And i Ran - Kinect Sports

Normally at this point i would make some reference to A Flock of Seagulls - i won't here.

Today was the world record setting atempt for Kinect Sports. 

i am not sure if i did this right... a few days ago i "registered" (at least i clicked the register button on the section of the dashboard), then today i ran the Sprint mini game (100m) - and got a virtual time of 9.14 seconds.

Hopefully, i will someday get the avatar award ugly yellow t-shit.  i didn't exactly do it at 10:00AM PST - i did it at 10:02 or 10:03 - because the time on XBL is a couple minutes faster than my clock that sets itself (based off of the atomic clock).  i hoped to have a picture here... oh well.  i tried, i just don't know if it counted. 

Backlog XBLA

Here are some of the games i could beat on XBLA (to think of all of the points i spent on this - though some were gifts).  i should "beat" at least one of them this year. 

Need to Beat XBLA (on 2nd account):

•  A Kingdom for Kefflings - need online achievement (come on free weekend)
•  Aegis Wing
•  Arkadian Warriors
• Assault Heroes
• Asteroids and Deluxe
• Astropop - stuck on some level
• Band of Bugs
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Banjo-Tooie
• Bejeweled 2
• Braid
• Buku Soduku
• Carcassone
• Castle Crashers
• Castlevania SOTN
• Centipede and Millipede
• Cloning Clyde - stuck on next to last stage (stupid jump puzzle)
• Comic Jumper
• Commanders: Attack of the Genos
• Contra
• DeathSpank - finish playthrough
• Dig Dug
• Doritos Crash Course
• Double Dragon
• Eets: Chowdown
• Exit
• Fable II Pub Games
• Feeding Frenzy (PopCap disc)
• Feeding Frenzy 2 (PopCap Disc)
• Final Fight: Double Impact
• Galaga
• Galaga Legions
• Geometry Wars Evolved
• Golden Axe
• Gunstar Heroes
• Harm's Way
• Heavy Weapon (PopCap Disc)
• Hexic HD
• Monkey Island SE
• Monkey Island 2 SE
• Ms. Pac-Man
• Outpost Kaloki X
• Pac-Man
• Pac-Man CE
• Peggle (and Nights)
• Phantasy Star II
• Pinball FX 2 - achievements
• Puzzle Quest
• RoboBlitz
• Shadow Complex
• Soltrio Solitaire
• Sonic Adventure
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• South Park: Le'ts Go Tower Defense Play
• Space Invaders Extreme
• Splosion Man
• Street Fighter II HF
• Streets of Rage 2
• Texas Hold'em ?
• Time Pilot
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989)
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 ?
• Unbound Saga - achievements
• Undertow
• UNO
• Wik: Fable of Souls
• Xevious
• X-Men
• Zuma

Video Games - What Have i Been Doing This Month?

So, i haven't posted here in a while (maybe).  i am seriously considering taking part in the Kinect Sports world record attempt tomorrow (ok, less than 14 hours)

i have been playing a lot of The Last Remnant, which would be a decent game without all of the problems.  i got a couple of new games in the Sega sale (Phantasy Star 2, Sonic Adventures and Gunstar Heros).  i picked up a few things last week at the MGS sale (Alan Wake DLC, Castle Crashers). 

In the future i may have a couple of posts - i think i will do a Game Room at Year 1 DLC post in early/mid May (i know, hold your excitement)

Backlog (to beat) on my second account - this should last me most of the year:
* Star Ocean: The Last Hope - need to beat
* Forza 3 - need to "beat" (do all races)
* Assassin's Creed - need to start
* Assassin's Creed 2 - not started
* BioShock - not started
* BioShock 2 - not started
* Magna Carta 2 - not started
* Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts - not started
* Blue Dragon - need to finish playthrough
* Darksiders - need to restart
* Devil May Cry 4 - need to start
* Dragon Age Origins Ultimate - need to start
* Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - need to restart
* Eternal Sonata - need to finish playthrough
* Forza 2 - need to start
* Ghostbusters - need to start (probably wait until October)
* Kameo - need to finish playthrough
* Lego Star Wars 2 - need to start
* Lego Batman - need to finish playthrough
* Lost Odyssey - need to start
* Marvel Ultimate Alliance - need to start
* Overlord - need to finish playthrough (or restart) also DLC
* Alan Wake - need to finish playthrough and 2 DLC
* Tales of Vesparia - need to finish playthrough
* Too Human - need to level up enough
* Two Worlds - need to find all locations
* Viva Pinata (PC) - need to 1,000
* Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise - need to start
* Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection - need to get achievements
* Fable 2 - achievements
* Fable 3 - achievements
* Infinite Undiscovery
* Lips - need to win challenges (maybe with self)

Kinect Sports: Want to Help Set a World Record?

i first found this on Major Nelson's site, it sounds like kind of a cool idea.  Apparently they are trying to set a world record for number of simutaneous 100 meter dashes.  The things they keep records for (what is the current record holder?)

