GamerBytes

Cletus Clay For XBLA - From The Makers Of Platypus

2008-11-21T04:56:01Z

Tuna Snax and Squashy Software have revealed that their new title Cletus Clay is now setting sail for Xbox Live Arcade. "Firstly, I should point out most emphatically that this is indeed a clay-animated game. Which means that all the graphics in the game are made from real clay models - they are NOT CG renders made to look like clay. "There are a number of reasons why I decided to work with clay and not CG, and I'll try to explain my reasoning in more detail in a later post, but basically it comes down to this: I like to experiment with unconventional methods. And also I think clay models are really neat. "As far as genres go, it's an action-platformer of the old-school side-scrolling variety, so if you think of games like Contra and Metal Slug you won't be too far off the mark. I'm a die-hard action game fan and I like those kinds of straightforward, fast-paced games where you get to run all over the place making everything explode without having to worry too much about learning complex rule-sets, managing inventory items or getting hopelessly lost. So expect to find plenty of running and blasting, racking up high scores and trying to beat your best time. Lots of things will blow up. There will be armies of baddies, giant robots and grenade launchers and bosses the size of buildings. It's that sort of game." Squashy Software were previously known for their indie clay-based shooter Platypus which garnered numerous awards. Now they're in high definition, and it looks like they'll be pushing out a quality product. Makes me want to see Skull Monkeys ported to something too, just to see Edd the Head once more. Source: Cletus Clay Blog

Round-Up: Gamasutra Network Jobs, Week Of Nov. 21st

2008-11-21T02:48:28Z

In this round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section, including positions from RealNetworks, TimeGate Studios, Factor 5, and more. Each job posted will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly. It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, downloadable console games, cellphone games, independent games, 'serious games', and more. Some of the notable jobs posted in each market area this week include:]]> Gamasutra.com - Game Industry Jobs RealNetworks: Casual Game Designer "GameHouse Studios is a leading provider of games serving the Casual Games market since 2000 and has over 50 games to its credit. We have an open environment and value creativity and hard work. GameHouse Studios is owned by RealNetworks, Inc. a rapidly growing, cutting edge technology, web based digital music, online gaming and streaming company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Real provides the universal platform for the delivery of any digital media from any point of origin, across virtually any network, to any person on any Internet-enabled device, anywhere in the world." Factor 5: Combat Designer "Designers at Factor 5 are responsible for a combination of level and system design. Depending on the specific role the balance may shift towards one discipline or the other, but each designer is expected to have at least a basic understanding of all aspects of design and be able to learn quickly even in areas outside their primary expertise. Designers will work with the Lead Designer to document all game systems and levels, then work iteratively with all other disciplines to create 'AAA' quality gameplay." AiLive: Art Director "AiLive is a California-based company best known for its motion control products on the Wii. AiLive has spent years perfecting a one-of-a-kind machine learning technology for behavior capture, which will drive entirely new forms of gameplay. Earlier this year, the lead designer of Guitar Hero and Rock Band joined AiLive as Creative Director. The Art Director will join as another key member of a growing, world-class team that is determined to exploit their unique strengths to create amazing new games." TimeGate Studios: Senior Technical Artist "TimeGate Studios, developer of the award-winning F.E.A.R. Extraction Point and Kohan series, is looking for talented and driven individuals to work on its current line of next-generation products for major publishers. Projects in development include the Unreal Engine 3-powered Section 8, a team-based first-person shooter where elite powered-armor infantry wage war on epic sci-fi battelfields." WorldsInMotion - Online Game Jobs Bluehole Studio: Director of Marketing "Bluehole Interactive is seeking a Director of Marketing for its flagship MMORPG title in North America. The title is being developed by the core members of the team that developed and serviced Lineage II, which achieved worldwide revenues second only to World of Warcraft. The new title is envisioned to be one of the top three MMORPGs in the world by 2011. The title has been under development since March 2007 by 100 + developers, and it is on schedule for beta release in the summer 2009." SeriousGamesSource - Serious Game Jobs America's Army Game: Artist Squad Leader "Launched in July 2002, the America's Army game has penetrated contemporary culture and is one of the most recognizable game brands as a result of its unique inside perspective of the U.S. Army and its exciting game play. As the game's popularity continued to grow, the Army has expanded its brand through a variety of products including console and cell phone games In the near future, the America's Army brand will expand with America's Army Game version 3.0. We're looking for an experienced, exceptionally knowledgeable, talented, and motivated Lead Artist to join our team." To browse hundreds of similar jobs, and for more information on searching, responding to, or posting game industry-relevant jobs to the top source for jobs in the business, please visit Gamasutra's job board now.

