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Official Lode Runner XBLA Thread (800MSP!)

Jeez, Microsoft seems a bit scared by level editing. I got this xbox guide window after clicking on xbox live in the game:
"Lode Runner allows players to create and share maps on Xbox LIVE. These player-created maps may contain objectionable content. Do you want to allow them?"

What are they afraid of? That people are gonna type the letters P-E-N-I-S with the tiles or something? In all xbox windows you always have yes on top and no on bottom, but for some reason they switched it around for this prompt. As if they want people to go for No.

And bleh, this game is also divided into player/ranked matches. That just makes it all the more likely you'll have 0% chance to find strangers to play with after a few weeks.
 
Right, riiight. They "mistakenly" released the game for 800, then corrected it to 1200. Something tells me this is a marketing experiment to see how the price hike impacts sale trends in the first 24 hours. ...or not.
 
Speevy said:
I'm not trying to derail the thread or request games, just a simple answer. Is this one XBLA exclusive?

I'll get it today if it is.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure it is. I don't recall any PSN announcement and I think if there isn't one by release there won't be one for a looong time, if ever.

Stantron said:
Right, riiight. They "mistakenly" released the game for 800, then corrected it to 1200. Something tells me this is a marketing experiment to see how the price hike impacts sale trends in the first 24 hours. ...or not.
Click to expand...
OK no one buy it! Maybe Amazon will have it on sale soon.
 
Glad I got it early, they better not try to get 400 more points out of me or I'll ask for my 800 back.

Stantron said:
Right, riiight. They "mistakenly" released the game for 800, then corrected it to 1200. Something tells me this is a marketing experiment to see how the price hike impacts sale trends in the first 24 hours. ...or not.
Click to expand...

:lol :lol
Most unlikely MS conspiracy theory ever.
 
Sectus said:
Jeez, Microsoft seems a bit scared by level editing. I got this xbox guide window after clicking on xbox live in the game:
"Lode Runner allows players to create and share maps on Xbox LIVE. These player-created maps may contain objectionable content. Do you want to allow them?"

What are they afraid of? That people are gonna type the letters P-E-N-I-S with the tiles or something? In all xbox windows you always have yes on top and no on bottom, but for some reason they switched it around for this prompt. As if they want people to go for No.

And bleh, this game is also divided into player/ranked matches. That just makes it all the more likely you'll have 0% chance to find strangers to play with after a few weeks.
Click to expand...


Well Flock has the level editor with just the levels listed and done very well so I dont think its MS in this case. Maybe because they are publishing this one they are acting this way. Capcom having a PSN version might keep MS from standing in the way...

I really loved the demo and wanted to buy it all morning but could not add points... now that the price is raised I feel kinda screwed over but will end up buying it at some point.
 
Ugh, pissed by the price raise when the buying points system was gimped. Now will wait for it to go on sale.
 
Aaron said:
Ugh, pissed by the price raise when the buying points system was gimped. Now will wait for it to go on sale.
Click to expand...

They probably realized this and stopped people from buying points, while they changed the price back. This way people can't get pissed for buying 800 points for this game then realizing it was changed to 1200.
 
I have to say though, this game is definitely worth 15 USD. Singleplayer campaign with around 100 levels, puzzle mode with 50 levels, survival mode with 8 levels, coop campaign with 50 or so levels, coop puzzle mode with 26 levels, a competitive mode for 4 players and a level editor. You're getting a good deal of content for your money.

On the other hand, I've always felt that games on XBLA has been underpriced so perhaps I'm just insane.
 
This is just unbelievable bullshit. I was all psyched to go home and buy this.

For $15, though, they can go suck a log. I feel like I got bait and switched, even though that's not technically what this was.

At this point it doesn't matter to me if it's "worth" 15 or not. They can drop it BACK down to 10, or I will never buy this game.
 
Just tried the trial, its fun but man I find it hard. After playing tho I can now see what all the puzzle/platformer but like pac man references were about.

Might have picked it up for 800 (tho I was getting stuck on the end of the trial) but now its back to 1200 no ta!
 
Just bought the game. It definitely brings back memories back to Apple IIs. The control is so simple, the triggers and the analog stick. I am really digging this game, even the 80's style music that is played. I am going to tear into this game all night.

IMO, it is worth the 15 bucks. Of course I have the nostaglia factor going for me that many of you won't have. I would suggest to atleast try out the demo.
 
Stantron said:
Right, riiight. They "mistakenly" released the game for 800, then corrected it to 1200. Something tells me this is a marketing experiment to see how the price hike impacts sale trends in the first 24 hours. ...or not.
Click to expand...

