Today, Konami announced that The Simpsons Arcade Game is officially coming to Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.  Coming soon, that is. In fact, it’s launching this very week for Xbox users. The game hits the Xbox Marketplace on Friday, February 3^rd for 800 Microsoft points. Sony players will have to wait until next Tuesday, February 7^th to buy it for $9.99 from PSN.

Sony Users, to pass the time, help yourself to some more stock.

Of course, Sony people aren’t exactly being left out in the cold.  According to the official Playstation Blog, Playstation Plus members can download The Simpsons Arcade for free in February, along with Final Fantasy V and Far Cry 2.

The Simpsons Arcade Game will feature all the classic four-player beat-em-up action of the original, with the signature team-up combos and that fantastic Simpsons art style. There are also new modes and a never-before-seen Japanese alternate version of the game.

Assuming Konami doesn’t mess this up, everybody say it with me: “We’re finally getting a legal home version of Simpsons Arcade.”

“How I have waited for this day.”

Let’s talk about Fez: the perpetually delayed indie game darling for XBLA. Guess what? Straight from the game’s designer, Phil Fish, we now know that Fez has finally been rated by the ESRB. He’s been posting about it on his Twitter:

“FEZ RECEIVES ESRB RATING: E for everyone, mild fantasy violence!”
“E FOR EVERYTHING IS REALLY HAPPENING!”

Granted, it’s now a day later and this rating still has not been posted on the official ESRB website, but this is still a great sign. The game was already rated in December by Europe’s PEGI board, so this is the next logical step. After years of delays and scattered screenshots, this is the most substantial “this might actually happen” news we’ve seen yet.

Oh, and if you aren’t excited, you haven’t seen Fez! For you latecomers, Fez is an amazing-looking platformer with a cool retro style, reminiscent of Super Meat Boy. Unlike Super Meat Boy, Fez isn’t a simple 2D platformer. In Fez, you can fully rotate the 2D world in glorious 3D. Here, this video will explain it:

Looks incredible, right? Welcome to the “When The Hell Can I Play Fez?” Club.

Back on point, there’s still plenty of red tape to jump through, but it’s starting to sound like Fez might actually make it to Xbox 360 in 2012.

Until then… courage.

Microsoft let slip a video on Xbox Live today announcing the line-up for the House Party 2012 promotion. I’m still not sure exactly what Xbox Live Arcade games have to do with a bunch of twenty-somethings having a high-school house party, but I appreciate the effort in putting together quality titles under a single bannerhead for the purpose of sheer hype. Ready to see what’s going to be taking your money in coming month?

Alan Wake’s American Nightmare

The XBLA follow-up to one of our favorites, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare promises an updated combat system, new puzzles, and a new twist on the already strange tale of the fictional author. Is anyone else confused and a little concerned that this went straight to XBLA and not disc-release or DLC?

Warp

We saw Warp a few times last year and it looked great. The best way I can describe it is Portal meets Splosion Man meets Shadow Complex, and just saying that makes me excited to try out the completed game. Original slated for Summer of Arcade last year, it looks like the wait is finally over. I’m still hoping someone takes this idea and turns into a fast-paced platformer or map-crawler, but for now I’ll settle for puzzles and stealth.

Nexuiz

Nexuiz (pronounced “Nexus”) has been in development for what seems like a decade now. Originally it was based on the Quake engine, then Unreal, and now the Cryengine 3, but the core gameplay hasn’t changed a whole lot. It’s an arena-based FPS, plain and simple. A lot of work has gone into polishing the look and making it play fast and smoothly. It’ll be interesting to see if Nexuiz can succeed on XBLA. Maybe they should send out Eagle-Eye kits for all customers.

I Am Alive

Finally! Originally announced to be the big-budget follow up to the Jade Raymond helmed Assassin’s Creed project, I Am Alive just seemed to vanish. Last year it was re-announced as a slimmed-down XBLA exclusive. I’m not sure what made Ubisoft abort what was destined to be a hugely successful project, but I’m glad it got a second chance.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft for word on pricing and release schedule, but considering this was most likely posted by mistake on their part, I’m guessing we’ll have to wait until it’s officially announced.

Crimson Alliance was one of the games that we got a chance to preview at E3 2011 and it has been release for download on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Crimson Alliance was developed by Certain Affinity, the same folks who brought you the Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack and the original Left 4 Dead. Certain Affinity is also pitching in on the new Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary. With such a strong track record with high profile first person shooters, how would they do with a top down dungeon crawler/beat’em up like Crimson Alliance?

Crimson Alliance follows the classic hero story with three main characters who are returning to the war torn lands of Byzan. The capital has been over taken by an evil force and it is your job to return order to this world of chaos. Nothing ground breaking here as I think we have all played through this story a time or two before. The three character types are stereotypical also with a warrior, mage, and assassin to choose from. The warrior smashes things, the wizard shoots fire balls, and the assassin has a quick attack. The problem here is that even though the three characters have different types of attacks, they all end up playing the same. Each one has a heavy and light attack, a stun move, and a dash move. The warrior is the only one that stands alone because he doesn’t have a projectile attack.

The game starts off feeling like a standard action RPG. You kill some enemies, collect some experience points and gold, find some items, and clear out the level. Each of the attack/defense controls has a level bar that you can fill up by getting new items only. It’s disappointing to find out all the experience points you racked up are not for leveling your character but just for getting a higher ranking on the leader boards. The other way that you earn points for moving up the leader boards is by finding not so secret areas that often consist of going the other direction on the rat trap. Which is exactly what this game feels like you are playing through by the time you get to the end. Sure there are some different path ways that you can take to move around but at the end of the day you are just looking for that damn piece of cheese.

The good stuff for Crimson Alliance is the online multiplayer and the visuals. For being a $10-$15 arcade title (depending on if you want to buy one character for $10 or all three for $15) I was pretty impressed with the visuals and art direction. There is a ton of detail in each level with tons of things going on outside of the actual game play. It’s just too bad you can’t get down into some of the other areas to participate or explore some more. The four player multiplayer is the most rewarding part of the game because you and three other players can run your way through level after level and just destroy enemies in the game. The multiplayer fell short though as there are only three character classes and it allows for four players to be in the game at a time. Maybe a white mage will be release later on to get the fourth character and complete the party.

To sum this up, if you need something to kill time while waiting for Diablo III, Crimson Alliance won’t cure the itch but it might tide you over for a couple of weeks. Gauntlet fans may want to check this one out also. At the end of the day, the three main characters are too similar to each other and the game itself is missing too many little things for me to make a mass recommendation for everyone. If you are looking for some mindless hack and slash game play to keep you busy while waiting for one of the major holiday releases, then Crimson Alliance is waiting for you on Xbox Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points. I’ll be waiting for Certain Affinity’s contribution to the Halo Anniversary game.

It’s been a long time since I’ve dusted off Virtua Fighter 5, with all the other great fighting game franchises saturating the market these days. It’s hard to go back when we’ve seen new Guilty Gear, Smash Bros, Soul Calibur, BlazBlue, King of Fighters, Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom, Mortal Kombat, and others all make their way to home consoles since Virtua Fighter 5‘s home release. Even before we see the release of this entry, Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, we’ll see another Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Street Fighter IV update, Street Fighter x Tekken (scheduled for Q1 2012), King of Fighters XII, and a few other potential contenders all fighting for your dollar. Don’t count Sega out, because Virtual Fighter still remains the king of technical fighting games and a refreshing alternative to over-the-top arcade style fighters. Check out the announcement trailer after the jump.

Taken from the Sega press release:

For anyone looking to play with yours truly, expect lots of monkey scratches and cartwheels.

Fruit Ninja is one of those simple, yet highly addictive iPhone games that people will play for hours on end and then deny even owning. For many people, myself included at times, it’s tough to admit when a casual game has its hooks in you. Halfbrick Studios wowed us with Raskulls during XBLA Games for the Holidays, but can Fruit Ninja Kinect, basically an iPhone port, hang with the likes of Bastion or Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet during the Summer of Arcade?

To put it simply, Fruit Ninja Kinect is the perfect addition to the Summer of Arcade mix. At 800 MSP, it’s the “bargain” title and the only break from lengthly campaigns you’ll get all summer on XBLA. I’ve played a majority of all the Kinect games since launch and this one takes the cake for simplicity and fun, but also accuracy in reading hand movements. There’s no story to be had here, but that’s for the best. You just stand in front of the Kinect, let the game calibrate your distance, and you’re chopping fruit in no time. The game gives you a silhouette of yourself to shame you into exercising at some point but more so to give you a sense of where it sees you. You know exactly where your hand will chop when you hold it out because you see it in relation to the fruit on the screen.

Fruit Ninja Kinect offers multiplayer co-op and competitive modes in addition to SOLO ROUND modes Classic, Arcade, and Zen. Classic mode has you ensuring all fruit is chopped, none drops off screen, and you avoid all bombs thrown into the mix. Arcade mode goes bananas (pun… intended) as game-modifying nanners are mixed in to allow you to get score multipliers, slow down time, or create an unmanageable orgy flow of fruit onscreen. The last and perhaps most difficult mode is Zen. Zen mode makes you wait for the precise moment when all the fruit align and you can get as many as possible in one swipe. Getting fruit combos adds bonus points which are required to get the best scores possible in Zen mode. Additionally there is a challenge mode where the game will present a simple score goal for you to attempt to attain. Completing challenges and other feats unlocks new blade effects and backgrounds called Sensei Swag, but the net result of any of those is a slightly different visual effect that you really don’t even notice when you’re engaged in fruit combat.

