Official Xbox Live Arcade Thread

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Does anyone know how Co-Op works? Can I simply join in on someone's game, or must it all be set up before even starting?
 
I so want to download Marathon but I have a feeling it's one of those games that's going to give me a headache. I suppose I'll try the demo and see one way or the other.
 
I have to post some more thoughts about Mutant Storm Empire after having played it more yesterday. The game is too awesome.

So, the original game has one of the most legendary achievements ever. Black Belt Grandmaster -- beat every level on black belt from 1 to 89 in a single go. Two guys keep selling their services for beating this achievement, so keeping track of how many people have actually done it is hard, but it's something like 15.

MSE brings this achievement back, but considering how the game has been changed, it carries a twist of sorts.

MSR is 89 rooms, mostly square-based, of various enemy configurations, and very few bosses. MSE is 16 worlds with 4 levels in each, one level containing 1-5 or so rooms depending on how you count. It's hard to say what's a "room" and what's just a corridor with enemies in it. The rooms aren't as square anymore, and are more freeformed.

With quick and dirty math based on simple guesses (as I have only cleared world 1), that's like 200 rooms. And if you play the first room in MSR on black belt, the enemies are still lame enough that they won't even get a shot off. Maybe one or two if you take too long to kill them. In MSE, on black belt, I died three times in the first room, because the enemies come out swinging hard. Bullets fill the screen almost instantly.

And they removed the bomb in MSE.

This game is ****ing sick. And so awesome.
 
aku:jiki said:
So, the original game has one of the most legendary achievements ever. Black Belt Grandmaster -- beat every level on black belt from 1 to 89 in a single go. Two guys keep selling their services for beating this achievement, so keeping track of how many people have actually done it is hard, but it's something like 15.
MSE brings this achievement back, but considering how the game has been changed, it carries a twist of sorts.
We should make a list of the XBLA super-hardcore achievements.
Off the top of my head:

Tier 3:
PoP Classic [Survival Mode]
Alien Hominid (Various)

Tier 2:
Eets [Double Marsho Burger]
Geometry Wars (Various)
Pinball FX (Various)

Tier 1:
Mutant Storm Reloaded [Black Belt Grandmaster]
 
Bowen_B said:
We should make a list of the XBLA super-hardcore achievements.
Off the top of my head:

Tier 3:
PoP Classic [Survival Mode]
Alien Hominid (Various)

Tier 2:
Eets [Double Marsho Burger]
Geometry Wars (Various)
Pinball FX (Various)

Tier 1:
Mutant Storm Reloaded [Black Belt Grandmaster]
Sounds about right, except that I can't really agree with Geometry Wars at all. It should be tier 3 or even tier 4. The game is much more intimidating than it is hard once you learn some useful moves.

Also, you're missing Joust (Wave 100 -- Tier 1), Robotron (Wave 100 -- Tier 0) and some people would say Tapper (Alien Bar), but I think that one's like GeoWars in that it only seems impossible until you 'get it'.
 
The Pinball FX achievements can be cheated out in what I would call a not terribly difficult manner. Not sure they should be counted.
 
I really kind of went on a XBLA spree (or at least for me) this morning. I ended up buying Marathon, Spyglass, Carcassonne, and Bomberman. I haven't bought that many arcade games at once since the first week I bought the system.
 
Speevy said:
I would only play Chess with people I trust. Anyone else is going to get mad if you take longer than 10 seconds to make a move.
Also you can't see your opponent. What's stopping them from just using a really good Chess AI program and doing what it does?
 
LakeEarth said:
Also you can't see your opponent. What's stopping them from just using a really good Chess AI program and doing what it does?

This is what was always annoying about Scrabble-type games (and countless other game types of course) online.
 
aku:jiki said:
Sounds about right, except that I can't really agree with Geometry Wars at all. It should be tier 3 or even tier 4. The game is much more intimidating than it is hard once you learn some useful moves.

Also, you're missing Joust (Wave 100 -- Tier 1), Robotron (Wave 100 -- Tier 0) and some people would say Tapper (Alien Bar), but I think that one's like GeoWars in that it only seems impossible until you 'get it'.
Geowars is HARD, even when you 'get it' the Quarter Master achievement is quite difficult and the time it takes to learn 'how to play' in order to survive 1,000,000 means the amount of skill involved is high.