Banjo Kazooie XBLA Delayed, Bonus Cards Troubles

2008-11-20T04:50:05Z

Microsoft have revealed to 1UP.com that the Xbox Live Arcade version of Banjo Kazooie has now been delayed on Xbox Live Arcade. The game will now be released on December 3rd. The delay has been attributed to the problems some retailers have been having with preorder cards. Some stores in North America have not been able to get any of their cards, or not enough to fill their pre-orders. MIcrosoft hope to rectify the situation as soon as possible. To give those who have yet to receive the code their two weeks of playtime before release, the game has been delayed an extra week. Which is fine by me. Most other players will be picking up Street Fighter II HD Remix anyhow.

Today In Community Games - Snakes , Crystals and Sin Waves

2008-11-20T04:15:08Z

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:472275f1-e5be-49fd-96a7-07f38d339e65&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Rift - game play">Video: Rift - game play</a> Rift Creator: Brandon Bloom Genre: Shooter Price: 200 Points Trial Play: A very simple shooter, but it doesn't seem to really work off of any real patterns. The slow-mo stuff is kind of cool, but seems way too simple and not very fun. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:714d3e78-56e2-4d9e-8e7f-58e4251921bb&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Crystal Crush XBOX Running Pixel">Video: Crystal Crush XBOX Running Pixel</a> Crystal Crush Creator: Running Pixel Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 400 Points Trial Play: A puzzle game where instead of controlling the new pieces dropping in, you control the world around them. You move the middle Hexagon around while new crystals come from the corners of the screen. Like most puzzle games, it can get you hooked or leave you dissatisfied. Check out the trial. No Frills Sudoku Creator: JeBuS Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 200 Points Trial Play: It's Sudoku. If you didn't grab Buku Sudoku you might want to grab this. Hopefully this will be the last Sudoku title. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:84be931e-33ba-433c-9312-3c29e58acabe&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="painball trailer">Video: painball trailer</a> Painball Creator: radlogicgames Genre: Shooter Price: 200 Points Trial Play: A low tech demo. You shoot balls at oncoming red enemies. Very simple, and not really fun. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:1d67401e-e683-4db4-8f2f-0b93643c89d1&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Snake360 Modes and Features">Video: Snake360 Modes and Features</a> Snake 360 Trial Play: Now we've all played Snake before, you've probably got a version on your phone. This is an enhanced version of that, complete with multiplayer, high score charts, and 100 levels. As a Snake game it's pretty full featured, and if you're a Snake fanatic this might be the thing for you. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:5ac1b191-be2c-4c2a-b3b2-142a1169db63&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Easy Golf">Video: Easy Golf</a> Easy Golf Creator: Barkers Crest Genre: Sports & Recreation Price: 800 Points Trial Play: A nice little Golf game. The graphics are fine, even with a few shadow glitches, and the floaty physics can be a bit off putting, but figure this - it has a course editor. It's a full blown editor which allows you to make exactly what the one guy who made this did. It's very robust with terrain formation and freeways and all you need for a golf course. It's got online play too. For 800 Points it's a pretty good deal. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:03aa2566-ebd3-4cdd-aa56-d76d52e0c2f5&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="The Making of Fatal Abyss Part 1">Video: The Making of Fatal Abyss Part 1</a> Fatal Abyss Creator: CyanideGames Genre: Shooter Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Another space shooter game, except now you're facing what feels like a hundered enemies on screen at once. There isn't a whole lot of Rhythm to the game, you're just trying to barely survive the onslaught. Could have been a lot better. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:fde85e6f-96ec-4689-832c-c5b4dcec0eb6&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Audiball Trailer">Video: Audiball Trailer</a> Audiball Creator: Indiecisive Games Genre: Music Price: 200 Points Trial Play: A rhythm game made to be played with your Guitar Hero or Rock Band guitar. As I don't have either I didn't attempt to play it, but if you do own either definitely give it a shot. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:028beff4-9424-4da2-bc2d-c78064d7c134&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Dokee and the Musical Rain">Video: Dokee and the Musical Rain</a> Dokee and the Musical Rain Creator: Baltico X Genre: Family Price: 400 Points Trial Play: First up, it's incredibly simple and a little ugly, but the people behind this game aren't making it for me. He's citing that this game is made for the very young, like 2 or 3 years old. He also claims that all the money from the game is being donated to children's charities and causes in Venezuela. Good on him for that. Planet Delta Creator: Evolution Dreams Studio Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 400 Points Trial Play: In this puzzle game you drop multi-colored blocks. The difference is on how you drop them, the game plays much like a UFO Catcher or Skill Tester machine, where you must try and judge how far the "arm" must go and build up a power meter to destroy them. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:1a21fed2-c82e-4ea0-8c9a-55355a8f5ded&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="sin(Surfing) Teaser Video">Video: sin(Surfing) Teaser Video</a> sin(Surfing) Creator: Raph Genre: Sports & Recreation Price: 200 Points Trial Play: Now this is a strange little game. You are a stickman surfing across a sin wave, and you try and get the biggest amount of points. It's surprisingly fun despite it being so simple. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:1a61719e-3c74-4505-bb44-18b52e5b7664&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Exisled">Video: Exisled</a> Exisled Creator: L0STlogic Genre: Shooter Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Use your attack helicopter to destroy the enemy base while keeping yours alive. Decent graphics and the helicopter controls well. The game seems to be quite difficult and you seem to get shot at a lot of things out of screen range. Still, good effort. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:44ea130c-063e-48aa-bdf2-23216bb6be23&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Satellites - The Game - Trailer">Video: Satellites - The Game - Trailer</a> Satellites Creator: Thomas Bedran Genre: Card & Board Price: 200 Points Trial Play: Think Chess, but with Satellites. You can move one of your satellites per turn, and then a beam is shot out from your side. The beams will bounce off your own satellites as well as your enemies, and the goal is to destroy the opposing bases using your tactically placed satellites. A cool concept which surprisingly works. Give it a go. Garrett the Slug Creator: The Unallied Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 200 Points Trial Play: No.

