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

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.

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

I'm curious about all the Days of Arcade stuff, but I already know that I'll probably buy Galactrix and Dishwasher. The DS version of Galactrix seems to be a little buggy, so I decided to wait for the eventual XBLA release in hopes that they've fixed a few things. I remember the Dishwasher demo from ages ago being pretty fun too.

What's the difference between Uno Rush and regular Uno?

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

Different rules. Basically this is a much faster, combo based thing.

I'll let IGN's preview do the explaining, since it describes it a bit better than I'd be able to.

Quote:

...
The major difference between Uno Rush and regular Uno is that rather than simply playing one card at a time, you can play multiple cards in a row on your turn. When your turn starts, the top of your deck will simply start discarding -- if it is the right color or number -- and any other combos after it will automatically follow. If you can string together the right order (and have a really good hand), you can burn through all of your cards before anyone else can act. Since the order your cards are in determines how many cards you may or may not be able to play, the game only gives you a moment to act once your turn begins. That means that you'll have to keep shuffling cards around while other players are acting to keep up with what color is currently active. This in itself changes the base structure of the game and completely speeds things up, but it's not the only new mechanic.

To add some strategy to the game, Uno Rush allows you to see everyone else's cards at all times. This way, you can decide whether or not to combo on that last card or not. Playing four cards might be better than five if the last one will leave the next player open to winning the game. Add in special cards that shuffle an opponent's deck, add cards, or the ever popular draw-four wild and you've got a game that can turn on the current leader in a split second.

The flow of the game is much faster and frantic in Uno Rush than in classic Uno, especially once you start looking around at everyone else's hands with one eye towards challenging Uno calls. It took me a few rounds to catch up with the fast play, but once I did I found Uno Rush to be a great little variant on the classic card game.

...

[dorp]

How ya doing, buddy?

Having read a few things abouit Flock, most notably in Edge about a month ago I might well pick that up. It looks suitably silly and fun.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

So, it seems Castle Crashers is the XBLA game of the year:

Quote:

Castle Crashers has been crowned game of the year by Xbox Live Arcade users, Microsoft announced overnight, after 185,000 people cast their votes in a recent service poll.

Game of the Year: Castle Crashers
Best Versus Mode: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Best Single-Player Game: Portal: Still Alive
Best Remake: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Best Original Game: Castle Crashers
Best Innovation: Braid
Best Graphics: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Best Family Game: A Kingdom for Keflings
Best Co-op Mode: Castle Crashers

[ source ]

FELIPE NO

In before Skills rages.

Portal: Still Alive winning best single-player game is the real shame, though. There were so many better choices than a game with almost no new content.

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

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

Best Graphics: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Q: I love SSFIITHDR to pieces, but I would happily agree with you there. In fact, apart from a couple of categories, I disagree with pretty much all those results.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Tritoch

Portal: Still Alive winning best single-player game is the real shame, though. There were so many better choices than a game with almost no new content.

Braid... Braid would have been an OK choice, no?

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by SKYFALL

* OutRun Online Arcade - April 15th

Have you guys seen videos from this?

YouTube Video

YouTube Video

First one looks pretty cherry. Second one looks like balls but that's a whole coast run. I'm pretty stoked about this one myself and I'm hoping they even retain the crashes where that blonde bimbo is ejected from the vehicle along with that smug fucking rich boy you're playing as. Good time, Sega. Good times~

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

If you think something involving Outrun looks like balls, you need to get your head screwed on straight. Its a dumb arcade series put to a dumb XBLA download and god will I ever love it. Retarded drifting physics? Dragons? Insane feeling of speed? All it needs is a bonus level where you do lines off the hood of your car to make this the greatest XBLA experience ever.

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

Originally Posted by I Hate Religion™

Braid... Braid would have been an OK choice, no?

Braid would have been an excellent, and dare I say 'the right', choice. Equally so for game of the year to be honest, since Castle Crasher was fun, but not excellent (especially given how painfully long it took them to get their shit together with the online fix).

