Orcs Must Die is an indie title made by Robot Entertainment which is a recently founded company and a newcomer to the genre, leaving them with a clean slate. Regardless of their lack of pedigree however, there are expectations to live up to, particularly if you take into account the advertisements for the game. This game was advertised as a mixture of a Tower Defense game and an over-the-shoulder Diablo. The impressions from the ad campaign were that it was a brainless, silly game. The important question is, is Orcs Must Die worth the $15? And, is it any better than Sanctum, which came out first for a mere $10?

The first thing that interested me about Orcs Must Die is the scripting. I say scripting as opposed to story because the story itself is relatively light, but there is quite a bit more than expected from this type of game.  There are actual cut-scenes, even if they are simply still images with narration by the mentor character. As for the tone, it is quite funny; this game does not take itself seriously.  The main character is consistently snarky and makes silly comments to amuse the players alongside the chatter of the orcs. The steady stream of witty banter and the high number of enjoyable lines help keep the game moving. Unlike a similar game in the genre; Blood Bowl, spoken dialogue is rarely repeated in the middle of a wave. Even in the early waves dialogue is rarely repeated, which helps preserve realism and keep the game from getting boring. The sound design is also well-done, shifting as the player come closer to death as well as providing cues when they are in danger.

The graphics are smooth and free of pixilation, and there is a bevy of genuinely different Orc designs. While the special units are all the same, there are enough ‘standard’ orc models that you don’t see a sea of bland clones coming at you, which is a problem with quite a few tower defense games. The effect of the traps on the enemies also adds to the enjoyment. The orcs explode into bloody chunks if the player uses the right weapon, go flying if hit with a physics trap, and turn a putrid shade of light green if they are poisoned them. This really helps provide the player with incentive to try out numerous, creative traps, and adds to the cartoonish atmosphere.
The gameplay consists mostly of simple, standard, tower defense. The enemies follow a path, conveniently highlighted by a sparkling trail, though unlike many 2D tower defense games, the path is malleable, allowing the player to put a barricade in their way and force them into a specific route.

Now, while it is called tower defense, instead of using towers, the player uses ‘traps’. A giant wall full of arrows, a large pit of spikes, a giant masher… a single trap is likely to knock an orc to half health in one go, or kill it completely. The hero has a crossbow and a staff, but the staff will get you swarmed and killed, and the crossbow only nets you a kill if you get a headshot.  The staff is a melee weapon, but since the orcs come in waves of large groups at once, melee is generally a bad idea. Luckily, the crossbow is rapid-fire, but unluckily, the accuracy tanks if the player just cram down on the attack button. The player has to be careful to use short, controlled bursts, for maximum effectiveness.  Figuring out where to put the traps and the graphic design all work together to make the player think, plan, and then kill orcs. Unfortunately, it is easy to place the traps a little too well, and have the level run on auto-pilot, especially on later levels with more waves, but it doesn’t detract from the fun too much. Generally, the number of waves is short enough that it is not much of a bother.

Orcs Must Die also has a good difficulty range, and is never unfair. The game introduces new mechanics gradually, allowing you to replay old levels for better scores, and has three difficulty levels. There are 24 levels that last anywhere between 5 to 15 minutes each, but with multiple difficulty levels and the implantation of leaderboards (the only multi-player aspect to the game), help keep it interesting. If the game’s too hard to beat, it is because the player failed to learn what a previous level was teaching. Things I learned? Headshots are important, and barricades lure orcs to chokepoints.  On the other side of the fence, you face flying enemies, fast enemies, and Ogres that ignore physics traps. That is until the traps are upgraded, then the Ogres can get thrown right into a conveniently placed lava pit.

Even if the traps aren’t upgraded, headshots punch right through the Ogre’s armor. The only problem with this is that the kinds of traps used might not change. I found arrow traps as my main stand-by, doing great damage with good range, and generally being quite practical. On the downside, they are also a bit boring. But the other, less useful traps are still fun to watch. There is still a place for these neglected traps, and they do become less useful traps are still fun to watch. There is still a place for these neglected traps, and they do become more and more useful as you upgrade them.

Final Call: Orcs Must Die is genuinely fun, a major success at making a silly combination of tower defense and action. The script is entertaining, the story does more than just exist, the sound adds to everything, and you get to kill a bunch of orcs. What’s not to like? It may not be a must-get incredible hit, but it is definitely something you should check out if you are looking for a $20 or less game.

