[360] Official XBLA thread. Complain about the new price points but buy the garbage anyway!

Indeed, the first few times I ran the custom match filter, it did that. However, later on (and ever since), it started working fine. I figured it was a problem with the matchmaking server. Is it still an issue?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

How hard? Hoth hard?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Definitely not me, chief.

Good work catching the implication I was making, though. I'm impressed.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Y'know, I'm sitting here, trying to think of an insult that's possibly worse than that, but I can't come up with shit.

Time to become an hero.

I was speaking idiomatically.

All is forgiven. Can we go back to ridiculing Mo0 now?

There is one Hoth joke and two of us, that works in our favour.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Except that everyone who's played it told me nothing but bad things, often referring to BB as one of the worst decisions you could make on the service.

I personally haven't played it, but that's just what I've read, and near unanimously too. Can't hurt to demo it first, though.

It should be mentioned that Bomberman's getting a new content update this Wednesday. Dunno if any games are going with it. It'd be the first gameless week in a LONG TIME if we don't get anything, but it's also understandable. Who would buy and play some arcade title this week? Especially if it's not something people are looking forward to. Likely candidates are Undertow and War World, though, IF we get something.

Just a guess though?

FELIPE NO

Man, I just played Braid for 4 additional straight hours tonight, in addition to the three or four I played earlier, and finished it.

The speed run almost seems like it would cheapen the experience of this title. Definitely a candidate for the games-as-art argument though, holy shit. Beautiful. ;_;

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

(though don't think it took me as long as you Skills).

More than likely. I had the most trouble with world 4's walk backwards/forwards thing, and got stuck on a few there for a bit, that and the world 2 painting-as-a-platform thing. The other stuff I blazed through relatively easily.

I do find that the entire game is pretty emotionally deep, and I didn't realize how much I cared about what was going on until the last chapter. It's kind of interesting how such a played out concept of a man regretting his past and looking for happyness is cliched as hell and would be played the fuck out in books, movies, and any other medium, but it's actually refreshing to have a game attempt this sort of metaphor laden narrative with this theme so well.

Pretty rare to have a game actually play with your emotions like that. It kinda makes the games-as-art argument right there. Pretty much game of the fucking year so far too.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Arcade games are every Wednesday, actually, and the go live at about 3 AM central time (-6 GMT).

That said, Castle Crashers is next week, and Shred Nebula is the week after that, on September 3rd.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Don't buy Castle Crashers, it doesn't work. Multiplayer is broken, starting a game is next to impossible. Practically everyone is having trouble with it.

Behemoth fails miserably....again. Hopefully it won't take fucking six months to patch this this time. And that was for a quick fix for a lame achievement, this is for...something considerably more broken.

I'm considering asking for a refund the same way I did with Mr. Driller. This is unacceptable. Did anyone even fucking play this thing? I mean, they HAD TO. It's only been cooking for how many years now? Christ.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Cat9

Ive been playing multiplayer with my nephew and I havent run into save issues yet...

Yeah, these aren't universal. Whatever the cause is, it seems to be somewhat random now how it hits people. I've read a few forum posts elsewhere where people have lost multiple levels or a lot of progress and had to restart from near the beginning.

That said, Tritoch got lucky. The fact that it did shit out after an hour isn't really acceptable, despite the thought that "well, it's better than crapping out 10 seconds in" is correct. Also, having that crap out sure makes the problem pretty close to universal, since it, y'know, did hit you. You just got lucky as to when.

Considering how long it took Behemoth to fix Hominid's hats, I really am afraid we won't see the patch for this for some time. Despite the "we know, we're working on it" response they've already mentioned on their website.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I already have. Trust me when I say you're a lucky one. Read any other forum and you'll see it's a pretty widespread problem. All the major fag centers like GAF, GameFAQs, IGN, whatever the fuck, are full of people mentioning this.

The official website was taking enough of a pounding from people making threads on it, or looking up questions relating to this, that they had their site crash, and they had to do this:



It's a widespread problem. Widespread enough that it's totally and completely likely that you will have an experience plagued by disconnects and an otherwise non-functioning game. And as such, you should pretty much not buy it. Since the multiplayer experience is broken.

And considering I certainly didn't buy it to play it by myself, there is no value in me keeping it as is. I don't want something that isn't fufilling the purpose it was purchased for, and I don't see the point in keeping it as such.

Additional Spam:
Go figure, I finally find someone to play with in Toku, who's connection doesn't shit the bed, and we play a good session with no problems cept for one or two bouts of lag.

