I enjoyed the original Assault Heroes on Xbox Live Arcade as much as one could without actually buying the game. I was just somewhat fatigued with dual stick shooters at the time, and wanted a break from anything not named Geometry Wars. I almost bought it when it was named an Arcade Hit (and thusly having its price cut in half), but I’m not glad I didn’t, because Assault Heroes 2 is here and looks a whole lot better.
The above trailer gives you a look at the weaponry you’ll be employing in the game, and while it’s clear that none of them are going to win Sierra any originality awards, they do look fun. (Particularly that ice cannon.)
800 Microsoft Points, or $10, is the asking price for the game and it’s now available on the Marketplace.
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Episode One of Penny Arcade Adventures is set for a worldwide release next Wednesday, May 21, we’ve learned today. On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (that’s the stupid-long subtitle that Episode One carries) will be releasing through both Xbox Live Arcade and Greenhouse for $20 or 1600 Microsoft Points. Greenhouse is the digital distribution platform that’s being started up by Penny Arcade and the developers of Adventures, Hothead Games. You can read more about it here.
A few weeks ago, Jonathan posted about some new trailers of the game, which you can check out here. The game certainly looks pretty slick, no pun intended, so I’m excited to finally get my hands on it. I’m mainly interested in the humor, but hopefully Hothead will have created a good game to go along with what’s certain to be a funny title.
At 1600 Microsoft Points, Adventures will be the most expensive Arcade game released to date, assuming you don’t count downloadable content. In that case, I believe Lumines Live and all of its add-ons still reign supreme in that regard.
As promised, WiiWare has finally launched today. Wii owners can now head to the Wii Shop Channel and start downloading any of the six previously announced launch titles. With the launch of WiiWare, there won’t be any releases on the Virtual Console today, but the normal Wii-kly Update schedule will resume next week.
Only one of the six launch games matches the releases that Japan saw when WiiWare launched over there, so there’s a good chance you don’t know much about several of the games. That’s where Game|Life comes in, as they’ve posted a WiiWare launch guide which should be able to help you decide how to spend your Wii Points.
Be sure to come back and let us know what you think of the service and any games you buy.
This Monday will finally see the launch of WiiWare in North America, and I have here the list of game’s that will be available on the service from day one. There won’t be any Virtual Console releases this Monday, but hopefully that’s only because of WiiWare’s launch; it’ll be nice to regularly get both new WiiWare and Virtual Console games in the same week.
On with the list:
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (Square Enix, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, 1,500 Wii Points): Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King takes a legendary franchise and launches it into the realm of simulation gaming. Players are challenged to rebuild a kingdom, leading its young king on a path of discovery through an adventure bristling with mystery and intrigue.
LostWinds (Frontier Development, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): A fresh, enchanting platform adventure that puts the power of the wind in the palm of your hand – from raging tornados to the gentlest breeze. You’ll wield your Wii Remote controller to power Toku’s jumps and glides, suspend and smash enemies, meet friends and solve puzzles using LostWinds’ novel, intuitive and playful control system.
Defend your Castle (XGen Studios, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone – Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): Defend your Castle takes place on a grassy plain surrounded by invaders. You are the commander of your castle, and it is your duty to fling the invading enemies sky-high, watching them plummet to their demise. As you progress, add powerful spells and upgrades to your arsenal for repelling the attacks. How long can you hold them off?
Pop (Nnooo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 700 Wii Points): Pop bubbles to score points and stop the timer from running out. Pop can be enjoyed by anyone – casual gamers can simply play to pop bubbles and keep the game moving, whereas advanced players will need to pick their shots rapidly and accurately and generate combos to maximize their score.
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack (High Voltage Software, Inc., 1-4 players, Rated T for Teen – Simulated Gambling, 700 Wii Points): V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack re-creates the casino experience, with fully animated players and a realistic Las Vegas dealer. Single players can increase their bankrolls, while multiple players can engage in a head-to-head mini-blackjack tournament.
