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XBox (Games)

Publishers Embrace Xbox Live Arcade 27

Posted by Zonk from the best-part-of-the-system-so-far dept.
With many of the high profile 'launch window' titles still coming, the Xbox Live Arcade is one of the most entertaining elements to the Xbox 360. Joystiq posts about a recent Major Nelson podcast in which he interviews the general manager of the Xbox Live Arcade. Big-name publishers are jumping on board, and they plan numerous additions to the service in the coming months. From the post: "Just one important caveat: the Xbox Live Arcade party lasts only so long as Microsoft plays the gatekeeper role well. If the company softens its standards and starts to include mediocre titles for download, gamer trust and interest in the service will decline rapidly. So far, they're on the right path. Geometry Wars--that little $5.00 Xbox Live Arcade title that has surprised and delighted the majority of those who have given it a shot--still reigns as the top Xbox 360 title in our book."
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Publishers Embrace Xbox Live Arcade More

Publishers Embrace Xbox Live Arcade

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  • Street Fighter II is making an appearance, with some interesting new features very similar to what DOA Ultimate saw. It's a nice new take on a classic fighter. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/06/street-fighter-i i-goin-all-out-on-360s-live-arcade/ [joystiq.com]

  • Geometry Wars? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kevin.fowler ( 915964 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @11:38AM (#14558688) Homepage
    Sounds like the arguments my friends and I used to have in college about who would do the homework and let us all copy it.

    But to get serious... as my roommates and I are looking to get an Xbox 360 for our living room HDTV... hearing someone say that a $5 downloadable title (even if it is sort of his baby) is the best 360 game so far is a bit discouraging.

    • Re:Geometry Wars? (Score:3, Informative)

      by wedgewu ( 701989 )
      I'd say that Geometry Wars IS one of the best games on the Xbox360 right now. The thing you're misunderstanding is that this doesn't mean that the other games are any worse than you would expect, but rather that Geometry Wars is just phenomenal.

      That is, of course, if you play games for FUN, rather than just pretty shiny graphics...

    • Re:Geometry Wars? (Score:3, Informative)

      by tgd ( 2822 )
      Eh, there are good games for the 360, but I've played enough Geometry Wars, Hexic and Zuma to more than justify $400 just for the time I've spent on them alone.

      Add a couple Saturdays blown on Kameo, and its really a no brainer to me. These are good games. If you're a poor college student who games 50 hours a week, you'll run out of good stuff to play, but there are a LOT of people who play games who only pay an hour or two a day.
      • When I saw that you could play Zuma on it, I got very excited... then I realized that I would be spending $150 on my stake in a box to play Zuma in my living room on instead of on my laptop in my room.
    • Why? I'm totally addicted to Geometry Wars. If it was $50.00 it'd be discouraging, but it's the price of a soda and a couple of burgers in exchange for many hours of pure entertainment. He's saying that of the Xbox Live Arcade games, it's the top pick. It really is that good.
    • Not everyone's a GW fan. I have it, and it's mildly entertaining, but for whatever reason I just suck at it. Which gives it a pretty short attention span. PGR3 on the other hand....

  • Casual gaming (Score:3, Insightful)

    by the computer guy nex ( 916959 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @11:43AM (#14558751)
    There have been multiple stories lately about the rise of casual gaming. Even at $5 for geometry wars (which is the most expensive one I believe??), you can buy 12 for the price of one major "published" game.

    Even being able to download a bunch of demos was really a great idea.

    Microsoft is trying to take over the gaming market through online. Not just marketplace, but also the amazing online support within major games and the ability to send/recieve text and voice messages.
    • The Live Arcade is something that interest me. I haven't bought a console since Super Nintendo. Reason being, the console market never really interest me since the games I mostly like to play are usually built for the computer. I really enjoyed Street Fighter II, Super Mario Brothers 3, Mario Kart, etc. I did play a lot of James Bond, FFVII, and Zelda a bunch, but that was in college on other people's consoles.

      The Arcade idea is something that might bring me to buying a console as it is something a com

    • Re:Casual gaming (Score:3, Informative)

      by generic-man ( 33649 )
      Geometry Wars is one of the cheaper downloadable games, actually. Zuma is 800 points or $10 US. Many of the other PopCap games sell for about as much for the Xbox 360 as they do for the PC.

      (Take a page out of the Dave & Busters / Jillian's book, you can't buy EXACTLY enough points to buy just one game. To buy Geometry Wars for $5, I had to shell out for at $6.25 or $12.50 worth of points. That's not much more money, but for Microsoft it adds up quickly.)
    • Bankshot Billiards 2 is the most expensive Arcade game on Xbox Live and comes in at an even $12.00 US.

      • Bankshot Billiards 2 is the most expensive Arcade game on Xbox Live and comes in at an even $12.00 US.

        Sure, if by $12.00USD you really meant 1200 Microsoft Points. At 80 points per $1USD, that's actually $15.00USD. Not a big difference, but it is the only game on XBLA that's over $10USD. Everything else runs for $5-$10. Unfortunately, Bankshot seems to be rather popular (whether that's artificial from giving it away free in the Xbox Live Gold starter kit or genuine, I don't know). Hopefully its pop

    • Microsoft uses an intermediary point system to hide the cost of stuff (supposedly to allow for microtransactions). 100 points is equal to $1.25. Geometry Wars is 400 points, so $5. There are several other games that are also 400 points, including most of the classic arcade games (Gauntlet, Robotron, etc). A lot of the other games, however, are 800 points.

  • $5 a game is nice but... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hal2814 ( 725639 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @11:55AM (#14558910)
    $5 a game is nice but there's a $400 entrance fee. When you can pay less than $100 for a system and $5 per download, then you'll see the casual gamers come out of the woodwork for console gaming.
    • Why that is an insightful point hal2814, or should I say... TIM ROBERTS OF INFINIUM LABS?
      • I would think not. The big difference between Tim Roberts and I is that I don't pretend to have a product out there capable of what I propose. I'm merely giving the conditions under which casual gamers would go out en masse to get a video game system.
    • I believe this is what Nintendo is hoping for in its' next system.
    • People tend to forget that there are other games available for the system. :)

      The 360 Live Arcade is supposed a nice bonus feature to the system, not the ONLY reason to get it. Also, I've heard of many stories about guys buying the system, but their girlfriends and wives discovering the Live Arcade and getting hooked. It's a great way to get introduce your significant-other to the wonderful world of gaming, so that she doesn't automatically veto all your future game purchases. ("As long as you let me buy som
    • I half aggree with you. The whole casual gaming rise is really being pushed by things like MSN games, where the barrier to entry almost always more than $400.00. I guess it all depends on what you mean by 'come out of the woodwork'. But, like you said, once something hits Walmart for $99.95 it'll be as common as toasters, if they can keep resonably playable games in it.
  • Not only does it provide more online gaming opportunities, which continues to rise in popularity, but it may well revive a lot of older games. There are a lot of "gone but not forgotten" titles that I'd love to see make a comeback, particularly with some live competition. If the prices remain this low I expect to spend a lot of time on the 360. Umm A lot MORE time :)

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