Official Xbox Live Arcade Thread

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Jesiatha

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A big update since the press release has gone out.

The "launch window" list of Live Arcade titles will be:
Astropop – Popcap Games
Bankshot Billiards 2 – pixelStorm, Inc
Bejeweled 2 – Popcap Games
Crystal Quest – Stainless Games
Feeding Frenzy – Popcap Games
Gauntlet – Midway Home Entertainment
Geometry Wars 2 – Bizarre Creations
Hardwood Backgammon – Silver Creek Entertainment
Hardwood Hearts – Silver Creek Entertainment
Hardwood Spades – Silver Creek Entertainment
Hexic® HD – Microsoft Game Studios
Hoopworld – Streamline Studios
Jewel Quest – iWin.com
Joust – Midway Home Entertainment
Marble Blast Ultra – GarageGames
Mutant Storm Reloaded – PomPom Games
Outpost Kaloki – Wahoo Studios
Robotron 2084 – Midway Home Entertainment
SmashTV – Midway Home Entertainment
Wik: Fable of Souls – Reflexive Entertainment
Zuma – Popcap Games


Publishers who will support Xbox Live Arcade:
Atari
Bizarre Creations
Capcom
Codemasters
CTXM
Digital Eclipse
Electronic Arts
Empire Interactive
Gaia Studios
GameHouse Studios
Garage Games
Gastronaut Studios
Hamster
Harmonix
HipSoft
Hudson Soft
iWin
Konami
Llamasoft
Load, Inc
Mad Doc Software
Majesco
Microsoft Game Studios
Midway Home Entertainment
Mumbo Jumbo (United Developers)
Naked Sky Entertainment
Namco
Oberon Media
Pick Up And Play
pixelStorm, Inc
PlayFirst
PomPom Games
Popcap Games
Q! Entertainment
RealNetworks, Inc
Reflexive Entertainment
Secret Lair Studios
SEGA
Silver Creek Entertainment
SNK Playmore
Stainless Games
Streamline Studios
Tik Games
Ubisoft
uWink
Vivendi Universal Games
Wahoo Studios
Wanako Games
Wild Tangent


Next-Gen is reporting that games will be $5 or $10 each (addressing the biggest complaint for the original Xbox Live Arcade).
(thanks Geek)

According to someone at Evil Avatar:
-All games will support 1080i
-Joust has both updated and classic graphics, and co-op play over Live
-There will be a big push for independent publishers

Pictures of Arcade from E3 (courtesy of AnandTech
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If you can wink at me and tell me Killer Instinct 1 and 2 are coming to XBL Arcade I'll go pre-order one right now. :D
 
FROSTBITE 1080i WITH REAL LOOKING BEARS AND PIXEL SHADED ICY WATERS!

This would r0x so much.

Oh, and Xbox Live Arcade will rock!
 
ChiTown said:
(Note: Microsoft will announce the big name publishers that will support Live Arcade in the coming days. Although I didn’t get a definitive confirmation, I mentioned to the rep that it would be really cool if they brought some of those classic early-90’s arcade games to the service, like, say, TMNT. At that, he smirked, and simply stated that I would be pleasantly surprised with the list of devoted publishers that want to revisit their arcade classics on Live Arcade.)
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Any hints you can provide us with the total Arcade game amount available at launch?
 
For me it's total Bomba! unless they seriously bring down the prices! The pricing of the original Xbox Live Arcade was waaay exaggerated.
 
It's all the extra stuff like this that has me hyped on the 360, not so much the games. This + the Minter music visualizations + mp3 streaming + free voice chat + the dashboard = anticipation.
 
Microsoft getting Midway, Namco, Konami, and Capcom to support XBox Live Arcade will sell consoles itself. I seriously can't wait for next month.
 
Some technical questions Jesiathat. Since the Arcade games are pretty lightweight compared to full production games, is there some kind of XBA middleware that MS are providing? Kind of like Apple's dashboard setup with the widgets. I know there are some easy calls that MS have provided for games to use Live functionality, but are they provided even more layers for Arcade games?
 
A few questions of my own:

1. Do all games have to be in 1080i?

2. Do all games have to be downloadable to a memory card? Any thought of having HDD-exclusive games?

3. Do all games have to have acheivement, ranking, etc. stats?
 
VisionaryQuest0 said:
Microsoft getting Midway, Namco, Konami, and Capcom to support XBox Live Arcade will sell consoles itself. I seriously can't wait for next month.
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Damn, Street Fighter 2 + iterations would be an amazing purchase on Xbox Live Arcade.
 
PhatSaqs said:
Hope to see some the more popular older arcade titles on XBLA.
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Gotta agree with that. All the casuals-oriented games are nice and could sell eventually. But casuals aren't going to be buying X360s anytime soon. You have to cater to your base first, and then expand from there. It would be good if they can get more brand-name classic titles in there to drive interest in the platform.
 