Pros

• Good action game with a fun atmosphere
• High replayability if competitive and want to climb up the leaderboard
• Variety of traps

Cons

• Easy to rely on the early traps a bit too much
• Good trap placement can render the player practically invincible

Bastion. A strong supporter. A fortified place. A location of safety. The title of an excellent debut game by Supergiant Games, a recently founded independent developer. Similar to other recent indie developers like Mojang of Minecraft fame, Supergiant Games has put its best foot forward as it steps boldly out into the world with a superb solid action role-playing, single-player hack-n-slash game. But unlike some other indie games hitting the market, the brilliance lies not in the gameplay, but in the storytelling.

Bastion’s greatest triumph is the invention of the narrator; his voice is a constant companion to the player and lends to a singularly immersive experience with no breaks for long cut-scenes or text-block infodumps between player-controlled sequences. The narrator’s commentary manages to never grow tiring or repetitive and he gives a feeling of life to the game, his smooth drawl providing a steady stream of exposition on the world and commentary on the player character’s actions in-game. The often small, detailed touches of his narration provide the player with a feeling of truly being a part of the story and possessing a personal stake in what is occurring. This sentiment continues to grow right up until the tale’s end, the climax of which provides choices for the player that go beyond the simple decisions of good and evil that plague the branching endings of today’s modern games; when I reached them, I actually had to lean back in my seat to pause and think on what to do.

It’s difficult to talk about the story without spoiling the experience. It starts slowly and jumps directly into the protagonist’s shoes without introduction, leaving the player blind to the world and left to find their way through it with only the narrator’s company. The story comes out gradually, like a trail of breadcrumbs that draws the player’s interest and leads them along further and further in. Tidbits of information are constantly revealed to the player as they journey, leaving them to wonder what lies within the blanks and trying to piece the narrative together as the picture of the world is progressively painted for them from blank canvas before their very eyes.

And Bastion truly does appear to be painted, with the visual style providing gorgeous visuals that makes the very most of its isometric viewpoint. From the characters, to the enemies and the environments, the hand-painted style provides a treat for the eyes. As the player character constantly progresses through the game world, the art style works to provide new spectacle for the player and keeps the level design from growing tedious or dull.

The gameplay makes efforts towards the same, and while Bastion’s base hack-and-slash mechanics are regular fare for the action role-playing genre, Supergiant has still put forth due effort to provide variety within what remains a solidly built system. With set piece scenes, the occasional boss fight, and optional side-missions, the experience stays fresh rather than showing the sameness present in many games within the genre. New customization options are laid out in a constantly growing array for the player to choose from, furthering the sense of the personalized experience that the game imparts.

The player character has the choice of two weapons, a special attack, and passive abilities which are all fully alterable in the game’s hub between levels. The narrator will provide hints as to the strengths and nuances of each combination as it is chosen, and each weapon as it is discovered. The side mini-games give the opportunity to upgrade the capabilities of your weaponry by running the player through trials to prove their mastery of their equipment. There are yet more choices in this, as the upgrades will often modify and add effects to how the weapon operates rather than simply boosting damage, which all proves to increase the range of available play styles and combinations to still greater heights. Even the difficulty is modifiable to your heart’s content through an innovative structure, allowing the player to take on specific challenges to face in their battles. The developers even go as far as to give every single one of these mechanics a satisfying and interesting in-game explanation that provides a unity of game design elements and narrative.

Bastion’s music is no exception and provides flavor to each scene in which the player finds himself. As with everything else, the developers made sure to go the extra mile and have crafted a diverse soundtrack for Bastion’s shifting moods. The soundtrack ranges from a pounding and intense wild western adventure, to a haunting and melancholy drama that sweeps you into a remembrance of things past. Each song stands tall on its own merit and in-game they serve to emphasize the tone and events onscreen.

Bastion is an example of excellence in execution and another fine addition in the growing independent gaming scene. It is comparable to the wacky Castle Crashers in color and fun, and Limbo and Braid’s deep, evocative ambiance. All told, Bastion is greater than the sum of its parts, with nearly unparalleled flow between them. The narrator ties the entire thing together, allowing the story and mechanics to be introduced smoothly into the experience and provides a touch of life and polish to the package. Bastion introduces an element of replayability into it all, even after the first playthrough is all said and done; the desire to discover everything it has to offer makes Bastion an experience that will linger in your mind even after you walk away.