Evasive Space Screen Shot Blowout

2008-11-20T00:08:04Z

Yuke's and High Voltage Software must have read some of the frustration with the lack of screenshots for their upcoming WiiWare game Evasive Space, because today they've released over 100 new screenshots for the game. The screenshots show off the first 2 acts of the game, having the player fly through several lava landscapes, floating through a Nebula, and through a futuristic maze. It's looking very nice, and appears to control similarly to Geometry Wars Galaxies, but with the level design style of Shred Nebula. Evasive Space is set to release in January 2009, and will retail for 1,000 Wii Points. You can check out all the new screenshots here.

Best Of GamerBytes: Community Rising

2008-11-19T13:23:34Z

Hoo boy, what a week. Today starts a bright new day in the Xbox's future - the New Xbox Experience is live. And with that comes the XNA Community Games - in one day 30 new titles are now available for download, and that number continues to climb every day. It's almost overbearing, so to help we at GamerBytes have created an in-depth guide to everything Community Games. What games are available, how to download them, and what we think are the best new titles available. Not to say the other consoles didn't miss out - Age of Booty is now available on the PlayStation Network, and RealNetwork's new WiiWare title Tiki Towers looks very interesting too. XNA Community Games XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 1 XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 2 XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 3 Each of the above articles takes a look at all the games that are available right now for XNA Community Games. 5 Things You Didn't Know About Community Games Did you know that you have to be online at all times in order to play XNA Community Games? That and more inside/ How To Play Community Games When They're Not In Your Region Live in Australia, Japan or another country which doesn't have access to XNA Community Games? Come in here to get your way around this barrier. XBLA This Week On XBLA - A Kingdom For Keflings Along with the XNA Community Games becoming available, NinjaBee's own Kingdom of Keflings is being released. It's also the first XBLA title with Avatar support. EA Creating NHL Arcade For XBLA? German classification website hints at EA making an Xbox Live Arcade Hockey game. Will it be more like Mutant League Hockey or Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey? ESRB Add Summaries To Their Website, Releasing New Information On Unannounced Games The ESRB has now added little descriptors to each game that gets rated through their system, which means those leaked game names now have a little bit more about them available! PlayStation Network NA PSN Store Update: Age Of Hoff The PlayStation Network has finally gotten its hands on Age Of Booty. Buy it now! PAIN also updated with the brand new Movie Lot stage and downloadable David Hasselhoff. The 1UP Show: A Hard Look At Street Fighter II HD Remix On the 1UP Show this week the crew have a look over at Super Street Fighter II HD Remix. Remember, it's coming out next week - better bone up on those quarter-circle moves. WiiWare NA WiiWare Update: Tossing Bags And Getting Dangeresque This week's WiiWare titles include the 4th episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, as well as Target Toss Pro: Bags. You read that right. RealNetworks Announce Tiki Towers - Bridge Building With Monkeys! Can't get enough bridge building with World Of Goo? Well RealNetworks next title Tiki Towers is going to kick things up a notch. Build bridges for your monkeys to cross while taking care of the evil

