Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

I'm waiting on Trials to be a deal of the week.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Dang free!?

I don't get why they don't 'clearance' out their older ones, I can't imagine they are still getting tons of hits on them for $10 a pop+additional DLC costs.

Thanks for the reply.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Here's a quick overview of how to play Magic if you're new to it. Clip is from Nerdcord Rising.

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Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Yup. And of course, I'd already paid full price for the game. -rolleyes-

Serious Sam HD comes to XBLA on Wednesday for 1200 points. Not sure if it'll be worth it, but will check out the demo.

Joystiq reports that Sonic Adventure will be coming to XBLA apparently. That's a game I've always wanted to play. Hope it pans out.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...isting_580.jpg

Speaking of retro console games coming to XBLA :Where the hell is Perfect Dark HD? :mad:

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

They have the XBLA Platinum Hits collection but so far the select is very limited and for the most part the reduction is just a 400 points reduction.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/arcadehits/

They really should expand the program and almost force games into it 2 years after release. I imagine the reason the old classics like Pac-Man and Dig Dug have not been discounted is because they like to keep the 400 point minimum for games. At least until Game Room comes out. Every once and a while we get a sale to bring a game under the 400 point price but that only happens two or three times a year.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

I wonder if Sonic Adventure holds up. I loved it when I played it (in Japanese) on my import Dreamcast. But that was a good long while ago.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

The problem with Trials is it has been a top 3 seller every week since it came out. No incentive to put it on sale if people buy it anyway. Other games like Shadow Complex had a drop off after Summer and got put on sale to generate more interest.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

There is no official list of "sales" of XBLA games. It's consistantly in the top 3 XBLA games played which confirms that it's a big seller with a lot of replayability at least.

___________________________

Here's a bit of XBLA news:

Risk Headed to XBLA
Global domination with a twist on the way.

January 11, 2010 - Risk, a board game that has long been a most wanted for the Xbox Live Arcade, has finally been announced by EA. Dubbed Risk: Factions, this take on the strategic game of global domination will feature "outlandish factions, a unique art style, new gameplay twists and off-beat humor," according to the press release announcing it. Risk: Factions is due to release in early 2010 and has at this point only been announced for the Xbox Live Arcade. No pricing info was offered.

Five playable "oddball" factions will be offered in this version of Risk with both objective and conquest game modes. New maps, online play, dynamic terrain, "head-to-head unique animated combat missions" and "overkill" moments are on tap, as well as a few Xbox Avatar awards.

Chip Lange, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA's Hasbro Division offered a statement in celebration of the announcement. "For the past half-century, millions of RISK fans have been consumed with ruling the world, underscoring the board game's enduring appeal. We're now going bring that masterpiece experience to life and add other amazing layers of XBLA-style gameplay that will take conquests to a new level, including the ability to battle players from around the globe for the first time, truly giving new meaning to the phrase 'world domination'."

Risk: Factions is being developed by the same studio that made Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers, Stainless games. Power House Animation has been tapped for the creation of game cinematics.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Risk is a gateway drug to Axis & Allies!

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Risk is awful.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

I rather see Axis&Allies or Fortress America but Risk would be a nice add.

Any and all games in the MB Gamemaster series would be welcome.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

The newest "Black Ops" version is pretty fun.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

From Major:

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

WTF? All the HFGN were 400 points just a few months ago.

I wonder if there's any point in getting this if you have Orange Box already, unless you're a Gamerscore whore. I'm assuming not.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

I think there were new modes added to it, but I'm not sure. I never got the Orange Box because I had no interest to play the other games in there and, while I'm not a gamerscore whore, I am a completionist whore and I would have HAD to play those games. I have a different disease.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Portal: Still Alive adds 14 new challenges maps that are not a part of the original story. If you are a complete Portal fan then it may be worth it, otherwise with The Orange Box now costing $20 new and even less used, I just don't see how Portal: Still Alive is worth it.

$10 (or less) more and you get Half-Life 2, both episodes and Team Fortress 2.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Those challenge maps are free for the PC version which I also have. I'm passing on the deals for January. The FGN one is really confusing. I bought all of mine when they were 400 points, but this time they only put battleship on sale? Makes no sense when you consider they put the complete FGN out on a disc and it was selling for $20 at some places.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Tried the Serious Sam HD demo. I guess it's exactly what I expected -- Doom-style floaty early-FPS gameplay with sharper graphics. I suppose it's a little fun in short bursts, but considering what $15 can buy in a retail game these days, this seems a little underwhelming for 1200 points. Might grab it on a sale, if Microsoft ever decides to put a game I don't already own on sale.

Now I'm not saying that no XBLA games are worth 1200 points, but it if I'm going to spend that kind of money, I don't want to sit there and think "there are so many similar 360 games in stores with far more content and better graphics that play way better for about the same money". Things like Castle Crashers, Shadow Complex, Trials HD and Battlefield 1943 are games that give you a unique fun XBLA experience and each is easily worth its 1200 point price tag. I just can't imagine anyone concluding that this archaic game is better than Orange Box, Wolfenstein, Call of Juarez Bound In Blood or any of a huge number of other FPS games that can be found for about $15 with some looking.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Death By Cube gameplay video:
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Hey, it's a graphically unimpressive twin-stick shooter. Now THAT is the sort of game that the 360's been missing!

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Sometimes this thread is more bitter than chewing aspirin. :lol:

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Nope, that's just Decker. :D

I can't argue about the price, but I will say content-wise Sam is a long ass game. To finish this game you will be putting a hell of a lot more time into it than something like Braid that's one-and-done in a few hours.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

It's really just one person.

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Guess I win the Gumpy Old Man award! :lol:

I guess I just miss the Summer of the Arcade or something. It's been a long time since I've found a new XBLA game I've actually wanted. Though to be fair, following this thread, I don't know if anybody here has found an XBLA game since Shadow Complex that they've really enjoyed (besides Superfro liking Zombie Apocalypse).

Anyway, sorry to bring everyone down. If anyone actually found that Death By Cube footage scintillating and exhilarating, I deeply apologize for offending you. ;)

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

Don't forget Sturgeon's Law: 90 percent of everything is crud. In the last year or so, especially with Summer of Arcade and DOTW specials, XBLA is actually doing much better than that, so I'm satisfied.

Besides, if all XBLA games were great, we wouldn't appreciate the truly outstanding ones. Plus we, or I at least, would never have enough time to play most of them let alone all of them.

But i do agree the 360, both disk and XBLA, has a glut of a few types of games, and each succeeding one has to do something different to be attractive.

I bit on Magic last night. Of course I lost 2 of the first 3 matches I played against the AI. But what the heck, 400 points - a real deck of Magic cards costs that much and that won't get you anywhere. I'm looking forward to Vandal Hearts and Dungeon Twister - but now I need more points :(

Re: XBLA Thread Part 400 - Pinata's got a brown nose
 

What bugs me is that there was a long run of decent-to-very good games starting with the Spring of the Arcade (or whatever they called that cluster that included Uno Rush and Flock) and stretching through the late spring and early summer games including Peggle, Magic The Gathering, Monkey Island and Battlefield 1943 and ending with the Summer of the Arcade. Since then, nothing really great has come out and every week I hope there's something that I'll really like. But there's not, just sales of those decent games I already bought. It's discouraging and pretty disappointing.
And for Major Nelson to make an early announcement about an upcoming XBLA game and find out it looks like any nondescript Indie game, well that was the cherry on top.