AtomicShroom said:
For me it's total Bomba! unless they seriously bring down the prices! The pricing of the original Xbox Live Arcade was waaay exaggerated.
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They need to do something like Gametap $15/month or a combo of pricing schemes like Napster does with an unlimited download subscription and individual purchases.

Between all the classic compilation discs, the TV games devices, Live Arcade, Gametap, and Nintendo's download service it seems like classic arcade games are making a huge comeback.


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Live Arcade has just leapfrogged its way up the list of 360 features I care about. Retro games + national scoreboard = love. This plus the Achievements are, I think, the two most excellent features of the new Live. Kudos to the folks behind it. Way to tie games of the past to games of the future.
 
If you can wink at me and tell me Killer Instinct 1 and 2 are coming to XBL Arcade I'll go pre-order one right now.
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In regards to whether any specific titles will show up - sorry, I can't comment on portfolio specifics (I don't know all of it, and what I do know, I can't talk about). The full launch lineup should be announced within the next couple days. More games will come out regularly following launch.

Any hints you can provide us with the total Arcade game amount available at launch?
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Launch day I would expect around a dozen. That is games in Arcade, some of which are "arcade classics".

Should we expect old-school RPGs and adventure games to make an appearance on XBLA?
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I hope that we do, but don't know that any are scheduled.

Some technical questions Jesiathat. Since the Arcade games are pretty lightweight compared to full production games, is there some kind of XBA middleware that MS are providing? Kind of like Apple's dashboard setup with the widgets. I know there are some easy calls that MS have provided for games to use Live functionality, but are they provided even more layers for Arcade games?
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We do provide some minor "middleware", but the standard XDK covers everything pretty well.

Kudos to the folks behind it. Way to tie games of the past to games of the future.
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Thanks!
 
From Next-Gen Online:

As with similar casual gaming services, the model is simple. Get people to download the demo for free, play it for a while and convince them to buy the full product. The conversion rate from demo to full sale has consistently been about 8%. Contrast this to the PC casual gaming market where demo to sale conversion is considered "excellent" at 2%-3% (according to analysts at IDG), and you can begin to see the market opportunity.

For Arcade 2.0, access will be available for every box shipped and the hard drive will include Hexics HD, by Tetris creator, Alexi Pajitnov. With free Xbox Live Silver membership providing access to the marketplace, every box will theoretically have access to new content. Obviously, the market opportunity for smaller developers and publishers will be much greater this time around, especially with Robbie Bach shooting for a 50% or greater connection rate to Live for 360.

As an additional reduction in the barrier to entry, hard drive use isn't needed at all. Microsoft will be shooting for getting two games on a 64MB memory card. John David, lead program manager for Live Arcade, concedes "We do have a few games that are larger than 32MB because they're all supporting HD and they're doing large soundtracks and such, but the target is two per card."
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I think MS needs to get a bigger card out quick if they want to have casual gamers who go for the Tard Pack really drop some cash on XLA.

Now our Microsoft handlers were a bit shy about talking prices, but our sources have confided that games on Xbox Live Arcade will be priced at either $5 or $10, varying from game to game. Given that most casual games on PC services are $15-$29, and games on Live Arcade now are $10-$15, it's an aggressive pricing stance.

We're assuming that third parties should be able price themselves at whatever they feel the market will bear, but Microsoft is trying to stay in the $5-$10 range with the titles it develops itself, feeling that that's the real sweet spot.
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Awesome. I always thought the current pricing scheme for XLA was close to insane.
Regarding third party revenue opportunities, Chris Early, studio manager for Microsoft's Casual Games division says "We have two tiers for our model, depending upon whether we handle the development or the third party does. I can't say exactly what they are but in either case, the lion's share stays with the third party." We know that in the first generation of Live, 40% of all revenue generated went to Microsoft (mind you, it provided the audience, ate all server and bandwidth costs, etc.). When pressed further, Early indicated that it was a better deal in favor of the third parties this time around.

We could easily see break evens on the highest budget casual games falling around the 25,000-30,000 unit mark. And with no COGs, no distribution costs (beyond Microsoft's licensing load), no inventory management issues and an infinite (relatively) sales time frame with a captive audience, the early birds could get the worm. It's an especially amazing opportunity for undercapitalized developers to bring products to market.
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Other content will come as a result of Tuesday's settlement with RealNetworks. Five RealArcade titles over the next 18 months will be ported to Live Arcade and where possible, cross platform play will be allowed between PCs and 360s. Gone are the days of the "walled garden" approach to Live (the whole service, not just for Arcade).
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Looks like they are really getting their shit together for the next version of XLA. Looking forward to seeing how this works out, because it will be great for smaller developers.
 