TV Show King (Gameloft, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): TV Show King transforms your living room into a real TV quiz show studio where you’ll face the challenge of answering more than 3,000 questions across six different categories. Compete against family and friends and use your Wii Remote controller in original ways to make it to the finals to see who can win the greatest amount of cash in one final, deciding duel.
100 Wii Points translates to $1, so the math isn’t too difficult to figure out. I’m still trying to decide on what I’ll be buying (if anything) from this first batch of WiiWare titles. Does anything immediately catch your eye?
Microsoft’s certification process is a pretty long-winding and complicated one, so who really knows with them how long something will take to pass through it. What we do know is that Vigilante 8 Arcade is essentially complete and has just finished its pre-certification with Microsoft.
Isopod expects it to be no longer than 2-4 weeks, and then the game will simply need a release slot — they’re guessing early June, but it could be sooner or later depending on the release schedule.
There are plans for “some neat DLC” which I’m going to go out on a limb and guess include new vehicles, maps, and/or modes. Daring, I know, but that’s just the kind of guy I am.
The PlayStation Store has gotten a great update this week with three solid demos, new music for both Guitar Hero IIIand Rock Band, the expansion pack to PixelJunk, PixelJunk Monsters Encore ($5.99), and Rocketmen: Axis of Evil ($9.99). In addition to all that, there’s a number of trailers for games and movies, including an Iron Man trailer and one for WipEout HD and Mercenaries 2.
Chalk up another use for the Xbox Live Vision cam, as well as Scene It’s Big Button Pad with the release of this week’s one Xbox Live Arcade game, Wits & Wagers (800 Microsoft Points). If it weren’t for Jonathan pointing it out, I’d never know that the game is inspired by a board game of the same name, but what I do know is that the XBLA version contains 700 questions, online play, and it claims to contain up to 25 hours of gameplay, although I’d attach a huge “YMMV” sign to that statement.
From having watched a trailer, I’ve come away with two thoughts. One, this game has “DLC incoming” written all over it.
Two, why are the characters just randomly jutting around? I know the Xbox.com page says they’re supposed to be dancing, but this is like Elaine-little-kicks dancing. Sweet fancy Moses!
Oh, and here’s a freebie answer to the question above: it’s 1793. See, it helps to be a history buff sometimes. Or to have quick and easy access to Google.
If you’ve been enjoyed the tower defense-styled PS3 game PixelJunk Monsters, you’ll be happy to hear that an expansion pack, called PixelJunk Monsters Encore, is in development. We’ve learned some new details about the game in addition to what you may have already heard, the most important of which is that Encore will be releasing in May.
The quick rundown of what to expect in Encore:
1 new island, Toki Island
15 new levels
5 new music tracks from Otograph
Ice Tower is now a stock item
Reduced gem cost to buy the Tesla Tower
Releasing in May 2008
PlayStation.Blog has an interview with the developers, including what inspired the game’s art style. There’s more information to come on the game next week, and I’ve got my fingers crossed (however futile it might be) that an online co-op mode will be a part of the expansion.
The original Assault Heroes was a pretty fine XBLA game at a time when good downloadable games were few and far between. Even though it amounted to pretty much Geometry Wars: Jeep, as Luke Smith used to call it, it was still a pretty good shooter that unfortunately suffered from terrible lag online. Developer Wanako is trying its hand once again at the genre with a sequel to what is now an XBLA Hit, which will “expand its horizons into outer space.”
Sierra will be publishing the game again when it’s released on May 14. You’ll be able to ‘jack vehicles and new online modes are being added. But as Joystiq says, let’s hope it actually works.
PSP owners are in for a nice update on the PlayStation Store for PC this week, so long as they don’t mind forking over some cash. Two new retail PSP games (one decent, one good) are now available for download — LocoRoco ($22) and Kingdom of Paradise ($11).
Of course, the echochrome demo is now available as promised, as is the PS one Classic R-Types ($6). There’s also new game videos, wallpapers, and a music track for LocoRoco.
