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Zero

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El Geet

El Geet

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Anyway, it's a nice little game and the demo only clocks in at around 20 meg so should only take a minute or so to download.

A minute? Yeah right. I've found that download speeds for XBox Live Marketplace are painfully slow.

That game looks good though...

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Rowan Morrison

Rowan Morrison

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I didn't like Wik at all - fiddly controls, though there's certainly mileage for fun in swinging around. They also seemed to pile features on too fast - having to slow down the collector, sort out flies, pick up grubs... and on top of that, manage the controls. The jumping system is a bit bizarre and not really suited to the game's pace (it would work a lot better in a game where you had limited moves to accomplish something, rather than limited time). The video when you quit, that has later levels and multiplayer sections, looked a bit better. I'd like to hear feedback from someone who's got the full game...

Kaloki I've tried, but it just seems far too linear - build X, build Y, build Z. That may be a demo thing, but that's all I've got to go on, so bad luck for them. If I could try out one of the sandbox levels properly I might be more tempted.

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Chopsocky

Chopsocky

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I think Wik is great but I played and bought the PC version which plays great with the mouse. The control is a little hard to master but it feels amazing when you can swing about like spiderman and never touch the ground. Download the PC demo - you get a massive hours worth of gameplay.

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Rowan Morrison

Rowan Morrison

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I think Wik is great but I played and bought the PC version which plays great with the mouse. The control is a little hard to master but it feels amazing when you can swing about like spiderman and never touch the ground. Download the PC demo - you get a massive hours worth of gameplay.

I stopped the 360 demo before it stopped me, as I just couldn't get on with the control system. I don't see why they need the jumping system the way it is, it doesn't lend itself to rapid movement - I suppose it might after some time, but it feel very unintuitive to me. I wasn't a big fan of the swinging controls, either - I'd be happier if the A button was used for jumping and swinging - is this remappable, I wonder?

I can see the potential, the movement was nice and fluid when you got it working and the weapon firing worked well enough. The multiplayer could be good fun. I'd much rather have the full game for a limited time rather than a restricted demo - or both, ideally. Maybe a week or five credits on the full version, and then it reverts to the restricted one. It would let me get a better handle on whether I want the full game...

Looking forward to trying Marble Blast if that's out now, anyway.

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Zero

Zero

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I stopped the 360 demo before it stopped me, as I just couldn't get on with the control system.  I don't see why they need the jumping system the way it is, it doesn't lend itself to rapid movement - I suppose it might after some time, but it feel very unintuitive to me. I wasn't a big fan of the swinging controls, either - I'd be happier if the A button was used for jumping and swinging - is this remappable, I wonder?

Yeah I didn't get on with Wik, the fact you need to aim before you can jump made it unplayable for me, why can't I just press A to jump and direct where I want to go mid jump?

Spitting things about and swinging back and forth in the same small area did little to entertain me aswell.

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Cyhwuhx

Cyhwuhx

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.::: Outpost Kaloki X is quite good, rather simplisitc but therein lies the charm. Getting the objectives done is some sort of puzzle game although theg ame encourages you to 'cheat' to get the objective (even if it would ruin the station in the process, just reach the damned goal). The sandbox-mode is pretty good though, and reminded me of the cash-generator-countries I used to creat in the first Civ. Glad I bought it.

Wik was pretty shit. I can see what it's trying, but a pretty amount of levels in it became boring and somewhat predictable like the bad parts of Abe's Oddyssee. Adding new moves didn't make it better. Controls take some getting used to as they feel very restrictive, but that gets better with practise. I really dislike the art-style btw. Yuck. Deleted the demo already.

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Zero

Zero

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Personally, I love Zuma. Love it.

That's the frog spitting ball's game right? I enjoyed that, moreso than than the other puzzle games live arcade offers (Hexic an Bejeweled).

Maybe someone should make a general live arcade thread to save people from having to make new topics about each new game?

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squirtle

squirtle

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That's the frog spitting ball's game right? I enjoyed that, moreso than than the other puzzle games live arcade offers (Hexic an Bejeweled).

Maybe someone should make a general live arcade thread to save people from having to make new topics about each new game?

You could always change the title of this thread, ya know... :D

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Bluetooth

Bluetooth

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I found most the Arcade games, kaloki included, rather bland and simple. OK, so the whole point of Arcade is for chiulling out with simple games, but strategy games don't suit this criteria; when I want to build my own them park, space station etc. I want depth.

It does remind me of Lemonade on the pocket pc though.

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Toxic Inhale

Toxic Inhale

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Yeah I didn't get on with Wik, the fact you need to aim before you can jump made it unplayable for me, why can't I just press A to jump and direct where I want to go mid jump?

Spitting things about and swinging back and forth in the same small area did little to entertain me aswell.

i found that game really easy, it got borin really quick as i kept getting perfect so i turned it off and went back to pdz :( the addiction goes on :D

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Cyhwuhx

Cyhwuhx

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I found most the Arcade games, kaloki included, rather bland and simple. OK, so the whole point of Arcade is for chiulling out with simple games, but strategy games don't suit this criteria; when I want to build my own them park, space station etc. I want depth.

It does remind me of Lemonade on the pocket pc though.

