Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

**Flawless** · 07-30-2008, 08:20 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Looking at the leaderboards for Geo Wars 2, it's scary how good some people are. 700 million in Pacifism is insane.

**ExtremeGamer** · 07-30-2008, 08:25 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Originally posted by Flawless

Looking at the leaderboards for Geo Wars 2, it's scary how good some people are. 700 million in Pacifism is insane.

WOW!! I thought you were insane when you had 5 mil, then I got 15 mil. LOL

BTW, that is by far my fav mode, it's just addicting as hell. And so is Geo Wars 2, so much more fun than the first one.

**Flawless** · 07-31-2008, 02:56 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Geometry Wars 2: Developer Spotlight

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**ChaseB** · 07-31-2008, 03:14 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Originally posted by ExtremeGamer

WOW!! I thought you were insane when you had 5 mil, then I got 15 mil. LOL

BTW, that is by far my fav mode, it's just addicting as hell. And so is Geo Wars 2, so much more fun than the first one.

Yea I posted a 39 million score and I thought I was the man. But yea, Geo Wars 2 feels like a real game this time.

**Flawless** · 07-31-2008, 07:48 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

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...

Game Detail Page

Hack, slash, and smash your way to victory in this red-hot arcade adventure from the award-winning development studio, The Behemoth! Featuring hand-drawn characters, Castle Crashers® delivers unique hi-res illustrated visuals like nothing you've ever seen before.

Play with up to three friends locally or over Xbox LIVE® and discover the mind-boggling magic and mystery in the amazing world we have created just for you. Save your princess, defend your kingdom, and crash some castles! Play with more than 20 unlockable characters, 40 weapons to customize your hero, and an arsenal of combos and magical attacks to choose from.

Intuitive combo and magic system: Unlock new combos and magical attacks as your character progresses through the game. You have an almost limitless amount of combos to perform alone, or with a group of friends.
Arena mode: This mode allows players to battle each other head-on with four unique modes to choose from!
Experience system: As you fight your way through the various levels of Castle Crashers, your character gains more experience points that will in return give you the option to adjust your four main stats -- Strength, Magic, Defense, and Agility.
Weapons weapons weapons! Each player has the ability to unlock more than 40 weapons.
Animal orbs: These little companions add enhancements to your attributes. Each pet has different abilities to benefit you, with various ways of unlocking each one. Defeat a boss and steal his companion, dig them up, or buy them at a store.
Treasure hunt: Unlockable items, weapons, pet companions, and characters are buried throughout the various levels of Castle Crashers.
Stores: Spread across the various worlds of Castle Crashers, every store has specific items to sell. Collect gold from killing enemies, finding treasures, or opening chests, then take your collected gold to these stores for some weapons, items, character unlocks, and more!

**Flawless** · 08-01-2008, 10:28 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2's Hidden 3D Stage-Viewer Uncovered

If you're anything like us, you've owned Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 since the first moment it was available Wednesday morning. You've also been staring feverishly at the leaderboards, snapping pencils in half as your friends slip a notch above you. Well, take a break, take an Aspirin, and then check out Retro Evolved 2's hidden 3D stage viewer, of sorts. Simply press the Right Bumper and the Back button at the same time during any single-player game to freeze the action and enter the seemingly hidden (i.e. completely undocumented) mode. You can then fly around the play field in 3D space using the analog sticks and trigger -- the left stick tilts and rotates the view, the right stick zooms in and out and pans left and right, and the trigger raise and lower the field of vision (the more crazy things going on on-screen, the cooler it looks).

Things are significantly more...3D than we thought they'd be on the inside, and while you can't play in that mode (unfortunately) it's a neat little trick that will make you appreciate geometry more than your smelly sixth grade teacher ever dared dream.

**Flawless** · 08-02-2008, 05:39 AM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Interview with Jonathan Blow - Braid

While playing through the first few worlds of Braid, I can't help but notice the references to other 2d platformers, such as the huge "The Princess is in another castle," an homage to the first Super Mario Bros. What other things have influenced the development of Braid, along with your general philosophies on game development?

Too many to mention. Definitely Italo Calvino's book "Invisible Cities" was a core influence, as was Alan Lightman's follow-up book "Einstein's Dreams". Gameplay-wise, Braid came from just thinking about the nature of the laws of our universe (what time is and where it comes from, why the rules of quantum mechanics don't seem to mesh with the macroscopic workings of the universe). With regard to rewind, there was a definite influence from other games (seeing rewind used in games like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and Blinx: The Time Sweeper, but not really liking the way it was done, and wanting to do it very differently)

The music in Braid is quite different then the popping sounds of many games today, adding to the surreal nature of the game.