Multiplayer co-op is a blast if you have the living room space for it. You stand side by side trying to make sure no fruit goes un-ninja-ed while also trying not to chop the living hell out of your teammate. Competitive mode is basically the same, only the fruit is color coded to ensure compliance with the Equal Ninja Opportunity Act of 1963. Also, if you chop your opponent’s fruit, you lose points. Occasionally, neutral colored fruits fly swiftly across the screen providing a bonus to the quickest slice. The best part of the multiplayer experience is that there is about one full second of configuration needed to add another player, and when they drop out, their silhouette “poofs” as if they threw a smoke bomb and ran off into the night.

If you own a Kinect, you’d be a big fool not to pick up this game. Kinect is about simple fun, active movement, and casual gaming, and you will not find another game in the current library that exemplifies these principles more than Fruit Ninja Kinect. Halfbrick has turned me from dreadful to curious about the concept of porting touch-screen games to Kinect. It goes to show that in the right hands, something as simple as slicing fruit can be as rewarding as any big budget Kinect game you play.

Pros

- Dead simple configuration
- Surprising accuracy with hand motions
- Simple gameplay for kids and adults

Cons

- Sensei’s Swag menu is a nightmare
- Knuckle-busting is common without proper spacing
- I think I may have sprained my wrist chopping pomegranates

Fruit Ninja Kinect is a steal at 800 MSP, regardless of whether or not the iOS versions are a fraction of that. For those of you who just cannot be persuaded to entertain yourself for $10, it will also be made available for free bundled with the upcoming game, The Gunstringer. The amount of fun, accessibility, and accuracy you get with Fruit Ninja Kinect make it more of a killer app than a cash-in, and everyone who owns a Kinect owes it to themselves to pick this up during Summer of Arcade.

Always one of my favorite games from back in the day, NBA Jam holds some fond memories for me. The recent installments have never quite captured that same charm, though. I always felt like something was a bit off. NBA Jam: On Fire on the other hand looks quite… hot.

Seems like this update is getting some unique new additions. Tag Mode lets you switch players on-the-fly. Team Fire turns your entire team into the human torch and the new Razzle Dazzle moves seem to be special taunts and gestures that add a bit more personality to the game. Right now, the freaky head size is a little awkward, but it seems to have its own charm. Seems like it’ll be worth giving a look. Coming out this Fall, NBA Jam: On Fire will be $14.99 on the PSN or 1400 points on XBLA.

Science is a funny thing. It seems every time someone makes a ‘sploding man in a lab, the next logical state is to make one that you can fuck. Cue Ms. Splosion Man, the Ms. Pac-Man treatment to the hit XBLA title Splosion Man. Pretty clever huh? What will we see next, Splosion Man Jr.?

Anywho, don’t wait like the rest of those chumps to get your grubby paws on the pink, because the demo is secretly available NOW!

XBLA Marketplace

We got a chance to sit down with 505 Games and check out their latest projects — Michael Phelps: Push the Limit (Kinect), Grease (Kinect), Top Gun: Hard Lock, Supremacy MMA, Backbreaker Vengeance, and Blackwater (Kinect). Impressions after the break.

Michael Phelps: Push the Limit (Kinect)

There’s a lot of arm rotating and swimming motions involved in this Kinect swimming game. You’ll pantomime freestyle, breast stroke, back stroke, and the butterfly while standing clothed (hopefully) in front of your couch. There are physical stances for the push off, stroke, turn and flip, and the home stretch all the way down to the final reach for the finish line. Michael Phelps supports local and online multiplayer and is due out later this year. This one’s not for me. Phelps is a douchey mascot and stand-swimming seems kinda lame.

Grease (Kinect)

Grease for Kinect focuses around letting you and a room full of your friends dance and sing to all your favorite Grease scenes. There are competitive and co-op modes, as well as online multiplayer allowing four on four battles with half of each team dancing and the other halves singing behind them. The game is fun, colorful, and loud, with a cartoon feel, so fans of Grease should definitely check it out.

Top Gun: Hard Lock

Top Gun: Hard Lock takes places 25 years after the events of the movie. “Hard locking” occurs when you’ve got an enemy in your sights and initiate the hard lock sub-game mode. The game camera gets in close and gives you a zoomed in view of your enemy for a quick, instant kill. The game has a very “arcade” feel and is easy to pick up and play. Not shown were bombing runs and aircraft carrier defense, which will help to mix up gameplay. Online multiplayer, featuring 16 player deathmatch or squad based battles, is also included. Expect cameos from the movie characters by way of flashback missions, and a variety of aircraft from the past, present, and even future. I played it briefly and I don’t feel it warrants retail pricing, but fans of arcade shooters may dig it.

Supremacy MMA

Supremacy differentiates itself from other MMA games by focusing on “realistic” combat yet simple controls, with influence from the gameplay and flow of the early UFC titles. It’s not as polished as the other two MMA games out today, but this one has my attention more than the rest because it’s simple, gritty, and does just fine without flashy intros or a roster of household names.

Backbreaker Vengeance

Backbreaker is back, but not in a way I expected. In a word, Backbreaker Vengeance is a port of the functionality of the iOS app with HD and a slick interface. No actual football, no team creation, no character customization. All mini-games all day. Since it’s an XBLA game, I could let it slide for 800 points so we’ll see when it releases later this year.

Blackwater (Kinect)

Blackwater is a rails based Kinect shooter with nods to Police 911 and Ghost Squad. If you’ve ever used Kinect to navigate, you’re familiar with the hold-hand-still-to-select way of navigation. Shooting in Blackwater is the same way. Your hand moves the reticle, and once you land over an enemy, track your target until the timer fills and you’ll “shoot” them. It seems simple but it’s much less accurate and twitchy than actual arcade shooters. You use your body movements from crouching to leaning to ducking in order to hide behind in-game cover or jump over obstacles. It’s basically what you’d expect from a Kinect shooter, but I’m not sure it warrants a full retail release.

When my girlfriend first told me about a game that involved you controlling a group of aliens to complete obstacles, I thought she was talking about Pikmin. When she mentioned that you’d have to kill off the aliens in order to complete said obstacles, I got really excited at the idea of a sadistic Pikmin. Sadly, no such thing exists. Instead we have Swarm, the latest arcade title from developers Hothead, and it’s pretty dang awesome. So much so that I’m honestly surprised how little I’ve actually heard about it up until I started playing it.

Swarm has a simple to grasp, difficult to master, concept. Using a group of no more than fifty swarmites you have to get to the end of the level. In the process, you have to score DNA for “momma”, a giant amorphous blue blob that births swarmites to do her bidding. Between you and the end of the stage are thousands of hazardous traps, molten lava, electricity, and all sorts of dangers that are trying to kill you. While the obstacles present a pretty real threat, what makes the game so difficult is the scoring system. In order to move on you need to get x points – and the only way to get those points is by getting a ridiculously high multiplier. You get a multiplier going by killing swarmites and collecting points scattered around the level. The more points you get or swarmites you kill the higher it goes – but if you wait too long in between doing these things, the multiplier resets to zero.

The controls are really tight. It really feels like you’re controlling a group of miniature idiots. I like the swarmites, but they have no sense of self-preservation. In a world that’s trying to murder you, you think they might develop some survival skills. Anyways, moving the horde through the level is pretty engaging. Even though all you essentially do is move to the right and dodge things, you have to constantly change what it is the group is doing. Moving through the stage is a lot like driving stick as in you’re completely involved in the entire process, making your awareness just that much more intense. You’ll be constantly shifting gears and making sure your little group doesn’t run into a spinning razor blade of death. Sometimes though, you’ll have to give up a part of your swarm so that others may go on. If you’ve been playing games for a while, this concept might not exactly be foreign to you.

Something I usually have a hard time doing is repeating an experience in gaming. Once I beat a game, I check a mark off of some list in my head, and go on to the next one. That isn’t the case with Swarm and that’s definitely a testament to their level design. It’s designed to be streamlined, to be an efficient point scoring machine, and I won’t stop until I figure out how to get it exactly. That’s insanity for me. This is the first time I’ve cared about the leaderboards score outside of my circle of friends. To further drive the need to score more points, “Momma” occassionally asks you why you’re not doing better than the guy one bracket above you. Clever girl.

Honestly, I wish there was more to say about Swarm. It’s an extremely charming game, with great replayable mechanics, and a learning curve that gets a bit extreme. The one major complaint I have about the game is that it’s too short. It’s only got eleven levels and two bosses, and most of the stages can be run through fairly quickly. That said, I’ve already put more hours into this game than a lot of RPGs I’ve played. What content they do have is extremely awesome. At $15 you’re only hurting yourself by not getting this game, and you’re only hurting swarmites when you get it.

Capybara, the genius developers behind Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP and Critter Crunch, are brining their immensely popular Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes to XBLA and PSN. For those, like me, who missed the first go-round on the DS, the game plays kinda like a RPG adventure board game with combat that fuses puzzle and card-fighting elements, all with new sprites done in glorious HD.

