Main reason why I held off on snagging it for awhile. GW is just a game, for the life of me, I just plateau and really don't get better at all after a certain point.

No way is it over 1600 points. I expect 1200, but will probably still go at 1600. Over that is unprecedented and I don't think they would do that for a new Arcade game, even a deep, highly anticipated one.

Yeah, with GW, I seem to have plateaued also, and can't get close to doing any better - regardless of how much I play, I'm just not improving.

Stoked for Bionic Commando - I played through the NES version multiple times, but it's been a while. However, I'll be getting it through PSN rather than XBLA, as I have way more space on my PS3 hard drive, and I heard you can upload it to the PSP to play on that.

Bionic Commando is the first XBLA game I'll be downloading on the first day in a while, can't wait.

I hadn't heard that, are you sure? Either way, I'm getting the 360 version since I've stockpiled discount points.

And in case anyone was at all worried, it will indeed be 800 points on Wed. Curiously, Major Nelson did not mention Pub Games on his blog today when he announced Bionic Commando. I wonder why not...

I believe slop is correct. I remember reading on the Playstation blog that BC will support Remote Play on the PSP. I've also heard some people on the 1Up podcasts saying that the game plays better on the PS3 than the 360 due to the 360's D-pad sucking.

I plan to try the demo on each platform before I decide which version to buy.

Will you use both joysticks? Because if not, I could use my SC IV Arcade stick for the game instead, I suppose.

I'm not sure, but I expect that it will only use the one D-pad/analog stick. If that's the case, then an arcade stick would probably be a good option.

First Bionic Commando Rearmed review is up. IGN gave it a 9.4, no online co-op only local. They also complained about the 360 d-pad sucking, but it still looks like a must have game for 360 or PS3.

XBLA Review
http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/897/897976p1.html

PSN Review
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/897/897994p1.html

Im not big on XBLA but Bionic Commando Rearmed is a for sure buy for me.

Not me. I set my previous high scores in the first few days, then couldn't touch them for a while. In the last few days though, I have been getting better and better and setting high scores all over the place.

Maybe the 3-4 hour marathon sessions in GW2 are over for me, but I can see that I will be firing this up constantly from the foreseeable future.

I just passed the 100 day mark on Pac-Man: CE over on 360 voice. Surprisingly I'm still in the top 20 players over there. The number one guy has logged over 400 days.

Annother early announcement for 9/3/08:

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball releases Sept 3rd


After experiencing a delay or two, Gamecock has finally revealed the release date for their sure to be XBLA hit, Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, and it's coming sooner than you expect. The newly new official Dodgeball release date is Wednesday, September 3rd with pricing still yet to be announced. Remember too that not only are pirates and ninjas featured in the game, but we've already heard that zombies AND robots will be tossing around red balls too. Insta-buy? Maybe ... but only if the game's dodgeball physics engine is up to par and if there's an option to always have ninjas win.

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Looks to be considerably better than Double-D Dodgeball, huh?

And another word on the success of Braid:

Braid is highest rated XBLA game ever, around 28.5K units sold

After only a few days on the market, the time bending platform puzzler Braid has been tearing up the critical charts. According to the official Braid blog, the game is now the highest rated Xbox Live Arcade game yet released. It currently holds a 92 average on Metacritic and 93 on Game Rankings. According to Metacritic, Braid is in fact the tenth highest rated Xbox 360 game. The game edges out Mass Effect and is currently tied with Guitar Hero II and Rock Band. With one more percentage point Braid would become the eight highest rated 360 title.

Additionally, the official Braid blog reports that the VGChartz estimate that the game has sold about 28.5 thousand units "seems to be in the right neighborhood" but adds that "a lot more" will be needed before the game becomes profitable.

I wonder how much more Braid would've sold if it was $10.

I think you guys need to get over the "OMG! Now that a game is $15, it's going to break my budget!"

I can't wait to see the shitstorm of people complaining if Castle Crashers comes out at $20.

As I've said before, it's not what it's worth, it's what's expected. The Dark Knight could have sold a lot of tickets at $15 each, but that's not how it's done. The ONLY complaints I've heard about Braid is regarding its length and its price. If it were 800 points, I have to assume it would have been one of the biggest hits ever in XBLA and the developers would be seeing profit much quicker. Let's see what BCR does this week for comparison. I think Braid is worth 1200 points, but it was a mistake to not price it at 800 points. Seems like hubris to me.

Batman: IMAX is about $15 for 2.5 hours of entertainment. Same with countless dvds people buy and only watch once (I'm guilty of this as well). If I can get 3-5 hours of entertainment out of something for $15, that's pretty good.

*I didn't pick up this game, because I have a lot of other games on my plate already. However, I'm not opposed to dropping 1200 MSP on it in the future.

Also if it was 800 points all those debates over length would all but disappear.

I think one way they killed the replayability of Braid is with the achievement distribution.

I think they shouldn't have given 60 of the 200 points just for clearing the game and only 15 for the near-impossible 45-minute speed run. I'd be more interested in trying for that if it wasn't so hard for so little. God, I'm so fucking lame.

I did love the story. The little "twist" at the end, as I perceived it, really turned it all around, I thought. At least if I understood it.

I'm not really complaining about the price, but the Batman comparison is lame - in order to play a $15 XBLA game you still need to buy/own a console, a TV, an internet connection etc... With Batman Imax, you just need to get to the theater.

Don't forget gasoline costs to get to the theater.

Not to mention the cost of the car itself! With video games, you can just order everything online and get it delivered right to your door. No car needed!

$1 bus ticket

You and your real-world logic have no place in this discussion!