After the nuclear fallout of this E3′s next-generation showdown, Fable creator Peter Molyneux voiced his personal disappointment with the demeanor of our console makers. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, he said, “It seemed to me like two frat houses. It’s like ‘oh you’ve done that, so we’ll do this.’ They are kind of defining each other’s strategy. I think Sony changed its strategy because of what Microsoft did and Microsoft changed its strategy due to what Sony did.”
After the smug presentation of Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, it’s not hard to understand what Molyneux is addressing. But he was also dismayed by the mixed messaging of Microsoft leading up to this point. Read the rest of this entry »
Generations after the release of Sergio Leone’s classic western movies, two game developers from different companies sat back to listen to the iconic music. As the trumpets sang of the modern gladiators pining for infamy, these gamers looked at each other and instinctively thought, “We have to make a fighting game out of this.”
This is more or less what Yousuf Mapara told us back at PAX East where his studio, Switchblade Monkeys, showed off Secret Ponchos, a game has grown from a clubhouse hobby project to a unique take on competitive multiplayer.
After a brief look, we instinctively described it as a third-person isometric-action twin-stick shooter. “Yeah, that’s a cool way of describing it,” Mapara, the game’s creative director, agreed. “You know, it’s a hard game to describe, because you can’t say it’s a team shooter, you can’t say it’s a fighting game, you can’t say it’s a MOBA, but it has a little bit of everything. That’s what we like — we made up something that’s its own thing, but once you play it it feels really natural. It’s reminiscent of something… but I don’t know what it is.” Read the rest of this entry »
Today, Microsoft confirmed that Twisted Pixel’s latest game LocoCycle will be available on the Xbox marketplace on the day the Xbox One is released. It will also launch on the Xbox 360, although it may not be on the same day.
That’s certainly much later than the expected summer release, especially for the studio that has almost always been featured in Summer of Arcade. However, it makes sense that Microsoft would want to capitalize on one of their exclusive games for their new generation while also giving Twisted Pixel more time to polish it up.
In LocoCycle, you play as the sentient motorcycle I.R.I.S. on the run from her manufacturers while towing along the innocent mechanic Pablo. The game frantically mixes driving, shooting, quick-time events, and crazy midair combos. We named it one of our most anticipated games this year.
Thanks IGN
As the rumors suggested, the long-anticipated State of Decay is confirmed to hit Xbox Live Arcade this week on June 5! It will retail at 1600 Microsoft Points. State of Decay is a zombie survival simulator that tasks you to build a base, manage your survivors, and scout for supplies amongst the horde. You must utilize the skills of each person to stay well-stocked, healthy, and hopeful. We’re huge fans of State of Decay, and we have the previews to prove it. If the hype hasn’t gotten to you yet, check out the launch trailer, skills Q&A, and 54 minutes of footage. And of course, we will have a full review.
In the above screenshot of the Xbox One dashboard, you will notice that the categories above lists “Games” alongside other categories like “TV & Movies” and “Music” with equal representation. This matches our current Xbox 360 dashboard. However, in the Xbox 360, “Games” is further divided into categories such as “featured,” “arcade,” “on demand,” “indie,” etc. Each category represents the different tiers of games in expected presentation, length, genre, and pricing. Obviously, our own website is based exclusively around the Arcade games.
Well, it looks like all that will change with the Xbox One. In an interview with Eurogamer, Microsoft VP Phil Harrison said the following:
Phil Harrison: In the past we had retail games which came on disc, we had Xbox Live Arcade and we had Indie Games, and they had their own discrete channels or discrete silos. With Xbox One and the new marketplace, they’re games. We don’t make a distinction between whether a game is a 50-hour RPG epic or whether it is a puzzle game or whether it is something that fits halfway between the two–
Eurogamer: So no Xbox Live Arcade, no Xbox Live Indie Games – just games?
Phil Harrison: Just games, right. Search, recommendation, what your friends are playing, game DVR – these all go to helping you discover the games you want to play, so I think we solve fantastically some of the challenges that independent developers face, particularly around discovery and connecting their game to an audience, by some of the platform features we have in the machine itself.
