Two Word Review: Bomberman LIVE

Buy It.

New, Cheap Lumines Live Content Wednesday

Gotta give credit where credit is due ... Microsoft just announced that three new Lumines Live! packs would be available on Wednesday at a discounted price for a limited time (until Feb. 21). What would normally cost over 600 Microsoft Points, you'll be able to get the Puzzle Pack and VS. CPU Pack for just 100 Microsoft Points each. The Heavenly Star pack, basically a "skin" for the game, will be FREE.

For just 200 Microsoft Points, that will take a little of the sting out of feeling like I got screwed on the initial purchase. Maybe I can feel like I've purchased an entire game now. :)

Xbox 360 in 2007

I was debating going to CES this year, but after having heard that there wouldn't be a lot of innovation (evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, progress), I decided not to go.

Sure enough, sounds like Microsoft is having a big show, announcing IPTV support for the Xbox 360. Never mind that the video downloads are effectively the same thing, just not in real time, but there you have it. Would it get me to ditch DirecTV? Would it get me to get another 360 for the bedroom? These are questions Microsoft needs to be asking, because for all intents and purposes, this is the model you're looking at. Then again, it could be that Microsoft is hoping that IPTV providers will give away Xbox 360 units in exchange for programming contracts.

The elephant in the room with that announcement is the complete lack of mention regarding the "Xbox 360 2.0", the one that had pictures and specs floating around in the past week. HDMI, new HD scaler, and a 120GB hard drive. I could take or leave the rest, but the 120GB drive is absolutely necessary for the sort of features Microsoft is trying to pack into the white box. That leave the obvious question ... what about those of us with first-gen hardware? How do we get our data off the 20GB drive and onto the 120? Could the drives be stackable? Another question people might be pondering is, could a new Xbox 360 be quieter? Features aside, one of the biggest complaints about the Xbox 360 is the distracting fan noise coming from the console.

Surprisingly, outside of the announcement of new Gears of War content, all the news seemed to center on the stuff moving from the Xbox 360 over to Vista, Geometry Wars and Uno being notable examples. Even Gears is rumored to be hitting Vista, after some stray lines of code in an Nvidia graphic driver hinted as being optimized for the game. There's going to be a lot more Vista/360 crossing over as Live Anywhere starts to gain momentum. I'm just wondering if Microsoft will be keeping the promise of making Vista and/or mobile versions of the games free for anyone that purchased the game on 360 already.

Other Vista talk revolved around Gates announcing two specific features that would be released as part of the Windows Ultimate Extras. One, DreamScene, is essentially video on your desktop. Could this be the form that the "Desktop Aurora" will take? The other feature is specialized sports content for the Windows Media Center. No discussion at all of Texas Hold 'Em or any other features that were rumored to be part of the Extras.

Update: Yep, DreamScene is Desktop Aurora (or Motion Desktop), and the guys at Stardock are the ones behind it. Looks like it'll get a lot of community support at dream.wincustomize.com. I expect that "Matrix Desktop" will be available within the week. Also, the Extras page at WindowsUltimate.com specifically lists Hold 'Em.

Finally, Gates specifically mentioned the "secret meeting" at the Bellagio tonight at 6PM. If you needed any confirmation that this is when Vanishing Point officially kicks off, there you have it.

Note: Links coming soon ...

Lumines Live ... Disappointing

Lumines Live hit Xbox Live Arcade yesterday, and is easily one of the most anticipated games to hit Microsoft's game service. Up until now, DOOM was at the top of the charts as the biggest rip off ($15 for a years-old game), but that title is now squarely on the shoulders of this puzzler from Q! Entertainment. At least with DOOM, the game was there in its entirety.

Despite ringing in at half again the cost of most other Xbox Live Arcade titles (1200 points, or $15), Lumines is not a complete game. Within an hour, I was bumping into messages telling me that I needed to purchase additional content (which is not yet available, incidentally). Outpost Kaloki X offers far more gameplay at half the price. Coupled with frustratingly imprecise controls, and an experience that isn't as portable as it is on the PSP, I'm instantly regretting having hoarded points for this game.

Update 12:30 PM: I just got word that the "Advance Pack" is now available for purchase. No word on when any of the other packs might be available.

Ironically, if this experience had simply been the trial (or if the game had been free, with additional packs (available day and date with the game) it would have been satisfying. Yet the trial version is even more limited.

I loved Lumines on the PSP, and it was the only reason why I regretted trading my PSP a while back (there isn't a single other compelling game for the handheld, as far as I'm concerned), which makes it all the more frustrating that the experience on the more expensive Xbox 360 is such a disappointment. Of course, there are no refunds for Xbox Live Arcade purchases, but I can't see that delivering a $15 game with hardly any actual gameplay is going to convince people to pay even more (600 points, or $7.50 per pack, reportedly) later. In fact, I'd hazard a guess and say that if the additional packs don't come out without a week or two, Lumines Live will be long forgotten by the time games like Small Arms arrive.

