Microsoft have today released the Game Room on XBLA. The Game Room is free to download and is around 300MB. There are also two game packs which can also be downloaded for free. The two game packs give you the following games:
Adventure
Armor Battle
Asteroids Deluxe
Astrosmash
Centipede
Battlantis
Crystal Castles
Gravitar
Lunar Lander
Red Baron
Combat
Finalizer
Football
Tempest
Jungler
Millipede
Outlaw
Road Fighter
Realsports Tennis
Sea Battle
Scramble
Skiing, Mountain Madness/Super Pro
Space Armada
Space Hawk
Shao-lin’s Road (Kicker)Star Raiders
Super Cobra
Sub Hunt
Tutankham
Yar’s Revenge
However you can only play each game once before you have to buy it. You can either use your game tokens (20 are awarded when you launch the game for the first time), or you can buy the game, which also allows you to place it in your arcade. Your arcade has three levels and you can change the theme of each room as well as decorate it, which also awards achievement points. In total Game Room has 1000 achievement points and you can get 80 for just a couple minutes play. The rest however, will require you to purchase items with Microsoft points.
Because it has been launched today, there are a few things which still need working out and tweaking. Currently the server is unavailable to connect to but, Microsoft are aware of these issues and are in the process of fixing them.
Bungie has said that it regrets leaving out matchmaking in Halo 3: ODST’s Firefight mode.
Community boss Brian Jarrard said that in the end, the studio didn’t have proper time to include it and admits that this may be one of the reasons ODST is not as popular as other Halo games.
I regret not being able to go back and make Firefight in ODST work and have match-making,” he told the site. “I think we would have loved to have done that.“We’ve heard it from the fans, we’ve heard it from the press. It’s definitely something we’d have loved to be able to do but we didn’t have the scope on the project. We didn’t have the time.
“We accomplished a tremendous amount, but that’s probably the reason ODST isn’t being played as much right now as we’d like. It has had a shorter lifecycle than any of the Halo titles before.
“But Reach is our big chance to make up for some of those things.
I really didn’t like the game to be honest, I thought it was going to be really good and instead it was really blah. I am counting on Reach to be the end all be all of the series.
Michael Pachter has called it: Natal will be $50 when it goes on sale in the US by the end of this year.
The Wedbush Morgan analyst, speaking in the latest edition of his Pach-Attack show on GT, said:
“My guess is, talking to my hardware specialist colleagues at Wedbush, it’s about $50 in cost,” he said.
“I’d be very surprised if the thing is more then $79, and I really think it’s going to be $50. Microsoft’s not trying to make money on the device, trying to get everybody to have the device so that they can sell us other things, eventually can sell us a lot more Xbox 360s.
“My call is $50, I think that’s where it’s going to be launched.”
This of course is just speculation on his part but what if he is right? I don’t know Microsoft is in the business to make money. I personally think it will be more that just a mere $50. But I have been wrong before.
Konami has announced that it is bringing the next Ninety-Nine Nights game to the Xbox 360. The original Ninety-Nine Nights was published by Microsoft Game Studios, but Konami picks up the Ninety-Nine Nights series with N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights. Expect more of a two-player online mode.
Here are the details on N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights from Konami:
“Set on a ravaged world, N3II:Ninety-Nine Nights invites the player to take on all comers in a series of spectacular battles. Players can enjoy the story from five different perspectives – including humans, elves and goblins – and are pitted against wave after wave of adversaries in the ultimate ‘last man standing’ free-for-all. Each of the species is given a specific back story which unfolds as the game progresses, while the various races also bring unique skills and abilities to the battle field.
At its heart, N3II:Ninety-Nine Nights is a vast combat title, with hundreds of enemy creatures on screen simultaneously. As the camera picks over the action, the player can use a wealth of easily-effected combo attacks to carve a path through the enemy, and also use whatever weapons and items come to hand. At the end of each skirmish, players will then face a ‘Titanic Boss Battle’ against the champion of their current adversary, with players forced to move quickly and locate the well hidden weak spots of these seemingly unstoppable behemoths.
N3II:Ninety-Nine Nights also has a stunning two-player co-op online mode, wherein players team up against the oncoming hordes, working together to expand their combo range to take out more enemy assailants at once. This two-player mode features online ranking boards detailing the most effective pairings across the globe.”
Gears of War is now available for download from the Games on Demand from Microsoft. The game is only $19.99 but 6gigs of hard drive eating space. If you haven’t played this game yet grab it, it’s one of the games that changed gaming for me. This game came out in 2006, time flies doesn’t it?
Looks like we win and with Microsoft’s help. After first releasing the 360 Live iPhone app for $1.99 and subsequently being talked to by Microsoft, creator Xavier Larrea has released a free version on the iTunes App Store. As the app now complies with Microsoft’s policy that all Xbox Live apps should be free, 360 Live should be here to stay.
Well here you have it the premiere video of Halo Reach. Bungie said in July that Reach will be the final Bungie-developed Halo title, I don’t believe them but hey what do I know.
Until now, under 18s haven’t been able to access Facebook, Twitter or Last.fm from their Xbox 360 consoles. Thanks to a patch that’s just been rolled out, under 18s are now able to do so. If you’re in the States though, you’ll have to wait until Tuesday when the update comes out. It’s unclear as to why the US have to wait a couple days longer.
Developers are lining up around the block to take a crack at the new control methods including Ubisoft. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in an earnings call :
the company would have, barring possible changes in timing, 10 games available for Natal within the first six months of its release. He also said that they’d have 4-5 games for Sony’s motion controller.
I’m excited for Natal and intrigued to see how it’s going to play out with gaming. With the right price and proper use for games, I would buy it.
Microsoft has announced a new “Hot Holidays Car Pack,” which will hit Marketplace on December 8. The pack is set to include several 2010 model cars, specifically some super cars and “purpose-built” racing cars. The bulk of the pack’s cars are wrapped in secrecy, though Microsoft did tease that one of them will be the Ferrari 458 Italia. Furthermore, the Audi S4 will be offered as a free download to entice players to download the premium content.
Don’t forget that the free Hyundai Genesis Coupe Car Pack for Forza 3 is now available. The pack includes three different versions of the Hyundai Genesis Coupe.
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