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GDC 2011: Double Fine announces new XBLA title, Trenched

Trenched Double Fine

The ever so awesome Double Fine has announced their new title Trenched, which is to be released for Xbox LIVE Arcade. The trailer features a game which can be described as a third-person shooter with a hint of tower defense. According to Double Fine, players will be afforded thousands of different options to customize their merchs, Gamestop reports. Oh, and co-op mode? You betcha. However, we still have no word on whether the game will offer a competitive head-to-head option. You can could visit the Trenched website to see the trailer, but it's currently down. Come on guys! Fix your servers!

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Miyamoto Says it’s All About the Fun

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Casual, Culture, Nintendo,

Dead MarioIt’s hardly a secret that has fixed its sights squarely on a more casual gamer this generation than they have in the past. They’ve said as much, and the strategy has proven to be highly successful. While this has been great for Nintendo, its shareholders and investors and to a certain extent the Nintendo fanboys who have been more like apologists for the last several years, some hardcore gamers are expressing concern over Nintendo’s new family-friendly approach.

Often times it seems this new approach means simplifying games, making them easier to pick up, understand and potentially succeed with. For a hardcore community that was already questioning the wisdom of making games less difficult or at least less punishing, it has set off the klaxons in a big way.

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Xbox Live Arcade 8/1: Marathon: Durandal And Spyglass Board Games

Spyglass Board Games Xbox Live Arcade

Marathon: Durandal and Spyglass Board Games are now available on the Xbox Live Arcade, as previously announced. Marathon is an old-school FPS originally developed by Bungie, the guys behind Halo. While you may not have had a chance to play it before – or even hear of it – it’s a game that introduced many mechanics into the FPS genre that have been taken for granted for years now, like dual wielding. The game will run you 800 Microsoft Points, or $10. If you liked Doom, be sure to give Marathon a shot.

Spyglass Board Games is a compilation of four very popular classic board games: chess, checkers, mancala, and reversi. Given its cheap price (400 points; $5) and Vision Camera support, it’s definitely something worth picking up if you enjoy any of the included games.

Check after the break for more details on both games.

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EA Sports Family Play Makes It Easier To Play Madden, NBA Live, And FIFA

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Casual, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Sports, Wii,

Family Play Madden offense controls

Most gamers that play sports games, either casually or hardcore, have certainly run into the problem of attempting to explain complex controls to a friend – which usually results in your friend QB scrambling or shooting half court jumpers each time he or she gets the ball. But the new Family Play feature, which is debuting in this year’s Wii versions of Madden 08, NBA Live 08 and FIFA 08, is aiming to make it easier for youngsters or game novices to jump in and play against friends and family who would otherwise wipe the floor with the competition.

When playing, you can choose either Advanced or Family Play. The former allows you to make use of both the Wiimote and Nunchuk, while the latter assists the player in-game and requires them to use only the Wiimote. Family Play users will control only the key actions, like shooting, passing, throwing, etc. And by simply plugging in a Nunchuk, someone playing with the Family Play style can easily try out Advanced mode.

This sounds like a truly fantastic idea – sports games have a huge market, especially Madden, and by opening the floodgates and allowing for an otherwise complicated game to be played by most anyone, EA Sports is poised to make quite a bit more money, while also allowing gamers to begin experiencing a new genre.

Gallery: EA Sports Family Play Makes It Easier To Play Madden, NBA Live, And FIFA


Soltrio Solitaire Xbox Live Arcade Review

Soltrio Solitaire screenshot

Typically when I download an Xbox Live Arcade game, I know right away whether or not it’s something that I’ll play for three minutes and delete, or if it’s something that’ll sit on my hard drive awaiting me to plunk down however many Microsoft Points it costs to own it. Soltrio Solitaire is one of those games I expected to delete right away. I mean, it’s just solitaire. Albeit, 18 different kinds of solitaire, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is something I’ve played enough of as I waste time on my computer. So I played a game of regular old Solitaire (which is apparently called Klondike – who knew?) and enjoyed it, and decided to try another type. Then I noticed that I was playing over and over and over. I quickly snatched up the full version so that I could attempt to climb the leaderboards and try out some of the game’s other features.

After a ridiculous number of games played (including time spent willingly playing this over the Halo 3 beta), I can safely say that if you’re a fan of card games, you should pick up Soltrio. Casual fans with short attention spans or graphic whores need look elsewhere – this is clearly aimed and successfully works as the type of game that sucks in anyone that can appreciate the depth of a card game.

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