Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

[Brandwin]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

I am moving in a week. i don't need to change anything with my live account do I?

I would think the only reason I need to change my address is for statements etc...


Thanks

[Flawless]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III


Rumored Xbox 360 Spring Update Touts "Motion Sensor" Features, Game Installs

If Microsoft follows the same schedule it did last year, the Spring system update for the Xbox 360 should be right around the corner. Today, an alleged list of changes included in that update was sent to us, supposedly forwarded from an internal source. The full list—which is after the jump—features about 80 new feature additions, tweaks and changes.

Some are simply interesting as curiosities, such as an option to purchase Xbox Live memberships for charities and the addition of a Media section for audio delivered through feeds, such as podcasts. Others sound more feature robust, such as Windows Live Mail integration and an expanded "Inside Xbox" with news, weather, entertainment, help and community features.

Perhaps the most interesting additions are "Calibration options for motion sensor devices" for the Dashboard and "Support for titles to store installation data on Storage Device for faster loading" for Games. If true, the former would lend further credibility to frequent rumors that Microsoft is planning to introduce a motion controller for the Xbox 360. The ability to store installation data on a hard drive—as is done with some PlayStation 3 games—would certainly be a welcome option, if that's how the wording should be interpreted. Continue on for the full list of rumored updates.

[Spectre]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

That Spring Update list, if true, would be phenomenal.

It fixes 99% of the issues I have with Live and just will continue to extend the gap between this the online services offered by competitors.

I'm especially excited about:

5. Introduce a group chat (4) for Private Chat and conferences through Video Chat.

11. Option to remove payment information from gamertag. (HUGE, hopefully don't have to call MS anymore to change payment)

6. Calibration options for motion sensor devices. (Ooooooh)

11. Support for titles to store installation data on Storage Device for faster loading. (finally!)

[DaImmaculateONe]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

i wish you could video chat while playing a game, that would be awesome. just have a small box at one of the corners of the screen like Pip with a little transparency.

[bkfount]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

11. Option to remove payment information from gamertag. (HUGE, hopefully don't have to call MS anymore to change payment)

exactly. I had an issue with canceling Live when I sold it all off in anger. Wound up being messed up by the Indian CS rep, and I got billed when it expired. When I came back to the 360, I have moved to only using MS cards. However, my old card numbers and billing address are still in my profile, ready to be poached by MS when my XBL card expires. I really don't want them touching my financial info ever again. So deleting it would be a much loved feature.

[Flawless]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Golf: Tee it Up Hands-on Preview

Casual games developer Housemarque (of the Playstation Network’s Super Stardust HD fame) is shooting a bit beyond the miniature golf audience with Golf: Tee it Up which is due out later this year via Xbox Live Arcade. Although not a true golf sim, Golf: Tee it Up should give Xbox 360 owners that unique mixture of comical characters and realistic gameplay that has made the Hot Shots series such a success.

Mechanically, Golf: Tee it Up uses the three-button-press swing system that is pretty much de facto for the golf game industry. A meter at the bottom of the screen rests a cursor in the “sweet” spot of ball contact. The first press of the A button moves the cursor towards the end of the meter, with the far right of the gauge acting as full power for the club selected. Another press of A will send the cursor back towards the sweet spot, thus setting the desired power. The last and most critical slap of the A button locks in the accuracy of the shot, with perfection measured by how close the cursor returns to its starting point. Accuracy is a bit forgiving in Golf: Tee it Up, however, as sloppy presses of the A button for the third and final time in the swing cycle will still produce decent shots. We’ll chalk that up to the marvel of modern golf equipment, and the fact that Housemarque still needs to tweak a few things before the game’s late-quarter release.

A gauge below the main swing gauge gives a rough estimate where the cursor must land before a duff occurs; a nice touch for those still trying to figure out the timing of the swing dynamic. Another handy tool– just above the main swing meter– helps gauge what type of surface the ball will land upon given the selected power. A quick glance of the color of the meter (blue for water, yellow for sand, etc.) will tell users roughly how much oomph it will take to fly a big body of water or one of those pesky beaches, for instance. A nice fly-over ball cam and a useful zoomed-out map will help you steer clear of course hazards as well. In addition, the ability to fully “work” the ball with fades, cuts, topspin and backspin will aid the crafty in getting out of precarious situations, or allowing the wind to do some of the dirty work. On more of an occult tip, Golf: Tee it Up also features a “focus” gauge that allows players to dabble in the supernatural for a finite amount of time. When off the green, working the thumbstick while the ball is in flight will allow the pill to be steered to safety. When on the putting surface, the focus button gives a brief preview of the intended line which, when used in conjunction with the H.U.D.’s slope data, allows the little white ball to find its home more often than not.