Final Call: While the gameplay in Bastion doesn’t break any new ground, it is still solid and varied, and provides the foundation for the rest of what Bastion has to offer, the mesmerizing aesthetics and masterful narrative imparts a lasting and immersive experience.

PROS:

• Great story and immersion.
• Beautiful hand-painted visuals and soundtrack.
• High replay value and new game plus mode.
• Gameplay is tight and responsive.
• $15 price tag, available for download on Steam and Xbox Live Arcade.

CONS:

• Doesn’t break any new ground with the hack n’ slash gameplay.
• Game only lasts 6-8 hours per playthrough.

It was bound to happen someday, but when I got on the plane headed for home and realized I had left my flash drive on the hotel bed, my stomach sank and I began recounting all the countless hours put into Borderlands, Fallout, Final Fantasy XIII, Alan Wake, Mass Effect, and the other 300+ games I’d played since the Xbox 360 launch. So now what?

With persistent high speed internet available and basically required for this generation of gaming systems, why has it taken console makers so long to take the plunge into storing game saves in the cloud? Steam supports cloud saving, as does OnLive, and recently Sony announced the ability to save games to the cloud in a firmware update for PlayStation 3 and out of the box with the NGP. Microsoft advertised the feature prior to the launch of Xbox 360 as a feature of Xbox Live, so five years later, where is it?

This may not seem like a very vital feature compared to all the other things Microsoft offers with Xbox Live, but I travel constantly and rely on the portability of my profile and saves to keep up with Golgobusiness and prevent homicide-inducing insanity during the countless nights in hotel rooms. As it stands, now I can’t play the fantastic DLC for any of my favorite games without starting a new game from scratch. This is a devastating reality for me since I try to play games through to completion and don’t have the countless hours to catch up to where I was without going into seclusion for the rest of the year.

Travel demands portability, even if it’s just to a friend’s house or another room in your own, but portability is a double-edged sword. Sure, there’s a risk of losing your precious data like I did, but all those people who saved to internal storage and experienced a console failure would have lost nothing if they used an Xbox Memory Card to store their saves and profile. “Portability” would have saved them.

Microsoft already acknowledges the likelihood of losing your profile by allowing you to recover it through their rebuilding algorithm, so they must know losing your saves is just as plausible an event. Save games average 50-150 Kb in size, and would take under a second to upload. Network latency could cause issues with achievements and multiplayer gaming, but the saves can live locally while in use and save to Xbox Live servers in frequent intervals. There really is no reason for Microsoft not to explore this feature.

I know we’ve been living with this since the old days, but it’s been so long since I’ve lost a saved game that I’ve become quite spoiled being able to take my profile and saves everywhere. Hell, even early NES cartridges saved through internal batteries so you could take your games with you. If I only had to carry my profile and didn’t need to worry about my saved games, the end result of my loss would be a USB stick and a few minutes needed to recover my profile. Instead it put me in a predicament as to whether I ever want to play those games again.

With the increased price of Live, this would be a nice gesture for Microsoft to toss in, not only to help out their fans but to keep Sony from having any reason to boast about PSN over XBL. That, and how in the hell am I supposed to carry over my save from Mass Effect 1 and 2 for  Mass Effect 3? FFFFFFUUUUUUUU

In writing this, I realized I only recently transitioned from my Xbox Memory Card to USB and never cleared that little bugger off, so I managed so save about 98% of everything I’d lost. So yeah. Carry on.

Patience apparently isn’t a virtue to teh interwebs. The promised release date of  MvC 3‘s first batch of DLC characters apparently wasn’t soon enough for some, despite it being less of a month away. A group of talented, if not misguided, game-hackers have unlocked the incomplete on-disk code for Jill Valentine. The footage above shows what I can assume is at least a decent array of her combos and move list. However, much like the rest of the game, the “Jill-so-far” lacks the wackiness of her MvC2 counterpart.

Again, I think this is the one of the biggest downfalls of the game. Where the fuck is my horde of zombies? Or the dogs? OR THE CROWS? THE FUCKING CROWS! Sigh, I guess I’ll still hold out on the thought that they can’t screw up Shuma Gorath.

