Geon: Emotions (XBLA) Impressions

Geon Emotions ScreenI sat down and ran through the demo of Geon: Emotions for the Xbox Live Arcade this week. The game has a cool premise, but just doesn’t deliver, in my opinion.Geon plays like Pac-Man on crack. You go through all kinds of 3D maps with loops and different levels picking up dots. Yeah, you move around picking up dots. Once you collect enough dots, you hit the X button to flip to your opponent’s side of the map and race to the middle to score a goal. This goes on until one of you gets to 5 goals to win the match.There are various power-ups in each game, with each having a distinct effect. One allows you take away dots from your opponent, others allow you to attach an opponent through the map. Each one has a different effect depending on which Emotion you choose to begin the game. There are pros and cons to each Emotion, so you have to choose which works best for your playing style. I couldn’t figure out a playing style other than move around and get dots, so it just matters which power-ups you like best.I can’t see spending $10 on this game. It doesn’t offer enough depth, even for an arcade game, to keep me coming back. I think I’ll pass.

Pac-Mac Championship Edition Now Available for XBLA

Pac-Man CE Image

Microsoft had hinted at some “huge” news coming at their Pac-Man World Championships being held today in New York City. Everyone got all excited. Well, it’s time to calm down.

The giant news is that an updated version of Pac-Man, known as Championship Edition, is now available for Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points ($10). Yeah, exciting, we know. Seems severely overpriced for a Pac-Man game, no matter what it offers.

The “Pac-Man Championship Edition” is the same beloved “Pac-Man” game played in pizza parlors and arcades of the ’80s but is updated with new features that former “Pac-Man” fanatics and new generations of fans alike will love. It includes new mazes that dynamically change shape during gameplay, six new timed game modes, new soundtracks and high-definition (HD) graphics.

Keep reading for more information and a gameplay video….

Hit the jump for more »