Nah, Microsoft are just utterly incompetent in general.

They released the South Central content early and for free forcing Rockstar to tweak it to break it for everyone that downloaded early, gave everyone free gold lancers, released Banjo early, pretty much dropped two months of Burnout content in one morning and released an early beta of Sensible World of Soccer by mistake.
 
I was just about ready to buy a points card and pick this up at 800 points. After this bullshit, Microsoft can kiss my ass. The Arcade service was great when games were priced reasonably at 400 and 800 points. Now the standard is 800 and 1200 points for new releases, those prices are just too high for the amount of enjoyment I get from them.

I'll spend my money elsewhere.
 
Some of you people are crazy. How do you deal with retail releases? They're freaking 60 USD! 15 USD is a tiny amount compared to that, and the gameplay time you'll get from this game will rival most retail releases, especially if you also go through the coop content.
 
Sectus said:
Some of you people are crazy. How do you deal with retail releases? They're freaking 60 USD! 15 USD is a tiny amount compared to that, and the gameplay time you'll get from this game will rival most retail releases, especially if you also go through the coop content.
Click to expand...


My thought is that most people who are bitching weren't going to buy the game in the first place. 1200 was the expected price, we all thought it was going to be 1200 all along. So a few hours of it being 800 changed everyone's mind? If you were anticipating buying the game, 1200 is what you thought you would pay. So now everything has changed? I don't buy it.

People just like to complain.
 
Loderunner.gif


History

The prototype of what later became Lode Runner was a game developed by Douglas E. Smith of Renton, Washington, who at the time was an architecture student at the University of Washington.[2] This prototype, called Kong, was written for a Prime Computer 550 minicomputer limited to one building on the UW campus. Shortly thereafter, Kong was ported to VAX minicomputers, as there were more terminals available on campus. The game was programmed in Fortran and used ASCII character graphics. When Kong was ported to the VAX, some Pascal sections were mixed into the original Fortran code.

In a weekend (circa September 1982), Smith was able to build a crude, playable version in 6502 assembly language on an Apple II+ and renamed the game Miner. Through the end of the year, Smith refined that version, which was black-and-white with no joystick support. He submitted a rough version to Brøderbund around October 1982 and received a one-line rejection letter in response to the effect of "Sorry, your game doesn't fit into our product line; please feel free to submit future products."[2]

Smith then borrowed money to purchase a color monitor and joystick and continued to improve the game. Around Christmas of 1982, he submitted the game, now renamed Lode Runner, to four publishers and quickly received offers from all four: Sierra, Sirius, Synergistic, and Brøderbund. He took the deal with Brøderbund.

The game was released in mid-1983. The original microcomputer versions included the Apple II series, the Atari 8-bit family, the Commodore 64, the and a version licensed for the MSX computer. Later versions include those for the Atari ST, Sinclair Spectrum 48K/128K, NES, Windows 3.1, Macintosh, and the original Game Boy.
Click to expand...

The Apple version will always be the definitive version to me. The reincarnations that followed throughout the years were always just layers of caked up makeup that hid the true beauty and simplicity of the Apple 6502 version. And, from what I can see of the Xbox live version, this reincarnation is just another layer of cheap makeup.
 
wasnt bionic commando $15 too? this game has a shitton more content and I dont see why lode runner is any less worthy than BC as a franchise.

the way you guys are crying about a pricing error, i wonder if you've ever walked into a retailer before. if you find an incorrect price tag, its first come first serve and then they correct it.

how many of you took advantage of the 99 cent 1600 points card error on amazon last week? please.
 
I played the trial and enjoyed it, but can't justify spending 1200 Points on it.

I'm not saying it's overpriced or anything, you can tell they put a lot of effort into this game. It's just that I'd prefer a stripped down (no MP, no level editor, etc) version for 800 MSP.
 
800 pts is the perfect impulse price. At 1200, I realize how many unfinished games already line my shelf. I might break down and buy it later anyway, but the temptation is pretty weak now.
 
Truespeed said:
Loderunner.gif


History



The Apple version will always be the definitive version to me. The reincarnations that followed throughout the years were always just layers of caked up makeup that hid the true beauty and simplicity of the Apple 6502 version. And, from what I can see of the Xbox live version, this reincarnation is just another layer of cheap makeup.
Click to expand...


I will agree that the Apple version is the definitive one. I do wish they had atleast an option to play that version. There are alot of "additions" to this one that complicate a pretty simple game. Guess they felt like they needed to add something for the new generation of gamers.
 