It’s so much, in fact, that for once you’ll have to hit the break to view the full list.
Def Leppard’s Guitar Hero IIIouting and the obligatory weekly dose of Rock Band tracks (now finally with a full album!), there’s a ton of great new content now available on the PlayStation Store. The biggest release is certainly the Variety Map Pack ($10) for Call of Duty 4 which naturally includes four new multiplayer maps.
A new PS one Classic was also released today with R-Types ($6), ending that particular drought. (Even though you and I both know we probably won’t see another Classic for weeks.) There’s also the Biolith Rebellion 2 expansion set for The Eye of Judgment, whichs adds more than 100 new creatures, spells and abilities, so that sounds like a must-buy for fans of The Eye.
There’s also plenty of videos, demos of both echochromeand Iron Man, a map pack for Army of Two, downloadable songs for Karaoke Revolution, and more. So hit the break and check out everything now available for download.
Satisfying board/card game fans once again, this week’s Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday brings Lost Cities. Like Jonathan, I’ve never had the opportunity to play the real life card version of the game, but from what I’ve read and heard, it’s a really fun game. With the inclusion of online play for up to four players and achievements, this could be another sleeper hit on XBLA. It beats the hell out of another retro release, that’s for sure.
The game costs 800 Microsoft Points, or $10, and is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Steam added yet another game to its growing catalog yesterday; this time, it was the excellent puzzle game Lumines. If you’ve never had the opportunity to play the game before, whether on PSP, PS2 or Xbox Live Arcade, think of it as a Tetris-style game where every piece is comprised of four squares, each which is one of two colors. Your goal is to match up four of the same color squares so that the timeline (a line that sweeps across the screen in tune with the music) can erase them. It’s very simple, but very addictive. And awesome.
The Lumines base pack costs $10, and includes 21 unlockable skins in Challenge Mode, skin edit mode and a sampling of the Time Attack, Puzzle and Mission modes. You can also buy the Advance Pack for $8, which includes another 21 skins, 70 puzzles in Puzzle Mode and 35 stages in Mission Mode. Or, if you’re like me and want to save money and have it all, you can buy them together for $15.
If you opt to purchase them before next Friday, April 25, you’ll get a 10% discount. The controls are a little difficult to get used to at first on a keyboard (especially when you’ve played the game for hours on a controller or PSP), but it seems like a faithful transition to PC.
Fighting game fans are no doubt excited for the release of Soul Calibur IV, especially now that we have a release date. But those looking for some nostalgia will be excited to find out that Namco has announced it will release the original Dreamcast classic as a downloadable game on Xbox Live Arcade.
We don’t know much about the game, except for the fact that all of the original characters and modes will return for this XBLA port, with the addition of leaderboards. Online play has not been confirmed, but it’s a fairly standard feature for XBLA games, as 1UP points out.
What I’m most interested in is how they fit this into the size limit that XBLA has. Certain games have been excused and allowed to exceed that limit. But, being a Dreamcast game, wouldn’t Soul Calibur require a fairly significant amount more room than the typical game released on the platform?
It’s been two weeks now since there’s been a real update to the PlayStation Store, so much of what’s been released today is catching up for missing out on the past few weeks – Rock Band songs, videos, and a UEFA Euro 2008 demo.
Of course, the big news is that Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has been released. I’ve spent some time today playing it, and I think it’ll be a fine holdover for diehard Gran Turismo fans.
The new Warhawk Broken Mirror pack is also now available for $8, as well as a bundle with both the Broken Mirror and Omega Dawn DLC packs.
Namco Bandai announced yesterday a new downloadable game titled PowerUp Forever which is a space shooter coming this summer to PSN and XBL Arcade.
According to Shacknews who got their hands on the demo during Namco Bandai’s Editor’s Day Event, in PowerUp Forever, players steer a fractal-based ship around shooting various enemies with standard space lasers and triple-shot guns in a full 360 degree field of fire. When the player shoots down monsters and bosses, the ship they are in grows in size but the level stays the same with the camera zooming out a little more after each growth. Enemies will take notice when the ship enlarging, objects that looked like walls or asteroids to the gamer show their true identities - massive monsters thats are coming to get you! The single player game is played on one level where the only thing that changes is the background art and enemy encounters as world becomes larger.
