Everyone has played Geometry Wars either for the XBLA or as part of Project Gotham Racing, but one thing you haven’t done is play with a buddy over Xbox Live. In Geometry Wars 2 you can now have multiplayer buddies with friends and let me say that it looks fast paced and fun. Check it out.
I’m a hardcore gamer and XBLA games do not really interest me at all. MS knows that despite the high volume of games, very few are even worth a demo download. They promise to change that all this fall with the new dashboard update. After watching this, I have to say that I am interested where I couldn’t give two shits before.
To be honest I was not aware of this game until I came across the trailer. The Maw looks like a super cute platformer, but what is more impressive to me is the fact that this is an XBLA title. I thought it was just another standard jumpy-jumpy game and then realised that this is supposed to exist as an arcade title not a full fledged game. The levels and gameplay do not lead you to believe that this is limited to a small arcade title, but we will keep our eyes on this one for sure.
Well it seems that this week in XBLA is a bit more active. Even a little exciting…oooh!
There is always a high point to every weeks release so check it out. You might be glad you did. Read More
Start the rumor machines. All across the internets today, people are claiming that they have sources that indicate Metal Gear Solid, the first adventure of Solid Snake(excluding his NES days) is coming to XBLA. There are many reasons why this is bullshit. Here are some that may make it happen. First, the 350mb ceiling doesn’t apply. You can download Ninja Gaiden Black and thats close to 5 gb. Second, MS made MGS for Windows. Third, its already out on the PSN store in Japan. Shenanigans or authentic?
The very anticipated XBLA remake of the NES classic has been delayed. The game was slated for a May release but will not make that date. There has been no new date set yet, but click here for the interactive communicator which tells you that the game has been pushed back and nothing else. I guess its a fun way to deliver bad news.
With GTA IV smashing every record in the books, we thought it would be a good idea to share with you the best launches of XBLA to date:
This was requested by Gabe, one of the creators behind the Penny Arcade series. A few things to note here. First, these are just the XBLA numbers. You can get Penny Arcade on PC, Mac, and Linux. Second, PAA: OtRSPoD costs 20 bucks. That is a lot for an XBLA game; almost twice the normal price. We can expect much more from Gabe and Tycho with this just being the first episode, albeit a successful one.
We brought you some news of the Xbox 360 Arcade getting cleaned up by MS last week. Here are some answers to some questions that have arisen since the announcement, answered by our friends over at Gamerscoreblog.
We’ve upped the XBLA size limit from 150mb to 350mb.
We’ve stated that underperforming games on XBLA may be delisted. To be delisted, a game has to meet all three of the following criteria:
Been on the service for at least 6 months
Have less than a 65 Metacritic rating
Have a conversion rate of less than 6%
Now, let’s get into your delisting questions:Q: What’s “conversion rate”?
A: When people download a trial XBLA game, and then purchase that game, that’s called a conversion. So if less than 6% of all trials downloaded lead to full game purchases - that’s one of the 3 criteria we look at when deciding to delist a game.Q: Why are you delisting games?
A: We have a LOT of XBLA titles onto the service. By filtering out the lower performing games, it will actually make it easier to find the games you really want.
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As the demand for bigger and better XBLA increases, so must the size limit for the games. Originally, MS wanted to keep it as low as possible for a number of reasons such as bandwidth, console memory, price, etc. People are not going to drop 10 bucks on a borderline shareware game and developers are not liking the limits that MS forces on them. Well, the game developers got what the wanted:
Yeah, it’s a steady progress. We’ve been listening to our partners, listening to our customers to try and get a feel for what’s right. We don’t want the size limit to hit the roof because we think there’s some value in promoting small pick and play experiences that don’t cost USD 20 million, it’s good for the ecosystem.
Anyway they want to slice it, we are going to get some better games to download and that is not a bad thing at all.
[via gameindustrybiz]
Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness launches this Wednesday on the XBLA, PC, Linux, and Mac. Aside from a long and fairly odd title, this game is boasting a very unique take on RPG gameplay, think dungeon master style dice rolling action. This is a labor of love for these two guys that has been brewing now for 2 years, so look for more Gabe and Tycho and characters from their universe. Only thing that has me apprehensive is the price tag of it, 1600 points or $20, can be kind of steep. The Penny Arcade guys explain that this isn’t your normal XBLA title but more of an immersive game that will take at least 10 hours to finish. This is also the first installment of a total of 4 titles.
Listen to the PA guys over at Major Nelson as well to get a better idea of what you can expect.
Here is the official word:
Discover the mysteries of New Arcadia with Gabe and Tycho in “Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One,” available on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (1:00 a.m. PDT).
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