GamerBytes Top 5 Games Launch XNA Community Games

2008-11-19T11:39:59Z

So you've downloaded the New Xbox Experience, you're flipping through the Games Marketplace. You spot Community Games and you click on it. You're suddenly faced with over 30 different titles. You're overwhelmed! What do you do? Here we have our handy Top 5 (+1) guide to the XNA Community Games. Now this is all just personal opinion - you should really try out every single title there right now, but we feel that this is the standout for first day downloads. If you've missed it, here is everything you need to know about Community Games: XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 1 XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 2 XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 3 5 Things You Didn't Know About Community Games How To Play Community Games When They're Not In Your Region And now, continue reading for GamerBytes Top 5 Launch Community Games.]]> <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:84f453f9-3cf6-4cdb-bc70-9194a529a078&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Blow">Video: Blow</a> 1. Blow Creator: David Flook Genre: Other Price: 400 Points Blow is a enticing puzzle game where you set up fans in order to blow bubbles through flowers and to the exit. The game relies on setting the speed of the fans, and whether they can make bubbles hot (and rise) or cold (and fall faster). You may not think you'll want a puzzle game, but this game is just incredibly relaxing to play, not to mention quite fun too. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:7e001628-33b2-4b27-9d5e-1bafd1d483c8&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Weapon of Choice: Strike Back Trailer">Video: Weapon of Choice: Strike Back Trailer</a> 2. Weapon of Choice Creator: MommysBest Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 400 Points Feel like blowing stuff up? Than Weapon of Choice is for you. A hark back to the days of Contra and Metal Slug, Weapon of Choice lts you choose from several characters each with their own crazy weapons of choice (geddit?) blowing up a boatload of aliens. With multiple pathways through levels and some farily difficult levels, Weapon of Choice is easily worth 400 Points. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:7972b767-ccee-4fa5-b87a-f9636d5183cd&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Biology Battle (Sneak Trailer: XBox360)">Video: Biology Battle (Sneak Trailer: XBox360)</a> 3. BIOLOGY BATTLE Creator: Novaleaf Software Genre:Action & Adventure Price: 800 Points Biology Battle pits you inside of a giant body cell, putting you against oncoming hordes of bacteria that are all trying to kill you. It's got a whole lot of modes, and online leader boards through some tricky measures. It's quite full featured for a point based shooter, clearly going after that Geometry Wars 2 style. Definite pickup if you've got some local buddies who want more after GW2. It's got a Tron-esque line cycle mode! 4. Lines Creator: EdAndersenUK Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 200 Points This may look like a Lumines knockoff at first, but its really a mix between it and Q? Entertainment's other title, Gunpey. You have to set up several blocks together, but also put the line within each block next to another, like Pipe Dream. Connecting 5 together will cause them to disappear, and you can set up combos and the like. My concern is that you can royally screw yourself very easily - just set up two facing L blocks on the bottom and you'll never be able to get rid of them. I'm guessing that's why this game hasn't really been attempted before. The game has online leaderboards as well - but instead of it being automatically updated, you have to go to edngames.com and put in your password. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:3c44bba5-c4d1-46ba-8e15-cabfab202286&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Galax-e-mail">Video: Galax-e-mail</a> 5. Galax-e-mail Creator: BogTurtleCarl Genre: Shooter Price: 200 Points Despite the ridiculous premise (alternate universe where e-mail is sent via galactic battles), this game quite fun. The graphics, while very simple, are consistent and very clean looking. I'm not really sure just how the game does work in terms of levels (does the game simply generate a level based on difficulty or are there 100 levels?) but for 200 Points its certainly a full experience. You collect different power ups on your way to deliver your e-mail - expand your armada with more ships, pickup shields to keep you alive, and avoid the bad pickups, that will reverse your controls. Special mention... <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a9e179e9-ed6f-473e-b63d-456c6a77c3b9&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Being Trailer">Video: Being Trailer</a> Being Creator: Chounard Genre: Platformer Price: 200 Points Being is a very simple platforming game. The entire point is just to get through its 4 or so levels. You can't attack - you're simply avoiding everything, grabbing keys and coins, and completing the level. It's the only 2D platformer of the bunch, and despite its rather mundane graphics, it reminds me of a few 1990 shareware titles I used to play. I did end up buying Being, and for the half an hour to an hour it took to finish it I had fun.

