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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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Call Of Duty Maps Sell $1 Million
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Activision, Corporate News, First Person Shooters, Internet, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Gamespot today is reporting that Activision has sold nearly $1 million in Call Of Duty map content on Xbox Live. CEO Bobby Kotick announced the numbers during a post earnings release conference call. According to Gamespot:
The free bonus pack, which included two maps, tallied 334,000 downloads. The $5 Skirmish Map Pack was downloaded 105,000 times and generated $368,000, and the $10 Invasion Map Pack invaded 66,000 360s and raked in almost half a million dollars.
Obviously, gamers are far more willing to download free content rather than pay. The price point that makes gamers balk doesn’t seem to have been reached. Though the Invasion Map Pack has sold fewer copies to date, the Skirmish Map Pack has been on the market for three more months.
More interesting are the actual dollar amounts. 105,000 copies multiplied by $5 is $525,000. If Activision’s $368,000 reported is their take from these sales, then Microsoft has made around $157,000. From the Invasion Map Pack, Microsoft took in about $160,000. If all of the downloadable content has similar fee structures, the Xbox Live Marketplace has the potential to become a huge cash generation machine for Microsoft. Activision isn’t likely to bemoan Microsoft’s cut, though. Clearly, downloadable content is a great moneymaker for them as well.
The danger of the success of downloadable content means that it makes more sense financially for game companies to have less content in the main game and provide add-ons through paid downloads. Hopefully, this doesn’t become an actual trend and downloadable content remains restricted to nice to have add-ons that don’t impact the fun factor of the original game.
Read More 
| Gamespot
Street Fighter II Finally Hits Xbox Live Arcade
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: CAPCOM, Internet, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Rumors of Street Fighter II coming to Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade first hit in January; according to reports at the time, the game was supposed to hit the service early this year. Finally, on August 2, Street Fighter II’ Hyper Fighting will be available for 800 Microsoft Marketplace Points, approximately $10. The game, of course, will offer a host of online features and achievements, along with the typical leaderboard functionality. Quick match or custom match online game selection will be available, along with a new “quarter match.” The quarter match mode will simulate the old days of gaming back when Street Fighter II dominated the arcades; virtual “quarters” are used to determine who will fight the winner of each match. Hopefully, the time spent leading up to the release will have been used effectively to reduce lag and gamers will be transported back to the days when they actually had to be in the same room as their opponent.
Read More | Gamerscoreblog
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Rockstar’s “Table Tennis” Demo Available for Download from Xbox Live
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hot Deals, Sports, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Rockstar’s surprise foray on the Xbox 360, officially titled Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, is now available as a demo download from the Xbox Live Marketplace. For those of you that are on the fence as to whether Rockstar’s non-GTA product is worth your while, this should help you decide. As noted on Microsoft guru Major Nelson’s blog, the demo is available for download now but is a limited time trial. At the end of August, the title will expire - turning into a useless lump of 526 MB on your 360’s hard drive. If you’re hooked by then it’s time to shell out $39.99 for the full version.
Read More | MajorNelson.com
PS3 To Feature BD Live Technology
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Part of the Blu-Ray’s specification includes the use of BD Live. BD Live allows a disc to check online each time it is inserted for new content to download. This content can be anything from movie trailers, actor info, or additional content. This extra content can even be viewed on the PS3 through a picture-in-picture mode. According to Major Nelson’s latest podcast, the Xbox 360’s HD DVD add-on will have similar functionality. I am unconvinced that this functionality will add anything to the next gen gaming experience that isn’t available through some form of an online marketplace.
Read More | T3
NCAA 07 Demo Available
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Release Dates, Sports, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
A demo for NCAA 07 is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. NCAA 07 hits store shelves on July 18th. The demo allows you to play as Florida or Florida State and weighs in at 1.05 GB. Unfortunately in their desire to lock down the demo EA has limited the quarter length to 1 minute. This setting limits you to roughly 1 set of downs per quarter with a large disruption in play at halftime. I was excited for NCAA 07 but if the final product looks and feels like the demo, it will be a long wait for a decent football game on the Xbox 360.
Read More | Major Nelson
Pricing Announced For Street Fighter II, Pac-Man
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
While Microsoft was unable to pull back their early Xbox Live Wednesdays announcement, there was one tidbit of information that was kept secret until the Summer of Xbox Live event in San Francisco. Left for the exclusive party was the pricing for the new games; Gamespot was able to get the details. Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting and Cloning Clyde will debut at 800 points, $10 at current marketplace pricing. Dedicated fans of Capcom’s fighting games will probably find their $10 well invested, assuming that lag is kept to a minimum in online play. Cloning Clyde will probably need a good demo to get sell through at its price point. Pac-Man, Frogger, and Galaga will all come in at 400 points, or around $5. Considering the number of games that usually make up the Namco Museum collections, this pricing seems a little high. Perhaps online play and enhanced graphics will make these worth the money. Microsoft also could not promise that Xbox Live Wednesdays would last beyond August 9. New Xbox Live Arcade releases have been spotty since launch. Having five weeks of uninterrupted new Xbox Live Arcade games is great, but it would be nice to have a more reliable stream of casual gaming experiences.
Read More | Gamespot
Small Arms Debuts New Viral Achievement
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Fighting, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Small Arms, a shooter/brawler Xbox Live Arcade title due out later this year, has implemented a new kind of achievement. The achievement is titled “Six Degrees of Small Arms” and will spread through Xbox Live in a viral fashion. When the game is released, only four members of Gastronaut studios will have the achievement. The achievement will spread to anyone they play, and from that player to other opponents, and so on. This is an example of a great Xbox Live achievement and is miles ahead of the “get on the leaderboard” achievements we have been seeing so much of lately.
Read More | 1Up
Xbox Live Wednesdays Announced, Street FIghter II Dated
Posted by Josh Smith Categories: Corporate News, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Earlier today Microsoft announced “Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays.” Basically, Microsoft is saying that we will be getting one new arcade game per week during the summer, each and every Wednesday. The initial five week run begins tomorrow at GMT 0800 starting with Frogger. That will be followed up by Cloning Clyde, Galaga, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, and Pac-Man. TThat’s right peeps - Street Fighter II finally has a release date, and it’s scheduled to drop on the Xbox 360 on August 2. Since the original post on Gamasutra, Microsoft has stated that the information will not be released until a later time. Thankfully The information is still available elsewhere on the internet.
Read More | Xboxic
Online Marketplace Points Converter
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Microsoft’s Marketplace points don’t always translate over into real currency. In the United States, at current retail prices, the conversion is fairly easy since gamers can divide the points total by 80 to get the dollar amount. Other territories won’t necessarily have it so easy, so Steve Hunter has put together a little tool to tell exactly how much that Penny Arcade picture pack is going to cost you. Simply enter the number of marketplace points, and find out how much that would cost in US Dollars, British Pounds, Euro, Canadian and Australian dollars, and Japanese Yen. It looks like at current conversion rates, Australians get the best deal.
Read More | Marketplace Points Converter via Major Nelson
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