Xbox Live ARCADE Games... definitive thread

[Malibu]

Upcoming XBLA releases

• July 30: “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2” – The latest version of the wildly popular retro shooter offers screen-melting intensity and insane new features, including six action-packed gameplay modes, new enemies, scoring strategies and a diverse list of exciting Achievements. “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2” is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB and will be available at 800 Microsoft Points.

• August 6: “Braid” – From acclaimed developer Jonathan Blow, “Braid” is a mind-bending and artistic puzzle-platformer where the player manipulates the flow of time in strange and unusual ways. “Braid”is rated E10+ for Everyone 10+ by the ESRB.

• August 13: “Bionic Commando: Rearmed” – The classic 8-bit side-scroller reports back for duty in a stunning remake, complete with all-new HD graphics and features that put 2D gaming back on the map! “Bionic Commando: Rearmed” is rated M for Mature by the ESRB

• August 20: “Galaga Legions” – The legend lives on with “Galaga Legions,” a reimagining of the classic arcade shooter. Featuring table-turning game dynamics and updated graphics, the game was created by the team behind the bestselling “PAC-MAN Championship Edition” from Namco Bandai Games. “Galaga Legions” is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.

• August 27: “Castle Crashers” – Award-winning studio The Behemoth brings red hot arcade adventure to Xbox LIVE Arcade with “Castle Crashers,” featuring hand-drawn characters and an array of weapons to choose from as you defend your kingdom and save the princess. “Castle Crashers” is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.

 

[PARANOiA]

Oh dear. These are all on my to-buy list. At least I have a week between releases

 

[Malibu]

This is one of those XNA community games that we got to try out back at GDC and it will now be a XBLA title.

Dishwasher: Dead Samurai update.

• The Dishwasher has a million, billion bugs. I’m fixing them all very quickly.
• The GDC build of The Dishwasher was sort of slow. The frame rate hovered around 30. This has been fixed–it’s now a steady 60!
• I’m locking the screen size at 1280 x 720. I figured that because all of my favorite AAA games do this, I’ll do it too. This addresses frame rate fluctuations and cramped menu issues.
• The dishwasher’s weapons and clothes now get stained by blood (small detail).
• There is now a Ranked story mode–it’s a brutal difficulty that’s roughly the same difficulty as Samurai. Ranked is more strict, but playing ranked obviously allows you to compare score and speed against the rest of the world.
• The game supports 3 player co-op in story mode (unranked only). It’s kind of messy. I’m going to make it a little less messy.

It’s been a wild ride, but I’m nearing the end of the tunnel!

 

[PARANOiA]

Geometry Wars 2 is up. It's tonnes of fun... I'm struggling with Pacifism, but the rest are extremely compelling. Fantastic game

Edit: Pacifism is now my favourite mode. 2.5 million points! Wow!

 

[Scott_Arm]

Geometry Wars 2 is up. It's tonnes of fun... I'm struggling with Pacifism, but the rest are extremely compelling. Fantastic game

Edit: Pacifism is now my favourite mode. 2.5 million points! Wow!

Awesome. I'm goin' home for lunch today, but I can't try it then because I'll probably end up very late heading back to work

Edit: Decided to try it out and I'm now prying myself away to get back to work. Pretty cool. Unlocked a few of the modes very quickly. I do not have PARANOiA's skill level

 

[RobertR1]

What's the secret to Geometry Wars? I sucked at the first one. I think I broke 200k maybe once? I have no idea how people break millions. I'm trying to dl GW2 trail now but I think a few million other people might also be! This is the slowest anything even dl'd for me on Live!

 

[Arwin]

I broke 100k once ... but then that was a big brakethrough at the time. It gets too crowded quick in that game, and it's basically saving bombs for just those occasions when the screen fills up. That racks you lots of points probably and then it might also earn you new bombs faster, creating a cycle of bliss. SSHD* is a lot like that - if you use bombs to quickly take out large structures early on, you get a lot of powerups right away.

I think I'll give this a go. I could see that Geometry Wars has a lot of potential, but it was too hardcore for me. This update may well fix that issue.

Super Stardust HD, which shall otherwise remain unnamed in this thread being for that other store.

 

[Scott_Arm]

What is SSHD?

 

[RobertR1]

Woohoo! 750k! on my first try. It's a LOT easier to keep track of your ship amongst the chaos on this one. This is very cool. Gonna have to buy it now

update: 1.25mil on the demo and now I better get to work!

 

[MJP]

What is SSHD?

Super Stardust HD, for PS3.

EDIT: Looks like Arwin actually mentioned that, but to be fair I didn't see it either.

 

[Scott_Arm]

I also got the Puzzle Quest expansion + the normal game. A little more expensive than I'd like, but I know I like the game but haven't spent enough time with it.