Capy has been around for a while, originally developing cell phone games and eventually moving up to iOS, but always showing their indie heart in everything they make. I’m a huge sucker for action-RPGs and initially got my hopes up that I’d be soon diving into a new classic, but seeing the puzzle combat in action has got me really excited about Clash of Heroes. It fuses a “match three” puzzle style similar to Puzzle Quest, but each piece has its own stats and can gain experience through battles. Players can also utilize certain pieces’ abilities to rampage through a column or row, or take out an area using spells.

Clash of Heroes was originally launched on the Nintendo DS, yet despite being one of the highest rated games ever on the system, saw disappointing sales. The DS version suffered from some overly complicated sprites losing detail on the tiny screen and some units that were completely unbalanced and basically broke the combat system. Capy listened and rebalanced the entire combat system for the HD release. Considering the effort Capy has put into recreating every asset in HD and updating the soundtrack for stereo and surround support, I think we’re in for a treat when Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes HD comes out next week. It is scheduled for release on April 12 for PSN and April 13 for XBLA.

GolgoHypeMachine is an open sounding board for our staff to concisely share their excitement about upcoming games.

Fez is a fresh take on a classic 2D platfomer that allows players to rotate the world around them to find new areas and solve puzzles. Developed by Polytron Corporation, Fez features retro-inspired graphics, a wonderfully composed soundtrack, and gameplay somewhere between Super Paper Mario and Echochrome. This little beauty has had my interest since it was debuted as a proof-of-concept video over three years ago.

What separates Fez from Super Paper Mario is that while the world rotates, the gameplay stays strictly 2D. Rotating the environment serves to show you places you can go and platforms you might not be able to reach from other angles. For those at all curious about the design process, Polytron has a pretty interesting article on their site explaining “trixels“, or 3D cubes representing 2D pixels. The music in the game is quite captivating, and is all composed in-house by the same team developing it.

I can’t wait for Fez to (finally) make it’s way to my grubby paws. Great 2D platformers have been a little scarce in the past few years and to hear Polytron talk about the care they’re taking to make the game perfect gives me a lot of hope.

Fez is slated for Fall 2011 and is currently only announced for XBLA.

GolgoHypeMachine is an open sounding board for our staff to concisely share their excitement about upcoming games.

Moon Diver, formerly known briefly as Necromachina, is on its way to PSN and XBLA. It’s a four player co-op side-scrolling platformer with RPG elements that plays like Castlevania meets Strider. Kouichi Yotsui, the lead designer and planner for Strider and Osman, is at the helm for Square-Enix on this project. Excited yet? I am.

For fans of Strider, Osman (known as Cannon Dancer in Japan) was more of a successor to Strider than Strider II since Osman involved much of the same original team. If you haven’t seen Osman before, check out this video for a taste of greatness. With Moon Diver, it now looks like we might be getting the next entry in the (anything but contiguous) series.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Strider and Castlevania so the concept of blending the two with 4-player co-op and a leveling system is tailor made for my tastes. They even tease a team-up move that sounds like something right out of Power Rangers, so I can’t wait to see that. Moon Diver is missing the Moto Kikaku artwork that gave Strider and Osman their signature style, but I’m sure Square-Enix is up to the task of designing crazy lunar ninjas.

Moon Diver is scheduled for release on March 29, 2011, on PSN and mid-April for XBLA.

GolgoHypeMachine is an open sounding board for our staff to concisely share their excitement about upcoming games.

Square-Enix and Ankama Group are bringing the world of Dofus and Wakfu to XBLA with Islands of Wakfu. Islands of Wakfu is a dungeon crawler beat-em-up bullet hell co-op RPG. Sounds good to me!

The French PC developer, Ankama Group, has made a name for themselves with their light-hearted PC MMORPG, Dofus, which has amassed a respectable following of over 10 million players since 2004. Their follow-up, Wakfu, is a huge project spanning television, comics, collectible cards, PC, and now XBLA, and is set 1000 years after the events of Dofus. The PC game of Wakfu is a turn-based tactical RPG set in a persistent MMO world. Originally, it was that game that was headed to XBLA in late 2009 but got pulled back for retooling. Now, Islands of Wakfu is scheduled for the end of this month and features a completely different approach to gameplay.

I’ve got high hopes for this one mainly due to the unique combination of gameplay elements and focus on co-op multiplayer. The art style is something I’ve been drawn to since it was first announced in 2009 and the time taken to make the game shine on XBLA really looks to have paid off.

Islands of Wakfu is scheduled for release on March 30, 2011, and is exclusive to XBLA.

GolgoHypeMachine is an open sounding board for our staff to concisely share their excitement about upcoming games.

Mr. Pharisee scored an interview with Jay Stuckwisch of Twisted Pixel about their new Kinect game, Gunstringer. Does Twisted Pixel come through or are they just pulling our strings?

Gunstringer is definitely the most interesting game I’ve been wanting to play. Ever since I heard about this neat little on-rails shooter from Twisted Pixel, I’ve been anxiously awaiting my chance to play it. At PAX East this year, I got my hands on this hands on experience.

The demo starts off a bit slow by introducing me to the plight of the Gunstringer, via an off-camera aged cowboy. I can’t help but compare it to Sam Elliott’s role in the Big Lebowski. I have no idea if that was their intention, but you know what, I don’t care. I’m sold. The Gunstringer was a part of a posse that left him for dead because they’re bad people and that’s what bad people in the Wild West do. Years later the Gunstringer has returned from the dead, and you’re going to help him get back the people who put him there.

Gunstringer plays like it’s a puppet show and you’re the controller of the lead marionette. As the cowboy explains what’s going on, it gives me the impression that the world of Gunstringer is partially aware that it’s a play. There is talk about the “hand” putting enemies in his way and sending them to the great beyond. The whole thing is very cleverly written and sticks with their theme incredibly well.

The gameplay controls excellently. The Kinect is capable of capturing your entire body, but it excels in determining where your hands are. The Gunstringer only focuses on your hands, meaning it’s as precise as it possibly can be. This makes the on-rails shooter that much easier to play. Basically you use your left hand to move left and right, or jump, and you use your right hand to select targets. When you get up to six targets highlighted, you pull your hand up like you’re shooting, and the Gunstringer shoots all the targets at once. It seems the motion concept isn’t easily figured out by all. Some people trying out the demo got through it on nearly perfect runs, while quite a few others barely limped to the end of it.

The Gunstringer definitely shows a lot of promise. There are some technical issues that hopefully get fixed before its release. Personally I hope the difficulty curve for it is incredibly tough. I don’t see that happening right now, but then again, I’m also not a game designer. Like everything from Twisted Pixel, the Gunstringer has a lot of charm and personality to it. As long as the laughs keep on coming, I’ll keep on buying their games.

Check out the official trailer below.

Based on the Russian stacking matryoshka, or nesting dolls (don’t feel dumb, I had to look up the name, too), Stacking is a wonderfully charming puzzle adventure game from developer Double Fine Productions. It is definitely one of the most unique experiences I’ve had all year, but I don’t feel it quite… stacks up… to its potential.

You play as Charlie Blackmore, the smallest of the Blackmore clan, and you’re on a quest to save your siblings from the evil child labor enforcing Baron. As the smallest Russian doll, you don’t have much going for you. All you can do is hop into someone larger than you and wear their skin as a suit and control their mind. Wait… what?

Gameplay revolves entirely around hopping into and out of characters of different sizes in order to solve puzzles. Any such puzzle can have multiple solutions. Most of the time they’re fairly obvious, but some of them are real puzzlers. If you’re trying to get all of the solutions the game gives you hints in the menu. If that sounds too cheap for you, the further you play in the game the more characters you can use. Eventually trying out all the characters on all the puzzles will yield you some results. If you’re like me, you’ll move on once you realize you only have to do one puzzle.

There are also a ton of mini-games in Stacking that mostly take the form of crazy hi-jinks. These mini-games basically involve Charlie forcing people to commit horrible acts of indecency. Honestly, I feel like their inclusion in the game is a bit unnecessary. While a few of them are quite amusing, the novelty of punching mimes in the face wears off after a while. Oh, and your reward for finding and completing all of these hi-jinks? The characters involved get golden items, but that certainly doesn’t seem like a very worthwhile payoff for what are essentially chores to pad gameplay and make the game feel longer.

I’ll be the first to admit that the main reason I don’t like the hi-jinks is because I don’t think they’re very funny at all. My girlfriend thinks they’re hilarious. I think they’re tedious and asinine. She thinks the hi-jinks are good, clean fun. I think they’re padding to an otherwise short game. I’m right.

From a concept perspective, Stacking is banging on all cylinders. It’s got a gorgeous design that works wonderfully with the setting, and the humor is both dark and clever — a combination that’s hard to pull off these days. For a game where every single character is comprised of only two halves, they’re surprisingly emotive but where the game drags, it really drags. It’s a slow-paced game that can be beaten quickly. The only thing bringing me back to it is the fact that I haven’t completed it, but it’s more of a chore than it is an enlightened journey. There’s no reward for doing repeatedly assigned tasks and there’s nothing gained from venturing into the unknown other than a meager sense of accomplishment. Stacking is short, and that would be (double) fine if it where great. Instead, it is a barely above average game with a lot of obvious padding, and to me that’s worse in principal than just merely being a bad game.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy Raskulls when I first heard about it. Game developer Halfbrick has done a bunch of iPhone games I’ve never heard of (outside of Ninja Fruit) and I wasn’t really impressed by the gameplay footage I had seen. Once I started playing, however, these little Raskulls blew me out of the water.