I think this is one of the coolest things about the Xbox360. It has the potential to turn indie games into a much larger, significant part of the market.
 
Geek said:
I think MS needs to get a bigger card out quick if they want to have casual gamers who go for the Tard Pack really drop some cash on XLA.
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I don't think we expect many casual gamers to buy a 360 at launch. I know that most machines shipped will have the HDD, so the casual gamers in the family can save to the hard drive.

On the bright side - if you only have a memory card, you could continually delete whatever game is on it, download a new one, and repeat. Live remembers what games (and other DLC) you have purchased and allows you to re-download it for free.


Geek said:
Awesome. I always thought the current pricing scheme for XLA was close to insane.
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Yes. I am very pleased with the new pricing scheme :)
 
Jesiatha said:
On the bright side - if you only have a memory card, you could continually delete whatever game is on it, download a new one, and repeat. Live remembers what games (and other DLC) you have purchased and allows you to re-download it for free.
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Smart. Didn't know that.
 
5 to 10 dollars? Excellent!

I hope MS really gives XBL Arcade the push it deserves; direct game distribution for consoles is a great idea whose time has come.
 
XBL arcade just screams the re-birth of the 16bit golden age. I'd pay for some of my classic 2D games without batting an eye. Give me some Contra and Ghouls & Ghost on my dashboard and name your fee!

SEGA!!! Wake up!! You're sitting on a TON a franchises that would kick @$$ on XBL Arcade. Break out shinobi, E-Swat, Afterburner, Spiderman Arcade, or Alien Syndrone!! It's freaknig easy money!! Namco I need Splatterhouse and Rolling Thunder!! <takes sedatives and clams down>.

If developers play this right this could be a big deal. Capcom, Konami, Namco, Midway, Taito, and so many others could make XBL Arcade te app that brings in those other demographics that M$ is trying to capture (i.e. Velocity Girl). :P And the new stuff is all good too. Rag Doll Kung Fu would be perfect for XBL Arcade!! Man M$ reallyl need to be in the borad room negotiating deals with classic and small development houses. :D
 
This is so much better than XBLA v.1.0. The real beauty here is the ability to fire up your 360 and play a game without ever having to get off the couch to power on the console and/or insert a disc. It's essentially OnDemand gaming. The games are typically "quickies"... I can see myself playing 10 minutes of DigDug while waiting for my favorite TV show to start.
 
HOT! This is an AWESOME service for the old-school gamers and for the more casual gamers (women, newcomers, etc.). My wife is going to love this (she's into games like bejewled, meteos, mario world, etc.). I really hope they release the old-school arcade beat-em ups like X-Men and TMNT with online and offline co-op play. I would literally spooge my pants :D
Also, texas hold'em could be LOADS of fun playing with friends using the video chat feature. That's a freakin' killer-app right there!

Question: Would Konami and/or Capcom be able to re-release their classic arcade games that are licensed games (like X-Men) considering they no longer have the license??
 
I could definitely see myself buying quite a few games priced at $5-10, even some which are ”only” moderately fun.
I guess 32MB should be sufficient for most games and I would wager that those games which are 32+ would cost $15-20+ due to the higher production costs involved.
 
One thing I haven't mentioned yet which is one of the nicest features...

When you receive a game invite to an Arcade game and accept it, if the game is on your hard drive (I think it also works for an MU that is plugged in) it launches automatically and you can be in your match within a few seconds. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a really nice touch.
 
Apharmd Battler said:
SEGA!!! Wake up!! You're sitting on a TON a franchises that would kick @$$ on XBL Arcade. Break out shinobi, E-Swat, Afterburner, Spiderman Arcade, or Alien Syndrone!! It's freaknig easy money!!
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I'm pretty sure Sega has already realized what a smart business decision this would be.

Therefore...

I'm pretty sure you can look forward to the Genesis/SMS port of every game you listed with horribly emulated audio for $9.95 a pop.

*CRIES THINKING ABOUT ANOTHER PLATFORM ON WHICH TO PLAY REVENGE OF SHINOBI INSTEAD OF THE SUPERIOR ORIGINAL ARCADE TITLE*
 
jedimike said:
This is so much better than XBLA v.1.0. The real beauty here is the ability to fire up your 360 and play a game without ever having to get off the couch to power on the console and/or insert a disc. It's essentially OnDemand gaming. The games are typically "quickies"... I can see myself playing 10 minutes of DigDug while waiting for my favorite TV show to start.
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One thing the lazy bastard in me wants to know is if there will be a way for the Xbox 360 to boot to the dashboard without having to start the game if there is one in the DVD drive.
 
Blimblim said:
One thing the lazy bastard in me wants to know is if there will be a way for the Xbox 360 to boot to the dashboard without having to start the game if there is one in the DVD drive.
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I think the center button does that. I could be wrong though.
 
