[From Gamasutra's creators, GamerBytes is a new blog dedicated to console digital downloads - from Xbox Live Arcade through WiiWare and PlayStation Network.]

GamerBytes: XBLA

November 21, 2008

XBLA: Cletus Clay For XBLA - From The Makers Of Platypus

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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

November 20, 2008

XBLA: Banjo Kazooie XBLA Delayed, Bonus Cards Troubles

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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.

XBLA: Today In Community Games - Snakes , Crystals and Sin Waves

<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.


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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.


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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.

garriet.jpg

Garrett the Slug

Creator: The Unallied
Genre: Action & Adventure
Price: 200 Points

Trial Play: No.

November 19, 2008

PSN, WiiWare, XBLA: Best Of GamerBytes: Community Rising

communityrising.jpgHoo 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

XBLA: GamerBytes Top 5 Games Launch XNA Community Games

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?

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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.

Continue reading "GamerBytes Top 5 Games Launch XNA Community Games" »

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

blowlogo.jpgHere 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.

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


If you enjoy reading GamerBytes.com, you might also want to check out these CMP Game Group sites:

Gamasutra (the 'art and business of games'.)

Game Career Guide (for student game developers.)

Games On Deck (serving mobile game developers.)

Indie Games (for independent game players/developers.)

Game Set Watch (the Group's alt.game weblog.)

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