XBLA Catch-Much: Farewell to XBLA

Gyruss and Dig Dug are awesome. I must have played Gyruss a thousand times when I was little.

I always thought Gyruss was about a hundred times more fun than Galaga, despite the similiar concepts.

I am such a sucker for DigDug. I don't know why, but it just gets me right in that warm space I normally reserve for family and the NFL.

Achieve 360 says Dig Dug is available on the Marketplace, but it isn't up yet.

From TeamXBox:

Yesterday, in a surprise unveiling, one of the greatest games of the 3-D era premiered on Xbox Live Arcade: "DOOM®" (id Software) is now available for 800 points. The game brings legendary DOOM mayhem to gamers, who for the first time ever can relive the classic demon-blasting fragfest in both single-player and two-to-four player cooperative and deathmatch modes over Xbox Live. Also, a new, multititle relationship with Codemasters was announced, with the first title being the classic, fast-action soccer game, "Sensible World of Soccer."

Xbox Live Arcade titles playing on the X06 show floor include frenzied music puzzle game "Lumines Live!™" (Q? Entertainment Inc.), classic side-scrolling action shooter "Contra" (Konami), an original action shoot 'em up "Heavy Weapon: Atomic Tank" (PopCap Games), space-shooter "Gyruss" (Konami), arcade fighting favorite "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3" (Midway), the multiplayer brawler "Small Arms" (Gastronaut Studios), the all-time coin-op classic "Defender" (Midway), the futuristic street-racing action game "Street Trace: NYC" (Gaia Industries), innovative action combat "Assault Heroes" (Vivendi Universal Games), and the frenetic shooter "Mutant Storm Empire" (Pom-Pom Games).

firesloth wrote:

I am such a sucker for DigDug. I don't know why, but it just gets me right in that warm space I normally reserve for family and the NFL.

I love Dig Dug too, there's no way I don't get that one.

magnus wrote:

ok, 170 points after 2 hours of gameplay. Way easy. The challenging part being how to eat all ghosts four times in one level. Somebody please let me know if they can figure out how to do that one.

Even the wife wanted to play it. First Live Arcade game I could get her interested in.

My women is currently addicted to Hexic but I'm trying to lure her into some non-Live Arcade games. Any suggestions?

93_confirmed wrote:
magnus wrote:

ok, 170 points after 2 hours of gameplay. Way easy. The challenging part being how to eat all ghosts four times in one level. Somebody please let me know if they can figure out how to do that one.

Even the wife wanted to play it. First Live Arcade game I could get her interested in.

My women is currently addicted to Hexic but I'm trying to lure her into some non-Live Arcade games. Any suggestions?

With the "4 ghosts", I came within one ghost several times. Suggestion: don't worry about dying and just move around the maze until they gather. Of course, that'd be level 1 or 2.

Also, as an aside, Time Pilot does not register, or doesn't properly register, the "2001" achievements.

This thread is a good ideafor the PC side of games. Wonder what classic arcade games us gamers are looking forward to/want?

OUTRUN!

...and Afterburner, and Cyber Sled

Your new shiny $400 console presents, THIS:

IMAGE(http://i7.ebayimg.com/02/i/08/97/4e/24_12.JPG)
IMAGE(http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/screens/D/yDig_Dug.png)IMAGE(http://images.webmagic.com/klov.com/screens/D/wDig_Dug.png)

You can almost smell the rollerskate sock stink, the cigarette smoke, the cardboard pizza, the skin forever stuck to the roller rink, Murray Head from the DJ booth, and the boogar-stained covered-with-gum carpet on the wall.

Memories..

With XBL down today for an routine enema, rumors point to "Lumines Live" hitting the old Marketplace. Just what the geeks ordered...
IMAGE(http://files.xboxic.com/xbox-360/lumines-live/lumines-psp-version.jpg)

IMAGE(http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/rdonlyres/B0B12484-0E1F-4829-B4C5-690B5760502B/9385/LuminesLive.jpg)

I hope it doesn't have a Madonna video streaming in the background.. Then again the next XBLA release could be Contra, not what is expected but not disappointing, either.

Are those Google Earth backgrounds?

I am sad that Castle Crashers won't be hitting XBL Arcade until Feb 2007.

As I am finishing Doom, I can't think of anything I want from XBLA more now than Doom II.

Its official! Lumines Live launches the moment XBL goes back online. Press release here. The main game costs $15 and comes with 12 skins, the "Advance Pack" is an extra $7.50 and comes with 22 more skins. I still hate the idea that the main game comes with less content than the expansion, thats really really lame but the overall price isn't anything I wouldn't be willing to pay for a full Lumines game.

Asz wrote:

The main game costs $15 and comes with 12 skins, the "Advance Pack" is an extra $7.50 and comes with 22 more skins.

What do the skins do other then make the game look different? I mean is it anything more then a cosmetic change?