Raskulls centers around a fictional land ruled by the King. An evil race of Pirats crash land on the planet and decide they need a new power source. Luckily for them, the Raskulls kingdom has just such a power source – the Shiny Stone. The King decides that in order to keep his kingdom safe and to hold onto the power source, he has to hold a tournament and give the power skull to the winner. What if the Pirats win, you ask? Well, they simply can’t because then the kingdom loses the power skull. Gosh, don’t be so negative.

The good thing about the story is that Halfbrick realized the story isn’t going to matter. So instead of working on insane backstory that nobody was going to care about, they created this hilarious and campy story that creates the perfect tone for the game. I haven’t laughed this hard (intentionally) because of a game in years.

The gameplay is basically divided into two different kinds of levels; ones where you have to get to the end really fast, and ones where you have to get to the end really fast perfectly. As a gameplay mechanic it is beautifully simple and deceptively complicated. There is so much unexpected diversity in the few modes that are offered that it can get quite insane. All you have to do is clear blocks but they make it such a god damned challenge every single time. There’s a lot of strategy involved; which path do I take? Which blocks do I destroy? Should I frenzy now? Should I start spamming fireballs? Did I leave the oven on? Will my loved ones still love me by the time I complete this level?

Every time you beat a level you get a medallion. Some areas are locked off until you get a certain number of medallions. The levels past these are hair-pulling insanely difficult but they can be beat. Sometimes it takes a few hours to beat a twenty-second level. There are multiple paths to go in order to get to the end. Towards the end of the game I was getting a little burnt out, but for the most part I beat every single task I was given, even the stuipidly hard ones. On some tasks they’ll offer you another medallion if you complete the similar task but this time meeting x criteria. Often it’s a “beat the clock” kind of thing, but there’s a few that say “without getting squished” or some similar such nonsense. Your reward for beating so many things is the ability to unlock characters for multiplayer and unlock “cheat codes.” They don’t really do much. One turns you into an apple, another makes your head huge, a third gives you an afro. The best part is you can combine most of them for hilarious effect. And boy is it hilarious.

The multiplayer is great, although kind of limited. You pick one of a handful of characters but it doesn’t matter who you pick. The only difference is aesthetics and that’s kind of disappointing. It’s kind of interesting that they include characters from other games (and also Destructoid). As much as I hated ilomilo, I have to say there is a certain amount of joy playing such a cute character and trash talking the shit out of your friends. They score you after your races and you get experience points for your win. You can level up, but I’ve yet to see it matter. They don’t score you with people on an equal level. Also they haven’t come up with a perfect tie-breaker system. Each prix has four races. My friend and I were playing – he won two, and I won two. The winner of the prix was determined by whoever one the last round. I’d like to see them fix this but it’s not a huge deal. It actually makes winning the races that much more important.

Raskulls has everything I look for in an XBLA title. The art direction is simple, neat, and unique. The gameplay is fun, challenging, and rewarding. The world is interesting, detailed, and imaginative. When you’re done the main part of the game there’s plenty for you and your friends to do. And it’s funny. It’s honest to goodness one of the funniest games I’ve played in a long time since Psychonauts. It has its flaws with the lack of diversity in the multiplayer system, but they don’t detract from the game in the slightest. Go get this game. Right now. Why are you still reading this?! Go!

Mr. Hawkins says… “I was very skeptical about Halfbrick transitioning from the iPhone to the highly competitive big leagues of XBLA. Their Indie Game, Echoes, was impressive and addictive, but definitely not of the scale of most XBLA releases. Raskulls, however, came through in a very surprising way. In a nutshell, Raskulls is a fleshed out party/racing take on Mr. Driller, but with a lot of humor, challenge, and speed mixed in. I really liked Halfbrick’s Monster Dash and Age of Zombies on iOS, but it’s good to see they have the chops to make a bigger experience. To be honest, as fun as Raskulls (and its DLC) was to complete, it’s still on the edge between mini-game and full game. Let’s hope that the exposure, success, and popularity of Raskulls gets Halfbrick motivated to keep evolving and to continue developing for XBLA.”

When I first heard about Ilomilo, I was excited to start playing it. A cute puzzle game that I can play with my friends? Sign me up! Sadly the game was a pretty big disappointment and now I’m puzzled as to why anyone still likes it.

Ilomilo, developed by South End Interactive and released on the XBLA, is about two “safkas”, a made up race of thumb people as far as I can guess, named Ilo and Milo. They are separated in the park one day and you have to help them get back to one another.  Along the way they pick up other safkas who are stranded, as well as memory spheres as they unlock bits of their past, and discover who they really are.

To explain why I don’t like Ilomilo, I think it would be best to describe my ire for Starbucks. Starbucks is a company that (successfully) marketed itself by copying local coffee shops. They’ve got the modern décor, the snarky baristas, the menu with “inside” jokes, and plenty of other trash that people line up for every single day. After spending all this time building an image as this really great coffee shop, they forgot to make really great coffee. However, by copying all these other shops it doesn’t really feel like Starbucks has its own identity, so it just comes off as stale unimaginative tripe.

That’s what Ilomilo feels like to me. It tries really hard to be this cute adorable puzzle game but it only comes off as contrived and forced. In between loading screens they give little back stories on the world of Ilomilo to give you an idea of just how “cute” this world really is. One of the loading screens talks about how the moving cube doesn’t really like apple cubes, he really likes some other cube food, but he can’t afford it because he can’t reach his wallet. Another talks about how the stretchy cube learned how to stretch after 1000 years of evolution so that it could reach his hat on the top hook.

This isn’t cute, this is dumb. The idea that someone thought this would be cute irritates me. All of the cubes are named after what they do — moving cube, flying cube, stretchy cube — which is fine by me if they’re just tools, but they’re NOT. The game is trying to imply that the cubes are somehow sentient. And they’re not content with their roles as the game informs me in another loading screen. Oh no. The cubes tried going to barber school to learn how to become mustache stylists but stopped after they realized that it’s hard to trim facial hair if you have no arms.

What about this is endearing? Either I’m so black-hearted that I’m immune to the game’s charm, or the game doesn’t have that much to begin with. The game tried so hard to make this cute world that it just comes off as forced and disgusting. And don’t even get me started on Sebastian, the ladybug riding fox hunter, or whatever his ridiculous back story is. The game throws these “cute” motifs and themes that don’t really mean or say anything. Cute for the sake of cute gets old pretty quickly.

You know what though? I’ve spent a lot of time on the design and I’ve skipped over the puzzles themselves. Hey! Sort of like what they did for this thing! I’m not a big fan of puzzle games, but that’s only because I’m not very good at them. That was not the case with Ilomilo. The game is split up into four chapters — each one presenting different game mechanics to master. The basic premise doesn’t change though — cubes bridge gaps, cubes move, cubes turn you around. Once you get that it’s no longer a matter of “I wonder what to do”; it simply becomes a matter of recognizing where the blocks need to be placed and putting them there. As if that wasn’t an easy enough task, the game assumes you’re mentally incapable of figuring it out, and puts a face on the cubes you’re supposed to put the cubes on. Come on Ilomilo, you’re supposed to be a puzzle game. I don’t need nor expect you to hold my hand. The only time Ilomilo becomes slightly challenging is on the twelve bonus levels, for which there are three on each chapter. Admittedly I had a lot of trouble trying to solve them, especially in comparison with the rest of the game, but I wasn’t having any fun with them at all. That’s the worst sin any game can commit, and this makes the bigger sin of puzzle games by not being very difficult. I’m not sure which one I should feel more perturbed by.

I guess the thing that disappoints me the most about Ilomilo is that it offers up so much potential. It has really good puzzle mechanics I haven’t seen before and the design of the world is pretty. It’s just too bad that they didn’t bother creating a challenging, engaging, or even interesting game.

This week only, save 50% on Pac-Man Champion Edition DX through Xbox Live. For 400 MSP, this game is a must have for fans of the first Champion Edition, as well as fans of twitch games or Pac-Man in general. If you’re unsure as to why you should care or how this game is not just another Pac-Man, take a look at how it blew Joe’s mind. For true fans, the soundtrack is the same price on iTunes.

Run, don’t wakka, because this sale won’t last long!

Xbox Live Marketplace – Pac-Man Champion Edition DX

iTunes – Pac-Man Champion Edition DX Soundtrack

After a year on XBLA, Game Room should be one of the most popular features on Xbox. Instead, it only maintains a small niche of fans who are still holding out for the great potential of Game Room to be realized.

Game Room, developed by Aussie group Krome Studios, is a novel concept; create a virtual arcade on the Xbox Live platform where avatars can visit and play games using a token system. With Scene It: Box Office Smash, Krome made a name for themselves as a developer who understands how to make avatar integration fun. Unfortunately for Game Room, the lack of any avatar interaction whatsoever makes the avatar integration a distraction and even a detriment to the overall experience. If you watch your Game Room for a while, you’ll see duplicates of your friends’ avatars appear and disappear at random, while playing your games for a couple seconds at a time. If you’ve played 1 vs 100 during its limited run on XBLA, you know how fun interactive avatar participation can be. Many Indie Games utilize avatars as the star of the show, so how did Krome drop the ball on this?

When I visit a friend’s Game Room, I should be put into third person control of my avatar. I should navigate the rooms and interact manually with any game I see. Instead, I can only choose from a list menu which gives me no different experience than I’d have in my own Game Room. Animal Crossing allowed players to visit other towns and see how the other side lives. This experience was actually pretty amazing and I’d go so far as to say unforgettable at times. Not having this feature is a huge missed opportunity.