I wanted music that feels organic, and that also accentuates the changing flow of time. Noisy instruments (like drums) don't sound very different whether you play them forward or backward, but the string instruments dominant in the soundtrack (violin and cello) sound very different when reversed. But I also wanted the music to match the mood I had in mind for the game, which was a certain kind of mixed emotion that I hadn't seen in games yet.

What was your philosophy behind the gameplay itself? Time shifting and puzzle mechanics have been tried before, but very few seem to pull it off as well as Braid does.

Keep in mind that all these puzzles were made by the end of 2005 (and I was showing them at places like the Experimental Gameplay Workshop at the GDC), so a lot of the smaller flash games that have been doing time puzzles did it later -- they just have much shorter development cycles!

But there is a core philosophy to Braid's gameplay, which is focus. That means two things. One, that the puzzles you encounter in various worlds are about the specific behavior of time in that world -- there is no puzzle in World 3 that could have been done in World 2, for example. They are in World 3 because that is where they had to be. Two, that there are a minimal number of extraneous objects in the levels. The levels are about presenting the puzzles to you in as simple and clear a manner as possible. It is easy to make any puzzle harder by making it more complicated; it is much more interesting to make a puzzle difficult (or just interesting) by stripping it down to its bare essentials, to distill it down into almost an abstract expression of what the player has to learn from its particular situation.

Braid comes out next Wednesday, August 6th. I recommend everyone at least demo the trial, and if you like it, support Jonathan by buying the game! It is truely a great game.

**Flawless** · 08-04-2008, 01:09 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Despite Microsoft denying it, Braid is 1200 points. That's not a good sign for Castle Crashers price.

Summer of Arcade: Braid - XBLA - Wednesday

The second week of Summer of Arcade is hitting XBLA with Braid on Wednesday.

While the premise sounds familiar, your surroundings and the way you play are definitely not. Rescue a princess who has been abducted but do so through incredible painterly worlds and manipulate time to solve puzzles and get through levels.

Jonathan Blow brings you this new take on the platformer through Number None, Inc. and Microsoft games. It can be yours for 1200 Microsoft Points and is rated E 10+ for Everyone over the age of 10 by the ESRB.

**mgoblue** · 08-04-2008, 01:20 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

I paid 1600 (I think it was that) for Penny Arcade's game, and that was tough as it is. These Arcade games are coming up to 20 bucks now, how long until they're 30, or 40? For me at least it makes them less of a casual purchase and more of a thought required one.

It's weird, I can spend more than that at dinner or a movie, etc but with games it's a different issue. Especially since the Arcade titles are usually a slightly lower tier than normal games. Hell, Wii games normally can cost 20-30 and you get a bit more. Just a concerning trend, for me at least.

**bkfount** · 08-04-2008, 01:27 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

I have no real problem with Braid being $15, it looks great. However, when the $15 price was leaked, MS shouldn't say it's incorrect and then reveal that it is $15 just days later. Pretty stupid.

**Flawless** · 08-04-2008, 03:21 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Braid is still a buy for me, but it and Castle Crashers are going to look kind of bad coming in at higher prices than next weeks release of Bionic Commando Rearmed.

**mgoblue** · 08-04-2008, 03:34 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Originally posted by Flawless

Braid is still a buy for me, but it and Castle Crashers are going to look kind of bad coming in at higher prices than next weeks release of Bionic Commando Rearmed.

Just makes it tougher for people to buy...if the games are deep enough/enough content/great gameplay then it's still worth it.

**Miles_Yuhas** · 08-05-2008, 02:03 AM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

I won't pay these prices for these games. It's pretty ridiculious. I won't pay over 10 bucks for an arcade game.

**bkfount** · 08-05-2008, 11:24 AM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Originally posted by Miles_Yuhas

I won't pay these prices for these games. It's pretty ridiculious. I won't pay over 10 bucks for an arcade game.

then just be happy with all the sega genesis ports and such. For the XBLA service to expand, people will have to expect to pay more than 800 points for quality games. The developers making these games are smaller indy groups of people as well, so these prices allow them to spend more time and effort on games.

It's true that MS said they were raising the royalties they get from XBLA games, but Braid is also riding the Portal-ish puzzle game hype train. It'll sell at this price, which is why MS decided to set it to $15.

**Miles_Yuhas** · 08-05-2008, 04:49 PM

Re: Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

Originally posted by bkfount

then just be happy with all the sega genesis ports and such. For the XBLA service to expand, people will have to expect to pay more than 800 points for quality games. The developers making these games are smaller indy groups of people as well, so these prices allow them to spend more time and effort on games.

It's true that MS said they were raising the royalties they get from XBLA games, but Braid is also riding the Portal-ish puzzle game hype train. It'll sell at this price, which is why MS decided to set it to $15.

I know thats true. Therefore I won't be buying arcade games except for the rare purchase such as the amazing Geo Wars 2.

Xbox Live Marketplace and Live Arcade discussion Part III

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