Perhaps lost in the shuffle of Gears of War 2 is the announcement that community-created games developed via XNA Game Studio 2 will be available to download via Xbox Live. Seven (7) of these games will be available free! Here are the 7 coming sometime today. One quick note…this games are available to play for a limited time only. Once you download, you’ll have 17 days of play.
Here’s how to access the games (thx HazyCloud):
*Xbox 360 HDD Required* Download the XNA Creators Club Game Launcher in order to play the special preview selection of game demos created by the community using XNA Game Studio. When your download is complete, go to the Games Library, select My Games, and navigate to the XNA Creators Club category along the top. From there, press Y to view, download, and play the available trial games for this limited period.
JellyCar - Created by Walaber from the United States, this game is about driving a squishy car through squishy worlds, trying to reach the exit.
Little Gamers - This is a 2-D high definition action side-scroller based on the famous Web comic “Little Gamers” created by Loïc Dansart, a 24-year-old software developer from Belgium.
Dishwasher - An intense 2-D action platform game created by James Silva from the United States, “Dishwasher” has a unique, highly stylized look and fast and fluid action.
TriLinea - This puzzle game created by Edison S. Prata Jr., Renato Pelizzari da Silva and Davi da Silva Prata from Brazil mixes fast-paced action with strategy.
RocketBall - Created by Tyler Wanlass, Patrick Murty and Todd Barrons of the United States, this neighborhood game of dodgeball explodes onto the street with fast-paced multiplayer action.
ProximityHD - This game, created by Brian Cable from the United States, takes the essence of strategy games — battles for control of territory and armies — and distills it down to a simple, easy-to-understand set of rules for casual players.
Culture - Created by independent game development company Hidden Path Entertainment from the United States, “Culture” contains challenging games and puzzles based on beautiful flowers.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is about to get interesting finally. It looks like Epic Games and Microsoft are getting ready to unleash Gears of War 2 upon the world. And they’re looking to do that this year…in November! I don’t think anyone doubted this would be a franchise but it’s a bit surprising that November 2008 is the release. I guess Epic works pretty fast.
I imagine we’ll see the first trailer for this game during Microsoft’s keynote and soon thereafter in the Xbox Live Marketplace as part of the Bringing It Home campaign.
Prepare for another Emergence Day!
I must have been a sheltered child because I have no idea what this game is. However, N+ (N Plus for the symbol challenged) makes its way to the Xbox Live Arcade despite my lack of knowledge.
Play as a lone ninja or destroy the robots with a friend in Cooperative, Survival or Race modes using local or Internet co-op via Xbox LIVE. N+ boasts 2-D Ragdoll physics with incredibly styled next-generation graphics for an intense visual experience. With unlimited lives, over 300 levels to master and a built-in level editor for when you crave more, the gold-searching and robot-smashing adventures are seemingly endless!
When: Available Now
How much: 800 Microsoft Points
2K Sports shared a series of interviews with me on their upcoming game, MLB 2K8. The videos feature Major League Baseball pro Dontrell Willis talking about various features in the game as well as sharing some candid comments about his career. I’ve hooked you up with all three so get your viewing on below.
Video: MLB 2K8 Interviews with Dontrell Willis (below)
I’ve never really been a fan of turn-based RPGs. I’m not sure why but I’ve always simply held them low on my “fun factor” list. That has changed recently after playing Lost Odyssey. The game is so beautiful that it makes you forget that you’re playing a turn-based RPG. The battle sequences are just so beautiful that I was looking forward to each one. Contrary to what some would have you believe, the load times are no where near 12-30 seconds. In fact, they’re nothing that hinders the gameplay at all. I think at most I had a 6 second load going from scene to scene.
The opening sequence of the game when you see Kaim (main character) and he’s going up against thousands of enemies was a moment of inspiration. When it got to the battle sequence, I was inspired and ready to deliver the punishment. I can’t believe I’m saying it but I enjoyed the hell out of the battles. Another thing that stood out to me was how easy it was to get into the action of the game. It only took a few tutorials and before I knew it, I was fully into the Lost Odyssey world. Formations, skills, ring assembly, skill sets, spells….I knew how to do it all.
I do want to point out a couple of things that troubled me. There is no real map of the areas you visit and that includes having no icons or legend to identify key points of each area. It gets confusing at times when you’re in an area looking for the weapons guy or the rest area. You have to open each door and file it in your memory instead of simply having a legend. I also found it odd that during battle, the enemy’s health isn’t displayed. Is this the way these RPGs work? Do they not give you any idea of how much HP remains on an enemy so you know how close you are to defeating them?
Despite these two things, my first impressions of Lost Odyssey are incredibly good. I love this game and I can’t believe I’m saying that about a turn-based game. It’s beautiful, the voice acting is surprisingly good, the characters are interesting and the battles are engaging. There are four (4) discs to this game so I expect many hours of fun. Stay tuned for more and hopefully a full review.
I was on the elevator heading to work and I saw a quick news splash on the “elevator news update” that Toshiba has pulled out of the HD DVD business. This is no shock considering all of the studios, retail outlets and online rental companies that suddenly decided to join Blu-ray.
“This was a very difficult decision to make … but when we thought about the trouble we would cause to consumers and our partners, we decided it was not right for us to keep going with such a small presence,” Toshiba Chief Executive Atsutoshi Nishida told a news conference.
It’s no surprise how I felt about a Blu-ray win after my article Format Wars was posted in Truth Serum. However, I hope that this leads to cheaper Blu-ray players outside of the PS3. And I’m also curious to see if Microsoft sticks to its statements of supporting the winning format no matter which was victorious. Could a Blu-ray add-on be in the near future for Xbox 360 owners?
From the floor of the Game Developers Conference, courtesy of my friends at Sierra Entertainment, comes new Prototype media. Here are four (4) new screenshots and a developer diary highlighting the design of New York City in the game. I’m ready to see what this Alex Mercer character can do in this game. It’s like Crackdown mixed with Aliens and a little of Puppet Master mixed in. Should be fun eh?
Check out the video diary. It’s pretty interesting.
Video: Prototype Developer Diary (below)
How many of you are ready for the visual upgrade to Capcom’s Street Fighter franchise? It has long been a staple for other 2D fighters and to be honest, it’s looking pretty good. Street Fighter IV is set to introduce a new visual style and even new characters. Abel just so happens to be one of those characters and as you can see in the screenshot below, he’s laying the smack down on Guile. I’ve never been a “fighter master” but I’m digging the new style so I might just devote some time to master some skills.
Screenshots: Street Fighter IV - Abel
Happy Monday. I’m home relaxing. Get ready for another Bringing It Home campaign brought straight to the Xbox Live Marketplace. This week Microsoft plans to deliver VIP access to the show via their Xbox Live Marketplace service. Does this mean the same for all members of Xbox Live; Gold and Silver alike? Who knows. The festivities begin this week so be sure your Xbox 360 is turned on and ready to download some goodies. I expect plenty of Inside Xbox features this week.
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is the world’s largest professionals-only game industry event. Presented every spring in San Francisco, it is the essential forum for learning, inspiration, and networking for the creators of computer, console, handheld, mobile, and online games.
EA is gearing up for Army of Two finally. I’m happy about that because I’ve had high hopes for it when it was first announced and especially since seeing it last year at EA’s Studio Showcase. Combat, Comaraderie and Cash. The cinematic trailers have always been great on this game and I just hope that they can capture an ounce of how good the video media is and translate that to the game. It ran into some trouble a few months ago but it seems like EA is ready to roll with it now. Let’s hope for the best with the strange mix of humor and ass kickin’ it has.
Video: Army of Two - Back to Iraq