People have shown they will support in-game purchases by way of DLC, Facebook games, or on mobile device game apps, but only if the content is worthwhile. Capcom is currently experimenting with a “Capcom Arcade” app on iOS. You buy machines to live in your arcade, or you can play with free tokens each day. The concept is very similar to Game Room, but really Capcom has already killed Microsoft’s offering by doing one thing Game Room doesn’t — offering Capcom games.

While Game Room has gotten by for a year on very sparse quality in games it offers, there just isn’t a big enough market of people willing to pay 240 MSP for Intellivision games to sustain success. There needs to be an effort made to add SNK, Capcom, Midway, Sega, and Namco to the team. When you think of arcade, they have to be included in the discussion. Many games that would look amazing in the Game Room are already on XBLA in original ROM form with a Digital Eclipse / Backbone front-end, so work with the companies to put hooks in for Game Room so the ROM base can be shared and put into a virtual cabinet. People will gladly pay 240 MSP and more for good classic games, and add some much needed credibility to Game Room’s “arcade” line-up. Despite a self-imposed cap of E10+ on ESRB, there are plenty of games that are either already rated or fall below a T Rating that could still fill out the Game Room roster nicely.

The cost of “owning” an arcade game in Game Room is currently 240 MSP for unlimited play on XBLA or 400 MSP if you want it available on the Games for Windows Live platform as well. You can also buy a single play for 40 MSP. This pricing, given the games available on Game Room, is too high. Would you plunk down two quarters for a single play of an Atari 2600 game? The simple fact that the majority of the games offered on Game Room never existed in an arcade makes it doubly difficult to justify spending quarters on a per-play basis.

Make games originally from home systems 160 MSP to own on XBLA, 240 MSP to include GFWL, and 40 MSP for an hour of play. Create a room theme that’s a couch and screen and let your party play for free. If Netflix can give it away, Game Room can too. Make Friday nights open for free play for a couple hours. Let players buy an unlimited day pass for 400 MSP. Create a Zune Pass style subscription fee where you get all you can eat gaming as long as you’re a subscriber. If the game line-up was bolstered and pricing changed to this scheme, Game Room would most definitely thrive.

Originally, Microsoft promised a new game pack every week and at least 1000 games over three years. Since that promise, they’ve released 14 packs in around 48 weeks, nowhere near that promise. To be fair, they have released just under 200 titles, including such hits as “3D Tic-Tac-Toe“, “Kabopper“, and “Venetian Blinds“. Could this lack of follow through have anything to do with the numerous reports of the impending closure of Krome Studios? If so, Microsoft needs to take over development in-house and keep Game Room alive. They pledged at least three years of support and just expanded Game Room onto Windows Phone 7. Use the team that did 1 vs 100 to add avatar interaction, adjust the pricing structure, and get some heavy hitting arcade games in the line-up. Do these things and foster the huge potential of having what equates to an iTunes for classic games, instead of letting a several hundred dollar version of a ten year old collection disc fester on XBLA.

You will either love or hate Aban Hawkins & the 1000 SPIKES.  There isn’t a middle ground.  Your enjoyment of this game depends entirely on how broken you are inside. I love it.

1000 SPIKES is a masocore platform puzzle game available on Xbox Live’s Indie Game section. If you’re any kind of decent human being, then you probably don’t know that “masocore” is secret code for “ridiculously-stupid-hard games designed to make the player smash controllers in a blind rage.” (See also: Super Meat Boy and I Wanna Be The Guy.) It’s a genre for people who hate themselves to the point of virtual self-flagellation.

Nowhere near the full extent of spikes.

The first thing you’ll notice about 1000 SPIKES is that it looks and feels like a classic 8-bit NES game. Obviously, that’s par for the course when it comes to indie games. If there’s one thing most independent developers understand, it’s that there’s money in nostalgia-based clichés. That said, this look works superbly for 1000 SPIKES.

The game really uses the style to enhance the atmosphere, rather than just feeling like a way to cheap out on production value. When you play the game, it feels right. Somehow it feels the way I “remember” Nintendo games playing, rather than the unresponsive nightmares that most of them actually were. 1000 SPIKES is retro done right.

A lot of your time will be spent screaming in surprised terror.

As for the gameplay, you are Aban Hawkins, an explorer searching a deathtrap-filled Mayan temple. Hawkins can jump, high jump and throw infinite knives. There aren’t any weapons or items to pick up. All you need to do is avoid the traps, find a key and reach the level’s exit.  That’s it.

There’s genius in its simplicity though.

First, Hawkins starts with a thousand lives. 1000 SPIKES is a rough game and you’ll definitely need them. There were times that I worried that I might not have enough. You pick up extra lives every few levels, but the deaths come so quickly that you will definitely have to stay on your toes.

The controls are responsive… most of the time. There were definitely points where I died because my gamepad seemed to momentarily not respond. I can’t be sure though. That could easily have been human error from panic setting in. It would be unfair to hold that against the game without proof.  So I’m officially calling them “very good” and leaving it at that.

The biggest problem is that with similar games, I’ve gotten used to the idea of dropping dead and instantly coming back to try again. In 1000 SPIKES, it takes about 3 seconds to respawn.

That’s just long enough for me to forget the little between-lives mental notes I kept giving myself like: “Don’t jump when you spawn, there are spikes right over your head.”  Thanks to the delay, my mind wanders at the last moment and I immediately leap face-first into those spikes. Whoops.  Restart and… dammit I forgot those spikes again!  Repeat.

1000 Spikes seems difficult to the point of being unfair, but it really isn’t.  Don’t get me wrong; the game is insanely tough. Even the very first level is actually pretty tricky.  But with near-perfect timing and attention to detail, it is possible to survive without memorizing the level.  I didn’t come anywhere close to pulling this off.  I’m just saying it’s possible.

Aban Hawkins & the 1000 SPIKES costs 80 Microsoft points, which is a great deal. 1000 SPIKES is a tightly designed little platformer that really packs a lot of value.  If you’re a fan of masocore titles, you will definitely want to give this game a shot. It’s worth every penny.

Take two robosexual Wall-Es, apply elements from ToeJam & Earl and Ratchet & Clank, sprinkle in a little Simon Pegg, and what do you get? Potential.

Unfortunately, EA Bright Light specializes in failing to realize potential. I enjoyed Family Game Night and Trivial Pursuit, but Create fell well short of the mark people expected when they touted it as their take on Little Big Planet.

Their latest effort, Spare Parts, was released this week on XBLA and PSN. It features Chip and Mar-T, a couple of discarded robots who find themselves trying to find bits and pieces of a derelict ship so that they can escape their savage surroundings. They are guided by Conrad, voiced by Simon Pegg (of Run Fatboy Run fame), who provides tips and very forced comic relief. As cool as it is that he’s on board with Spare Parts, he’s pretty underutilized for his humor and more just a voice.

That's not very funny, but I'll say it I guess.

To be fair, if the game is exclusively aimed at kids age 3-5, then the pacing makes sense. For anyone who has ever played a platformer before, you may have an aneurysm before you fight your first boss. The game starts out with one of the slowest moving, unskippable tutorials ever, then goes onto unskippable cut scenes, level overviews, and further tutorials. Then you wander around hopping on, you guessed it, platforms. This is not a problem itself, but some platforms are actually background design are out of bounds so jumping to them causes instant death. The standard platforming moves are all there: double-jumping, a bit of depth discerning, and mildly aggravating 360 degree aiming. Assuming you stick to the eligible platforms, you get to collect parts to repair  your ship and coins which are for some reason hidden all over the planet you were randomly stranded on.  Lucky for you, those coins happen to be the currency required on the ship’s cybershop and can be used to purchase robo-upgrades.

Upgrades expand your abilities and add a lot to keeping the gameplay fresh as you progress. You add the ability to execute more advanced combos, air attacks, hovering, and a variety of other tricks. You can switch between upgrades using a circular menu system (a la Secret of Mana) brought up by simply moving the right stick. You can also assign upgrades to the shoulder buttons for quick toggling. Some upgrades aren’t optional though, and entire areas are off limits unless you’ve picked up the right pieces. This is also the case for one of the few bright spots in the game — multiplayer.

Throughout the game’s six levels, multiplayer is where this game sorta shines. It seems clear that the vast majority of effort on development was spent crafting multiplayer puzzles and challenges. I’m a sucker for co-op, and Spare Parts offers this in spades in both offline and online modes. There’s nothing really new or revolutionary that Spare Parts brings to the table, but some of the charm is ever-so-slightly reminiscent of multiplayer from the 8 and 16-bit era. You’ll find co-op high fives, fist and chest bumps, and they all provide little bonuses like health replenishment and super attacks. The part I don’t care for is that so much of the game outright requires another player in order to reach it. At least offer an option to play with an automated partner if you’re going to make it required.

Overall, Spare Parts has its heart in the right place but overall comes across as a half-hearted effort. Thanks to the creativity of the multiplayer and the voice of Simon Pegg, it’s mildly redeemable.  For the price, the Maw is a much better single player experience, but if you’ve got a partner lined up for your roboerotic adventures, Spare Parts is barely worth the price of 800 MSP or $9.99 on PSN.