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 3

2008-11-19T10:02:03Z

Here we are, the final selection of games that will be available to you from day one. This time we've got a little more than 10 titles, pushing it past 30 seperate titles on day one. That is an awful lot of choice. Titles can go up at any time, so it's difficult to keep track. We'll continue keeping you informed with every new game that comes available, hopefully with a little commentary to give you a bit of an idea of what each game is like. This completes our list. But which ones are the best of the lot? Which ones stand out? Check out GamerBytes later today for our top 5 launch titles for XNA Community Games.]]> <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:88319763-14e4-4cb7-a717-41148d1e14a5&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Alien Ambush Game Trailer">Video: Alien Ambush Game Trailer</a> Alien Ambush Creator: Star Gaming Network Genre: Classics Price: 200 Points Trial Play: A Space Invaders / Galaga clone. It's also not very good from what I could see from the trial. Enemies follow very simple patterns and overall just seems a little boring. Sorry, Star Gaming Network. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:3933b216-a52e-4e32-b471-0d266eab6e9c&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Loot, Steal 'n Destroy">Video: Loot, Steal 'n Destroy</a> Loot, Steal 'n Destroy Creator: reallyjoel Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 400 Points Trial Play: A game about looting gold from the source and from your enemies. The game is multiplayer only, but looks like it could be some fun. A hearty opening theme too. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:84f453f9-3cf6-4cdb-bc70-9194a529a078&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Blow">Video: Blow</a> Blow Creator: David Flook Genre: Other Price: 400 Points Trial Play: One of the best games on the service right now, Blow is a entrancing puzzle game where you set up fans in order to blow bubbles through checkpoints and on to the exit. The game relies on you setting the speed of the fans, and whether they can make bubbles hot (and rise) or cold (and fall faster). Sporting 70 man made levels and infinite procedurally generated levels for endless variety, it is absolutely worth your 400 Points. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:502a70d5-548c-44f5-bcad-b394d478cbc0&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Colosseum">Video: Colosseum</a> Colosseum Creator: Shortfuse Games Genre: Fighting Price: 800 Points Trial Play: Here we have one of most expensive XNA Community Games, Colosseum. It's a 4 player brawler which uses the second analog stick for combat. While it looks nice, the single player experience appears to be pretty mundane. It will probably be at its best in the local multiplayer modes. Totem Creator: Fervent Interactive Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Totem is a single player puzzle game involving a variety of totem pieces. Each stage is about surviving through whatever the computer throws at you.You then stack up several totem pieces of one color, and when the next comes crashing down, the matching ones break. It's simple and a bit of fun, and has some nice artwork too. Reminds me a bit of the GameBoy Mario & Yoshi title with a dash of XBLA's TiQal. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:56ad400b-3e2b-490f-a06a-c795ae9902ba&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Artoon Trailer">Video: Artoon Trailer</a> Artoon Creator: Oscar K Genre: Platformer Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Bounce your buddy Art through tens of levels as you rack up a multiplier by jumping on new squares in the level. It looks nice - Oscar K has his head around some very neat shader effects, it has some decent techno music, and it includes a split screen challenge level too. The first few levels are very simple, but do the later ones offer any challenge? <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:3c44bba5-c4d1-46ba-8e15-cabfab202286&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Galax-e-mail">Video: Galax-e-mail</a> Galax-e-mail Creator: BogTurtleCarl Genre: Shooter Price: 200 Points Despite the crazy premise, this game is actually quite fun. The graphics, while simple, are consistent and very clean looking - it "knows" what it is. I'm not really sure just how the game does work in terms of levels (does the game simply generate a level based on difficulty) but for 200 Points it looks like it may be worth your money. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:df61044d-75aa-4605-877b-7797abc6a58c&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Trailer for "In the Pit" for Dream Build Play 2008">Video: Trailer for "In the Pit" for Dream Build Play 2008</a> In the Pit Creator: luvcraft Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Now here is something that can only be done on XNA - In The Pit is not your normal game. In fact, the game has no graphics whatsoever. It is an audio-game. You play a blind monster in a cave, and new prey is dropped into your cave. Using only sounds, you must find these people and eat them. You hear them breathing, running away, all through your surround sound system. The controller vibrated to their heart beat too. It's certainly something you've never played before. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:391c21d5-5b9f-40fa-b062-bb5fda6464b7&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Smashell">Video: Smashell</a> SMASHELL Creator: Antab Genre: Platformer Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Plug yourself into an arena and begin to jump on top of enemy heads. This is one of the better looking XNA games on the marketplace, but I don't know how long it will last. You appear to be able to upgrade and see many different kinds of enemies, but you don't see a lot of that in the trial space. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:7972b767-ccee-4fa5-b87a-f9636d5183cd&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Biology Battle (Sneak Trailer: XBox360)">Video: Biology Battle (Sneak Trailer: XBox360)</a> BIOLOGY BATTLE Creator: Novaleaf Software Genre:Action & Adventure Price: 800 Points Trial Play: The most XBLA-like game on the service. Biology Battle pits you inside of a giant cell, battling the oncoming hordes of bacteria coming to kill you. It's got a whole lot of modes, and online leader boards through some tricky measures. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:28bfe642-2405-49d2-8fb9-289ec224d6b0&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Funky Punch XL">Video: Funky Punch XL</a> Funky Punch XL Creator: SolusG Genre: Fighting Price: 400 Points Trial Play: A 3D fighting game played on a 2D plane. You play as very simple characters, ranging from fireball throwing karate masters to cheerleaders. The game does support online play, which is great for such a game. It might be some fun for kids, but I can't see many people getting into it unfortunately.

