So far, coin-op classics cost 400 MP (Microsoft Points) which is about $5. All other games have been 800 MP or $10. Bankshot Billiards 2 has been the lone title at $15, but this was also free with a one-year subscription to Xbox Live.
The prices are better, and the games are better. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved would be the poster child of the lot, boasting a 40% purchase rate — forty-percent of people who downloaded the demo (each XBLA game is available as a demo) bought it. And at $5, who can blame them. Who needs Halo 3 at launch, we have Geometry Wars!
As of this writing, there are 21 games available for purchase over Xbox Live. The last two released, Astropop and UNO, are among my most played games.
What Comes Next?
UNO was released the week of E3 this year, but there was much bigger news for the XBLA than UNO. Lumines Live! was announced. This was a bombshell announcement, and a big blow to Sony, as Lumines is no longer a PSP/PS2 exclusive title.
Lumines is a puzzle game, a genre perfectly suited for the Xbox Live Arcade. Lumines Live! will integrate music videos from Warner Music into this Tetris-like game. Anyone who has played the standout PSP launch title knows this will be a big hit on the Arcade.
During the Microsoft press event at E3, Peter Moore announced a bevy of other games too. These games include, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Defender, Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Rally-X, Sonic the Hedgehog, Contra, Super Contra, Frogger, Time Pilot, and Scramble.
Street Fighter II, originally set to be a spring release, is looking more like a June-July release. At least that is the hope, as gamers are chomping at the bit to get this classic on the XBLA.
Indie Developer Heaven
Not to be overshadowed by the classic games of our youth, more and more developers have signed on to create new games. Independent developers have a great place to publish amazing software.
Marble Blast Ultra, developed by GarageGames, is a prime example of what an indie developer can do on XBLA in a relatively short period of time. Using their own technology, the Torque engine, they created a game that redefines what is possible, both in look and feel, in an Xbox Live Arcade game.
Article comments