Your Xbox dashboard may be getting another facelift soon! Anonymous sources whispered to The Verge that Microsoft is planning an update to prepare for the still-unknown 360 successor’s style and networking specifications. It will allegedly enter public beta in late June or early July, giving us ample time to recover from the massive reveal event coming next week.
Chances are this update will lay the foundation for cross-compatibility in the network. When the system launches, Microsoft wants to keep you in touch with friends and updates while also supporting the new features of its new machine. They did the same thing when they carried over Xbox Live from the original Xbox to the 360.
Furthermore, rumor has it this update will end the cumbersome Microsoft Points system. Finally, we will be able to shop with real money!
Source: The Verge
The folks at DarkSeas Games are huge fans of the classic Road Rash series, but we haven’t seen a new entry in over a decade. DarkSeas is fixing that. After releasing a trailer showing their current prototype, they turned to Kickstarter to enlist public help for Road Redemption, a spiritual successor that will bring the beloved classic into the 21st century.
That Kickstarter ended on May 12 only $5,000 short of its stretch goal to bring it to Xbox Live Arcade. Luckily, that goal of $178,000 was reached through a secondary fund through Paypal after its finish. DarkSeas still has a lot of work to do, so don’t expect a release before their target of August next year.
Road Redemption enlists you in a motorcycle gang fighting for control of the roads across the American Midwest. DarkSeas promises a significant learning curve true to the classics. High-speed chases throw off your shooting, but with a little practice you will be shoving intruders into oncoming traffic and slicing off their heads with a katana. DarkSeas also plans to incorporate a multiplayer network that escalates online matchmaking into full-on gang warfare between your own factions.
To see more about Road Redemption, watch their pledge video on their Kickstarter page.
Mere weeks after the launch of the hotly anticipated Xbox 360 in 2005, rumor spread like wildfire of a dreaded video-game Grim Reaper. We didn’t know why, how or when he would strike — all we knew was that he manifested himself with three red lights, cursing 360 consoles with a permanent GAME OVER. Microsoft ensured us that it was a minor problem that happened only to a select few, but time eventually revealed the ugly truth: everyone was at risk. After class-action lawsuits and bitter word of mouth, Microsoft finally put a three-year warranty in place, guaranteeing that all systems affected by the red lights would be fixed at no charge.
Chances are you have your own story about the Three Red Lights of Death. Perhaps your console was under warranty and returned after a few weeks. Maybe you bought a new one to skip the wait. You may have even cracked it open and somehow fixed the problem yourself. For me, my first system was killed by Overlord, one month before the launch of Halo 3. Four years later, my second system croaked after the first level of Gears of War 3, at which point in time the warranty had expired.
The Wizard of X
A replacement Xbox 360 Slim would have set me back at least $300, so I was somewhat relieved when my local GameStop referred me to David Peyregne, owner of Computers for Less. Peyregne is an experienced technician who has run his own business fixing computers and video game systems for over a decade. A former journalism student who turned to computer science, Peyregne sometimes lets his southern drawl come through his hollow voice that was scarred from polyps at a young age. With a husky explanation, he handed my system back to me, good as new, for $100, a sum much less daunting than the cost of a new console. Recently, I sat down with Peyregne to get the whole story on the Red Ring of Death: what causes it and how does Peyregne fix it? As it turns out, it took him a long time to figure it all out.
UPDATE: After checking with Andy Schatz, the game’s creator, the trial should be on its way soon.
Original post below:
After being delayed last-minute to fix a bug, Monaco finally released today on Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 MSP. However, if you go to its page on the dashboard and even on xbox.com, there is no option to try the game out for free. Huh?
Luckily, we do have a review for you, but we wanted to play it with its completed, updated version before passing all judgment for you. You can look for that very soon. As for the trial version, some games have launched with no trial before, so it may be available later for those of you still on the fence.
After being delayed to include the most recent title updates, European fans of Minecraft will get their retail edition on June 28, about three weeks after the North American release on June 4. Purchasers will also be treated to a 48-hour trial to an Xbox Live Gold account to test out the co-op.
We already know that the downloadable version is ridiculously popular, but maybe this will open the game up to people without Xbox Live in their neighborhood. Or maybe some of you just want a disc copy. Either way, it will be interesting to see the sales of this edition.
Source: VG 24/7