Bad move on the pricing, especially getting it right at first, then borking it. :lol

Great 800 point game. Not sure about 1200. Will have to sleep on it.
 
voltron said:
Fuck this shit.

So did anyone actually get it for 800? Or was it 1200 all along if actually tried to buy it?
Click to expand...

Alot of people will have got it for 800, i know i did glad i impulsed bought as soon as it went up now.:lol
 
Yeah, I got it for 800 by clicking on the link Rlan posted in the OP. Game is quite good and challenging, which is a treat. They don't make many hard games anymore. Playing it right now, in fact.

Whether or not it's worth $10 or $15, I dunno. This forum makes a spectacularly huge deal over 5 bucks all the time, but obviously if it was something you didn't have much interest in earlier, the extra 5 bucks probably kills it for you. If it is something you were interested in, it does seem like there's a lot of game here for the $15 between the quest mode, a puzzle mode with 50 puzzles, an endless mode and a level editor.
 
voltron said:
Fuck this shit.

So did anyone actually get it for 800? Or was it 1200 all along if actually tried to buy it?
Click to expand...

raises hand.

Well worth 800 :D

however, as punishment for my early adoption I fell for a pretty blatant 'sign in here for 1600 free microsoft points message that got spammed from a friend to my xbox.

I changed my passwords 30 seconds later and blame the illness I had at the time and being overtired for falling for some bad phishing scam.
 
Sean said:
I played the trial and enjoyed it, but can't justify spending 1200 Points on it.

I'm not saying it's overpriced or anything, you can tell they put a lot of effort into this game. It's just that I'd prefer a stripped down (no MP, no level editor, etc) version for 800 MSP.
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly. $15 isn't a lot (Even if $10 is the obvious sweet spot), but I doubt I'd ever play multiplayer (Maybe if it were split screen, but then only once or twice) or use the level editor and it just feels like I'd be paying for a 3rd of the game I don't really want.

In contrast I bought BC: Rearmed minutes after finishing the demo, and I've never played either franchise previously.
 
voltron said:
Sorry but that is just BULLSHIT!

If even one person got it for 800 they should leave it at that price.
Click to expand...
No. What's bullshit is I was willing and able to buy the game when it was at 800 pts if MS hadn't fucking disabled the ability to buy points. Pisses me off.
 
-1 sale.
I think this is one of those cases where the game would make a lot more money at a lower price point. At 800MSP I might just be willing to tolerate the horrible art style.
 
It took me a few tries to figure out how it worked, but Puzzle 13 was pretty cool.

Edit: Ugh, I can't do 14. I know what to do, but I can't figure out how to do it fast enough as the bottom-left block comes back too soon...
 
The game is great. I was not a big fan of the new bricks added to it, but now I like it. Offers some variety to a game that is a serious grind. I really want to put in an entire evening of play into the game but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
 
Hah, figured out Puzzle 14.
This game is awesome. If you like the trial version, don't let the extra 400 points keep you from enjoying this game.
 
Narpas Sword0 said:
wasnt bionic commando $15 too? this game has a shitton more content and I dont see why lode runner is any less worthy than BC as a franchise.
Click to expand...


BC was 10 bucks... don't see how Lode Runner has that much more content.
 
Um...I thought this was 800 MS Points...but that was a mistake?

Seriously Microsoft, when are you going to stop being stupid? I think I already know the answer...
 
Lode Runner is better than Braid!

I've been playing puzzle mode for a bunch of hours and the puzzle design is really really good. It's kinda got the same type of puzzle design as Braid that it's all based on the player knowing the basic mechanics, but you have to figure out new ways to use those mechanics. But it's far more logical than Braid and it's super quick to do retries. I'd say the puzzle mode is basically a thinking man's N+. It has the same concept that each retry lasts seconds, but unlike N+ you won't be screaming at the screen and punching your controller.

I haven't tried any of the coop content yet, but that has to be a ton of fun.
Unless the netcode is awful. Please don't have bad netcode.

People complaining about the price are absolute lunatics. This could have been priced at 30 USD and it would still be worth it.
 
I would have bought it for 800 points, but no way for $15. The Xbox library is so big now that you can get fantastic full retail games now for as low as $10 to 20. In the last few months I bought Condemned 2, Ninja Gaiden 2, Army of Two, Strangle Hold, and Viva Pinata all for under $10.

Paying above $10 for Live arcade games is just stupid when you can get so many full length games for that cheap. If developers want more than $10 for a XBLA title, then it better have the production values and the longevity of full disc based releases because at the price of $15 and $20 that is the type of product it is competing against.
 
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