More Microsoft announcements, pretty much what was expected:

In a marketing email today, the company unveiled at least six games that will definitely hit XBLA by early 2007. Those games are Lumines Live (which hits XBLA Wednesday morning at 1 am), Contra, Gyruss, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Mutant Storm Empire, Small Arms, and several others (that it didn't reveal).

The funny part is there was an announcement that there were several others coming but not named. Probably more info when XBL goes back online sometime.

I really don't want to pay $22.50 for the full version of XBL Lumines when I already have it for the PSP...*sigh*.

93_confirmed wrote:

I really don't want to pay $22.50 for the full version of XBL Lumines when I already have it for the PSP...*sigh*.

Then don't?

Rocky wrote:
Asz wrote:

The main game costs $15 and comes with 12 skins, the "Advance Pack" is an extra $7.50 and comes with 22 more skins.

What do the skins do other then make the game look different? I mean is it anything more then a cosmetic change?

Good Question! I would also like to know...

The "skins" in Lumines change the backgrounds, blocks, tempo (how fast the timeline moves) music and sound effects of the game. They regularly change throughout playing the game, going from one skin to the next. The whole varying theme aspect of Lumines is one of its key points, the more skins available the more interesting the game is really.

Im gonna go with the 'price is not convincing' argument. Yes I paid more than that for the PSP version but I'm not interested in doing that again. If it plays anything like the PSP version then it will take 8-10 levels just to get interesting. I wonder what happens when you beat the 12th skin. Does it stop and tell you to pony up or just loop back to 1. That first option would be unacceptable and it really would feel like buying an extended demo.

Ill get the (free) demo and see if it added any compelling features. 2 players on one console might sell it for me, if that's in, dont know.

I will probably let my wife be the judge of this. She is much more addicted to puzzle style games then I am. So, if she digs it, we will get it, otherwise... who knows.

Seeing as I've never played the PSP version, I don't mind the price. I'd rather it be cheaper, but for such a universally acclaimed game I am will to pay a bit of cash.

As I am finishing Doom, I can't think of anything I want from XBLA more now than Doom II.

RAWK.

I need me some double-barreled shotgun action.

I have it for the PSP, but it will be nice to have it on the big screen and surround sound, and I won't have to squint at the screen when I want to play it.

Plus, it's pretty much 1/4 of the price of what I'd pay for a full game anyway, so I don't see the big deal with cost. I will definitely get more use out of the $10 or whatever I payed for that day of Frogger and Feeding Frenzy. It's a pretty cool game too, there's something very relaxing about it that separates it from Tetris and the like. It's equal part an audio/visual experience as it is a decent puzzle game.

Just came back from the store with the new points!

I've been playing the game pretty much all morning (have at least played it for 4 hours now) Heres a little info for the uninitiated:

-After all 12 skins have gone through, the game loops back to the original and so forth.

-There is a "Skin Remix" mode that allows you to queue the skins in whichever order you want, looping or only once through.

-Multiplayer includes XBox Live play and single console only multiplayer. (2 people on one box)

-The game includes the standard Lumines stuff, Time Attack, Vs. CPU and Puzzle mode, the last two are artifically restricted in length. After playing through the first stage of Vs. CPU mode it tells you to download the Vs. CPU pack which will be "coming soon to XBox Live Marketplace!" The puzzle mode is also restricted to only a few puzzles before which you need to donwload the Puzzle/Mission pack which is also "coming soon to XBox Live Marketplace!"

-There is also a new challenge mode, which challenges you to do random things like clearing all blocks in one step, ect. Like the Puzzle mode, this mode is also artifically restricted.

Lumines Live having downloadable content is a big plus in my opinion but it really goes without saying that the completely forced content is deplorable. Having one Vs. CPU stage and then demanding that you wait around for a future pack to be released is downright awful. Period. The same goes for the Mission and Puzzle modes, clocking in at only 5 stages a piece before demanding you wait for a future content download. I can barely put into words how sh*tty it was to play through the first Vs. CPU stage and then shunned away from it in a matter of minutes. Downloadable content for games like Lumines? Good. Being taunted with content? BAD.

CoryB23 wrote:
93_confirmed wrote:

I really don't want to pay $22.50 for the full version of XBL Lumines when I already have it for the PSP...*sigh*.

Then don't?

Oh ok. I thought someone had a gun to my head.

I look forward to trying it given all the seemingly rabid following it has garnered. I admit, I know almost exactly bupkus about it aside from the controversy surrounding the pricing model. If I can hook my wife on it, that would be quite the coup... though then I'd have to fight her for the 360. Hmmmm...

IMAGE(http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i20/Sinatar/marioxblm.jpg)

Just for comedic value, I'm not actually bothered by Lumines pricing structure.

I played the trial version last night and it's seems harder playing it on a big screen than the PSP.