Xbox Live COMMUNITY Games... definitive thread

[AzBat]

In the spirit of Tap In's famous Live Arcade thread, I figured we needed one for the Community Games now that they are public and for sale.

You can purchase these titles from Xbox.com here...

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/catalog.aspx?d=7

You can also see all the titles as they get approved from the Peer Review stage here...

http://catalog.xna.com/en-US/gamescatalog.aspx

For details on how to become a Community Games Developer go the Creator's Club Online. There you can get documentation, examples & free tools. You can also test & peer review games before they're made available to the public. You will just need to pay a subscription fee to become a Premium member.

http://creators.xna.com/

You can visit the Creator's Club online forums here...

http://forums.xna.com/forums/

Visit the XNA Team Blog here...

http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/

Here's Gamasutra's "What's New in XNA Game Studio 3.0" feature...

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3846/sponsored_feature_whats_new_in_.php

32 Titles (As of 11/19/2008)

• Abstacked
• Alien Ambush
• Artoon
• Bad Atom Episode 1
• Beat IT!
• Being
• Biology Battle
• Bloc
• Blow
• Brain Party
• Colosseum
• Cubage
• Drift
• DUOtrix
• Endless Swarm
• Fruit Attack
• Fuel Depot 360
• Funky Punch XL
• Galax-e-mail
• In The Pit
• Lines
• Loot, Steal 'n Destroy
• Organon
• Poker Ball
• Rift
• Smashell
• SpaceCombat
• Tail Gun Charlie
• Totem
• UAV Wars
• Weapon of Choice
• Word Soup

Titles run from 200, 400 or 800 MS Points or $2.50, $5 or $10USD.

Here's a review from ArsTechnica on 6 of the launch titles...

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/11/19/meet-your-xbox-community-game-launch-titles

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

Not a bad amount of titles. Most are not too bad. Disappointed that a lot of the preview titles from GDC haven't made it online though...

Culture
Jelly Car
Little Gamers
Proximity HD
Rocketball
TriLinea

Culture was on there over the weekend, but has since been removed. I still have the trial, but not sure I should buy until it is reposted.

Any of these titles meet your fancy? Any bombs people should stay away from?

Tommy McClain

 

[RobertR1]

Yeah I want to try some out but 32 is a lot sit there, download and demo. Post impressions!

 

[PARANOiA]

It's worth noting that these games aren't available in all countries - I don't have the tab and I live in Australia. You can download demos if you have a US account however.

 

[AzBat]

Right from the XNA/Community Games FAQ...

Developers from which countries will be able to sell their games at launch?

Creators Club Premium members in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland and Spain will be able to sell their games. We'll be adding support for other regions later in 2009 and beyond but these are the only countries where XNA is enabled to pay their residents.


Will everyone, from every region, be able to distribute a game just like it is currently in the beta?

No. Selling games will be limited at launch to the Xbox LIVE marketplace countries that enable purchasing above.


I am served by an Xbox LIVE marketplace that does not yet have community game purchasing enabled. Can I still playtest games? Can I still peer review games?

Yes, creators from any country can help their fellow game creators by play testing or peer reviewing a game. The only requirement is that they speak the language of the game and/or its metadata.

Tommy McClain

 

[Malibu]

I'm probably going to end up purchasing Weapon of Choice, Artoon, and Blow.

 

[Tap In]

sweet! thanks, have not even had a chance to give these a look-see.

will do so today

 

[makattack]

Nice interview with Weapon of Choice developer:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20915

 

[larsolino]

I'm the environmental artist of colosseum, our team is based in sweden. This is great, it means we can upload and sell our game, but it also sucks since we can't buy it ourselves!

I've been spreading the word about colosseum to friends and family for months and then suddenly i get calls with people asking where it is.

annoying, truly.

have any of you had a chance to try it out yet? would be nice to see what you think!!!

Lars
www.shortfuse.se

 

[AzBat]

3 New Regions Added

Looks like those in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand can now have access to the Community Games. Microsoft announced it on Monday...

http://gamerscoreblog.com/press/archive/2008/11/24/562471.aspx

PARANOiA yes, that means you should have access now.

Tommy McClain

 

[PARANOiA]

Does that mean I can stop whining? Seriously, though, that's great news :]

 

[AzBat]

Does that mean I can stop whining? Seriously, though, that's great news :]

Just make sure to look at the fine print... Available December 15th. Didn't see that before. Sorry.

Tommy McClain

 

[rekator]

I'm the environmental artist of colosseum, our team is based in sweden. This is great, it means we can upload and sell our game, but it also sucks since we can't buy it ourselves!

I've been spreading the word about colosseum to friends and family for months and then suddenly i get calls with people asking where it is.

annoying, truly.

have any of you had a chance to try it out yet? would be nice to see what you think!!!

Lars
www.shortfuse.se

I'm really like the gameplay, use of the right stick is really fun, and the game got nice visual. The only bad point is that the demo is to short!
Good work! Hope this game give you good contacts for the futur.

 

[Cyan]

Nice interview with Weapon of Choice developer:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20915

He has a creative profession but he also is a creative person. I didn't take a look at the Community Games because there are a lot of new features but I definitively like to give this and larsolino's game a try.

 

[larsolino]

yes, the demo thing is tough. microsoft decided that communitygames will be demo'd with four minute trials.
in our case this means anyone who finds the character creation mode interesting gets to play something like a minute of the actual game. in other words, get in and get it on fast!!!

 

[AzBat]

The good thing about the demo times is that Microsoft has said they're looking to change that. Developers need to voice their opinion of this on Microsoft Connect. I hope you also voice your desire for better pricing models. There are some games that are in serious of cheaper price points. MS needs to take a cue from iPhone Apps pricing model: Free & $0.99 (80 MS Points) price points.

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

Major Nelson has started listing the Top 10 Community Games for the week on his site. Here's the first list...

Top Community Games NEW! (Full Versions purchased)
1 Word Soup
2 Golden Royal Blackjack
3 Weapon of Choice
4 Colosseum
5 ZSX4 Guitarpocalypse
6 Sin(Surfing)
7 In the Pit
8 Head Banger
9 Snake360
10 Swords and Monsters

These lists are based on global unique users connected to Xbox Live or in the case of Arcade and Community Games, full versions purchased during the week.

Tommy McClain

 

[larsolino]

yeeej! would be nice to also know how much....

 

[makattack]

Hmm... I suppose there's no reason for not having apps. like this, but gosh... Okay, maybe I should put up my "Game of Life" demo/starter app/screen saver program which I wrote just to see what deploying from PC to 360 would be like. Creating box art, and such would be a bit of a pain though. Will have to dust off my gimp skills.

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/offers/00000001-0000-4000-8000-00005855014c

Oh, and I'm really just joking about releasing my version of the "Game of Life" on Creators Club. I am curious how many people will actually buy this...

 

[makattack]

I almost bought the fireplace HD DVD/Blu-ray discs until I read the poor reviews. I own Amazing Sunsets and Planet Earth each much more expensive than this title.

I might have been too harsh with questioning why people would buy it. Might be because of my own circumstances, which are unique to me. I have my 360 connected to a monitor which I use as a tely in the same room where I have an actual fireplace -- with a charred log that never fully burned through sitting on a grate. I couldn't imagine running this software based fireplace with visitors. At least the fireplace app is 1080p according to the author (SniperED007 -- I'm guessing his name is Ed, was a big fan of the Goldeneye game on Nintendo, and loved the sniper rifles).

The Planet Earth series, on the other hand, is definitely something I'd purchase, if there were ever a digital download version for the 360. I'm not a big fan of optical discs now.