Sounds like a fun little space shooter and hopefully it will breathe a bit of fresh air into arcade style games currently available for download.
What sounds like a pretty good XBLA Wednesday actually isn’t quite as impressive upon further inspection. Sure, I loved playing Battlezone on my PC all those years ago, but how well has that game really held up? Is online play and Xbox Live Vision camera support really enough to justify 400 Microsoft Points, or $5? That seems like a question worth contemplating before you eagerly head onto the Xbox Live Marketplace today.
As for Rocky and Bullwinkle, which looks really nice with its Alien Hominid style graphics, the game is just a minigame compilation. (The press release actually calls them micro-games, so are they even less substantial than minigames?) This game, too, offers Vision cam support, only in this case it uses it as a means for playing 25 of the included 100 micro-games. Hopefully it works a little better than TotemBall.
Am I being overly cynical on this week’s offerings? Maybe. But after playing a ton of PSN’s downloadable games with my new DualShock, it’s hard to thing highly of Rocky and Bullwinkle when the other hand gets Super Stardust and Pain.
As a proponent of digital distribution, I love what Sony has done in terms of pushing large, retail-style games out through the PlayStation Store. Xbox Live Arcade is a great service, but with a cap on size limits, there’s no chance that you’re ever going to see something like Warhawk available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. PSN, on the other hand, has a multitude of full size games that go well beyond the scope of old school ports and small indie games like Everyday Shooter.
This movement begs the question: are discs and physical media doomed as a format for deliver games? Steam has become the definitive place to purchase games for many PC gamers (myself included), so what’s to stop consoles from following the trend? Michael Donahoe explored this possibility and took a look at how the three respective platform holders are handling digital distribution.
Downloadable games are really clicking this generation. It’s easy to see why, too — it’s the lazy way to play. Hell, all you have to do is hop online, push a button, and boom, you’re minutes away from getting your game on. Right now, all three of the major consoles are vying for your virtual bucks. Each one offers easy-to-play classics and smaller titles designed to quickly kill time. Of course, not all of these attractive appetizers will fill your gaming belly like a meaty retail game. Or at least that’s the case now, though Sony might be changing the way the menu is written with upcoming main-course titles like Gran Turismo 5: Prologue and SOCOM: Confrontation.
Those excited for the new PlayStation Store that will be releasing next week can get a peek at what’s to come in the above video walkthrough, courtesy of PlayStation.Blog. The video takes you through the different categories you’ll find in the main menu of the Store, as well as how items are indicated as being in your cart or already purchased. It also makes a mention of this being a native PlayStation 3 application rather than something internet-based, so that should make for a much smoother experience.
One of the new features is the ability to watch a preview video or view screenshots of a game without ever having to leave and head to the XMB. That’s a great addition, but I hope Sony will eventually get more demo or trial versions of the downloadable games available on the Store. I know that feature has bother introduced me to some games I wouldn’t have otherwise bought and also saved me money on Xbox Live Arcade, so hopefully we’ll see an abundance of demos in the future.
Perhaps the top game on my Xbox Live Arcade wishlist has finally been released: the superbly-awesome and simultaneously incredibly difficult vertically scrolling shooter, Ikaruga. For just 800 Microsoft Points ($10) you can own this underappreciated masterpiece that previously could only be found in arcades or on Dreamcast or GameCube. With support for both split-screen and online co-op play, as well as a replay feature, you’d have to be crazy to not give Ikaruga a try.
The game’s polarity mechanic, where only bullets of the opposite color can destroy you, is still as unique and refreshing as it was years ago. As a longtime fan, I’m very happy to see the game get another shot at a larger audience, as a port to GameCube just didn’t do Ikaruga justice.
PSP owners are in for a nice update on the 
