Krayzie

I am hoping the month of May has much better live deals in store...

pinata242

Looking back at the last 2 announcements, we should know Friday or Saturday what's going on for May. Assuming they're still doing it, that is.

lordwow

I'm hoping we see the Magic game soon

PixyJunket

OH MY FUCKING GOD. I am going to murder OutRun's cardiogram achievement.

Anyway, Virtual On Oratorio Tangram, Banjo Tooie and The Maw's final DLC level today.

Decker

Maybe I'm just not one for nostalgia, but I was not at all impressed with the VOOT trial. It felt very clunky, dated and not at all fun, though I assume it's better against actual people instead of AI. Either way, that's a pass for me. And I suppose there's no point in getting B-T until I beat B-K (unless Amazon puts it on sale first). Bottom line : Only Sorry! for me today.

UncleGramps

Yeah, I've never played Virtual On, and after watching a gameplay video, I wonder if it's one of those games that you had to enjoy in its heyday to enjoy now. I'll try the demo but it looked a little dull to me.

I will get Tooie since I love B-K and can't remember if I ever played the sequel back on the N64.

pinata242

I think Virtual On looks better in the videos than it plays. It isn't fluid to me either, but I suppose that's part of the point. Maybe you start to get better mechs(?) later where you can circle-strafe and fire a little more like I expected.

Spicollidriver1

Ok I bought it mainly because my man love for anything saturn or dreamcast almost rivals mine for Nathan Fillion. It is a fun game but one of those games you only pick up once in awhile to have fun with it's not an everyday kind of game, but that is how the original was for me also. One negative thing I can see is the achievements are real easy. Also the demo is way easier then the real game and I am not sure why but I can't beat the second guy on the full game. But I also sucked at the original so I shouldn't be surprised.

fumanstan

Same. Afterwatchign the videos for it, I don't really understand the excitement people are having for it. And it's pretty rough on the eyes.

boredsilly

I missed out on Load Runner back in the day, but just checking out the demo, I've got to say this game is right up my alley. Puzzle + Pacmen-esque gameplay = awesome. Now, I'm retroactively grumpy that I missed out on the $10 snaffu, but this seems like it will be more than worth the $15 they're asking.

I need to grab peggle too. I have it on the PC, but I keep playing the demo over and over just to unwind after work, or to take a study break. I need to just give in.

Decker

Lode Runner is cool. I think they did about as good a job as you could possibly do in an XBLA update. Tons of modes, lots of content. It's worth 1200 points.

Peggle -- what more needs to be said? It's an all-time great casual game.

FusionX

I was a little put off by the negative comments here, but I went ahead and got Virtual On. I can see why some didn't like the demo, but I enjoyed what little I played of the full version. I'm looking forward to playing it on my profile to start unlocking the achievements now.

M Polo

Virtual On is a let down for me. The controls are just way to clunky. A game like this begs for nice smooth movements. I guess nostalgia just isn't there for me on this one.

Bionic Commando MP Demo is out and it takes forever to get connected to a game man.

UncleGramps

After trying the Virtual On demo, I still don't get it. I strafed around and shot at enemy robots and they died. I was getting bored by the 4th opponent and I really feel like I must be missing something here.

Oh well, at least there's Tooie!

Decker

OXM's list of 15 XBLA Games You Should Be Playing But Aren't:
Aces of the Galaxy
Astropop
Catan
Commanders: Attack of the Genos
Feeding Frenzy 2
Gauntlet
Jewel Quest
Mutant Storm Empire
Outpost Kaloki X
Penny Arcade Adventures : Episode One
Roogoo
Schizoid
Switchball
Soltrio Solitaire
Wits & Wagers

I'll vouch for Aces, one of the best on rails shooters out there and for Switchball which is a cool puzzle game. Gotta disagree with Wits & Wagers and that Solitaire game though.

boredsilly

I don't get it either. I could see thinking it was awesome back in the day, but I found the demo to be pretty tedious. But then again, I was never into mechs like that. Still, I'm all for diversity of games on XBLA, and one man's trash is another man's treasure and shit.

PixyJunket

LOOOOOVE Virtual On. But DAYUM it's been forever since I've played it.

I think the controls just take a second to get used to, switch to Twin Stick A mode.

Also, I didn't realize how much of a rip-off (or homage?) Senko no Ronde was of Virtual On.

Krayzie

The controls don't seem too bad. It would play much better with twin sticks though. I tried the Bionic Commando demo yesterday and I don't think the servers were up yet as I let it sit there for a good 10-15 mins and it never found a game.



I think the main issue is that they made the demo way too easy. I could stand there and kill the AI without moving. They should have gave you multiple difficulty settings in the demo. It is also much more fun against real people.

PixyJunket

Basically, this.

It's a versus fighting game at its heart.

Jamieson22

How are people beating the > 350k and such Challenge levels in Peggle? Damn if I am not getting frustrated with the monkey face one (think that is one we are stuck on). I have gotten close but will then get the damn 10k bonus bucket when I need the 100k

What is best strategy to get big points on many of these levels? While I realize a good deal of luck is required, I am starting to wonder if I am missing some key strategic methods...

Shagrath

I'm sorry, but there is absolutely 0 luck needed for Peggle. Every single shot is 100% pre-determined. I found a page once on Peggle's physics and as long as you can calculate your angles, you know exactly where the ball will go.

Jamieson22

Your shots in pool are all pre-determined as well, but that doesn't make it easy to master.

Raul3

There's luck in getting the multiplier. I assume you are using that.

I once got a 6X multiplier (hit the 3X multiplier twice).

Shagrath

Well, you said:
I was just saying there is no luck involved at all. Just like there's no luck in pool/billiards. It's an entirely skills-based game.

I'm not that good at it either, so don't worry. Probably because I spend too much time in Rock Band.

Jamieson22

Is the multiplier the purple peg? Does this change the number of points you get per peg (I thought it just gave ya bonus points).

As for luck, I think Peggle does require luck, unless where the green and purple pegs show up is a skill