I'd like to try playing with him and a third and/or fourth, and see if it holds up. All my previous games, with Mo0, Omagnus, and the few randoms I tried to join were all 3+, so I'm curious if that has anything to do with it.

Additional Spam:
Prime Gamer » Things I hate this week: Castle Crashers

Here's an article on everything that's wrong with the game. I'm cross posting it from primegamer. I think I covered everything.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Refund requests must be up, or something. I got given the run around last Friday when I called about a refund for the points for Castle Crashers.

They dodged the question, said they'd phone me back, and what not. I didn't trust that, but lo an behold, they actually did today. Gave me a code for a prepaid 1250 point card.

I recommend anyone else who bought this pile of shit to attempt the same. There's no point in everyone suffering because Behemoth is incompetant. Only harm done in the end this way will be the fact that Behemoth will still see +1 sales and continue to think that being full of shit is an a-ok business practice. At least you can avoid them in the future.

I'll be saving this for either Vigilante 8 or Mega Man 9. That honestly covers the interesting looking arcade titles for some time now, too.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I still have access to Castle Crashers (and Mr. Driller, subsequently). It's not like they took away my rights to play the damn thing. Omagnus also still has the permission set to play as well. They just refunded the points, since, y'know, the product is busted ass.

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Eh', the only thing I can suggest is stick with it, Generic. If they start giving you shit, I dunno what to suggest. Stupid Indian call center is stuuuuuuupid. It didn't take too much effort on the part of either myself or Omagnus to get ours, though, so hopefully it'll go ok for you from here on out.

How ya doing, buddy?

Oh what the FUCK? I dunno what to even say to that. But I'd throw a veritable shitfit over the phone. I'd tell them that ther'es no point in me waiting six months since no one will be playing the game anymore, and that I'd refuse to leave them alone until they simply handled my refund request properly.

You know who you should ask for complaining tips? Omagnus. I listened in on him phoning EA today over Merc's broken regionlocking bullshit, and he's damn good at it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Next week is Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2, and the week after that is Vigilante 8, and sometime shortly after that is Banjo Kazooie, so thankfully we might get the first couple of decent things in a few months. That'd be a nice change of pace considering the last 8 weeks or so.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

So V8's out.

So, it's really, REALLY faithful to the old games.

So I think I came a little bit.

So who else is gonna get it and play it tomorrow night with me?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Look man. When I like something, that means it's actually good. None of this borderline passable shit that you seem to be a fan of.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Well, excuse me for trying to save you guys some money. >=(

I was speaking idiomatically.

I've asked for two refunds. Out of...50 or so. Doing something twice for legitimate reasons is calling wolf now?

My God.

If you're talking generally, I hope you're smart enough to realize there's just as many titles I enjoy as I don't, but no one really cares or notices if I like something, only if I don't.

How ya doing, buddy?

lmao.

Sorry dude, I was referencing some specific in-joke and came off a bit too serious here just now, my bad.

FELIPE NO

Marz sucking had far less to do with the Dualshock than anything else, but y'know.

Oratorio is pretty much the shit, and I'm happy that there's at least a few fans here to play it with when it drops. And if the retard twins buy it at least there will be a bit of cannon fodder until they stop playing it a week later.

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While the lack of a single player mode is pretty silly, how often would you be playing against the computer instead of other players? Really now. Considering how often it's used, it's exclusion is probably the least of the crimes presented here.

Holy ding dong fuckballs though at the price point.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Thanks Omagnus, it's good to have a real source confirm all the dates for the arcade games, instead of the likes of Kotaku spreading misinformation, what with their claiming OutRun was next week, making up shit again like they always do.

Anywho, here's the proper days of arcade release schedule.

Quote:

* UNO Rush - March 25th
* Puzzle Quest: Galactrix - April 1st
* Flock! - April 8th
* Dishwasher - April 8th
* OutRun Online Arcade - April 15th
* Lode Runner - April 22nd

[one of about 1000 sources]

The good stuff is on the second half of the list, but I feel bad for both Flock and Dishwasher. Being put up against each other like that when they're both indie properties to begin with is unfortunate for the both of 'em. A shame. With luck they'll drop at 800 and be given a fighting chance. (Hah, yeah right).

------------------------------

On a note unrelated to any of those games, an update about Space Invaders Extreme for the Arcade.