The eponymous tomb-raiding sexpot is back in Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ newest release: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. The most recent installation of everyone’s favorite scantily-clad grave robber was announced back in August for XBLA (late September for the PS3 and PC) and just today is receiving its first major title update and free DLC. And who doesn’t want some extra booty to pillage, booby traps to spring and beautiful British backsides in their lives? I know I do.

Wait, what was I talking about…?

With new areas to explore, artifacts to collect, and ancient mythological gods to kill, LC: GoL gets down and dirty with the new DLC. The Download Pack titled, ‘All the Trappings’ really gives a much-needed jumpstart to the slacking sales of the XBLA game. And as a sign of good faith, or at least good PR, for the next 30 days the DLC is available for free on XBL Marketplace. (For all of you anti-Microsoft types out there, don’t fret; ‘All the Trappings’ should be coming to both the PC and PS3 sometime in November.)

The DLC features a whole new level to conquer, new puzzles to decipher and tons more ancient evil ass to kick. Online co-op gaming has also been added, which frankly should have been available from the start, but wasn’t because the developers were rushing to get the game released under Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade banner.

The Tomb Raider games have always been fun to play and despite the change of gameplay from third person to an isometric camera view, Lara is still looking good in those short shorts and tight-fitting tank top. So go download Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light tonight and play it with a friend, or play with yourself, but take it from me, doing it with a friend is much more fun than flying solo.

I told you not to bother me when I’m cleaning my tomb.

Hey-Oooh, Mikey Metcalf here to tell you about the latest news on Monday Night Combat! The wildly popular release from Uber Entertainment, (which has been on the market for a little over 2 months now) received its first title update last week. This is big news for anyone who has played the game or demo, as many new gameplay features, character fixes and overall overhauls were added to make the futuristic combat experience even better. A complete overview of the added features and gameplay fixes is listed after the jump.

If you haven’t played this awesome game yet, check out the new gameplay features and take a look at our own featured review, Monday Night Combat: Bacon Makes Everything Better, then go download it on XBLA. The demo time has been upped to 60 minutes, so you have plenty of chances to destroy the Money Ball, and learn just how a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) works.

Uber Entertainment’s Art Director, Chandana “Eka” Ekanayake addressed the changes to gameplay in a post last Tuesday morning regarding the highly anticipated Title Update, and the reason for the extended delays in its release:

“…For a multiplayer game like ours to be successful, we need to adjust balance, fix exploits, and add new content based on feedback from our community and do it quickly. Unfortunately for our first Title Update, which was handed off to Microsoft for certification over a month ago, got caught up in a perfect storm of software changes and tons of new games coming out. This caused our Title Update to get backlogged along with other smaller titles. They tell us this won’t happen again in the future so our first free DLC should be out sooner than later. We’ll have announcements of what’s in that DLC in the coming weeks.”

These updates were announced late in August, and it sounds like Microsoft might’ve dropped the ball in not implementing them earlier. The game has a distinct learning curve, and the lack of updates for over two months has surely dissuaded potential XBL players from purchasing and will require many current players to reassess the way they play the game. Not to say these updates aren’t welcomed, mind you. The minor display glitches and effect freezing have been taken care of and the overall visuals benefit greatly, but by changing the actual gameplay features and character traits after such a delay is another frustration in itself.

In the complete list of gameplay glitches and kinks that were fixed in the Title Update, connectivity and host migration issues were most rampant. Severe issues with host migration wait times and parties often getting split up on different teams we’re often game killers for many of our Monday Night Monday Night Combat Nights (MNMNCNs). These fixes allow Monday Night Combat to live up to its full potential and really sizzle. The complete list of fixes, “re-tunings” and descriptions of each class adjustment is detailed below.

Connectivity and Multiplayer:

• Reworked the way we handle parties in the pregame lobby to avoid splitting them up
• Fixed several issues where host migration would fail immediately
• Decreased wait time after a successful host migration
• Lobbies will now host migrate and not kick you back to the main menu
• If the host leaves during the end of match sequence, the host will migrate and players will return back to the lobby and not the main menu
• Optimized the time it takes to migrate hosts, shortening the time to migrate
• Improved weapon hit detection in high lag situations
• Fixed endorsements being incorrect after a host migration
• Fixed getting into private matches without an invite

General Gameplay:

• Fixed players being able to damage the Moneyball’s shields
• Fixed visual effects staying on the player after the effect has worn off
• Reduced the amount of increased damage the Moneyball takes in Overtime, thus reducing the effectiveness of “Juice rushing”
• Fixed Ringouts, Headshots and Grapple Kills not giving the proper amount of money. Balanced Ringout money to reflect the change. Message now displays correct total amount of money earned
• New “You Win!”/”You Lose!” UI for the end of a match
• Fixed juice benefits ending early if the player grapples during juice
• Fixed juice bar getting stuck full
• Fixed deploying on or near active jump pads
• Fixed controller sensitivity of 10 not saving
• Fixed messaging for kill streaks. Ultra and Uber streaks will now be named properly when popping up above your reticle
• Fixed an instance of the player’s skill pick UI going away unexpectedly
• Fixed an issue with bots walking by enemy turrets and bots without engaging them
• Fixed upgrading a turret that has been hacked to the opposing team
• Fixed turret collision not going away after being destroyed
• Normalized time between a grapple miss and the ability to grapple again for all grapples. The biggest change is the Assassin not having as big of a penalty for a missed grapple
• Fixed the “Team Leader” and “Team Player” highlights from being reversed
• Fixed players being able to mute themselves
• Fixed idle kicking when standing still but still looking around and/or shooting
• Fixed players who cheat and hack their profiles from being able to apply multiple gold endorsements
• Optimized main menu ticker for players with large friends lists
• Fixed HUD showing Moneyball shields as up during over time even though they are down
• Reduced announcer talking for kill streaks to help reduce the repetition of announcements
• Various performance optimizations
• Fixed players being able to switch weapons while in a grapple

Support:

• Reworked Support’s bot aura so that it doesn’t make the Jackbot appear overhealed
• Fixed Support’s Firebase skill from recharging while the Support is dead but the Firebase skill exists
• Fixed being able to use the Heal/Hurt gun while taunting
• Fixed some instances of the Support’s Firebase not appearing when thrown
• Fixed Heal/Hurt gun not being affected by rate of fire endorsements and reduced its overall healing/hurting ability to compensate for the change
• Fixed Supports being able to use their Hack skill through walls
• Fixed Supports being able to throw their Firebases through the wall
• Fixed Air Strikes sometimes damaging enemies under cover
• Supports can now only Hack enemy turrets at Hack level 3
• Increased the time to Hack enemy turrets
• Decreased duration of Hack on a turret for levels 1 and 2

Assassin:

• Fixed Assassins from being able to get permanent sprint and super speed
• Fixed Assassins getting a double smoke bomb allowing them to jump higher than intended
• Fixed Assassins being able to cloak during a grapple
• Fixed Assassins from being able to use her smoke bomb during a lunge
• Retuned damage done by dagger after a lunge
• Fixed Scramblers and Traps from draining the Sword and Shruiken Launcher alternate fire grapple

Tank:

• Tank’s Jet Gun alternate fire damage is now reduced depending on the percentage of ammo left in the clip. Increased the full clip damage to compensate

Assault:

• Fixed an exploit involving the Assault’s Fly
• Fixed Assault’s bomb audio lingering after bomb is gone

Monday Night Combat Live Update System:

• Pregame Lobby is now 45 seconds
• Min Number of Players to start Crossfire is now 6
• Increased player bot spawning from 5 seconds to 10 seconds

It is a milestone for the Uber Entertainment team and I am excited as shit to see what the free DLC will have to offer in the coming weeks. Their stance that the gameplay and features are, in-part, user -determined is an innovative approach in the XBL Arcade, and one that is cause for celebration.

The game is already amazing and has a fuck-ton to offer all types of players, and the update has only made things more balanced and enjoyable. So go plug in your new 360 Slims, sign on and come fry up some bacon with us. This is Mikey Metcalf, signing off. Hey-Oooh!

SEGA Dreamcast’s arcade classic, Crazy Taxi, will be coming to a stop for its next fare when it’s released this November on the PSN and XBLA – great news for anyone that was hoping to see more Dreamcast revivals after Sonic Adventure was released.

“Crazy Taxi is the second installment in our Dreamcast revival, and we hope this release will prove every bit as nostalgic to fans as Sonic Adventure did last month!” said Haruki Satomi, VP of Digital Business at SEGA. While Crazy Taxi may not be the most-wanted title to be remastered (Jet Set Radio, anyone?), SEGA is taking a step in the right direction by continuing their trend of actually remastering titles from a system whose lifespan was tragically cut short by the release of the PS2.

Other features include high-definiton 720p visuals, and unlike the aforementioned Sonic Adventure, will be presented in true widescreen (i.e. no choppy or distorted visuals). Achievements/Trophies and leaderboard support is also set to be included in the remake. The game comes with two modes – Arcade Mode, which should be familiar to anyone who played the title when it was released in the arcade, as well as the previously Dreamcast-exclusive Crazy Box Mode, which tested drivers through a variety of “crazy” challenges.

Crazy Taxi is set to be released for 800 Microsoft Points on XBLA and $9.99 on PSN this November. For more information about the title, head to the Crazy Taxi website.