Xbox LIVE gets a makeover this month! Kinect formally debuts November 10th, and to celebrate Microsoft has launched a massive update for the entire network.

New additions focus less on gaming, and more on turning the 360 into an all-purpose entertainment machine. A revamped Sky Player contains over 30 movie, sports, and cartoon channels, a fan-based community, and the opportunity to create a customized planner. Music service Zune and internet radio Last.fm bring tunes to your TV and your Windows Phone. Facebook and Twitter make it easier for players to connect, and the new Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack offers up to four Gold Xbox LIVE memberships at a discounted price. Mommy, Daddy, Junior and Lil’ Sis can use the Pack to access the Family Center, where they’ll keep tabs on each other and trade Microsoft Points.

Those Gold Memberships will come in handy, considering you’ll need them to make full use of Sky Player and Zune. For Zune you’ll also need to pay an additional cost — about $15 dollars a month — to get unlimited downloads. Both services will utilize Kinect, using the motion sensing technology to provide a hands-free experience. Xbox LIVE users can also chat via Kinect on video phone.

I don’t own a 360, so I can’t really offer any personal impressions of the new LIVE. But it’s clear that Microsoft’s moving in on the family-friendly market. As long as they don’t lose their focus on serious gaming, I don’t see how any of these updates will hurt.

A long time ago, in the kingdom of late 80s/early 90s, Tom Cruise was a plucky rookie whose raw talent and out-of-the-box thinking often led him to victory over rivals and into panties. Young Tom flew fighter jets, banged hookers while interviewing for Princeton, defeated eight feet of half-naked man-devil and exposed a military conspiracy involving Jack Nicholson. Somewhere in the middle of all this, he also won the Daytona 500.

It’s Tom’s NASCAR stint that developers Piranha and Paramount Digital Entertainment are revisiting with their new racing game Days of Thunder: Arcade. Honoring the 20th anniversary of Jerry Bruckheimer’s classic Days of Thunder film, the Xbox LIVE and PSN download — available this winter — pits players against Cole Trickle, Russ Wheeler and other drivers in bouts of good old fashioned stock car racing. Each character’s driving style reflects his personality from the movie and one of them, Rowdy Burns, is voiced by his original actor, Michael Rooker. Possibly a dubious honor, considering this makes it even more obvious Rooker’s wa-haaay less busy than Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid and John C. Reilly.

Four modes encompass the bulk of gameplay, namely the standard Quick Race, Time Trial, and circuit-based Career modes, as well as a Derby — as in demolition — mode, where players attempt to smash the shit out of each other. Online matches between up to 12 different racers offer chances to place on leader boards and unleash your inner Ricky Bobby. In order to compete, players have to gain sponsors who’ll front the money for repairs, refueling and upgrades. The quality of said sponsors is based on performance and racing style; so do good, or you’ll end up like this guy.

I’m a terrible driver and have no idea what all this dropping the hammer/exchanging paint/slingshot nonsense is about, but I do know one thing, courtesy of Mr. Harry Hogge: Rubbin’ is racing, son. I don’t think Days of Thunder: Arcade will be a must-buy for anyone who A: isn’t in to racing games, or B: doesn’t think fondly back to the days of synthesized power ballads, but if you are either of these two things, go ahead and get ready to kiss bumpers against bumpers. Looks like a lot of effort went into making Days of Thunder: Arcade authentic, and any fan — film or genre — can appreciate that.

Born after 1990? Haven’t heard of the movie? Think Tom Cruise is just a tiny religious icon? Watch the trailer, young one:

Recently, Raptr, a free social networking site and computer program aimed at gamers, announced a completely free iPhone App that aims to bring you everything its website counterpart provides, but in a much more convenient form. Gamers can use the app to track what games their friends are playing on PC (Steam, social games), Xbox LIVE, and PlayStation Network, as well as manage their buddy lists and send/receive messages to friends on 360 and Raptr in one unified box. Players can also publish gameplay and achievement info to their Raptr profile, and to make things easier, it automatically imports friend lists from existing Xbox LIVE, PSN, and Steam accounts. Of course, there is a handy section connected to Raptr’s blog that keeps you up-to-date with all the gaming goings-on, and a feature that can be used to access the iPhone’s address book to harass your friends and invite them join Raptr.