Edit: Clarified the price. What can I say ... it was 3:30 AM when I bought the game this morning.

Xbox Live Pipeline: Interesting, Useless

Microsoft launched the Xbox Live Pipeline today, a web service that allows you to see everything that's available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Why do I say it's not useful? Because you can't do the one, simple thing that someone using this service would expect: queue a download to start remotely. My immediate expectation is that I could sign in with my Windows Live ID, and since my Xbox 360 is registered to me, queue Dig Dug (released today on Xbox Live Arcade) and the new Prey downloads, and have them start when I fire up my Xbox 360 at home later. No dice. You can't log in to the site at all, in fact.

It's interesting that you can see what's up on the Marketplace over the web (and from a far more user friendly interface than exists on the Xbox 360), but until you can actually DO something on that site, it's useless. Just knowing something is on the Marketplace doesn't help you navigate the terrible UI for the Marketplace on the Xbox 360 any better.

More News from X06

Peter Jackson is working on a new Halo title with Bungie. It's not Halo 3 since Bungie has said that the series is ending at 3. Speaking of Halo titles ...

Halo Wars, a brand-new real-time strategy game set in the Halo universe, made by the current kings of RTS titles ... Ensemble Studios. Suddenly, Microsoft putting the smackdown on fan-made RTS "Halogen" makes more sense.

This isn't all that's keeping Jackson busy, though ... Jackson and Microsoft are teaming up to create Wingnut Interactive, a new game studio. Wingnut will be producing another Jackson-helmed game under this new partnership, exclusive to Xbox 360.

Still need more Peter Jackson news? How about this? Included with the HD-DVD drive for Xbox 360 will be the Universal Media Remote and a copy of Jackson's King Kong on HD-DVD. All for $199.

Grand Theft Auto 4 may not be exclusive to Xbox 360, but the two downloadable episodes will be, and they'll be out just "months" (way to be vague) after the release of GTA4.

GTA4 isn't an exclusive, but the next Splinter Cell will be. Also exclusive is Bioshock, Microsoft having deftly ripped the game away from the PS3. If you're not familiar with Bioshock, just know that it's the spiritual successor to the acclaimed "System Shock".

Project Gotham Racing 4 was announced, the worst kept secret ever.

Oh, and when exactly is DOOM coming to Xbox Live Arcade? How about just a few minutes ago?

Xbox 360 Announcements from X06

Rare is bringing the "Banjo-Kazooie" IP to Xbox 360. No timeframe was given, so probably in three or four years, given Rare's usual pace.

DOOM is coming to Xbox Live Arcade TONIGHT. Wow.

Reconfirmation of native 1080p gameplay. Time to start saving for that 37" Westinghouse HDTV.

What Are the Games That REALLY Sell?

Just saw a story at GigaOM that led me to this piece at Next-Generation, discussing the Top 100 Games of the 21st Century. That means 2000-2006.

The results are somewhat surprising, but not very when you dig a little deeper. The results? Kids games and Casual games are ruling the list, and here's the kicker ... Backyard Basketball by the fine folks at Humongous/Atari beat Doom III. Doom III made more money, but probably wasn't as profitable. Other notables ... games with a non-game IP sell well (just about any marketer could have told you that), and multiplayer games are not the gold mine (Warcraft pun entirely intended) that you might think.

But it was the following line that I found curious ...

"Most gamer magazines and sites underserve and misrepresent the game industry."

It's a flawed assumption. Why? Because the hardcore gamers are primarily the ones buying the magazine. By definition, "casual" gamers are the ones that want something pick-up-and-play ... they're not going to spend time finding and reading a magazine to find out what's good. They'll download a bunch of trials (or play Web versions), then pay for the games they like. Similarly, Xbox Live Arcade has a demo model built into every game, negating the need for a magazine. The magazines are doing the exact right thing for them ... catering to the enthusiasts and developers.

Here's something I find far more interesting. Just how few units some of the top games sold. You don't crack 250,000 units until you get into the top 80. The PC platform is tougher to make big-budget games for, so you have to ensure that you can keep your costs under control to make a profit.

Other interesting facts ...

* The number 1 game (The Sims) sold almost TWICE the volume of the number 2 game (Diablo 2).
* Blizzard had three games in the top 10, including the aforementioned Diablo 2, World of Warcraft at number 3, and Warcraft III at number 7.
* EA dominates the top 10 like they dominate console publishing, with three titles. Microsoft Game Studios has two. Aside from Blizzard (who self-publishes, according to the list), Maxis has three games on the list from a development standpoint.

Check out the list. It's very enlightening.