So Sonic 4 is finally out for XBLA and maybe some other platforms like PSN and WiiWare. I haven’t played the full release, but I can tell you that it is the most ridiculously short demo I have ever experienced. And I don’t just mean on XBLA, I mean of anything, ever. The demo consists solely of only the first level of the first stage. The time it took me to finish the level was just a hair over 1:30. If I figure in the time it took to launch the game, load the level, and then go back to my dashboard, I spent all of 3 minutes with it.

You should really just go download the demo if you are remotely interested in the game. Now that I think about it, it probably took you longer to get on your computer, go to our website, and read this post than it would to take to just go and play it. You should probably just stop reading this. Also, the best part of the demo was definitely the old school “SEGA” opening in the nice soft voice and its two note tune.

Good news for all (those with good taste, anyway) as Konami Digital Entertainment and Marvel Entertainment announced that they will be releasing X-Men Arcade on XBLA and PSN. Developed by Backbone Entertainment, the game promises to feature the same side-scrolling beat-’em-up action from the 1992 arcade cabinet classic. For those that never had a chance to play it as a child, the game features Cyclops, Colossus, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm and Wolverine as they fight their way through thousands of Sentinels to Island M in order to save Kitty Pryde and Professor Xavier from Magneto.

Backbone Entertainment has quite the track record; delivering other reworked arcade and old-school titles such as Bomberman Live, 1942: Joint Strike (a personal favorite), and most recently Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Hopes are high for this one. With 1-4 players locally and 1-6 players in online drop-in-drop-out co-op, as well as multiple difficulty settings, there’ll be more than enough going around for everyone to get their share of X-Men powered beat-’em-up action when the game releases sometime later this year.

]]> http://Golgotron.com/2010/10/x-men-arcade-to-be-released-on-a-console-near-you/feed/ 5 http://Golgotron.com/2010/10/first-dlc-content-released-for-castlevania-harmony-of-despair/ http://Golgotron.com/2010/10/first-dlc-content-released-for-castlevania-harmony-of-despair/#comments Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:00:19 +0000 Andrew http://Golgotron.com/?p=8046

Players of Koji Igarashi’s Castlevania: Harmony of Despair have been blessed (sorry, Dracula) with a new map available for download on XBLA, the first of many that are supposedly planned. The new chapter, entitled “Beauty, Desire, Situation Dire,” takes vampire slaying veterans Alucard, Soma, Jonathan, Shanoa, and Charlotte to the psychedelic ruins of the ancient Egyptian pyramids, complete with new foes and enemies ready to be humiliated. The chapter also adds the femme fatale boss, Ashtarte, intent on moving through the map and ripping your face off.

This also puts us closer to the release of new downloadable characters for the game, so keep your eyes open for that release in the (hopefully) near future. The DLC is available now on Xbox Live Arcade for a very worthwhile 400 Microsoft Points ($5).

After being in development for over a year, Starchon has finally been released to Xbox Live Arcade. This marks the first independent game release for the Xbox 360 from Freelance Games. It was hard to find out what exactly the game was about, but I think I got the gist of it. You must destroy the Pigia (which I’m assuming is a race of alien bastards) because they are also trying to destroy you and take out your Super Defense Carrier a.k.a. bad-ass, giant-ass spaceship. Sounds simple and cool because I’m easily amused. Using your Star Map, you go traverse the galaxy to eliminate the Pigia. Starchon includes 5 game-altering, playable ships and the ability to customize them with over 39 components (what an oddly specific number), such as power generators, weapons, shields and engines, so that you can build the best Pigia-raping ship ever.

Sean Doherty, founder and president of Freelance games, says that this won’t be the only Starchon title, and that he has plans to continue making games in the Starchon universe. “I want this title to be the beginning of a series of independent video games for us,” says Doherty. This game is very reminiscent of old school arcade gaming, and the music is old school is well; I felt like I was in the main menu of Perfect Dark. Judging by the release trailer, this game looks like it has potential, but I feel like I’m missing something. There are parts in the trailer where it looks like the guy is about to crash into an enemy ship, but instead went right under it. Is your guy permanently flying at a lower level than your enemy? If so, that’s a really bad strategy. Also in the video, the enemy ships shoot what looks like Mario’s fireball at whoever is playing, and it clearly looks like it is hitting him, but on the bottom right-corner, what looks like your health bar, isn’t going down at all (or maybe this all just a part of your ships low level flight strategy… clever; maybe it’s not so bad). I don’t know, maybe I’m not getting something here, but take a look at the video and if you decide you like what you see, you can play it yourself, because Starchon is available in the Xbox Live Arcarde for 80 Microsoft Points. Also, fill me in on what’s happening.

I think it’s fair to say that every one has now heard about Scott Pilgrim VS the World in one medium or another.  It’s gone from indie/hipster comic to indie/hipster beat ‘em up video game, and finally to not-so-indie/hipster movie.  I know that my interest in the franchise didn’t really come ’round until the trailers for the movie came out, and the same goes for most people I know (see the Golgotron staff page).  I still haven’t read the comics and probably never will, mainly because I can’t read, but I loved the game and the movie.  Since this site’s primarily about video games, that’s where I’ll set my focus…

The game was first released on PSN and sold 117,000 units ($1.2 million USD) in the first month.  The ‘breaking news’ here is supposed to be that the PSN version outsold the XBLA version by a face-crushing 79,000 units.  These numbers are deceptive.  This variance between the two figures makes it seem like MOST people who played Scott Pilgrim prefer, or only own, the PS3.  I very seriously doubt that.  In my case, I probably would have bought it on the Xbox if they were released simultaneously.

Enough about the boring and deceitful numbers!  What about the game?!

The game is amazing, as you already know!  It’s a classic style beat ‘em up made for every Nintendo, or just video games in general, fan-boy/girl.  In order to get the full-effect from the game, I would say one would need to watch the movie, or maybe read the comic.  The story is completely lost if you don’t already know what’s going on.  The gameplay is everything you’d expect and more.  The difficulty curve for the game is a bit backwards to usual games; it starts out too difficult, even on the easiest level, and as you play, unlocking abilities and leveling your characters makes the game MUCH easier.  It eventually gets TOO easy, and loses it’s appeal once you’ve max-leveled all characters.

If you want a game that’s fun, appealing to the eyes, and nostalgic, pick this up…  but I’m sure you already have.  The only thing the game has left me wanting is the sixth character… WHOTHEFUCKISIT?!

I don’t know about everyone else, but every time I hear about an “Avatar” game on XBLA, it makes me think of super-tall blue furries, or bald children who can manipulate the elements.  So, you can imagine what I was thinking when I heard about Avatar Puzzle Pop, developed by the cleverly titled, one-man “studioette”, A GAME BY Andrew Wilson.

The game is a classic style puzzle in which you connect two groups of blocks of the same color to remove them from the play field, thus scoring points!  You can combo blocks together for even more points!  The game includes 6 game modes and other puzzle necessities as well:

Game Modes:
-Line
-Stage
-Bomb
-VS
-Endless
-Dice

Features:

-Interaction with Xbox Avatars (sorry, no Airbenders or Na’vi)
-Up to 2 players
-Custom soundtracks
-High score tables

Oh, did I mention that it’s only a DOLLAR?! It may not be very flashy or innovative, but for just a buck, you can’t go wrong!

Atari Europe has decided to remake one of the many Atari 2600 games that I’ve never even heard of, Haunted House.  They’ll be making it available for XBLA, Wii and PC.  The original looks like it’s the oldest dungeon crawler in existence, and the remake looks like the second oldest.  HEY-OH!  I honestly don’t understand why anyone would waste their time remaking this game…  Now, what I really want to see is a remake of the old ET game for the Atari.  Ohhhh yeeeeah…



Here’s a bit about the revival of Haunted House:

“Haunted House pays homage to the classic favorite as players fight for their lives in Graves Mansion as the grandchildren of the original character that disappeared without a trace in the evil mansion over 30 years ago. Chased by pesky poltergeists, haunted by scary skeletons and exhausted from battles with creepy creatures, players are in a goosebump-enducing fight to explore the dark and creepy depths of Graves Mansion in search of the four lost pieces of the magical urn. The player’s goal is to reassemble the urn and defend their family’s legacy with the aid of mystical tomes, powerful light sources and multiple keys.”

If Geometry Wars and Gauntlet had a baby, it would be Inferno.  You might think to yourself, “Self, why didn’t I think of this?” and the answer is simple: Because it’s simply not worth it.  It’s got a very cyberpunk feel to it (like Geometry Wars) and has keys and stages (like Gauntlet).  Sure, the game’s only a dollar.  Sure, I could see how someone could get addicted to it for the two hours it offers, but it’s no Pixeljunk Shooter.

Will I continue to play it?  Probably, but that’s only because I’m the kind of person who will play a game just because I bought it.  I haven’t gotten to play the multiplayer yet, but I’m sure that’s going to add a level of frustration that I’m just not prepared to put up with…  Until I find someone to play with.

What is this game really missing?  A super-sweet drunken soundtrack consisting of one song, begging you to buy the game you’re currently playing…  “It’s only a dollllaaarrr and I hope you will plaaay it!”

There are plenty of ways to get Xbox 360 games today.  Digital distribution, rental services, and retailers are all available and thriving.  My recent experiences, however, have brought some ideas to light on how the concept of Xbox 360 game sales and distribution should evolve, and soon.

