the post Xbox Crew Running Wild in Tokyo Streets" posted on September 20, 2006 8:36 AM after the Media Briefing:We swore him to secrecy on a number of things... Peter Moore reminded us all that "what happens in Shinjuku stays in Shinjuku." I'm not sure what he meant by that....Porcaro himself posted this comment on the thread:Or maybe I should have said "what happens in Montana stays in Montana"Montana? Is this some sort of clue to the identity of the new game, or does John just have some secrets buried in Big Sky Country?
TGS: And the mystery XBLA game is ...
Yesterday we mentioned that an new franchise was to be announced for XBLA sometime during all this TGS/X06 hullballoo. We even asked all of you for your best guess. Well, it looks like we got our anwer sooner rather than later, and the answer will most likely be a disappointment to many. In total, four new franchises have been announced, and they are: Gyruss New Rally-X Rush'n Attack Yie Ar Kung Fu (Japan only) While these games are a welcome addition (especially Rush'n Attack), it falls well short of our hope for original content -- or even an XBLA specific entry to a classic franchise. We hold out hope that a real contender will emerge before all is said and done. But, on to business. We said we'd name drop whoever guessed right and ... oh, wait ... nobody got it. In that case, we'll just give the Perv of the Week Award® to reader, AOE, for suggesting Boon-Ga Boon-Ga "complete with custom controller." Sick, man. Just sick.360 at the Tokyo Game Show:Today's TGS Marketplace contentHD-DVD for $170, $250 Core w/ Blue Dragon1080p for 360!
Xbox Live Arcade games on a CD-R/DVD-R
The fine hackers over at 360GameSaves.com have found a way to enjoy Xbox Live Arcade games on the Xbox 360 without a hard drive or memory unit. Apparently, burning the game files to a specific directory structure on a CD-R or DVD-R will allow them to be recognized and played on the 360 hardware.While the hack does get around a storage requirement for would-be Arcade players, it's does not get around the purchase requirement -- burned games will only run in trial mode unless the system has registered a purchase for the game. And since you need a hard drive or memory unit for this authentication data anyway, the whole process is largely moot. Still, it's interesting to note the lengths hackers will go to use their hardware how they want. Can pirated 360 games from DVD-Rs be far off?[Via Xbox-Scene]
Run XBLA games from DVD-R, CD-R
Those crafty fellows over at 360GameSaves have uncovered an interesting "feature" of our beloved 360. It looks like Xbox Live Arcade games will run off of an ordinary DVD-R or CD-R. There's some technical mumbo jumbo that we won't relate here, but the upshot is that all you have to do is pop in a CD or DVD with the games burnt onto the disc. The article does note, however, that these games will still only run in trial mode if the full versions haven't been purchased on the 360 being used. Please know that X360F will not be held responsible should you attempt to break open your 360 like a piñata in order to retrieve the delectable games inside. Hit the read link for more details.[Via Xbox-Scene]