Blimblim said:
One thing the lazy bastard in me wants to know is if there will be a way for the Xbox 360 to boot to the dashboard without having to start the game if there is one in the DVD drive.
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I don't think you can boot directly to the dash, but you can press the Guide button as soon as the game starts booting and go to the dashboard. So it takes two button presses and hardly any extra time.

(to clarify - the game only needs to be loading - you don't need to wait for all the publisher and loading screens to go by).
 
Jesiatha said:
I don't think you can boot directly to the dash, but you can press the Guide button as soon as the game starts booting and go to the dashboard. So it takes two button presses and hardly any extra time.
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Hmmm. Good enough I guess :D
Thanks.
Jesiatha said:
(to clarify - the game only needs to be loading - you don't need to wait for all the publisher and loading screens to go by).
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Yeah I had noticed that you could get connected to Xbox Live while the game was booting. Great stuff.
 
starting to sound pretty good, a rival for the rev service?

anyway kudos to xbox for giving the girlfriends of the world something to play.
 
Will Live arcade be targeting just specific titles from the different manufacturers or is there a chance we'll see entire lineups of select boards emulated? Access to the NeoGeo CPS/CPS2 and Model 2/3 libraries would make 360 an instant purchase for me. :)
 
jarrod said:
Will Live arcade be targeting just specific titles from the different manufacturers or is there a chance we'll see entire lineups of select boards emulated? Access to the NeoGeo CPS/CPS2 and Model 2/3 libraries would make 360 an instant purchase for me. :)
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The only thing planned is specific titles. I'd imagine the licensing rights for an entire library would be a huge pain.
 
Couch Potatoes unite! It's all becoming so clear now... the wireless controller will get it's own spot next to the remotes. I won't even have to get up to get a controller.

FYI - I hardly watch TV or play games anymore :( and am a pretty active guy. But when I do get to enjoy those activities, the lazy approach is sounding very nice.
 
Jesiatha said:
The only thing planned is specific titles. I'd imagine the licensing rights for an entire library would be a huge pain.
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Understandable, especially for a format like NeoGeo where there's multiple publishers involved. Still, how comprehensive are the plans? For example, are there any deals in place to get entire series, like the entire Metal Slug line for example? Actually, can you say if SNK's on board?
 
open_mouth_ said:
Question: Would Konami and/or Capcom be able to re-release their classic arcade games that are licensed games (like X-Men) considering they no longer have the license??
Click to expand...

Konami still has the license for TMNT, so that's a definite possibility. Games like X-men (Konami), any of the Marvel Capcom games, Capt. America and the Avengers, Aliens vs Predator, and even Capcom's D&D games would most likely not make the cut. Marvel has whored out the licenses to most of it's characters to either EA or Activision, depending on the genre. It would be my hope that Capcom retained the rights and licenses to it's own games and could therefore offer them again as "Arcade Games" (splitting hairs with XBLA vs a real arcade), but I doubt they'd be willing to take a chance on legalities.

I'd still be happy with Knights of the Round, Golden Axe: Death=Adder's Revenge, TMNT, and such (yeah, I love me some Beat 'em Ups). Especially if they can get them working with online co-op.

As others have said, Sega is sitting on a gold mine; An enhanced Genesis emulator (much less System 32 and such) that works in the XBLA frame work would be great! As I mentioned in the Major Nelson thread, porting some of the mini-games from Super Monkey Ball to XBLA would be a wise decision as well.

I'm thrilled at the pricing, and the, well, openess (this is Microsoft, right???) of XBLA now. Part of me thinks they should have just waited for the 360 to launch it, but I guess MS needed the mistakes this generation to learn from. I can tell you one other thing: if games are going to be $60 for the most part this generation, a $5 or $10 game on XBLA is going to look that much more appealing.
 
If Yuji Naka gets his way, Revolution will be getting the Genesis/MD emulator. Not that I'd mind though, I'd prefer Live Arcade to focus on arcade formats anyway. :)
 
Wow, this is great. To be able to play Street Fighter II with Live play or Total Carnage with co-op is a dream come true.

DCX
 
jarrod said:
Understandable, especially for a format like NeoGeo where there's multiple publishers involved. Still, how comprehensive are the plans? For example, are there any deals in place to get entire series, like the entire Metal Slug line for example? Actually, can you say if SNK's on board?
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Sorry, I can't comment on specific titles or publishers. As far as entire series, I don't know of any plans at this point, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.
 
A Minter Future?

In closing, I ribbed an MS exec about having Jeff Minter working on updates of Llamatron or other classic shooters. I got a resigned "we know, we know but it isn't in the works right now". That said, there appears to be a contingent of MS brass that "gets it" and has been pushing similarly for support on this issue. So here's hoping Minter gets the green light some day.
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pleasepleaseplease make it happen :D
 
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