I recently came across the glory of Blu-Ray + Digital Copy combo packs.  I can fire up the ol’ Blu-Ray player and watch at home or check out the Digital Copy on the iPad, iPhone, laptop, or basically any other digital media player.  I can install Xbox 360 games on my console and I can also buy them through Games on Demand, so let me buy a combo pack and give me one license to install it on my Xbox 360 and still have the disc for my collection or to lend out.

Now explore creating a game rental service.  The demo system is hugely popular on Xbox, so expand on it.  Allow me to rent games for 400 MS Points for 3 days, or through a Zune Pass style all-you-can-consume plan at a reasonable rate, then give me the option to keep it if I like it by paying the difference.  This way I can jump into playing online for a weekend without breaking the bank and you can put the screws to GameFly without the need of a single warehouse.  It wouldn’t hurt Zune Marketplace exposure to have a combo subscription for unlimited game rentals and music downloads either.

Hell, let’s just lose the physical copy altogether.  Let me pre-order or buy new releases through Games on Demand on release date, but partner with Amazon for code sales and distribution.  This may seem like a bizarre route to go, but I can already buy Microsoft Point cards, XBL subscriptions, and XBLA games instantly on Amazon so this isn’t all that different.  We’ve talked about Games on Demand before, and it’s clear it needs work to be relevant but this would be a great first step. Amazon gives you the power to make digital copies of games competitively priced.  They actively compete with current sales at Fry’s Electronics, Best Buy, NewEgg.com, Target, and most importantly, GameStop.  Amazon would make Games on Demand a living, breathing store.  GameStop can undersell Games on Demand after just a week or two after release date due to the high influx of trade-ins, but used games are usually only a few bucks cheaper than a new copy.  Make people question if it’s worth it to go to GameStop in order to save a buck or two against Games on Demand for a used disc in a sticker infested case.

Installing an Xbox 360 game averages out to about 4GB per title.  On the new Xbox 360-S system, that equates to about 50 games.  Most people won’t complain about that, but for the ones that do, offer a solution.  TiVo gives me the ability to attach a storage extender.  If I disconnect it, it cannot be connected to another TiVo or computer without formatting itself.  Since I have to be logged into XBL to play my downloaded games anyway, offer a 1TB external HDD with similar constraints and your hardcore digital enthusiast is covered.

Lastly, and knowing full well that this is the longest of shots, grow a pair and make the Zune HD able to play XBLA games.  You may have to make some controller contraption for it, but done correctly you’d wipe the floor with 90% of PSP games out there on a comparable system.  You want to get Apple’s attention?  Put a perfect XBLA port of Castle Crashers on a Zune HD or Windows Mobile 7 phone and watch them sweat.  There are dozens and dozens of fantastic XBLA games that blow most everything on the App Store or Facebook away, so capitalize on that or lose the opportunity.  Don’t forget Amazon manages to give away 3G on every Kindle, so leverage them when you make your mobile community.

Shit... Not... Kirk? Who the fu...

If anyone visits this site with any frequency, they know that when they read my articles they can expect a few things.  I’m probably going to make fun of NamelessTed, I’m probably going to start/get involved in an argument, and I’m probably going to compare video games to the movie industry.

After all, the similarities are there, aren’t they?  The old “art imitates life imitates art” thing should be modified for our generation to “video games imitate movies imitate video games,” because that’s the point that it has essentially gotten to (damn, this article writes itself – just throw in some self-deprecating humor and we’re good).

Now, normally this means video games adapting films or characters or in some cases, even spinning off stories or continuing the story as a sequel of sorts in game form.  But the industries themselves have begun to emulate each other.  Take, for example, remakes.  Classic games are getting remade (or re-released) lately with the advent and growth of the newest consoles having full online stores.  These online stores are filled with back catalogs from their respective consoles histories.  Now, the game industry has the luxury of re-releasing these classics by calling them “re-armed,” or “throwback,” or “re-shelled” and in most cases, gamers don’t scoff at the idea as much as movie goers scoff at the idea of their favorites getting a modern face-lift.

Take for example, two icons from their respective camps.  Let’s compare this year’s remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Tecmo Bowl Throwback on XBLA/PSN.  You may be wondering why these two would even be mentioned in the same article.  Well, they have more in common than you think.  They are both pop culture icons in their respective genres/mediums, they both were at the height of their popularity in the early 90’s, and have both been “re-imagined” this year for a modern audience.

The similarities don’t end there.  They both were re-imagined by taking elements that made the originals successful and giving them an upgrade for 2010; namely visuals.  Freddy comes out of the wall in ANOES 2010 the same way he did all the way back in 1984.  However, this time it’s done with “high end” visuals provided by CGI that some fans would argue looks fairly fake, even by today’s standards.  When compared to the original that just had Robert Englund pressing his face through some thin rubber to create the same scene, it’s just not an improvement, and doesn’t feel right.  Now, take Tecmo Bowl Throwback.  The entire game has been given a full 3D makeover, and for an 800 point XBLA game, looks damn good.  In fact, it’s one of the best 3D games for download at that price point.  It’s actually too good.  A game for $10.00 shouldn’t have better visuals and textures than a game like Blitz: The League II, which was a next gen release and initially sold for $49.99.

The visuals are nice, but they just don’t fit.  They don’t improve the game and aren’t necessary other than to justify you buying a new game.  Now, you can switch back to the old visuals at the touch of a button.  No, really, it’s true!  You can actually hit the RB on the Xbox Controller (assuming it’s R1 on the PS controller) and immediately switch back to the old school look, even in the middle of a play!  How dope is that!?  Right?!  Well, I mean, it’s cool…  but what’s the point?  If I’m going to use the same old visuals, why would I pay for a game I literally have sitting in my SNES under my TV?  To play online?  Maybe…  but how many Xbox 360 owners are going to want to play a game they played almost 20 years ago?  It’s likely that if you know someone you want to play it with, you can call them up and hook up in your living room.  Now, I realize that the game is very nostalgic for some (hell, I bought it), but did we really just pay for a 17-year-old game?  Yep.  Sorry.  It’s that old.  Get over it.  No refunds on XBLA.  Suck it.  Lunch money = gone.

I guess after all the rambling and words are put onto this screen, the ultimate point is this: how long before gamers begin to yawn at the idea of all of their favorite games getting remade or “re-imagined”, as Hollywood calls it?  Games have been around a substantially smaller number of years than movies, and they are already running out of ideas for new IPs that they have to run back to 15-20 years ago for games that we loved and give them changes that may or may not be well received by the very fans they are trying to attract?  There are always going to be two camps: those who are welcome or accepting of games being redone and those who want their classics to remain that – classics.

I understand what they are trying to do here and I’m buying into it myself in some ways.  I sprung for Turtles in Time: Re-Shelled, I bought Tecmo Bowl Throwback and Double Dragon, and I’ve been really disappointed by all of them.  I think that the new visual coat, smoother frame rates, and non MIDI soundtracks actually take away from the nostalgia factor of these games and in some cases, ruins the great, great memories.  It’s the same idea as the girl who gets killed in her bed in A Nightmare on Elm Street; in both versions she gets lifted up, she gets tossed about, she gets slashed, she bleeds a lot, and she dies.  The question is, was it really worth our time to pay to see the same scene happen all over again with a new paint job, or should we have just dusted off the classic VHS and watched it that way?

Sega recently announced what many gamers have been hoping for years: a return to the 2D roots of the series. After years of failures in the 3D realm, Sega has made the move back to the fast paced 2D side scrollers that put them on the map as a console maker. Before you go getting too excited and all nostalgic, let me remind you that even this switch back to 1991 is going to suck. When is the last time that you dusted off your Genesis or hell even bought one the old titles on the current generation of consoles download services?

Let’s take a short history lesson here. Sonic The Hedgehog (That’s right, capital ‘T’ in ‘The’. First, Middle, Last name as trademarked by Sega) in its 2D form exist as Sonic The Hedgehog 1, 2, and 3 and also Sonic and Knuckles. The original Sonic The Hedgehog was produced and packaged with the Genesis console and was intended to be the Mario killer to get the Genesis to compete with the SNES. It was a decent game but also the first game in the series and it didn’t quite have all the kinks worked out. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 nailed it and stands out as the gem of the franchise even though it introduced us to one of the worst game characters of all time with Tails. Sonic 3 was a step backwards and Sonic and Knuckles took the legs out of the franchise literally. It slowed the game way down by adding more platforming elements and jumping puzzles.

Now back to the present day and keeping in mind that the 2D games are not nearly as good as you remember them to be, the new release is already setup for failure. The game is going to be sold exclusively as a download on WiiWare, Playstation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade. What this should tell you is that they don’t have a good enough game with enough content to put it on a disc and sell it in stores. With the recent success of a game like New Super Mario Bros Wii, you would think that Sega would be chasing those dollars down just as they have been doing with the Mario Factory for years. Sega has released game after game that is nearly a direct descendant of a recent Mario game from 3D platformers to arcade racing sims to DS RPGs. They have even been collaborating with Nintendo on the Mario and Sonic at the Olympics games but this attempt to duplicate the success of NSMB Wii will fall short.

So what’s the final verdict here? While it’s a relief to see that Sonic won’t be suffering through a new 3D piece of crap, don’t get your hopes up for this one. Sega needs to let Sonic go the way of the Dreamcast and live on fondly in the memories of our childhood. Or perhaps he can die a slow death at the hands of Mario in the new release of the Smash Bros series just as he has been doing on store shelves for years.