XBL Arcade Greatness

[n0wak]

So, yesterday I did half of the co-op campaign of Bionic Commando (great) and then played the demo of Galaga Legions (awesome, totally blew my mind -- from the guys that did Pac-Man: CE) and I'm thinking, has there ever been a time like now that's been so good for small, bite-sized classic styled games? Geometry Wars 2, Castle Crashers (coming soon!), Pixeljunk Eden (ok, PS3, but whatever), even Braid.

And why did all this stuff have to come out when I'm an ocean away from my XBox 360? :tdown:

Edited August 21, 2008 by n0wak

[ThunderPeel2001]

Lol! Tis indeed a great time for such small games. I've enjoyed some great games on XBLA and the list keeps growing stronger and stronger. MS seems to have pretty much created this market... Did they do something original, useful and fun for once... ???

[Marek]

Yeah I think it's almost a renaissance era for gaming. I'm so happy with all these smaller games. It feels kinda like the days of shareware again.

I'm somewhat disappointed by the Xbox Live portfolio in general though. I mean it's fine but only very occasionally a game comes along that makes me genuinely excited (things like Braid, or soon Castle Crashers). I was hoping XBLA would offer such games more often.

PSN is totally owning XBLA in that department, but I'm not ready to buy a PS3. (Although I might get weak when Little Big Planet comes out.)

[twmac]

Really?

The 360 has Rez HD, Ikaruga with online play, Alien Homnid, Heavy Weapon (admittedly that was originally a Pop-Cap PC game), the Geometry wars games, Assault Heroes 1 and 2...

Certainly it does have a lot of dross.

Do you mean that the PS3 is looking better because Sony are being more selective perhaps?

[Cigol]

...don't forget the PC

[ThunderPeel2001]

My XBLA faves have been:

Rez HD

Space Giraffe (worth it once you get in to it)

Geometry Wars 2

Prince of Persia (for retro value)

Pacman Championship Edition

and a heap of retro arcade titles (Galaga, Pacman, Super Sports, etc).

I've yet to try:

Braid

Galaga Legions

Soul Calibur

Fable II Pub Games

Ikaruga

Sensible World of Soccer

Plus there's these coming up:

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Darwinia+

No idea how many of these are available on PSN, or what we XBLAers are missing out on, though?

[eljay]

Unless you've got a code to get them for free, steer well clear of the Fable 2 pub games

It's just a set of 3 games based entirely on chance, the worst of which is a very basic fruit machine with no interaction.

[Ben]

My XBLA faves have been...No idea how many of these are available on PSN, or what we XBLAers are missing out on, though?

With the exception of a few like Geometry Wars, Space Giraffe and Fable most of those will probably be coming to PSN, including the 'coming up' titles. In terms of what else PSN has to offer as exclusive content:

Super Stardust HD

Fl0w

Everyday Shooter

Pixeljunk Racers

Pixeljunk Monsters

Pixeljunk Eden

WarHawk (I class it as a PSN game, though others may disagree)

Tekken DR

Calling All Cars

Elefunk

Dark Mist

The Last Guy

Echochrome

Coming:

Wipeout HD

Fat Princess

Flower

more Pixeljunk games

a new LocoRoco

Edited August 25, 2008 by Ben

[Cigol]

Off the top of my head there is Super Stardust HD, esoteric stuff like Echochrome, FL0W, and a personal favourite of mine; PixelJunk Eden and their other games Monsters and Racers. There's plenty of other games but I'm not sure whether they are any good or not so I can't vouch.

They also sell full games like Warhawk, Gran Turismo, Siren, and the recently released Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty - the first two might not count within the context of this thread but the last two were released first on PSN, Siren in particular is in episodic format. PSONE titles are also sold on PSN, though in truth I'd much prefer PS2 titles ()

Coming up PSN also gets Street Fighter, The Fat Princess, GTI Club+,Wipeout HD, The Last Man, a new Ragdoll Kung Fu, Flower and I'm guessing other stuff but I'm not sure what (maybe Afrika and a game where you grow a garden or something?).

Either way I imagine both sides are missing out on titles, but I'd be surprised if PSN was better than Microsofts. Not only is it free but it hasn't been out anywhere near as long.

EDIT: Ben posted whilst I was writing this

[ThunderPeel2001]

Yeah, XBLA also sell full games, too. Psychonauts, Crimson Skies, etc. Plus, I know we've got two Street Fighters, too (including the new HD version).

I could definitely go for Super Stardust HD! (Even if it was just a complete ripoff of

-- know idea why no-one ever mentions this, though.)

[Cigol]

What I meant by selling full games was that the last two; Siren and Quest for Booty are specifically full games made for and sold on PSN. They will only get BD release in certain territories some time after their PSN debut. I get the impression this is something that's going to continue to evolve, and I'm not sure whether XBOX has something similar going on (yet) in that respect.

Although one imagines with all the money they make off charging you to use your internet connection that it's in the pipeline

Even if it was just a complete ripoff of

-- know idea why no-one ever mentions this, though.

I'm sure you meant to say 'inspired by' but had a brain fart of some kind

So anyway, no one wants to chime in with applause for Audiosurf and Trials 2? What about all the free flash games like Velicorapter Safari et al?

[ThunderPeel2001]

Lol. How about "unofficial remake"?

[Nappi]

Of these smaller game I have only bought Audiosurf and Pixeljunk Eden so far. Both of which have easily provided more than their money's worth of entertainment for me. I'm also really looking forward to the PC version of Braid.

I think this is indeed one of the most pleasant things that has happened in the games industry for a while.