.::: This is why I like Kaloki, as it DOESN'T give you the sodding depth that makes other strategy games so boring. Civilization is a prime example of this, with each iteration they added more features and the game became less appealing each time. Being able to find depth within simplicity is more wanted imo. Just throwing in more factors to fiddle with isn't.

(For this reason I also love Space Trader for Palm.)

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therev

therev

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I bought Wik last night, before finishing the demo. (Which is something I always tell myself I shouldn't do, but which I always find myself doing when I enjoy something.) Just found it interesting and think it's going to be worth having to dip into for a few levels at a time between 'proper' games.

Live Arcade is just the best thing ever, really.

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Cyhwuhx

Cyhwuhx

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I bought Wik last night, before finishing the demo. (Which is something I always tell myself I shouldn't do, but which I always find myself doing when I enjoy something.) Just found it interesting and think it's going to be worth having to dip into for a few levels at a time between 'proper' games.

Live Arcade is just the best thing ever, really.

.::: Hopefully they can keep it up by adding new games weekly. It's really great though, Gauntlet alone has provided me with more entertainment than 'proper' games. <_<

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Sketch

Sketch

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I have questions, since I don't yet have a 360, though XLA seems tempting...

1) Are these full games, albeit smaller and simpler ones? Like 2D games?

2) How much do they cost? How does billing work?

3) Can you keep the games forever?

4) I tend to like retro games, are there some decent retro styled and old fashioned titles up for grabs?

5) Has anyone heard anything about MS wanting to release public dev kits to create XLA games? Otherwise, who makes these titles?

6) Anything else that needs to be known?

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therev

therev

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.::: Hopefully they can keep it up by adding new games weekly. It's really great though, Gauntlet alone has provided me with more entertainment than 'proper' games. <_<

I really like Gauntlet, but only when someone's online to play it with.

And by 'someone' I mean 'someone I know'. Gauntlet can easily end in (literal) tears if you're not considerate to other players.

I find it horribly dull in single player.

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Mr Spew

Mr Spew

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I have questions, since I don't yet have a 360, though XLA seems tempting...

1) Are these full games, albeit smaller and simpler ones? Like 2D games?

Kind of, they're all full games, old classics such as Gauntlet and Smash TV, but also new games like Geometry Wars Retro Evolved which looks stunning in Hi-Def, the firs two games are playable across Xbox Live with people from across zee world.

2) How much do they cost? How does billing work?

You can buy 2100 points for £17.50 in stores as pre-paid cards, or in denominations of 500 for around £4 on Xbox Live with a debit/credit card. Games cost around 400 points for some, 800 for others, so £3 - £6/7

3) Can you keep the games forever?

Yeah, if your Xbox or hard drive gets fried, you can download them again on a new Xbox 360 with your previous Gamertag.

4) I tend to like retro games, are there some decent retro styled and old fashioned titles up for grabs?

Hells yeah, Geometry Wars, Smash TV, Gauntlet, Zuma, Bejeweled, in fact, everything on there. I just bought Hardwood Hearts too, not sure why, it's nice and relaxing to play Hearts against randoms for a while before kipping off.

5) Has anyone heard anything about MS wanting to release public dev kits to create XLA games? Otherwise, who makes these titles?

Not sure - they let many people release titles though, especially geared towards smaller developers.

6) Anything else that needs to be known?

Not particularly, just get a 360 and see it all for yourself.

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Cyhwuhx

Cyhwuhx

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I really like Gauntlet, but only when someone's online to play it with.

And by 'someone' I mean 'someone I know'. Gauntlet can easily end in (literal) tears if you're not considerate to other players.

I find it horribly dull in single player.

.::: I love it even in single player. <_< It's far more 'tactical' than the newer Gauntlets can even hope to accomplish. More players add to it, but it's perfectly doable in single, although it becomes a score per coin run more than anything.

Pure chaos games like I had with Gauntlet II on the NES are possible with a private game I believe. But becasue of achivements not many people are willing to play those. :)

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Eighthours

Eighthours

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I have questions, since I don't yet have a 360, though XLA seems tempting...

1) Are these full games, albeit smaller and simpler ones? Like 2D games?

Yes.

2) How much do they cost? How does billing work?

At the moment, between £4 and about £12. The average is about £8.

3) Can you keep the games forever?

Yes.

4) I tend to like retro games, are there some decent retro styled and old fashioned titles up for grabs?

Yes, there's versions of Joust, Gauntlet and Smash TV already available, with more old arcade games to come. Most of the other titles available have retro gaming mechanics, so they should be right up your street as well.

5) Has anyone heard anything about MS wanting to release public dev kits to create XLA games? Otherwise, who makes these titles?

There's some gumph about sending in a demo to Microsoft, and if they like it they'll bike you a dev kit and sign up your game. But I don't know exactly how it works.

6) Anything else that needs to be known?

Yes. It's far better than I ever thought it would be.

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Sketch

Sketch

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Cheers for the answers, I now have another reason to buy a 360. <_<

EDIT:

As for getting indies to contribute games, I'm wondering if MS would be interested in a XLA version of Trampoline Gunmen, for up to 4 simaltaneous players, with plenty of minigames for single player. :)

Pity the DC version (more like demo) is a bit crappy.

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