Apparently this event will take place during a free XBL weeked - Saturday, April 23rd at 10:00 AM Pacific Time.  Here is a link, straight from the Horstacio's mouth. 

http://www.rare.co.uk/blog/?p=3977

What do you get for helping out?  It turns out you may be able to get a special (and yellow, yuck) t-shirt for your avatar.  i have considered doing the event, but 10 AM on a weekend is really early for me. 

i do have a big question though...  How exactly can they do a simultaneous mini game sprint race - unless they have some remote way to start the event?  What is the margin of error in this one (are there a couple of minutes of leeway either way)?

i would worry about not starting the race at the correct time - sorry i started it at 10:01 AM.  The Xbox does take a while to load, i wonder what time i would have to turn it on to time it right.

Video Game Difficulty - Why i Like My Games Nice and Easy

Well, it looks like i won't be finishing games anytime soon (and i can only have so many Game Room posts a month) ... so i decided to take this a little different way.

One of the things that kind of bothers me is difficult games.  This came to mind when i was playing Comic Jumper (one of the 5 or 6 XBLA i picked up on sale recently).  i like the tone of the game, but much like Splosion Man - the gameplay not so much.  i know there are semi-frequent checkpoints, but i still find myself dying way more than i would like.  In other words "that was not nice and easy".  There are some people who will say that game X isn't challenging for them - good for them, but they need to realize that games are largely targeted (correctly so) at the mediocre player.  Not every player want an insane challenge (maybe challenge/difficulty spikes are a reason why so few people actually finish games).   

i wish that more games would have easy modes so that people could actually enjoy the story/levels more.  i am kind of curious how things play out without looking for the levels on YouTube.  Some games do have the easy mode - i beat most games on normal, though.  If a game is relatively short and "all about the challenge" - that is ok for that game, i will be avoiding it.  It the game is long and challenging - that is a real problem.  Maybe there should be some thing were challenge in inversely proportional to length (well, excepting for multiplayer focused games). 

i guess there is a fine line between challenge and frustration.  As i am getting chronologically older (not necessarily more mature), i find my frustration level with games increasing.  i don't really get a sense of accomplishment from beating a punishing game on some insane difficulty level.  i know that games used to be harder (some diabolically so), but i could tolerate more frustration when i was younger.  It is also different playing something like Game Room for points rather than a retail (or downloadable) game for story/the gaming experience. 

i grew up mainly with turn based RPGs - sure they have a certain challenge (especially early), but there was a way to deal with the challenge (the always fun level grind).  The problem i have arises when there is no way (like level grinding) to improve my odds.  Enemies leveling up with you is a "feature" that i deeply dislike.  i want to feel like a powerful machine of awesomeness at the end, not a helpless bystander who lucked into vicotry (like i did in Ninja Gaiden 2).       

Dview: Faery: Legends of Avalon (XBLA)

The Bottom Line:
Faery: Legends of Avalon is turn-based RPG.  Unlike Costume Quest, this is a more classic turn-based combat (without timed button presses, etc).  i wish there would be more turn based RPGs (battle-wise) like this.  This is another game i got on sale for half off (usually 1,200 points).  i kind of wished the game would have been a little longer (though it is kind of a long game for an XBLA title).  It also has kind of an abrupt ending. 
Download Size: 550.03 MB
Grade: C

What to Expect:
* No frills Turn-Based combat
* A loosely connected story, with a bunch of quests (43 if you combine main quest and side quest) in 4 worlds.
* Graphics that are not really that impressive
* An kind of strange leveling system - uses skill point to upgrade/metamorphoses a body part that will have some skill or ability connected to it. 
* After beating the game, a feeling that the game should have had DLC or been longer

Achievements:
The achievements in this game are fairly straight-forward.  They are for things like: complete a world, do all of the sub-quests in each area, etc.  There were a 3-4 quests that i initially missed and had to go back for.  i finished the game (200/200) at about 10 hours and 33 minutes, but it took me a while to find some of the quests i missed.  i was at level 23.

