Originally Posted by Decker (Post 9600301)

360voice.com has been down/sub-functional for a while. Now we can finally see those recent XBLA numbers. For me, the big surprise was the big discrepancy between Monkey Island SE and Splosion Man. Both were big sellers, but I was pretty surprised that Monkey Island outsold Splosion by more than 1000 among users on the site (2836 to 1826). While I love both games and think both are bargains at 800 points each, I really thought that Splosion Man had by far the better demo. Also, since Monkey Island had no new game content, I thought many would pass on this version. I guess the familiarity of the franchise helped it sell. It's the first good selling point & click adventure, far outselling the two other recent titles (W&G sold 292, Sam & Max sold 390).

In less successful news, Madballs in Babo : Invasion only had 137 copies on day one (at 800 points; imagine if it were 1200 points as originally planned). Tour de France 2009 sold a miserable 75. Honestly, I'm surprised it sold even that well; that game was awful and looked like ass. I honestly didn't think Madballs was that bad a demo. I think it might have been hurt coming out when it did : one week after Battlefield 1943, the same day as Monkey Island and one week before the Summer of the Arcade. If it had come out the same day as that robot badminton game, I bet it would have done at least a little better.

Originally Posted by fumanstan (Post 9600361)

Monkey Island :up:

Originally Posted by Decker (Post 9600420)

IIRC, Lucas Arts promised more remakes from their vaults if this sold well. I'd say the ball's in their court now.

Originally Posted by pinata242 (Post 9600908)

I sat down with 'Splosion Man a bit again tonight and it was just so frustrating and enjoyable all at once. It's really bizarre. I started on 2-1 and ended up on 2-11 or 2-12. It was smooth sailing until 2-5 and 2-6. Cripes were they tough! I died a lot, but wasn't about to go the coward's way and wear that tutu, nosiree.
.... Also, can you go back and replay specific levels to get the cakes you missed?

Originally Posted by pinata242 (Post 9600908)

Has anybody beaten it yet? What's "Hardcore Mode"? I'm guessing it just disables the level checkpoints and if you die you start the whole level over again.

Originally Posted by pinata242 (Post 9602088)

Found out that it not only disables checkpoints, but every enemy 1-hit kills you.

Originally Posted by pinata242

Fuck, FUCK! Run, motherfucker, RUN!!!

Originally Posted by superfro (Post 9605131)

Before talk moves off of 'Splosion Man and onto Capcom/Marvel tomorrow, it sounds like we may be getting to talk with some folks from Twisted Pixel and the production company that is responsible for the awesome end credit sequences. If you guys have any questions you'd like us to ask them feel free to shoot me a PM and we'll try to work them all in. :)

Originally Posted by Spicollidriver1 (Post 9605491)

DEcker did you quote the wrong post?

Originally Posted by Decker (Post 9606313)

No. That's what I'd ask Twisted Pixel. I LOVE Splosion Man, but it gets me really frustrated sometimes. It's not the sort of old school platformer that you know instantly is near impossible (Mega Man style); you always think you've got a shot of passing an area, but it requires a short burst of perfection that seems really tough to master. It's the good, addictive sort of frustrating, but it's super-frustrating nevertheless.

Originally Posted by Spicollidriver1 (Post 9606382)

I get it now at first it didn't register I thought you were talking about the hardcore difficulty.

Originally Posted by Michael Corvin (Post 9606833)

I finally started Splosion Man last night. Made it up to 1-11 at lunch. Awesome game but a bit repetitive. So far a few levels at a time is enough for me.

Originally Posted by UncleGramps (Post 9607019)

I agree. I have the most fun by playing through maybe 5 or 6 levels in a sitting.

BTW, that first boss fight is annoying. One hit kills and lots of trial and error don't make for a fun time.

Originally Posted by Joystiq

So, here's an interesting promotion. A press release just hit the ol' Joystiq inbox, claiming that those who buy all of the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade titles will be treated to 800, also known as $10 in Microsoft's funny money. This calls for copy and paste!

July 22: 'Splosion Man 800 ($10)
July 29: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 1200 ($15)
August 5: TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-shelled 1200 ($15)
August 12: Trials HD 1200 ($15)
August 19: Shadow Complex 1200 ($15)
Just adding those up -- carry the one --- that's a free $10 for spending $70 on Xbox Live. Keep in mind it's $10 you can only spend on Xbox Live (or Zune Marketplace). While the deal might seem silly at first glance, it does essentially boil down to five XBLA games for $60, the price of one retail game. And, as another Joystiq editor pointed out, that retail game could never be 'Splosion Man.

It's a nice bonus if you already plan to pick up all the games. If you don't, you'll be saving money anyway. Everybody wins!

Originally Posted by pinata242 (Post 9607328)

That is a good deal. I'm only getting the first and last for sure, maybe TMNT next week. Would be nice if they did a 200 for 3, 400 for 4, 800 for 5 kind of deal ;)