Personally, I think this is a pretty cool app. I like to have things consolidated into one neat little package – the easier and more efficient, the better. Instead of logging on to three different online gaming accounts, I could just take a ganders at the Raptr app and be like, “Oh, spit, Poindexter Dweebles is playing Monday Night Combat! I better get on there and beat him!” Not only is it more convenient this way, but it’s free! It’s available for iPod Touch and iPad, as well. So if you have one of those, go get the app here.

Fable III is coming out on October 26th and it’s looking like you are, again, going to be leading the Revolution against the tyrannical King Logan in the now-industrialized nation of Albion. In the trailer, we see that the player character is the one brokering deals with local Revolutionary tribes, giving orders to his troops, and taking control of the population using a combination of guile and outright war scenes. I’m looking forward to the change of pace from the predominately lone-wolf experience that was Fable 2. The big problem with this trailer is that I don’t see a dog; we know the dog is coming back, it’s just a question of how much of a role it’s going to play.

The “Revolution” launch trailer features the Black Angels‘ song “Young Dead Men.”

The game will be available in both the standard edition for your usual $59.99 while the Limited Collector’s Edition is availabe for $79.99 and includes a bonus quest, exclusive in-game location, “Fable III” playing cards, a Guild Seal Coin, the Boxer dog breed and a unique outfit for your male or female hero. The game is being released in the United States on October 26th.

So…  Yeah…  Activision announced that the demos for DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero: WoR will be available today for free download on Xbox LIVE.  Yay?  Hallelujah?  Happy-happy-joy-joy?  Ah hell, I don’t know, I’m really tired and this was the only email I got this morning that remotely resembled news so I fucking posted it.  God, it’s early and yes…  That was a Ren and Stimpy reference.  I feel it’s been long enough.  I’m bringing it back!  Demo track lists after the jump.

DJ Hero 2:

“Don’t Cha” Mixed With Pitbull “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”
Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis “Just Dance” Mixed With Deadmau5 “Ghosts N Stuff”
MSTRKRFT Featuring N.O.R.E. “Bounce” (Battle Mix)

Estelle Featuring Kanye West “American Boy” Mixed With Chic “Good Times”

Pussycat Dolls Featuring Busta Rhymes

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock:

Black Sabbath “Children of the Grave”
Foo Fighters “No Way Back”
Slash featuring Ian Astbury “Ghosts”
Dethklok “Bloodlines”

So there’s this dude passing out free “Platinum Service” Xbox Live cards!!!  That’s right, you just bought those shiny, all-new Xbox 360 Slims to show off in the drive way and wash next to your car as your neighbor goes to work, but then you hear about the Platinum Possibility.  What does Platinum offer that Gold doesn’t?  Will this affect your Gold Service?  Well there is good news and bad news.

First off, the Platinum service isn’t official, it’s simply a prediction made by Michael Patcher, who is an analyst in the industry.  Gold members can expect a swift $10 increase for their subscription by November, which isn’t a major pain in the ass, but it better be going to sick kids or some shit.  Microsoft needs money just like anyone else, so they can continue to offer an unbeatable online community and great features for the Xbox Dashboard.  Well, we played ball when games took a jump, but we got our money’s worth with amazing graphics and leaps in technology.  We’re only paying $199 for the 360 Slim, which purrs like a dead kitten, has built in WIFI and is Kinect Ready.  The Kinect Ready process, of course, will make anything run silent.  It’s a fact.  Patcher believes that with the increase in the Xbox Gold service, we can expect an entirely new “Platinum” service in the $100-range.  With no rumor of what this could possible offer to Gold members looking to upgrade or to those completely new to Xbox Live, this prediction just makes Microsoft look like money-hungry Jews (I can say that, I’m half Jewish).

Now, I’m sure PS3 owners are happy as clams with their small network compiled of every cool kid table ever, but Xbox players know that their money is going towards making what they already love even better.  Until a Platinum service does come around, $10 isn’t going to break the bank or lead any current subscribers astray.  Microsoft would make $80 million more a year easily just from Gold members going Platinum.  At the same time, Microsoft knows their community and wouldn’t risk loosing those who buckled down with paid subscribing by abusing that, and creating a more expensive service that probably won’t offer more than a “making of” DVD and some concept art.  Do I think I would switch to Platinum? If they send me a sweet card like the Diamond one I might.  I like gloating rights and I need something portable to wave in the faces of my enemies.  Xbox Live is going to continue to evolve, and the time will come when we have to decide if this is what we signed up for, or if the industry is full of money-hungry, soul stealing, demons from Azeroth.  After personally meeting a lot of the higher-ups, I can say that we have nothing to worry about.  They are not brain dead; they are pretty much just like you, but with more motivation and business degrees.