Tier 3:
PoP Classic [Survival Mode]
Alien Hominid (Various)
Root Beer Tapper [Alien Bar]

Tier 2:
Eets [Double Marsho Burger]
Geometry Wars (Various)
Pinball FX (Various)

Tier 1:
Mutant Storm Reloaded [Black Belt Grandmaster]
Joust [Wave 100]
Robotron [Wave 100]

Anyone wanna add some more?
 
AstroLad said:
This is what was always annoying about Scrabble-type games (and countless other game types of course) online.

My mom plays online Scrabble and always has a few text files listing 3 letter words and Q words and other crap open. Clearly cheating. I'm sure she's not alone, though. I never thought of a complex AI Chess routine, though.
 
Gigglepoo said:
My mom plays online Scrabble and always has a few text files listing 3 letter words and Q words and other crap open. Clearly cheating. I'm sure she's not alone, though. I never thought of a complex AI Chess routine, though.

Yeah, that's not even that bad; I'd consider it barely cheating. There are tons of programs that will unscramble letters for you and give you lists of words as well as I'm sure far worse designed specifically for Scrabble. It defeats almost the entire purpose of the game, but that never stopped anyone from cheating online before and when you can do it in a manner that's wholly independent of the game and completely imperciptible you've basically got a broken game for random play.
 
LakeEarth said:
Also you can't see your opponent. What's stopping them from just using a really good Chess AI program and doing what it does?

Actually, you can see your opponent. 5 of the 6 games I played had opponents with the Vision cam. Technically, it's possible to fool someone on camera, but it would require having a buddy sitting next to you off-camera, whispering moves to you Cyrano de Bergerac style. If you talk to your opponent, it would be pretty difficult for him to carry on a natural conversation as he's getting moves whispered into his ear with a poker face, etc.

I doubt anyone is going to be able to top the leaderboards with a Vision camera. It's pretty easy to tell a guy is playing for real if you do a move he didn't expect and then he sits up straighter or focuses more on the screen. Also, I'd expect there to be a delay between moves if you're using an off-camera program. Anyone at the top of a chess leaderboard should have the first 10 moves of an opener memorized already.
 
AstroLad said:
Yeah, that's not even that bad; I'd consider it barely cheating.

Meh, I still think it's lame.

One of my good buddies (who also is a fellow GAFer) is one of those Scrabble prodigies that angers normal guys like me. He doesn't cheat with word lists, but he does play words that he doesn't know the meaning of. Quod? Come on, man!
 
Gigglepoo said:
Meh, I still think it's lame.

I totally agree, just speaking relative to the other stuff people do in Scrabble online. I can't even stand the thought of playing online. You have to suspect everyone of cheating to the max and everyone will suspect the same of you.
 
Bowen_B said:
Geowars is HARD, even when you 'get it' the Quarter Master achievement is quite difficult and the time it takes to learn 'how to play' in order to survive 1,000,000 means the amount of skill involved is high.

Tier 3:
PoP Classic [Survival Mode]
Alien Hominid (Various)
Root Beer Tapper [Alien Bar]

Tier 2:
Eets [Double Marsho Burger]
Geometry Wars (Various)
Pinball FX (Various)

Tier 1:
Mutant Storm Reloaded [Black Belt Grandmaster]
Joust [Wave 100]
Robotron [Wave 100]

Anyone wanna add some more?
Nearly all the achievements from Bejeweled 2 belong there.
 
radjago said:
Nearly all the achievements from Bejeweled 2 belong there.
And beating Smash TV on one credit. Not only is it nearly impossible, people who've claimed to have done it say the achievement is broken and won't give it to them. :lol
 
Buyin' both releases today cuz i just i love sprite based shooters and chessss and i just bought a 4000 point caaard. shoobydeedoooo
 
Argh, I overestimated the number of XBLA points I have.

Does anyone have a code for 100 points? I really don't feel like putting my credit card into this.

PM me.
 
Well I have to congratulate Freeverse, Marathon Durandal is one of the few games in my life where I've experienced motion sickness.

Played it for 10 minutes then deleted.
 
