N+, one of our favorite Xbox Live Arcade games to date, has made the jump to handhelds. You get a cross of rag doll physics, puzzles, ninjas, and Pitfall, which is a winning combination. N is now a freeware PC game that is much like its successor, N+. You must navigate through rooms of obstacles, land mines, killer robots, and whatever else is blocking your path. The game is simple in its goals. Unlock the door by reaching a colored block, then safely get to the door to move on. Seems easy, right? N+ will give you a challenge that many gamers will welcome.
Just like the XBLA version, this will be the most fun you’ll ever have dying in a game. In N+, if you fall more than a few feet, your body crumples on the floor. If you are lucky enough to hit a land mine, your body explodes into an orgy of legs, arms, and whatever else is detached. These body parts will hit mines themselves and start a fun chain reaction. The rag doll physics are also a high point of the game. The developers focused on the jumping, sliding, and bouncing off the walls more than anything. This was very beneficial for the sole reason that jumping is the only thing you do. If the collision detection was bad, the game would be a lost cause. Here, this is not the case and it makes for a great experience. The controls translate very well to the PSP, as you’re basically just using the directional pad and the X button to jump.
In conjunction with our Call of Duty 4 giveaway, we are running another contest for our forum members. This contest is to see who can create the best forum topic, i.e. the post with the most replies.
The winner will receive a download code for N+ for the Xbox 360. This contest is now live and will run until the end of next month.
**No spamming your own posts, this will result in severe penalties and possibly a stern talking to as well!**
Also you can’t take part unless you sign up to be a forum member so stop on by and check out the Loot Ninja Forums.
How many times just someone speak from the hip; the kind that is unchecked and not pre-written or staged. Not often. When they do, and the truth comes out, they quickly backpedal claiming that they were misquoted or taken out of context.
The guys over at N+ caught some shit flack because they were unhappy with many of the current games on XBLA. Many gamers share the same sentiments by the way. They did feel it necessary to clarify a few points, but if you are expecting an apology, stop reading here. Here is a paraphrased exceprt; the link we have is currently broken:
We have made some shitty games. When you make the decision to publish shit games, therein lies the problem.
Simply put. If the game sucks and you know it sucks, then why release it. Have to hand it to these gents. They have balls. We like balls.
Our love for N+ grows stronger because those guys keep doing cool stuff. They are releasing some awesome content and now they have been saying with a lot of people were already thinking. A lot of the games on XBLA are not good. Granted, not all of them are awful, but some are just bordeline criminal. This is what was said by creator Raigan Burns:
When we started out, we were excited, just like with N. There were 30 games on Live Arcade. If N was one of them, it would stand out. Now there’s like a hundred games, and they’re all shit.”
Its tough to make generalized statements and have people take them seriously, but the amount of games on there that are borderline unplayable is staggering. They should limit to what goes up there to at least semi-decent material. Clubs are always better when they have some exclusivity.
Anyone who is a fan of N+, and at Loot Ninja we most certainly are, will definitely appreciate this user vid. One of the great perks of N+ is the ability to create your own levels. This user created the world of Hyrule that you would cross to get to the first labyrynth as well as the dungeon as well. Truly amazing. Watch in awe. This guy is actually a really good player as well. How he avoids dying is beyond me.
Widely regarded by many, myself included, as the best original XBLA game to date, N+ will be getting new DLC. There will be three packs that will be released and each is sure to be full of new levels and game modes that will only multiply the fun of already a fantastic game. Co-creator Mare Sheppard had this to say to expand on what we can be expecting after the first pack is released:
“The other packs will probably contain harder levels, race and survival multiplayer, and some classic N levels from the original game — we’re just not sure how the content will be distributed among the packs yet,” Sheppard said.
We can expect some easier levels and multiplayer in the first pack, which could be ready in only 3 weeks from today. Each pack will be 200 MS Points ($2.50). All in all, the packs will add an additional 600 levels. They also wish to add some level sharing that users had designed themselves in the level creator. We will update you with a release date as soon as we got it. Needless to say, we are very excited about this.
N+ was supposed to include a robust level sharing feature, which was stripped at the last minute by Microsoft. In the game as it is now, users can create their own levels in the ever-addictive Ninja game. However, sharing is limited to private online matches, which is far from the dream scenario of developer Metanet Software.
Mare Sheppard, co-founder of Metanet and developer of N+, had this to say to MTV’s Multiplayer:
It’s a huge disappointment, and we had to settle for at least some level-sharing while we wait. We hoped fans could deal with creating and sharing levels only with friends until we get to re-enable the full level sharing functionality, someday.
Huge disappointment, indeed. Microsoft really needs to find a way to make user-created content available easily on Xbox Live. This is the way everything is headed with the industry, and Microsoft seems to be making it difficult for developers to get this feature into the hands of gamers. Only time will tell how things like this will pan out.
Looks like Call of Duty 4 is the truth and the people have spoken by making it the top played game on the Xbox 360. Halo 3 holding in second and Halo 2 still holding the top spot of the Originals list. Interesting to see that N+ made a big move to overtake UNO and Rez HD, that says a lot about that title.
Here are the lists:
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 Guitar Hero III
4 Gears of War
5 Rock Band
6 Frontlines: Fuel of War (Multiplayer Demo)
7 N+
8 Madden NFL 08
9 FIFA 08
10 Assassin’s Creed
What do you get when you cross rag doll physics, puzzles, ninjas, and Pitfall? You get N+ and possibly my favorite XBLA game to date. N is now a freeware PC game that is much like its successor, N+. You must navigate through rooms of obstacles, land mines, killer robots, and whatever else is blocking your path. The game is simple in its goals. Unlock the door by reaching a colored block, then safely get to the door to move on. Seems easy right? N+ will give you a challenge that many gamers will welcome.
I have never had so much fun dying in a game before. In N+, if you fall more than a few feet, your body crumples on the floor. If you are lucky enough to hit a land mine, you body explodes into an orgy of legs, arms, and whatever else is detached. These body parts will hit mines themselves and start a fun chain reaction. The rag doll physics are also a high point of the game. The developers focused on the jumping, sliding, and bouncing off the walls more than anything. This was very beneficial for the sole reason that jumping is the only thing you do. If the collision detection was bad, the game would be a lost cause. Here, this is not the case and it makes for a great experience. Read More »
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Check out the shirt prototypes here and the hats here
Looks like Call of Duty 4 is the truth and the people have spoken by making it the top played game on the Xbox 360. Halo 3 holding in second and Halo 2 still holding the top spot of the Originals list. Interesting to see that N+ made a big move to overtake UNO and Rez HD, that says a lot about that title.