New details have emerged on the DLC that will be available on September 21st of this year for Rockstar’s widely popular Old Western-style sandbox title called Red Dead Redemption (I’m going to assume you’ve heard of it).  And lucky you, I’m here to tell you about it!

First off, the DLC will be called the “Liars & Cheats Pack”, and will be focusing mostly on the expansion of the free roam games already available within the RDR world.  In addition to adding online multiplayer functionalities to many of the games-within-the-game, content that was previously announced in the “Free Roam Pack” will be bundled with this DLC (which, interestingly enough, the “Free Roam Pack” was originally announced as free add-on content, but had to be included in a paid add-on pack, due to restrictions of how much free DLC can be handed out for no monies).

So without further ado, here’s what is included in on the new “Liars & Cheats Pack”, available once again on September 21st:

Multiplayer Poker & Liars’ Dice – Now you never have to leave your home to see your friends…  Why have a card night with the guys when you can just veg out on your couch in your underwear and play poker over X-box Live or PSN?

Multiplayer Horse Races – This one seems a little better fitting for DLC.  It makes sense to have a multiplayer racing game added to a sandbox title (it does, at least, if you’ve ever played a GTA title in your life).

The Explosive Rifle – This is a weapon being added to the game, which will include both single and multiplayer challenges.

New Gang Hideouts – 7, count ‘em, 7 of them.  Grab your posse and level up.  Be selfish and blow away anyone who dares try to steal your hideout from you.

4 New Hunting Grounds – These will be visible for everyone to see, where you can go out and kill animals and skin them and eat them and do whatever else you want with them, so you don’t have to go out and do this IRL.

Stronghold Competitive Multiplayer Mode – Take turns attacking and defending in competitive gaming…  Again, this is stuff that’s standard and seems like it should’ve been included as original content when the game was initially released.  But what do I know?

In addition to all of these tasty updates, 15 more characters will be made available from RDR as multiplayer characters, and you can bet your sweet bippy that new Achievements and Trophies will be included as well.  So if you enjoyed Red Dead Redemption and would like to continue living vicariously through John Marston as a rough and tough Old Western outlaw, I’d recommend purchasing this DLC for 800 Microsoft Points, or $9.99 on the PSN in September.

Well, E3 has come and gone and now most of the dust has settled. A lot of stuff was announced and we got to see a lot of new games, it was all very exciting. Among the most talked about announcements were the new motion controllers from Sony and Microsoft. As you may have read, Natal doesn’t have me all that excited, and I personally feel that these motion controls do not represent the true future of gaming in any way. While that may be true, there is a new feature on the Xbox 360 that makes my pants feel funny. While everyone was focused on Natal they missed what Microsoft had to say on Games on Demand, a feature which they are greatly underplaying.

Marc Whitten made a post on the Xbox Live Community Team’s blog about many of the Microsoft E3 announcements and had this to say about Games on Demand:

Xbox LIVE has changed the way you play your games, and now we’re changing the way you access them, with the digital distribution of full Xbox 360 games. The Games on Demand channel will launch with a library more than 30 great games, from classic hits like Mass Effect, BioShock and Assassin’s Creed, to family favorites like LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga and Sonic the Hedgehog. You’ll have access to a wide variety of great games, downloadable in only a few hours and at the touch of a button. We’ve also added the option to purchase Games on Demand directly with your credit or debit card.

I truly believe that GoD represent a progression in the way that consumers will be able to access video games in the near future. It may seem like a small step to most, but this really is a large step in the progression to complete digital distribution. Microsoft started with their XBLA service and then added the ability for in-game DLC. Later they offered Xbox Originals for download, and now they have come full circle and have added a full download service for current generation games.