Cerrius said:
Well I have to congratulate Freeverse, Marathon Durandal is one of the few games in my life where I've experienced motion sickness.

Played it for 10 minutes then deleted.

Same, sick as a dog.
 
Cerrius said:
Well I have to congratulate Freeverse, Marathon Durandal is one of the few games in my life where I've experienced motion sickness.

Played it for 10 minutes then deleted.

Hmm now I'm worried. Guess I better try the demo first.
 
there's something really wacky about the perspective in marathon, it's kind of hard on my eyes after a while. everything looks like it's up in your face or something. i found this out when i first played it on a mac, but i thought it would be tweaked on the 360. guess not.
 
Man I love Spyglass, XBLA is nearly complete!
Just Sudoku, A Mahjong game and scrabble (when the chat pad is out) & I will be more than happy.

Keep trying to get friends to spend the meassily 400points for chess, checkers, reversi and that wierd bean/backgammon game, they keep refusing GAHHH!!!!
 
Bowen_B said:
Anyone wanna add some more?
Here's how I'd rate the ones I own. [All] doesn't mean literally every single one, but just that the game is generally hard to complete and has a few various hard ones.

Tier 5:
Gyruss [Mother Earth]
PoP Classic [Survival Mode] (Hard, but more about memorization than skill.)
Lumines Live! [Time Attack]

Tier 4:
Alien Hominid [All] (Cannot be cheated anymore, making it pretty hard.)
Bejeweled 2 [All] (Much more luck-based and time-consuming than skill-based.)
Catan [Chancellor of Catan] (Extremely time-consuming. Not skill-based at all.)
Hexic HD [Grand Pearl Pooh-Bah]

Tier 3:
Astropop [GAMMA Survivor / Brick Grinder] (Very hard, but veeery luck-based.)
Boom Boom Rocket [Sore Thumb Award / Carpal Tunnel Syndrome / Suma Cum Laude]
Centipede & Millipede [Stalker / Marauder]
Eets [Double Marsho Burger]
Geometry Wars [All]
Mad Tracks [Ultra Fast Food]

Tier 2:
Defender [Baiter Bane / Protect All Humans]
Root Beer Tapper [Alien Bar]
Rush'n Attack [Knife Master / Mad Marine]

Tier 1:
Mutant Storm Reloaded [Black Belt Grandmaster]
Joust [Wave 100]
Robotron [Wave 100]
Zuma [Score Champion]
 
Only had 460 points earlier today, just bought an additional 400 points for Marathon but from the sounds of it, I should really play the demo first to make sure I'm not barfing up a lung while I play.

Turning down the sensitivity seems to help for some people.
 
There are some game genres that stand the test of time, and some that just don't. FPS games fall in the latter. Passing on Marathon. Holding on to my points for Puzzle Fighter, Bomberman pack and Space Giraffe.
 
Anyone else feel really sick playing the marathon demo? I dunno if its the higher res textures, the 60fps or the super fast motion... just felt very weird playing it. A first for me and fps.
 
Timan said:
Anyone else feel really sick playing the marathon demo? I dunno if its the higher res textures, the 60fps or the super fast motion... just felt very weird playing it. A first for me and fps.

It made me queasy and gave me a headache after just five minutes. Bad times all around. I've never felt sick from an FPS either.
 
Marathon is AWESOME. After having just finished DOOM on ultra-violence this is another splendid taste of the past. It really strives to be unique by immersing the player with triggered events and the like; I've already been caught by suprise at several instances, only a few levels in. Noticing the "Bungie touches" in an older title like this is gratifying as well. The competitive multiplayer is not terribly interesting, offering a wealth of modes for a title of its kind, but not a whole lot of substance within the levels. Haven't played co-op yet but I can see it being a blast.

Haven't felt any symptoms of motion sickness, but I can see where the game might have such an effect. Only time I ever encountered that was while playing DOOM 3 at sub 20 fps, when I actually vomitted because I refused to believe the game was making me ill.
 
LakeEarth said:
Also you can't see your opponent. What's stopping them from just using a really good Chess AI program and doing what it does?

What kind of loser would be the intermediary between a human and a chess program? :lol I guess someone who is pathetic enough to cheat like that for unknown reasons?
 