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

(especially given how painfully long it took them to get their shit together with the online fix).

Which still doesn't work right, I might add.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by LeHah

If you think something involving Outrun looks like balls, you need to get your head screwed on straight.

I think you misunderstood me. I was speaking specifically about the quality of the video, not the graphics themselves. This shit looks pretty fuckin' sweet.

FELIPE NO

I picked up The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai the other day. It's a pretty fun side-scrolling hack-and-slash game with old school difficulty. You get different weapons including cleavers, a sword that lets you warp around Nightcrawler-style, kamas, an "arsenal", which is just an uzi with a shotgun, and a good old-fashioned chainsaw. There's also the obligatory screen-clearing magic spells and even guitar solo mini games. You'll have to see it for yourself. Definitely not a bad purchase for 800 points.

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

Good news for those of you who 1) hate buying more points than you need to get a game or 2) want to gift XBLA games. Amazon.com has opened their Xbox Live store, through which you can purchase XBLA games, and they'll email you a code for download. The good news is that games are priced in actual dollars (for the same price as on XBL), and it says you can gift games via email after purchase. It's unclear whether they mean they'll do the gifting for you, or if they just mean you can forward the email with the code to someone else for use. The bad news is that although they seem to have almost all the games, they don't have things that have come out in the past few weeks (Dishwasher, Flock, Galactrix). You can also buy and gift points, but currently only the 4000 points card is available; 1600 is listed as coming soon.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm more excited about gifting points, actually. My friend always complains when I don't have the money to drop for points for map packs or XBLA games and says he would gift some points if he could. (I've mentioned buying cards at Wal-Mart or something and just giving me the code, but he lives on an air base an hour from anything and it's a bit of a drive.)

There's nowhere I can't reach.

There's lots of online stores that sell MSPoints and just email you the code though. Could he not buy some from there and email you the code?

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

He could, but he probably just doesn't know about them. I've never heard of any myself.

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

Another question is whether or not you'd be able trust these people with your credit card information.

Anyway. Bought Precipice Episode 1 as part of the sale. Glad I didn't pay the full price, as it's preeetty much a timewaster and little else. I hear Episode 2 is better, but eh. Also purchased Vs. mode for Resident Evil 5, along with all of the Oblivion add-ons that were on sale. Been meaning to do that.

Most amazing jew boots

Has anyone played The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai yet? I'm kind of interested in buying this game because I'm a sucker for old-school side scrollers but I don't know if it's worth the purchase. 800 points doesn't sound too bad for a game either way.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

WolfDemon posted this the other day:

Originally Posted by WolfDemon

I picked up The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai the other day. It's a pretty fun side-scrolling hack-and-slash game with old school difficulty. You get different weapons including cleavers, a sword that lets you warp around Nightcrawler-style, kamas, an "arsenal", which is just an uzi with a shotgun, and a good old-fashioned chainsaw. There's also the obligatory screen-clearing magic spells and even guitar solo mini games. You'll have to see it for yourself. Definitely not a bad purchase for 800 points.

Seemed to like it.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Encephalon

Has anyone played The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai yet? I'm kind of interested in buying this game because I'm a sucker for old-school side scrollers but I don't know if it's worth the purchase. 800 points doesn't sound too bad for a game either way.

You could always download the trial and give it a whirl.

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

Originally Posted by GB

Another question is whether or not you'd be able trust these people with your credit card information.

There's some fairly reputable retailers offering them and all the ones I've ever used took payment through PayPal so never had my credit card information.

Internet shopping is statistically safer than using your credit card in a high street store these days you know.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by OmagnusPrime

You could always download the trial and give it a whirl.

Be sure to play a match of the Arcade or finish the Story part of the demo, though. I didn't care for the first bit where you just have double scythes, but the game becomes crazy fun once you get the teleportation sword from the first boss.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

OutRun is out and it's only 800 points.

You guys need to stop being a bunch of niggers and get on this shit so we can get some six man races going.

How ya doing, buddy?