Additional features of Golf: Tee it Up include Live play with up to four human players, four player local action and match play when two gamers are available. Bots have been included as well when a foursome needs rounded out either locally or via Live, and Housemarque even included a mini create-a-player area to ensure that each and every user stands out on the course. Golf: Tee it Up will come equipped with Leaderboards (perfect for one of the few sports which actually has its own leaderboard) and the usual complement of Achievements.

Screens

[Flawless]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Castle Crashers is completely completed!

I feel really great about how the final product has come out after playing through a few times last night. I’m very proud of what our team was able to accomplish. This game is undoubtedly the largest 360 XBLA game that has any kind of story; Large in scope, takes hours and hours to go through with your buddies. Lots of little treasures and secrets hiding around the levels, many unlockable characters all with a different feel, and lastly, no real weak spots in the game that I can foresee haunting me for the rest of my life.

Now before anyone goes to turn on their 360 to give it a look please note that it takes a couple months at the very least from this point. It has to go through all the required hoops of certification/final testing & all that jazz before it will actually become available on the service. Because of this, amongst other things, there is no actual release date that we can give anyone right now. However I have to say it’s a good feeling know that the crashers are working their way into the world as you are reading this, isn’t it?

I have included new screenshots of a couple levels being played above. Here you can see danger in the dreaded ice arena, as well as the war in the bear village (this was also posted in the media section ).

I (and the rest of the team I am certain) want to thank you all for the patience you have shown as we worked on this project. We too were anxious for the game to be finished - but we just could not rush and end up risking the quality! The fan art and the amazing support we’ve received while working on this game has really uplifted our spirits and helped create something better than we would have been able to otherwise. You guys are awesome — thank you very much!!!!!

We are STILL MAKING UPDATES to this devblog! We will still be showing characters, animal orbs, videos, weapons, and other updates as usual, so don’t think we’re wrapping this up!

-dan

[mgoblue]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

I think the Penny Arcade game comes out on XBLA Wednesday! I'm hyped, I'm a huge Penny Arcade fan, so it'll be great to play it...

[mgoblue]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

I think the Penny Arcade game comes out on XBLA Wednesday! I'm hyped, I'm a huge Penny Arcade fan, so it'll be great to play it...

Oh, I am completely ready to accept the mocking I deserve for buying this on XBLA. I think the console is the best way to play, and I just don't want to deal with my older, crappy pc (getting a laptop in the next 6 months). Even though I despise the Xbox DRM, and by buying this I'll have a RROD and somehow have problems having DRM swapped over, I still think Xbox will give us the best gameplay!

[Flawless]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Interview: Xbox Live Arcade's David Edery

How is the application and integration of Community Games coming along with Xbox Live Arcade? Are you getting toward where you want to be at this point in time?

David Edery: Internally, the executives have locked down how it should work and so and on, and we're preparing for an announcement very shortly. There's not a lot more I can say at this point, but it's just a matter of timing and it's really rolling along.

Do you think with Community Games - titles that have been created using XNA and uploaded for users to rate and play and offer feedback on - do you see that as the key differentiator between Xbox Live Arcade and PSN or WiiWare?

David Edery: To some extent it will certainly help us have more innovative content than either of them, just by definition. With all this random stuff coming from the community, every once in a while there's going to be a real gem in there that you just couldn't have found otherwise, it wouldn't have found its way on to a console. So I certainly think from an innovation perspective it's going to help us leapfrog the competition, effectively until they find a way to duplicate it, assuming they ever do. I've thought of it less in terms of whether it gives us an edge over them, and more in terms of what does this bring to the console that otherwise it would not have seen.

