EXCLUSIVE Reviews: Zuma, Pac-Man, Bejeweled, and Tetris on iPod

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, Portable/Mobile, Puzzle, Reviews,

Yesterday, we reported on Apple’s move to bring several popular casual games to the iPod - and for those that are fans of instant gratification, you’re in luck… today we’re going to review them! The iGames now currently available for Apples 5G and 5.5G iPods include 9 titles: Bejeweled, Cubis 2, Mah-Jong, Mini-Golf, Pac-Man, Tetris, Texas Holdem, Vortex and Zuma. To really test how well Apple’s done, we picked four of the titles that we thought would be more challenging to port for the click-wheel interface: Bejeweled, Pac-Man, Zuma and Tetris. And for all you out there wondering whether the new iGames are worth your $4.99, you can find our full review of these 4 titles (along with tasty videos) and our thoughts on the iGames functionality in general after the jump!

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Hidden Charges In Lumines Live?

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Puzzle, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,

It looks like the saga of downloadable content on Xbox Live will continue with the release of Lumines Live on the system. Gaming Bits reports on a couple of irksome tidbits mentioned in a review of the game in OXM, the Official Xbox Magazine. According to the review, gamers that advance far enough in either Mission Mode or VS CPU mode will see messaging telling the gamer to buy additional content to continue. The review states that the new “Puzzle/Mission Pack” will cost gamers an additional 400 Marketplace points, and the “VS CPU Pack” will run 300 points. This cost comes in addition to the 1200 Marketplace points that consumers will already have paid out for what they thought was the “full” game. Now, additional levels and paid content for games has been a staple of the Xbox Live Marketplace for a long time now, but this is the first instance where gameplay in the unlocked game is interrupted to shill for additional content. Normally, add-ons wouldn’t be a problem, but this implementation seems horribly poor and would be a slap in the face to the gamer that just dropped $15 for the game download.

Read More | Gaming Bits

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Pac-Man Makes His Way To Xbox Live Arcade

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Namco, Puzzle, Retro, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,

After 25 years of devouring ghosts on systems incapable of churning out high-definition graphics and surround sound, Pac-Man has finally arrived on the Xbox 360 as part of Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays. The download will run you 400 points, and contains over 250 levels, along with orignal music and sound effects. Microsoft is pimping that the game has high definition grahics, but let’s not kid ourselves, you won’t be blown away here. Leaderboards and acheivements round out this offering. We know - you can play Pac-Man for free just about anywhere else. If you find today’s release a bit lackluster, just know that next week you will finally get your hands on Texas Hold’em Poker. Of course, since poker isn’t my thang, I am looking straight into next month, awaiting Lumines Live with baited breath…

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Future Xbox Live Releases Dated

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Internet, Puzzle, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,

The latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine has the upcoming schedule of game releases on Xbox Live Arcade. According to Ars Technica, the next series of games and their associated release dates will be:

August 9: Pac-Man
August 16: Texas Hold ‘em
August 23: Time Pilot
August 30: Scramble
September 6: Lumines Live!

Pac-Man, while popular, probably won’t endanger the record set by Street Fighter II’ Hyperfighting for sales, but should be a reasonably decent classic game title. At the very least, the conversion should be much less challenging than the Capcom fighter. Texas Hold ‘em might be interesting online. It is a little disappointing that Microsoft decided not to offer the game for free, and the ultimate price point has yet to be revealed. A couple of Konami classics in Time Pilot and Scramble hit next. Gamers will get Lumines Live just a couple of months before Lumines 2 for the PSP hits the United States. Depending on the pricing and the implementation of online play, Lumines has the opportunity to be another big seller on Microsoft’s Xbox Live service.

Read More | Ars Technica

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