Games on Demand will offer benefits to both publisher and consumer, though I do foresee a couple of problems with the service already. Most of the benefits of digital download for the publisher are pretty obvious. If they don’t have to manufacture and ship any packaging or discs it will cut down on their costs quite a bit. As everyone knows, less overhead means more profit. Digital downloads also will eliminate the need for developers to fit all their content onto DVDs, in fact the system would not need a Blu-Ray player at all.

Mass Effect = $20

Used game sales, this is the most important benefit to publishers compared to anything else. Publishers have complained about the used game market for as long as it has existed. They have already removed the resale market for PC games long ago with the introduction of CD keys and online validation but have not managed to dampen the console used game market, yet. They have made attempts with DLC to slow used game sales and that has worked on a few games like CoD 4, Halo 3, or even Fallout 3. Despite their efforts the used game market is stronger than ever.

This is why publishers should love Games on Demand. If the consumer buys the game online, they can’t sell it to anyone. The game will be attached to that person’s gamertag and will not be able to be transferred. If publishers are able to transform the market to the point where 50% of games being purchased are digital downloads, that will put a huge damper on the used game market, and that is exactly what publishers want.

As far as the consumer goes, I think Games on Demand will have plenty of benefits. First and foremost, you get to be even lazier than before; that’s a bonus in my book. Never again will you have to go to the store to buy a game, get out of your chair to change discs, or be asked to reserve the new Madden game when you are buying a copy of Professor Layton. If you watched the silent video above you can see how simple it is to switch from one game to another.

On top of that, the store never closes (except for scheduled maintenance), and they are never sold out. Even if it is 2AM and you are playing a demo of a game that just came out you won’t need to wait until tomorrow to buy it. You also never have to worry about discs getting scratched by your younger sibling, pet, or even the console itself. All of the games will also load faster and the system will run much quieter when a disc isn’t spinning.

Imagine how different a huge game launch like Halo 3 would be with Games on Demand. Microsoft could allow people to buy the game several months in advance right from their console. Then, as soon as the game goes Gold and discs start getting printed, it could be put up on Xbox LIVE and the game could be pre-downloaded by all those who pre-purchased the game. You don’t have to deal with waiting in line for a day or sitting out in the cold; everything can be done from the comfort of your own home. They could allow you to start playing the game right at midnight on launch day; fuck, they could let everybody start playing the game a day earlier that retail release. That sounds great to me.

Games on Demand Launcher

As excited as I am about this new service, I do have some reservations and general concerns. They did announce that all games on the GoD service will be the same price as their retail counterparts. I really think this is a big mistake. If you aren’t getting the packaging, disc, and instruction manual, it should be cheaper. I also think that if Microsoft put up the games for $5-10 cheaper online depending on the retail price, it would offer greater incentive for the consumer to buy it online.

They also need to take some protips from Valve. Valve has proven that their free gameplay weekends coupled with their 25-50% off sales can increase sales of a 6 month or even 2 year old game greatly. If Microsoft doesn’t do any sort of free weekends, they at least need to have big discounts at some point. One other negative point in regards to cost is that they won’t offer any refunds. There is nothing worse than buying a game and finding out it sucks, but I guess that is why they allow you to download demos of most of the games.

My biggest concern though is hard drive space. There are a lot of systems out there with a 20GB hard drive, which is essentially only 12GB, which in turn means you can only have 1 game at a time. The current Pro bundles come with the 60GB and the Elite’s with a 120GB. Even the 60GB will only be able to hold about 6 games. They have said that you can delete games and re-download them at any time but what we really need are larger hard drives.

I must say that Justin “Clown Shoes” Murray was half right on one aspect when he said that the next generation would be all digital distribution. I think it will be a large part, but disc sales will still account for a significant portion of game sales over the next generation. But, he is still a fucking moron for citing that they would have 300TB hard drives. As for a solution, Microsoft should keep the hard drives in their SKUs the same as they are now. But, they will need to offer larger storage options in the near future that don’t cost $140 for a 120GB hard drive, they are totally shafting the consumer on that. I can buy a 500GB 2.5” hard drive for $100 from Newegg. Microsoft should drop the price of their 120GB to $60 to match the price of a new game and come out with a new hard drive, most likely 250GB, at price it around $100.

So there you have it. I am definitely looking forward to the new Games on Demand feature of Xbox LIVE and can’t wait to buy a game through the service once it becomes available.

[images courtesy Engadget]

[video courtesy Joystiq]