Quote:

The Space Invaders concept is nothing new; after all, it originated in arcades 30 years ago back in 1979. You move left and right, and shoot. That's it. Besides Pong and Kenji Eno's One-Dot Enemies, there are few games that could claim a simpler premise. But then in the summer of 2008, Taito quietly unleashed Space Invaders Extreme on PSP and DS, an updated spin on the concept involving bumping techno music, spectacular background visuals (a la Lumines II), and actual depth to the game mechanics. Now the experience is being brought over from handhelds to Xbox Live Arcade, with a number of new enhancements designed to stimulate legions of new Earth defenders.

The first and most noticeable difference from the handheld versions is that legendary effects and programming guru, Jeff Minter, has designed the visualizer that decorates each stage's backgrounds. Known best for his games Tempest 2000 and Space Giraffe, Minter's contribution may just look like a bunch of haphazard explosive Geometry Wars-style effects laced into the backdrop, but he actually worked closely with developer Backbone Entertainment to ensure that the visuals followed a theme -- that of the alien invaders slowly approaching Earth. The first few stages mimic a normal space environment, with each stage becoming greener, warmer, and more organic as you approache the blue planet.


The second, less noticeable difference -- from the handheld versions at least -- is that the invaders are actually pixel-perfect. On the smaller platforms, it's easy to overlook the fact that the invaders had to be adjusted, even if only by a pixel, because of the width of the different platform screens. But with the Xbox 360, Backbone is able to accurately and faithfully replicate the invaders as they were originally designed, which should appeal to purists who expect their ports to be flawless or, better yet, improved.

The game itself adds play mechanics that never existed in the original Space Invader games, like chains and combos. You create combos by killing four invaders of the same color (Space Invaders Extreme's idea of ethnic cleansing) to get that particular color invaders' specific power-up to drop. So, kill four green invaders, then get the green power-up. Likewise for red, or white, or blue (the blue power-beam is definitely an office favorite). If, for some reason, you'd prefer to save your power-up for when a UFO appears, you can 'store' it by holding down the right-bumper button, and let go when you're ready to use it.

There are tons of subtle, little techniques embedded into the gameplay, which help you rack up higher scores. How you kill the invaders, whether you shoot down the UFOs, and other factors all combine to jack your combo and chain meter up, which can multiply your score by up to five times the normal amount. If you're really good and fulfill the necessary criteria, you can then jump to a 10-times multiplier for even higher scores (which will be an absolute necessity if you hope to earn a place on the game's leaderboards). All of these techniques, of course, will factor heavily into your win totals when playing with up to three other people in the addictive multiplayer games. We'll have more on Space Invaders Extreme as we get closer to the game's Spring release date, but for a taste of the action, check out the latest screens and video in the tabs above.

[source]

Bolded the one thing I wasn't already aware of. Jeff Minter is pretty much the epitome of whiny selfrighteousness and importance, so I just hope we don't get a blog entry from him somewhere down the line claiming the only reason this version is any good is because of his....erm...."art" effects. Or that we "don't get it", or some other horseshit.

I'm just hoping he doesn't make the thing a visual mess. Luckily, early media seems to indicate not so much to worry about. Also, should it sell worse than Frogger let's hope he just stops trying this time.

------------------------------

Originally Posted by x360a

A Lonely Victory - 20G
Clear Episode 1 in 1P Play.

A Temporary Peace - 20G
Clear Episode 2 in 1P Play.

The First Step (Episode 1) - 10G
Clear the first 10 Rounds of Episode 1 without continuing.

Certificate of DOH - 25G
Clear the first 30 Rounds of Episode 1 without continuing.

The First Step (Episode 2) - 10G
Clear the first 10 Rounds of Episode 2 without continuing.

Certificate of Bones - 25G
Clear the first 30 Rounds of Episode 2 without continuing.

A Trustworthy Friend - 10G
Clear an Episode with the assistance of a friend.

The Mock Battle Specialist - 15G
Defeat the computer.

The Real Battle Specialist - 15G
Combat rivals from around the world!

The Master Marksman - 10G
Destroy large numbers of Enemies!

The Nimble Vaus - 20G
Master the Mini-Vaus!

The Piercing Light - 20G
Master the Power Laser!

[kapow]

Arkanoid Live! achievements. These usually show up relatively close to the game's release. Maybe one of the first ones after the Days of Arcade promotion? Let's hope. I had it pegged for summer. Granted, some stuff can come out during that period that's not on the above list. For example, Fable 2 Pub games came out the same week as Bionic Command during last summer's promotion.

There's nowhere I can't reach.