Street Fighter II HD Remix Coming Out Next Week

2008-11-19T01:18:20Z

Within the New Xbox Experience are some new tools available to publishers. One is this new "store" mode allowing for games which have an event occuring to advertise it. The one currently up is for Street Fighter II HD Remix - which also spills the games' release date. Street Fighter II HD Remix will be available on the Xbox Live Arcade on the 26th of November, and we can assume it will be available for the PlayStation Network on the 27th. The week after will also include a new Street Fighter II styled deck for UNO on XBLA, and at some point in the future PAIN will be adding several Street Fighter characters to their selection of downloadable content to play as.

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 2

2008-11-18T18:30:32Z

Today we bring you the second set of XNA Community Games that are gearing up for tomorrow's release of the New Xbox Experience. There's 10 more games to look through here . It appears that over 30 games will be available on Community Games at NXE launch now - so think of these posts as a helpful shopping guide when searching through every single Community Game available. The next update will include not only the final selection of XNA Community Games, but GamerBytes' top games that you should really consider buying. It's going to be a very big market - get ready to swim through it all.]]> Poker Ball Creator: MarkcusD Genre: Card & Board Price: 200 Points Trial Play: Poker Ball takes the essence of Arkanoid and plugs Poker hands into the mix. The last 5 cards you've hit pop up in the side bar and you get an additional score based on the hand you get. Sounds good in theory, but Arkanoid is such a random game that even attempting to make a decent hand out of your cards isn't that achievable without a lot of chance on your side. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:7e001628-33b2-4b27-9d5e-1bafd1d483c8&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Weapon of Choice: Strike Back Trailer">Video: Weapon of Choice: Strike Back Trailer</a> Weapon of Choice Creator: MommysBest Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Feel like blowing stuff up? Than Weapon of Choice is for you. A hark back to the days of Contra and Metal Slug, WOC is perhaps the most game-like game out right now on XNA Community. Run around, blow stuff up, several different routes through the game, several different characters with their own unique weapons. Definitely give it a look. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:ffcdcfe2-3a8f-46f9-a63f-f11b6d8a625c&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Beat IT!">Video: Beat IT!</a> Beat IT! Creator: MonsuneMoon Genre: Family Price: 200 Points Trial Play: A multiplayer only game in which you play "Simon" with an Xbox 360 controller. The screen will tell you to do something - actions like twisting the analog stick or pressing the trigger buttons, and you've got to do it just before the timer runs out and the highest possible score value - it will also randomly tell you to switch players, while also getting faster and faster. Looks like the kind of game that'll get you laughing while you and your friends are drunk and barely comprehensible. DUOtrix Creator: Mo Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Think Tetris, but playing two games at once. Single blocks drop from the top and bottom of the screen to join up in the middle, but they could be different colors, causing all sorts of confusion. It's a little limited, it only has single player, but what's there is pretty decent. Organon Creator: DarthCheesiest Genre: Shooter Price: 200 Points Trial Play: A time based 3D-Space shooter where you've got to hit all the coloured squares in the level as quickly as possible. Not bad looking, but I felt the controls were not very well suited to the Xbox controller. I'd rather be able to move around like other shooters, and use the triggers to push forwards and backwards with thrust. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:fd1ea5df-5ca8-43df-ba87-e5f9f00851a3&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Bad Atom: Episode 1 (Dream Build Play 2008 Preview)">Video: Bad Atom: Episode 1 (Dream Build Play 2008 Preview)</a> Bad Atom Episode 1 Creator: kstrat2001 Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 200 Points Trial Play: Bad Atom has you flying around a sphere, where you're always aiming towards the middle. You've got to maneuver your ship around the environment to shoot the red baddies with the blue and the blue with the red. It's pretty difficult to understand what's going on, but they've attempted to put in a bit of a story in there. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:018f5245-60a4-40c8-8f37-97feefa39237&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Abstacked">Video: Abstacked</a> Abstacked Creator: lutas Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 200 Points Trial Play: Abstacked is another drop down puzzle game where you connect objects together. The hook is that you cannot remove the stars normally - you can only do so by putting two of the same shape on opposite sides of the stars. Nice idea, but the presentation is really poor on this one. Drab, stretched presentation with little or no audio makes it a fairly ugly game. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:3e1e12b4-6603-4e5e-9bbc-6727b8e9a439&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Endless Swarm Trailer">Video: Endless Swarm Trailer</a> Endless Swarm Creator: Andrew Thayer Genre: Shooter Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Think Missile Command meets Desktop Tower Defense. You set up your laser and other cannons at the bottom of the screen, point them in a certain direction, keep them alive by healing them, and make sure the oncoming swarms don't take down your two factories. An interesting take on DTD games. Give it a go and see if you can get your mind around it. Tail Gun Charlie Creator: Duckocide Genre: Shooter Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Charlie Chatsworth must shoot things in order to win. Plays like you're playing Space Invaders from looking at the bottom. Aiming seems to be pretty difficult and honestly did not have a lot of fun with this. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:f420a068-317b-4afd-91a0-34b554ef0a02&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="UAV Wars - Xbox 360 Community Game">Video: UAV Wars - Xbox 360 Community Game</a> UAV Wars Creator: Some Call Me Tim Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 200 Points Trial Play: You are a space ship shooting other space ships. The aiming is difficult as you need to judge vertical space as well. You also hear the sound of a lawnmower the entire time of playing. Just not really that much fun.