Every day that goes by that I don't hear of an indie RPG being announced a littlle part of me dies. Find some way to do it MS I buy alot of shit you owe it to me :(
 
Game Added: Super Puzzle Fighter 2 HD Remix
Written Tuesday, July 31, 2007 by X360A.org

Earlier this month, we gave a sneak peak of the Puzzle Fighter achievements. Today, we have the entire list to share. We have an exclusive world premier of the achievements for the upcoming arcade offering by Capcom - Super Puzzle Fighter 2 HD Remix. The game has 12 achievements for 200 points. We would like to thank Capcom and DaKing240 for providing us with the list.

a typo right? thats from xbox360achievments.org 200pts for SPF seems cheap.
 
Grecco said:
Game Added: Super Puzzle Fighter 2 HD Remix
Written Tuesday, July 31, 2007 by X360A.org

Earlier this month, we gave a sneak peak of the Puzzle Fighter achievements. Today, we have the entire list to share. We have an exclusive world premier of the achievements for the upcoming arcade offering by Capcom - Super Puzzle Fighter 2 HD Remix. The game has 12 achievements for 200 points. We would like to thank Capcom and DaKing240 for providing us with the list.

a typo right? thats from xbox360achievments.org 200pts for SPF seems cheap.
200 Gamerpoints. For your score.
 
Eggo said:
Bleh, whatever. I guess you get what you pay for when you give the review to a guy who has never heard of half the game types. He basically reviews half the game.

I was a bit surprised he apparently had never heard of Othello.

Ah well, give me RoboRally.
 
MercuryLS said:
The Darkness gets no love :(

Yeah I was going to mention The Darkness, which certainly has helped get people through the Summer months on both 360 and PS3.

And when there's no games, there's GAF.
 
I read bad things about the AI in the chess game. Pity, I would have bought it just for a bit of lounge chair chess practice against a competent AI opponent, but after reading that I think I'll pass. I'm really not interested in Live chess games.

I would have thought reasonable chess AI routines and libraries could be bought fairly cheaply off of the shelf these days but I guess I'm either totally wrong or the dev team decided to go it alone.
 
dejay said:
I read bad things about the AI in the chess game. Pity, I would have bought it just for a bit of lounge chair chess practice against a competent AI opponent, but after reading that I think I'll pass. I'm really not interested in Live chess games.

I would have thought reasonable chess AI routines and libraries could be bought fairly cheaply off of the shelf these days but I guess I'm either totally wrong or the dev team decided to go it alone.

It's not just the AI, the whole thing is completely unpolished and looks like a free PD game you'd download from cnet. It's just really quite rubbish and amateur, and I feel sorry for those who have been waiting since launch for a decent downloadable chess game.
 
Well, the first quasi-official word on the Marathon Motion Sickness has been reached via Joystick.

The first person shooter genre has always been synonymous with motion sickness, but when the ol' iron guts here at ******* started feeling queasy after playing Marathon: Durandal for Xbox Live Arcade, we knew something was wrong. Sure enough, threads began to pop up all over the place and even IGN noted in their official review that four of their editors felt ill while playing. To find out what's to blame for this poké-esque epidemic, we talked to Freeverse's Bruce Morrison, project lead on Marathon: Durandal.

"Marathon's obvious popularity, the sudden forum 'meme' of it making you sick, and the wealth of really excellent hurl jokes ... I think that explains a lot of it." teases Bruce. In all seriousness, he explains, "No one at Freeverse, Microsoft, Bungie, VMC or our testing and localization partners reported any motion sickness issues and many of us have logged hundreds of hours of playtime. So we really don't believe the problem is universal. However, a good number of people will experience motion sickness with any FPS."

While Freeverse is planning on investigating this matter, Bruce does have some suggestions. First, try playing with the "camera bob" option set to on as the lack of default motion tends to make things appear smoother than they already are. Also, if your mother never told you better, try adjusting your seating position. You may be sitting far too close to your set for this odd, stomach churning experience.

Having taken his advice, we can now enjoy this remastered classic with only a mild headache as the side effect. Thanks, camera bob!

Tags: barf!, bungie, freeverse, marathon, xbla
 
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