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50 Titles on Xbox Live Arcade By End Of Year
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
1up was recently able to talk with Xbox Live Arcade Group Manager Greg Canessa about the plans for the service in the future. According to Canessa, Microsoft really wants to commit to having new content hit the Live Arcade every Wednesday. While they have only announced titles through August, their plan is to get 50 titles available on Xbox Live Arcade by the end of the year. With the current 20-something titles available now, this would mean that nearly every week will bring a new game to the Arcade. Canessa also indicated that Microsoft is working with over 100 independent game developers as well as most of the major studios for Arcade content. Included in the following waves of titles will be Small Arms by Gastronaut, targeted for this fall. Other potential titles include Mutant Storm Empire and Popcap’s Heavy Weapon. Questions about a new Geometry Wars or an Arcade title from Bungie were met with a strong “no comment.”
Read More 
| 1up
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New Pac-Man, Frogger and Galaga Screens
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Retro, Screenshots, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,
The first screenshots of the new Xbox Live Arcade titles are starting to hit the web, and GameWatch in Japan has the goods on the upcoming releases. GameWatch features shots of Pac-Man, Frogger, and Galaga in the classic game modes, and one of Frogger’s side-by-side play. The menu screens indicate that there will be demo versions released of at least Pac-Man and Galaga. Unfortunately, there aren’t any shots of the promised enhanced versions of the games, unless adding a slick background counts. Hopefully gamers will get new versions similar to the updates featured in Namco Museum Battle Collection for the PSP.
Read More | GameWatch Japan
Small Arms Debuts New Viral Achievement
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Fighting, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Small Arms, a shooter/brawler Xbox Live Arcade title due out later this year, has implemented a new kind of achievement. The achievement is titled “Six Degrees of Small Arms” and will spread through Xbox Live in a viral fashion. When the game is released, only four members of Gastronaut studios will have the achievement. The achievement will spread to anyone they play, and from that player to other opponents, and so on. This is an example of a great Xbox Live achievement and is miles ahead of the “get on the leaderboard” achievements we have been seeing so much of lately.
Read More | 1Up
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Xbox Live Wednesdays Announced, Street FIghter II Dated
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Corporate News, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Earlier today Microsoft announced “Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays.” Basically, Microsoft is saying that we will be getting one new arcade game per week during the summer, each and every Wednesday. The initial five week run begins tomorrow at GMT 0800 starting with Frogger. That will be followed up by Cloning Clyde, Galaga, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, and Pac-Man. TThat’s right peeps - Street Fighter II finally has a release date, and it’s scheduled to drop on the Xbox 360 on August 2. Since the original post on Gamasutra, Microsoft has stated that the information will not be released until a later time. Thankfully The information is still available elsewhere on the internet.
Read More | Xboxic
Cheap Halo 2 Xbox Live Headset
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Hardware, Hot Deals, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Major Nelson clued readers into a great deal for the Halo 2 Xbox Live Headset which normally retails for $49.99. Plantronics is currently selling the headset for $14.95! To top off the deal Plantronics is even donating $1 of each sale to the Plantronics GameCom United Way Katrina Recovery Fund. This headset is levels above the quality of the OEM Xbox 360 headset and when combined with Datel’s Headset Adapter makes for an amazing deal. Do yourself and your friends a favor, pick up a new headset today.
Read More | Plantronics via Major Nelson
Call of Duty 2 Maps Hit Live, June 29
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: First Person Shooters, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Community manager at Infinity Ward FourZeroTwo announced that the upcoming Invasion Map Pack for Call of Duty 2 will be available on June 29, via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Initially expected to be out in July, gamers will get access to the content a couple of days early at a slightly cheaper price. The initial announcement of the map pack had the price listed at 900 Marketplace points; instead, the five new multi-player maps will debut at 800 points, about $10.
According to FourZeroTwo, the new map pack will include the following locations:
- Antoville, France (Crossroads);
- St. Louet, France (Newvillers);
- Amaye sur Seulles, France (Normandy);
- Alam Halfa, Egypt (Decoytown);
- Rostov, Russia (Harbor)
The new content should be a welcome addition for those gamers looking for new multiplayer challenges, and at the lowered price point, should be a little more economical than some of the download-able content for other games.
Read More | FourZeroTwo MSN Blog
Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Details
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Rumors, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Last week, rumors circulated that hard copy versions of the popular Xbox Live Arcade titles would be hitting retail stores, in one form or another. Gamespot has some limited details about the package and its contents. Gamespot was able to grab box art images from a retail game distributor, and according to the box, the packaging will include Geometry Wars and a 1-month subscription to Xbox Live.
In addition, other titles will likely make it into the retail box, possibly including Bejeweled, Outpost Kaloki X, and Wik: Fable of Souls. Gamespot was careful to caution that the box art is not final, and the contents are likely to change. If the pricing on the EBGames website is to believed, the package will retail for $39.99. One hopes that the games included total at least 3200 marketplace points worth of content.
Read More | Gamespot
More Details On Xbox Live Arcade Retail Disc
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Total Video Games has found out more information about the upcoming Xbox Live Retail disc. Xbox Live Unplugged is tentatively scheduled for an October release at roughly $30 USD. The package will include a one month Xbox Live Gold subscription as well as the following games.
-Geometry Wars Evolved
-Texas Hold ‘Em Poker
-Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
-Outpost Kaloki X
-Wik: Fable of Souls
-Hardwood Backgammon
Microsoft views this as a method of reaching out to casual gamers who may not know about the Xbox Live Arcade games. The question is, will a retail disc in the Xbox 360 section of a store really attract new gamers to the 360 and ultimately the Xbox Live Arcade?
Read More | Total Video Games
Saints Row Demo Drops August 1st
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Release Dates, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
THQ has announced that a playable demo of their new GTA-like game, Saints Row, will be available on Xbox Live on August 1st. Saints Row will be available for purchase on August 29th exclusively for the Xbox 360. This demo release date looks doable, unlike the recently delayed PREY demo for several reasons. The demo will be included in the Official Xbox Magazine which means a much larger lead time is needed to get it into the magazine. THQ will also be offering a demo on June 24th in Anaheim California which could easily be the same one we will see on Live August 1st. THQ has more info and screenshots on the Saints Row official site.
Read More | Saints Row Official Site
Microsoft’s In-Game Advertising Strategy
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
A few months ago when Microsoft purchased Massive, a video game advertisement agency that specializes in serving ads to online games, many wondered what direction in-game advertisement would take. Recently players in PGR3 have seen a new blitz advertising Cadillac cars through in-game models. Gamedaily reports that Microsoft is viewing in-game advertising as an important revenue stream for the next-gen gaming platform. Microsoft is looking to sign up 80 more advertising partners by the end of the year and expects to recognize a “25-30% bump in profitability”. The most surprising fact revealed by Gamedaily was that Microsoft could in the future offer the in-game advertising service to Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft hopes this would ease the trouble of serving up ads 3 different ways for a PS3 version, 360 version and a Wii version. If all of the manufacturers hopped on the Massive advertising train it would in essence create another monopoly owned by Microsoft by locking out the 2 main competitors in online gaming ad delivery. My thoughts about in-game advertising are that, if done unobtrusively, then more money goes to Microsoft and maybe, just maybe the savings will be passed down to me, the gamer. What are your thoughts on game advertisements?
Read More | GameDaily.Biz
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