Dview: Unbound Saga (XBLA)

The Bottom Line:
Unbound Saga is a 2.5D brawler that was released for XBLA in 2010.  i decided to purchase it on sale for 160 points ($2.00) - it is normally 800 points.  The story finds you as one of two comic book characters.  The character who i consider the main character, Rick Ajax, is aware that he is in a comic book and wants to make his existence easier by dealing with "the creator" who puts him in cruel situations. However, like many 2.5 D games, it can be hard to line enemies up for attack - and sometimes even hard to turn around.  The style of this game is along the lines of Streets of Rage (but it is not nearly as good).  The game isn't really that long and the ending is very disappointing.
Grade: D+


What to Expect:
* Sometimes dodgy controls
* Getting mobbed by enemies, it is a brawler
* An annoying method of adding enemies where "the creator's" hand will be shown on screen drawing them in
* 10 chapters that go by fairly quickly (i think i beat it on easy in less than 5 hours)
* 2.5D presentation that sometimes makes it a little difficult to line up with enemies, weapons or switches
* A very lite RPG-ish leveling up system - unfortunately, the items needed to level up do not seem to be dropped enough to fully level one character in one play through.  The leveling system adds some moves, abilities, combos, etc.
* A comic book like presentation, where the character move from one area to others (essentially pages or panels).  Levels are essentially issues.  
* Combat - basically 3 buttons: punch, kick and grab/jump.  There are some combos too (and maybe you can block)

Achievements:
For a downloadable game this has some annoying achievements - though most definitely seem doable - the no damage one is probably the most challenging.  i had 5/12 achievements (i think) when i finished my first play through.  There are achievements for finishing each character's skill tree, completing levels in co-op mode, KO enemies in specific ways, not taking any damage in a level, defeating the final boss, etc.

My Game Room 2.01 - If i Were Rich

So, i have posted a few things about Game Room, but i decided to look at what i would want if i could afford to subsidize and relaunch Game Room (i would have made the offer if i had sufficient money - guaranteed 333,333/yr unit sales).  What would i do similar, what would i do different?  i am not sure what to do about achievements.  i can dream...

1) The Interface:  What i would prefer would be a more menu driven experience.  My views on this changed a little after playing Pinball FX2.  Of course the same interface would be a little more problematic on Game Room (since it has more than 13 games) - i guess you could go to a multi-page setup with filtering.  The personal arcade interface was a cool concept for the first one, but it may be more trouble than it is worth.  Ultimately, a choice between the two would be preferable.  

2) Compatibility:  the ability to play Game Room games is essential

3) Universal Challenges:  this is one of the concepts i picked up from Pinball FX2 (though they are rarely done).  There should be a monthly (at least) universal challenge for a game.  This would partially accomplish two things: a stronger sense of community and a spotlight for the game in the challenge.  Maybe someone might see the challenge and buy a game they were on the fence for.  When i say a universal challenge - it would essentially be setting up a timed leaderboard for a specific game, there would be no prizes (outside of a sense of pride for the winner).

4) Communication: if i ran Game Room, i would want to have a blog and a Facebook presence (not Twitter). The Facebook site would be more for announcing packs/weekly releases.  The blog would have weekly releases, future content teasers, but also random information like: Weekly Top 10 Sales and periodic challenge winners.  It might also occasionally have retro themed posts.

5) Price: this is one thing i would change.  i know that the publishers have to be paid, but i would like to see prices reduced to 200 points ($2.50 instead of $3, $2.75 max).  If a Game had 30,000 leaderboard entries (i don't think any do), the revenue difference would be about $15,000.  The big question here is how price sensitive that Game Room users are (and potential users).  So, the difference would be mitigated to a certain extent (if a lower price would result in 6,000 more sales, it would break even with the 240 price point in that scenario).  Most likely, a reduced price would have greater impact in lower leaderboard games.

6) Dealing with Publishers: i am not exactly sure how MSFT deals with publishers in Game Room.  What i would try to do is give the publishers a guaranteed minimum unit sales number in the contract (after years 2 or so on the service).  This would probably vary depending on what games were licensed.  For some lesser games, it might be worth it to just buy the rights/IP from the publisher in a package deal.

7) Sub-Company: If i had the money i would set up a separate company to acquire rights to old games and/or act as a sub-licensor so smaller companies could get their games on Game Room.  If publishers like Taito, Midway, Sega, etc. won't license certain games, it might be worth it to just purchase some of the b-level (or lower) IPs using Game Room sales as a sweetener/funding method.