So, can we start serving niche markets that we wouldn't have been able to properly serve before? The example I always like to give is will someone finally make that scuba diving game, where there's really only 15,000 people interested in a hardcore scuba diving simulation, but they really, really want one. And maybe through XNA someone can profitably get one out there. Maybe it's not even a question of profit and they want to get one out there regardless of making money because they're scuba diving fans. Today, there's not really a venue for that. I'm not going to green light a hardcore scuba diving game for Xbox Live Arcade today because there are not enough people who are interested in that. But with XNA it's perfectly possible. So I'm much more interested in it from a perspective of can it be used to satisfy more people, with more diverse content, than anything else.

So it will create niches that you didn't even know were there, that no amount of planning, focus testing and research would ever find?

David Edery: That's it, that's exactly right. One of the other things I hope will happen is that you'll start to see established game developers do new things. With Xbox Live Arcade today, if you wanted to test out a concept before you take it to a retailer you still have to spend x-thousand dollars to get it through certification, it still takes a few guys, six months of their time and so on and so forth. With XNA, who knows, maybe a guy like Will Wright will spin out a game in three weeks, toss it out on XNA and see what happens. Because today, you can't do that, there's no way to reach a console audience like that. This could become a wonderful test bed and you'll start to see super-cool stuff coming from guys who wouldn't really have that opportunity to do that kind of test marketing.

Once the community titles start arriving are we going see an increase in the rate of releases on Xbox Live Arcade rather than just one game a week?

David Edery: We have done some weeks with two titles released. It's not clear yet. You will see an increasing number of weeks with more than one game released, there's no question about that. But we're really sensitive to the fact that Xbox Live Arcade developers, even if they are not investing tens of millions of dollars, you have two or three man companies investing hundreds of thousands of dollars and for them it might as well be millions. It's there lives. So we're very sensitive to them being able to make a reasonable return. While Xbox Live Arcade games are incredibly successful by industry standards, there's no question that today it's harder to have a hit than it was two year's ago when XBLA was new. If we don't watch that carefully, indie developers will lose the opportunities they once had on Xbox Live Arcade, and the only people who will be able to take risks on XBLA will be the publishers who can afford to spread their bets around.

And you're upping the size of Xbox Live Arcade games as well to 350 megabytes?

David Edery: Yeah, it's a steady progress. We've been listening to our partners, listening to our customers to try and get a feel for what's right. We don't want the size limit to hit the roof because we think there's some value in promoting small pick and play experiences that don't cost USD 20 million, it's good for the ecosystem.

[Flawless]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

IGN AU: Braid Preview

Let's kick this preview off with a multiple choice question shall we? Is Braid:

• A) A time-bending 2D platform/puzzle game for Xbox Live Arcade and PC?
• B) A game that takes an eloquent look at the nature of relationships?
• C) An award winning indie game long in development?
• D) All of the above

The answer? D. It's also – crucially - a must-play title, and a game that you really should have on your radar as its release looms ever closer. The reason is simple. Beyond Braid's enchanting hand-painted visual style, beyond its often haunting score, and beyond its musings on love and personal growth (we weren't kidding about B), Braid is one of the most progressive platform/puzzle games we've played in years. The suite of mechanics are nothing short of inspired; where most games would be content adding in one or two innovative gameplay concepts (if we're lucky), Braid comes to the party with at least six – and they're all utilised in clever and often surprising ways.

Can't wait for this.

[The GIGGAS]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Anyone try the PA game yet? I'm hoping it's kickass. I'll probably download it tomorrow night.

[mgoblue]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Anyone try the PA game yet? I'm hoping it's kickass. I'll probably download it tomorrow night.

I hope to download it tonight, but not sure if life will get in the way...I'm hyped though too, I love Gabe and Tycho's sense of humor.

[Rainey]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

I downloaded it earlier, but only the trial version.. color me unimpressed. However, if you are a really big fan maybe you will like it.

[mgoblue]

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

I downloaded it earlier, but only the trial version.. color me unimpressed. However, if you are a really big fan maybe you will like it.

I think it's a cool turn based RPG-ish game...for 20 bucks it's a fun game in the PA type universe...If you don't find the Penny Arcade comic funny then you're better off keeping away.

The blocking/attacking stuff is cool, i like the timing based blocks, special attacks, items, etc....pretty deep overall.

Before playing I just reminded myself that this is a Xbox Live Arcade game...it's tough for me sometimes, I expect the awesomeness of a DVD based game, when the Arcade games are fun in a more limited way...Just takes getting used to