Today it was announced that the Xbox Live Arcade title Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball has been delayed. Now given the vague release date of later this Spring, gamers will find some relief in knowing that their patience will be rewarded with extra content. The extra content will include new rules and game modes. Specifically: “Blazing Lizard is adding more traditional rules dodgeball modes where teams stay only on their side and multiple dodgeballs are in play.”
The full press release is after the jump. Continued…
Today it was announced that the legendary shooter Ikaruga will hit Xbox Live arcade this Wednesday, April 9. Featuring improved HD graphics, replay saving, leaderboards and online co-op, I’d say that it’s worth the 800 Microsoft points ($10).
If you are unfamiliar with Ikaruga, I must warn you it is impossibly hard. If you don’t believe me feel free to check out videos of it on Youtube.
The full press release is after the jump. Continued…
Mr. Driller Online will arrive on Xbox Live Marketplace this Wednesday. Now you can get all the classic arcade puzzle action you want, except this time you can play online.
The game modes included are: Classic Arcade mode, Quest Driller mode, Online split-screen Solo Battle and Online Tag Battle. For 800 Microsoft Points ($10), it doesn’t sound like a bad deal.
Read: Mr. Driller Live This Wednesday.
Today is was announced that the popular indie strategy game Darwinia will be arriving on Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade. Dubbed Darwinia+, players will get both Darwinia and its multiplayer component, Multiwinia: Survival of the Flattest.
At this time, no release date or price has been announced.
I am pretty excited about this. Darwinia is a clever game that is a lot of fun. If you just can’t wait to get your hands of it, it is available on PC via Valve’s Steam service.
Read: Darwinia 360 Is Darwinia+.
This Wednesday Triggerheart Exelica will be arriving on Xbox Live Arcade.
Triggerheart Exelica is your standard top down shooter, ala 1942 and Ikaruga. The game will cost you 800 Microsoft points ($10.00) and will feature a classic and a remastered HD version. Unfortunately there is only single player and the only online feature is a leaderboard.
If you are down with crazy hard, anime style, top down shooters this might be the game for you. Personally, I’m cool with not having seizures.
Read: This Wednesday: Triggerheart Exelica comes to XBLA.
Microsoft really should just throw in the towel on this one; there’s no denying that the games coming out for Xbox LIVE Arcade are suffering because of the asinine 150MB limit on DLC. The latest victim is Bionic Commando: Rearmed, the 3D remake of the 8-bit original.
Sure, Microsoft is looking out for Xbox 360 owners who don’t have hard drives, yadda yadda. This oddly incongruent business plan is the same thing that’s hurting the quality of games on the 360. The company’s got no qualms nickle-and-diming people on controllers, wireless adapters and downloadable content, but far be it from them to mandate something that actually makes games look great.
First Street Fighter II HD Remix and now this. Naturally, I’m peeved because this means another win for the PlayStation 3, throwing the Force out of balance again.
Read: Xbox Live Arcade Size Limits Limiting Capcom Games?
At GDC it was announced that Fable 2 will feature some pretty interesting game innovations, provided Peter Molyneux can deliver.
First off, the game will feature co-op play, in the style of Crackdown. If you join someone else’s game, any items or experience your character gets will stay with your character.
Another cool feature is that players won’t get money from quests. The only way to get money in the Fable world will be by doing work or gambling. This is why the folks over at Lionhead will release a Xbox Live Arcade game that will contain a few gambling mini games. No word on the cost (if any) of the XBLA game. Any cash you get from these will transfer over to your character.
These features may seem a little gimmicky, but hey, they got me interested…now it’s time to, you know, actually make sure they end up in the final product.
Read: Fable 2 To Feature Co-Op, XBLA Minigames.
Today at GDC, Microsoft’s XNA team announced plans to allow user uploads of games to Xbox LIVE, effectively creating a “YouTube” for games. However, you will have to be an XNA Creator’s Club member, which costs $49.99 for four months or $99 for a yearly subscription.
While the gears are turning to make it happen, the full launch isn’t scheduled until the holiday season of this year. Also, achievements and leaderboards won’t be available for community-released games.
Despite these caveats, the announcement is sending ripples through the gaming community. A revenue sharing model is in the works, as well as the ability to release your games for free, and seven community-developed games have been released as a time-limited preview. Check these titles out on Xbox LIVE–they’ll only be playable for a short while.
The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
JellyCar
Little Gamers
Proximity HD
Rocketball
TriLinea
Culture
Read: Announcing: Xbox LIVE community games
This must be Xbox Live Arcade’s week. First it’s announced that Rez HD and Chessmaster Live come out today. Now we hear that next Wednesday, Feb. 6, Poker Smash is coming to XBLA.
Mixing elements of poker and Tetris, this unique hybrid is the flagship title of Void Star Creations. Featuring six gameplay modes (Action mode, Puzzle Mode, Practice Mode, Custom Playlist Mode, Split Screen Head-to-Head and Miltiplayer Tournaments), Poker Smash looks to be a well polished, unique puzzler. There has been no word of price, however I’m willing to bet it’s going to be 800 Microsoft Points ($10).
Read Poker Smash on XBLA next week.
A couple days ago I posted a news item about how to win a free copy of Rez HD on Xbox Live Marketplace.
If you are like me and didn’t end up winning a free copy, you can do the right thing and buy it this Wednesday for 800 Microsoft Points ($10.00). Continued…
This is just a reminder that if you have Xbox Live Gold account, you can download Undertow for free until Sunday night, Jan. 26.
I just got my copy a few minutes ago. If you already have Undertow, you can get 800 Microsoft Points by calling 1-800-4-MYXBOX and giving the people on the line your information.
Once they confirm that you already have Undertow, you will get 800 MS Points. Not a bad peace offering for the Xbox LIVE holiday outage if you ask me.
For the longest time, my friend Chris has been nagging me to play the game REZ. I have never really understood his fascination with the game, and kept blowing off buying it.
Well, now is my chance, and yours as well, to get the upcoming REZ HD on Xbox Live Arcade. If you go to the REZ HD website and register, you will be put in a drawing for one of 50 prepaid Xbox Live Marketplace codes. You better act quick; the contest ends Jan. 27th.
Read: Register and ye shall REZ-eive (a free game).