RealNetworks Announce Tiki Towers - Bridge Building With Monkeys!

2008-11-18T18:18:55Z

RealNetworks has revealed their latest title Tiki Towers for WiiWare - a game about construction, destruction, problem solving, and monkeys! In a similar vein to the recently released World Of Goo, Tiki Towers has players building bridges to reach goals - but with a few twists. You must work with your monkey friends to build towers out of native materials such as bamboo poles, coconuts, and vines, as well as battle enemy chieftains who are bent on destroying your creations. Monkeys can also be given special abilities similar to Lemmings, where they can chant for "BananaMana" to cast counter-attack spells against the chiefs. The game will support single player and a two-player cooperative mode. The game is set to be released on December 8th - and will also be released on iPhone and Java Phones on the same date. The Java phone version, in video here, looks to be a lot closer to World Of Goo, and also looks like a lot of fun. The game is being developed by Republic of Fun, and going by their blurry screenshots may also have some other downloadable games in the works as well. You can check out a ton of new screenshots of the game here. Be on the lookout for more information in the few weeks before it launches - it could be something to look forward to.

Defending Grids With Defense Grid - First Trailer Released

2008-11-18T18:06:35Z

Announced back in Feburary, Hidden Path Entertainment's Defense Grid is about to get its PC release - due out in December. They're still planning for an Xbox Live Arcade version sometime next year, so here is a sneak peak at this upcoming Tower Defense styled game. Source: Vimeo: Defense Grid HD

This Week On XBLA - A Kingdom For Keflings

2008-11-18T03:47:47Z

"Place your customized Xbox LIVE® Avatar in the medieval world of A Kingdom for Keflings, a new city-building game from NinjaBee. Play as your Avatar or choose from other friendly giants as you teach the local Keflings how to collect and convert resources to customize your kingdom. Educate and train your Keflings to become workers, scholars, even Mayor of the city! Build your kingdom alone or cooperatively with up to three of your friends online. The more you build, the more buildings you unlock and the more Keflings you attract, so start building today!" Keflings will cost 800 Microsoft Points. Click here for screenshots of A Kingdom for Keflings. Click here for the official Xbox.com splash page.

5 Things You Didn't Know About Community Games

2008-11-18T01:24:47Z

The New Xbox Experience is an interesting beast - it's bringing in a whole new style of the Xbox 360. The Community Games feature is great and has a lot of potential - but there are a several things which may end up hindering the experience. The 5 points below describe some strange choices I've seen with the Community Games experience, and they range from being understandable to being very unnecessary. Let us know in the comments what you think of these currently implemented rules. 1. Community Games require you to be online in order to play them. This includes games you've bought as well. Trying to get into a game while offline will prompt a "Please sign into Xbox Live" message. Why this in a part of this system baffles me - it doesn't make any sense. That means if you lose your internet connection you cannot play any Community Games at all. 2. Outside of online play, XNA creators cannot send or receive any information. What does this mean? No instant leaderboards. Consider just how many different puzzle games will come out of this. It's going to be pretty crazy, and getting high scores are an integral part of that experience now. Online games will also not be able to keep tabs on everyone who bought their games. A way around this is with games like Lines. Lines has a simple password system that will show up in the game which you then plug into their website. It's about as good as it will get. 3. Community Games do not show up in "quick launch" menu. One of the new features in the NXE is the quick launch menu. This menu is selectable when you press the Xbox button during a game. From it you can select XBLA titles and it will skip the dashboard altogether. Community games however, do not have the same luxury - you must get them from the dashboard. 4. There is no current way to directly update your game. Currently there is no way for creators to patch Community Games. There is only one option - to take down the game and resubmit it. That means a few days of downtime, but it also means that to get the updated version you must download the full game again. 5. No Avatar Support. In order for an Xbox 360 game to include Avatar support, the game must be certified for Xbox Live Arcade. Community Games do not have access to this library, as Avatars requirements make them only available to do E rated activities. As Community Games are unrated, this can't be regulated.