 

[PARANOiA]

What's the secret to Geometry Wars? I sucked at the first one. I think I broke 200k maybe once? I have no idea how people break millions. I'm trying to dl GW2 trail now but I think a few million other people might also be! This is the slowest anything even dl'd for me on Live!

Heh, I'm no expert by any measure - in fact I'm guessing most of you have better scores! - so don't think I'm acting lofty here, but I'll give you the "GW 101" as I see it.

• Know the different enemy types. They each move and behave differently, and it should guide where you move on the board. E.g., the blue guys will always home in on you at a rate slightly faster than your ship, but you have greater maneuverability. The green ships will always move away from whatever direction you're shooting, but otherwise will generally approach you, so you need to be tactful in taking them out... they can make a good "escape route" if you're trapped, because you simply open fire on a group of them to clear a path!
• Bombs generally shouldn't be used until very late in the game. If you think you need them at 200k points, you haven't really seen anything yet... you'd be better off learning to fight your way through the mess than dropping the bomb early on, otherwise you're skill won't progress
• Really, really obvious, but ensure you aren't always moving in the direction you're shooting. Look for vids of low scoring people (100-200k in GW1) and they tend to play with the general rule of shooting and moving in the same direction. Try and break that mould early on
• Try to get the pacifism achievement in GW1. Once you get that, you tend to have learned a lot about the game in terms of how the enemies move and approach you. Then imagine how much more powerful it'll be when you're basically getting "pacifism" each turn... while shooting. Survival is #1 over trying to hit the baddies, after all
• With multipliers, your score will increase expontentially over time - so long as you don't die. It's much easier to get from 300 to 400 than it is from 200 to 300 (and so on and so on)

Please everyone here add me to your friends list... I love the idea that your friends leaderboard is part of the game select. It gives me pride seeing me beat a certain nemesis I have (we trash talk a lot when gaming) but makes me hang my head in shame seeing the usual suspects trounce my "high" *cough* score.

 

[RobertR1]

Thanks Paranoia! I'll keep that in mind. I used to just focus on killing instead of surviving so I'll try that route.

My Live ID = Robert R1

Add me fools and watch my suckage in real time!

 

[Scott_Arm]

I was at 98% on the wax off achievement when I died. Son of a ...

 

[Gubbi]

I was at 98% on the wax off achievement when I died. Son of a ...

Wax off is killing me too.

Cheers

 

[RobertR1]

Wax off and sequence will be hard.....

I got most of the others. For some good lol's go back right away and play GW1. Looks sooo outdated and just isn't as fun. Pacifism mode is the most addictive.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Wax off and sequence will be hard.....

I got most of the others. For some good lol's go back right away and play GW1. Looks sooo outdated and just isn't as fun. Pacifism mode is the most addictive.

I only have three achievements left. I'm not a superstar at the game though. Breaking 1.5 or 2 million is tough for me. My highest score is 4.5 mil on pacificsm, I think.

My bad. Four achievements left. Any strategies for the one on King mode where you have to activate 30 zones without firing a shot? I can get to about 25 or 26 and then it seems impossible to get the last four or five.

I've come very close to achieving wax off, so I think it's just a matter of time and luck before I get it.

 

[Malibu]

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2's Hidden 3D Stage-Viewer Uncovered

If you're anything like us, you've owned Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 since the first moment it was available Wednesday morning. You've also been staring feverishly at the leaderboards, snapping pencils in half as your friends slip a notch above you. Well, take a break, take an Aspirin, and then check out Retro Evolved 2's hidden 3D stage viewer, of sorts. Simply press the Right Bumper and the Back button at the same time during any single-player game to freeze the action and enter the seemingly hidden (i.e. completely undocumented) mode. You can then fly around the play field in 3D space using the analog sticks and trigger -- the left stick tilts and rotates the view, the right stick zooms in and out and pans left and right, and the trigger raise and lower the field of vision (the more crazy things going on on-screen, the cooler it looks).

 

[Malibu]

Summer of Arcade: Braid - XBLA - Wednesday

The second week of Summer of Arcade is hitting XBLA with Braid on Wednesday.

While the premise sounds familiar, your surroundings and the way you play are definitely not. Rescue a princess who has been abducted but do so through incredible painterly worlds and manipulate time to solve puzzles and get through levels.

Jonathan Blow brings you this new take on the platformer through Number None, Inc. and Microsoft games. It can be yours for 1200 Microsoft Points and is rated E 10+ for Everyone over the age of 10 by the ESRB.

I thought this would be 800 points. Oh well, I will still probably get it.

 

[PARANOiA]

What other games have been 1200 points? I picked up Puzzle Quest for that price, but have been somewhat hesitant to pick up others for that price.

It is getting amazing reviews however, and there's always the trial.