8) Dynamic Leaderboards: increase accuracy (to 1,000s if over 10K, 100s if over 1K).  Also take away loading of gamerpics by a person's score.

9) Leveling: maybe add a platinum medal (6 or 7 points).  Other than that, remove level cap

10) Tokens, Visiting Friend's Arcade, Showcase Arcade: exclude all of these "features".

11) Pay for Play: reduce cost for pay for play to 20 points ($.25), allow pay for play to see leaderboard and play for score (so a person could do pay for play as a challenge).  Disable medals from pay for play sessions.

12) Replays: reduce replays to only the top 5 leaderboard positions.  Or, i guess, you could just get rid of them entirely.

13) Releases:  i would prefer games being released outside of game packs for individual release (there might actually be a financial reason for game packs though).  i would target 15-20 games a month (12 minimum) - that works out to 180-240 games a year (144 minimum).  Games would all release on the last day of the month.

Dview: Costume Quest (XBLA)

The Bottom Line:
Costume Quest is a semi-old school kid friendly RPG.  The battles are turn-based (with a one button activator after attack is selected, there is an activation button for defense too).  i wish this would have been 5x-7x the length and a retail game.  Basically, you collect costumes (or pieces of them) and then go into battle as that character: robot, knight, pumpkin, etc.  The characters have different special abilities that you can use (at about the 3 turn mark in a battle).  The main story happens around Halloween (my favorite holiday) and you go around to houses and trick or treat.  At around 5-7 hours for both of the main game and the DLC, it feels a little short.  i recently got this game on sale (and beat it in a day), if i had to pay the full 1,200 points for this i would have been a little more disappointed.
Grade: B


What to Expect:
* Turn-based battles (there is a level cap for the main game at 10, 14 for the DLC).  Most of the game you will have a party of three.  Battles are with visible characters in the field or at doors you trick or treat at.  Characters can be enhanced a little by acquiring battle stamps
* A fairly colorful game that takes place on Halloween (the DLC is more winter themed), some people say it has charm
* Chests/costume pieces to search for.  Some costumes have field abilities - like light, protection field, etc
* Trick or Treating (in one of the 3 separate areas: the suburbs, the mall and the country)
* Side quests (maybe 20 or so) - these range from things like winning a costume contest, to finding a treat card to fetch quests, even bobbing for apples.
* A fixed camera that you cannot really move.
* A fairly linear game.

Achievements:
The achievements in this game are mostly straightforward, the only one i had to look up was the visitor one from the DLC.  They are for things like collecting (treat cards, battle stamps), using costume, defeating bosses, doing all of the quests, etc.  There are an additional 50 gamerscore points from the DLC (hint, using the Yeti costume in the final fight may be a good idea).

Game Room: Leaderboard Predictions for April 2011

Yet another Game Room related post.  Here is another monthly estimate of games that my (bad) numbers predict will go up by the end of April.

Another month has started - it seems the mood among the Game Room faithful is growing bleaker by the day.  So, what could cause unanticipated leaderboard spikes this month.  Much like i said last month - the Windows Phone 7 version of Game Room could launch.  More games reached the 1,000 mark - so the number of games predicted to increase will likely decrease as the months go on.  Also sales could be decreasing or stabilizing at some much lower rate.

The numbers in parentheses are my current (4/1/11 estimates based off my odd irr method numbers).  if i get around to it, i need to find a way to refine my estimation method (so my accuracy will be better than 50%). So, here are my predictions for leaderboard increases this month...

1) Battlezone to 5,000 (5,007)
2) Beamrider to 600 (619)
3) Circus Atari to 800 (801)
4) Cosmic Commuter to 500 (513)
5) Demons to Diamonds to 900 (1,014)
6) Jungler to 10,000 (11,693)
7) Kaboom to 1,000 (1,074)
8) Millipede 2600 to 8,000 (9,872)
9) Missile Command to 5,000 (5,212)
10) Scramble to 10,000 (11,693)
11) Space Armada to 8,000 (9,872)
12) Submarine Commander to 80 (89)
13) Super Breakout to 10,000 (11,379)
14) Time Pilot to 7,000 (7,107)
15) Tower of Doom to 800 (803)
16) Tutankham to 8,000 (9,872)
17) Vectron to 60 (68)
18) Yar's Revenge to 10,000 (11,693)

Maybe:
1) Jail Break to 5,000 (4,768)
2) Rack 'Em Up to 5,000 (4,946)