XNA Community Games - What You'll Be Playing On Day 1, Part 1

2008-11-17T18:52:11Z

In just two days, the "New Xbox Experience" will be downloaded by millions of Xbox 360 users, and with that comes the XNA Community Games section, showcasing indie and hobbyist titles which will cost 200-800 points ($2.50-$10) to download. Those who have been lucky enough to get into the NXE preview have been able to check out the current crop of XNA titles, with new games popping up everyday. For the few days left before it's released we'll be looking at each title that pops up, and and give you a little overview of each from the trial. Today we look at ten titles to show up on the service - each of which has a timed, free demo. Some are good, some are bad, but it's all a part of seeing what can be done with just a couple of guys (or gals) in a short amount of time. In some case, it seems like the creators got quickly bored with the project and released it anyway, but most of the initial XNA Community Games titles are interesting, and show what kinds of games can be made with XNA and the Xbox 360.]]> Culture Creator: XNA Prod 001 Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 200 Points Trial Play: During the trial mode, you are only able to play the "paint by Numbers" mode, which allows you to fill out a painting with flowers. The actual game is more like this - surrounding weeds with flowers. Why they didn't add that as the trial mode makes no sense to me. Is there a fun game here? Difficult to determine. Cubage Creator: Louis Ingenthron Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 200 Points Trial Play: This is exactly what it looks like. You want a Rubik's Cube program? You've got yourself a Rubik's Cube program. Fruit Attack Creator: ScrumThorax Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Essentially, Fruit Attack is a clone of Sega's classic Columns game, except with Fruit. It certainly does that job, and has a two player mode. It keeps your highest score but has no sort of scoreboard system, which is a little disappointing. I'd say its main drawback is just how bland the setting is. Brown wood backgrounds, plain fruit graphics... You need to have a bit more fun with your game creation! <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:fde5aab1-4fb5-4861-bde3-113e59d7c37d&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="SpaceCombat - Xbox Live Community Game">Video: SpaceCombat - Xbox Live Community Game</a> SpaceCombat Creator: cilcoder Genre: Shooter Price: 200 Points Trial Play: SpaceCombat is a very simple, cel-shaded space shooter. Its hook is that it has online multiplayer for up to 8 players for only 200 Points. Unfortunately I found the control scheme to be a little confusing and the choice of cel-shading makes it difficult to understand just how far away you are. If it can build up a community it might be fun. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a9e179e9-ed6f-473e-b63d-456c6a77c3b9&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Being Trailer">Video: Being Trailer</a> Being Creator: Chounard Genre: Platformer Price: 200 Points Trial Play: Being is a very simple platforming game. The entire point is just to get through its 4 or so levels. You can't attack - you're simply avoiding everything, grabbing keys and coins, and completing the level. It's the only 2D platformer of the bunch, and despite its rather mundane graphics, it reminds me of a few 1990 shareware titles I used to play. I did end up buying Being, and for the half an hour to an hour it took to finish it I had fun. Fuel Depot 360 Creator: Interstellar Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 200 Points Trial Play: Fly your space craft around, and shoot the bad guys before they take all of your fuel barrels away. Did you ever have Wario Ware Touched and unlocked Pyoro-T? It's vaguely like that, I guess. Simple premise, but I feel it doesn't control all that well and figuring out what's going on is a little difficult. Word Soup Creator: Fuzzy Bug Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Word Soup is actually based off of a popular parlor game in Great Britain called Word Up - a simple "skill with prizes" game which you can win back a small amount of money if you play well. You simply find words within the grid and are graded based off of how well you did in 3 or so minutes. No winning money here, but if you're looking for a way to bone up on your knowledge of words this would be the place to do it. Drift Creator: Polychrome Genre: Other Price: 400 Points Trial Play: Specifically tells you that "this is not a game". A collection of ambient screen savers. I don't think it's worth the 400 Points to be honest. <a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:473f2fc5-4312-4524-ad28-68c3a754ed96&showPlaylist=true&from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Bloc">Video: Bloc</a> Bloc Creator: Metacreature Games Genre: Action & Adventure Price: 200 Points Trial Play: A shooter that is more complex than it looks. You move around the screen as a ball of color. You rotate the ball around to change the direction the colors are facing, and then shoot said colors using the buttons of the controller. It's an interesting concept which might be worth your money. It does have cooperative play where each player controls two colors, so it might be good to get you and your girlfriend playing. Lines Creator: EdAndersenUK Genre: Puzzle & Trivia Price: 200 Points Trial Play: This may look like a Lumines knockoff at first, but let me assure you it isn't. It's really a mix between it and Q? Entertainment's other title Gunpey - you have to set up several blocks together, but also put the line within each block next to another, like Pipe Dream. Connecting 5 together will cause them to disappear, and you can set up combos and the like. My main concern is that you can royally screw yourself very easily - just set up two facing L blocks on the bottom and you'll never be able to get rid of them. I'm guessing that's why this game hasn't really been attempted before. The game has online leaderboards as well - but instead of it being automatically updated, you have to go to edngames.com and put in your password. Unfortunately, it's the only way you can do it within the infrastructure.