Posts Tagged ‘Xbox Live’
6 items.
Five brand spanking new XBLIG games out today and they look like a pretty decent bunch. I haven’t played any of these yet so no commentary today, but stay tuned as some of them may get the full review treatment soon. All descriptions are that of their respective developers.
Zombie Armageddon |
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Introducing Zombie Armageddon, a new tower defense game combining innovative gameplay and a cinematic “boy meets zombies” storyline. Zombie Armageddon engages players with 11 progressive levels of zombie mayhem, plus an unlimited “Onslaught” mode to tax players’ defensive strategies and intestinal fortitude.
Developer: Xenite |
MagicalCube |
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Magical Cube is a mission-clear style puzzle game. The object of this game is to defeat monsters in battle by using Marie’s magic. When 3 Cube is aligned (only same color), Marie’s magic is invoked. Marie can deliver a damaging blow to the monster with magic, and when monster’s life gone run out, you win! Collect coin, and purchase accessories to make Marie more powerful!
Developer: FixedStarWorks |
Colony Defense |
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Colony Defense is 360 degrees of fast-paced tower defense strategy where the player has to defend an entire planet and multiple paths against invading alien forces. Defend each planets colonies from the alien onslaught in this high action, strategy title. 10 upgradable weapons to fight the good fight with. Ricochet laser cannons, flame throwers, stasis towers, artillery cannons, and many more
Developer: Mana Bomb Game Studio |
Drooop!! |
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Move player to turn the field. If you clear all conditions, an exit will appear. Let’s complete all stages! You can also play the endless mode.
Developer: TokyoGameBros |
Bush Hunt |
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Play as a safari hunter re-capturing animals that have escaped from RidKim Zoo. Play over 20 levels across 4 different terrains capturing some of the most dangerous and unusual animals. Try survivor mode to see just how long you can survive against a never ending barrage of animals.
Developer: Riddlersoft |
Being that we here at Two Fedoras are big fans of the Xbox360 and its downloadable games ecosystem, we are constantly being forced to deal with something we find highly annoying: Microsoft Points.
The Microsoft Point system is something we find to be misleading, and a general affront to gamers who spend their money to play games on a platform that is in most other ways, a very fine gaming experience. As such, regular readers may have noticed our penchant for referring to Microsoft’s currency by various pseudonyms for comic effect. So we thought it would be fun to compile a list. Feel free to contribute in the comments! (Yes. We have a definite affinity for Futurama.)
- Microsoft Credits
- Microsoft Funny Money
- Space Bucks
- Microsoft Pretendy Points
- Tricky Dick Fun Bills
- Microsoft Fun Bucks
- Itchy and Scratchy Moneys
- Microsoft Currency Units
- Wing Wangs
- Microsoft Funny Point Euphamisms
JoyJoy heading to XBLIG, makes twin-stick shooter fans HappyHappy
March 6th, 2010 |Posted In: Gaming
Radiangames has announced that their first game called JoyJoy is heading to the XBLIG soon. JoyJoy attempts to revisit the classic twin-stick shooter genre with modern music and graphics and from the looks of the video its managed that and then some.
Now I am a pretty big twin-stick shooter fan, I count Geometry Wars and Superstardust HD among my favorites. I also have least favorites like Square Enix’s Death by Cube, which I found overly difficult and unenjoyable. But how does JoyJoy differ from these titles? Well fortunately Destructoid asked JoyJoy creator Luke Schneider that very question and here’s what he said:
I’ll start with the easier comparison: Death by Cube is the complete opposite of Radiangames JoyJoy in terms of approach to making a fun twin-stick shooter. Death by Cube is punishing, stiff, and a little hard to look at and listen to. JoyJoy is player-friendly, fluid, and very easy on the eyes and ears.
As for Geometry Wars 2, I love that game! But my favorite submode of GW2 was actually Pacifism. The rest of the game is great, but it’s also a pretty specific style of gameplay. I think there’s plenty of room for bothGeometry Wars 2 and JoyJoy in the twin-stick genre, just like there’s room for Halo and Call of Duty in the first-person shooter genre. And really, if GW2 was the last great twin-stick shooter, I think it’s about time for another one.
Be sure to check out the video below and read the full interview with Luke Schneider over at Dtoid.
Playdead, a small game studio located in the center of Copenhagen, Denmark, has announced that their highly anticipated IGF finalist Limbo is set to release this summer on Xbox LIVE Arcade. It’s currently nominated for awards in both Technical Excellence and Visual Art in the IGF competition. The puzzle platformer is expected to make a playable appearance at GDC. I am socking Microsoft pretendy points away as I write this.
source: IndieGames.com
I’m guessing you have all heard the news. Microsoft recently announced their new mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 7, and has integrated into this new platform an extension of its Xbox Live ecosystem. Also mentioned was that this would be an exclusive feature to Windows 7 devices. Similarly the Sony PSN will have an exclusive styled relationship with Sony handsets. It is the nature of this exclusive relationship that has caught the ire of some in the industry.
In a post by Luke Plunkett on Kotaku titled “Xbox Live & PSN On Mobile Phones: No, No, No” he discusses at length the various reasons that both of these companies are making huge mistakes by making their respective ecosystems exclusive. Plunkett goes on to list all of the things he should be able to do on any device that Microsoft or Sony can make an app for. In all fairness he is exactly right, he should be able to see his friends list, send messages, view gamer scores, check leader boards, and schedule downloads to his consoles. The part I take issue with in his post is his lack of foresight and understanding of these two companies probable endgame objectives.
The real issue is Microsoft wants to bring their Xbox Live ecosystem as a whole to the mobile platform. That doesn’t just mean the dashboard crap that a web browser could serve up. That means creating a standardized set of compatible hardware and a fully walled garden for the purpose of distributing content. They are going to want developers to make games to be sold from within the Xbox Live ecosystem and be capable of contributing to Gamer Scores, multiplayer gaming, and probably even party chat. This kind of ecosystem can’t go anywhere but on a Windows 7 device, because there is no way in hell anyone else would let them set up a nice pretty little walled garden within their existing walled garden. For example Apple would shoot this bad boy down in a heartbeat for “duplicating already existing features.”
If Microsoft could make this type of ecosystem as an app for the App Store, you got to know they would, I mean who would say no to a user base like that? But from Apple’s perspective there is no benefit. For starters the MS app would probably be free, so no slice of the pie there. Then all of the content sold from inside such an app would go straight to Microsoft because the App Store wasn’t involved in the transaction. You may say “well then sell the games in the app store and then tie them into XBL.” That creates so many opportunities for tampering with Gamer Scores and other things that you couldn’t even call it a walled garden and thats just ignoring the issue of figuring out a way to split proceeds between Microsoft, Apple, and the Developer that doesn’t make them all broke.
So to wrap this wordy bastard of a post up, I agree with what Luke Plunkett wants from a universally available App. The problem is, his vision of what is being built here seems short sighted and not in line with what I think the actual end game objectives for these platforms really are. MS and Sony want to be able to control their entire distribution channel to ensure the quality of the user experience and build a serious cash cow by leveraging their existing user bases in the process. So, suck it up, exclusive was the only option available to them and they made the right call.
