Starting Friday and running through Monday, March 1, you’ll be able to pick up Batman: Arkham Asylum for 75% off through Games on Demand on Windows. Whereas the title usually retails for $50, with this discount you’ll now be able to pick up the critically acclaimed game for only $12.50. You can read our review of the title here.
The discount is part of a special deal recently announced by Microsoft’s Major Nelson wherein every weekend in March will feature a discounted Games on Demand title. Every Friday Major Nelson will announce via his Twitter account the title selected for discount.
You’ll need to download the Games for Windows – Live client if you don’t already have it to take advantage of the offer(s).
Microsoft has just unveiled the Windows Phone 7, a mobile phone created to compete with Android and the Apple iPhone. Early reports from tech-heads clearly indicate Microsoft has delivered an exceptional product. One of the more fascinating aspects of the new Windows Phone is the inclusion of Xbox Live. If you’re thinking it’s just a way to see if your friends are online, think again.
Microsoft says the new Windows Phone will run Xbox Live games, which I assume means Xbox Live Arcade games, titles like Geometry Wars and, perhaps wishful thinking, Trials HD. I don’t think its reasonable to think we’ll be playing Modern Warfare 2 on our mobile, at least not for a few more years.
Windows Phone will allow Xbox Live members to view Spotlight videos from the Xbox dashboard, as well as current achievements and gamer profile. Microsoft is also promoting the fact that Achievements can be earned from the Windows Phone, and those points will be added to your overall sum. Will I be able to talk to a friend over Xbox Live from my phone? Unknown, but that sure would be cool.
After the break you will find Microsoft’s Press release:
It’s that time of year again. Love is in the air, suicide rates are spiking, and businesses everywhere are lying and trying to take advantage of you. Some companies are spending millions in television advertising to convince you that buying pajamas on the internet will get you laid. Or perhaps the woman you desire will finally surrender to you once she sees that you’ve bought her a teddy bear that cost more than the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2? What about diamonds, or the boxes of chocolates where you only end up getting one or two bites of the one you really like? Maybe a really expensive, super-special arrangement of flowers from that guy with the commercials who gives off the distinct impression he might be considering marriage someday in the state where they make the pricey teddy bears? That’s not likely to do it either.
The brutal truth is that the only people guaranteed to be stimulated this evening are the flower shop owners and Hallmark store managers. Plus, in the opinion of this aging writer, if you’re having to pay for it you’re with the type of chick you might as well try and get the money back from once she’s refilled your health meter. Instead you need to keep your Modern Warfare 2 NVGs turned on and eyes peeled for the type of girl that cares more about a players Mana then his gold. A woman who’ll start an Army of Two with you and always give her all playing Co-op even when you’re wounded and it looks like you won’t have ammo enough to make it to the next save checkpoint.
If you’re a hardcore PC gamer then you are used to hearing excuses as to why certain games only appear on consoles. Usually, these reasons take the form of “limited funding”, “not enough time”, or the ever-popular “PC games don’t sell like the console counterparts.” All valid excuses. So when Remedy, the creators behind the flashlight simulator Alan Wake, made it clear their game wouldn’t be coming to PC rigs, their excuse struck me as downright bizarre:
“Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen,” states Microsoft. “We ultimately realized that the most compelling way to experience Alan Wake was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive. Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development. This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform.”
Errr, what? All this time, I’ve been playing my Xbox 360 wrong. I have it hooked up to HDMI inputs on my widescreen PC monitor, flipping back and forth as the need arises. I had no idea I was draining the “intimacy” out of games by not playing in my living room.
Remedy’s reasoning lacks any semblance of logic. It just comes across as an utterly strange thing to say. Honesty would have worked just fine here, something like “Piracy is an issue on the PC.”
Probably doesn’t matter anyway. My gut instinct tells me Alan Wake will debut to a chorus of yawns. Has that certain stink that precedes a lackluster debut.
In an amazing display of honor and integrity possibly extinct amongst American businesses, Toyota Motor Corp. CEO and President Akio Toyoda declined to accept an award from the Japanese Government for the Prius model’s energy efficiency. The Prius was on of 3 products this selected this year to receive the Grand Prize for Energy Efficiency and Ecological Quality from Japan’s Trade Minister.
Referring to the recent voluntary recall of 437,000 Prius for possible brake problems, Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said, “We declined to accept the award because we thought it was not appropriate.” Toyota made the decision to recall the Prius amongst the recent recall of a total of 8.5 million other Toyota autos after receiving only 200 complaints total in both the U.S. and Japan of the hybrid experiencing a braking delay in very specific cold weather conditions over very bumpy roads.
Microsoft made an announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show about the forthcoming spring release of Game Room, a new virtual space for players to hang out as their avatars and play classic/vintage arcade video games. Sounds fine as a basic description, but my intuition says this will be a bust.
There are several issues that will get in the way of Game Room’s success. First up we have the games themselves. Game Room will be launching with approximately 30 titles, with a promised 1000 titles within three years. That is a ton of shit and I mean that quite literally. If you can name me 20 classic video games that actually withstand the test of time, let alone 1000, I’ll send you a virtual medal.
Then there is the pricing, an area where Microsoft really understands the fine art of screwing customers. Players can either pay $5 for a dual-license that allows for PC and Xbox 360 play, or $3 for a single platform. Finally, players can sink 40-points (50-cents) for a single play.
As someone who grew up with the dawn of video games, having played just about every classic arcade title when it was actually available at my local Shakey’s Pizza, I can honestly say the vast majority of those so-called classics sucked. Add classics from vintage home consoles like Intellivision and the Atari 2600 and you have a recipe for complete boredom.
Look, I find value in these old games as museum relics and they are worth a time-limited trip down memory lane, but the overwhelming majority are just awful by today’s standards. There are only a few games from the 70s and 80s that hold up, like Asteroids, Missile Command, Galaga, Defender, Tempest, Star Castle and a few others. As for Atari 2600 games, none will hold your interest beyond a minute or two, perhaps longer if you’re bathing in nostalgia. I mean c’mon, $5 for Sub Hunt? Sea Battle? Outlaw? Ugh.
Microsoft Game Room smacks of a way to attract impulsive consumers into spending money on something that seems cool but will ultimately lead to regret. Besides, every single one of these ancient games can be played on the PC right now, complete with rule sheets and virtual cabinets, using a well-known emulator called MAME. I assume most hardcore gamers already have MAME or had it but grew bored once the novelty wore off.
If I had been in charge of developing the Game Room, I would get rid of 99% of the vintage games, only using the true classics that have aged well, and devoted the rest of the space to new and relevant XBLA (and XNA) titles like Castle Crashers, Space Invaders Extreme, Geometry Wars, etc. This would boost sales of new wares and foster increased multiplayer competition with games people actually want to play.
Unfortunately, I’m not in charge and Microsoft is wasting resources on something that will prove itself an underutilized failure. It wasnt that long ago that Xbox 360 gamers were complaining vociferously about the abundance of crappy vintage games clogging up XBLA. MS seemed to listen and reigned in the number of releases. Now MS is back with a vengeance, eyes on your wallet, hoping you will succumb to memories and ancient passions, futilely chasing Sony’s Home scheme while ripping off Nintendo’s Mii’s, all so you’ll pony up $5 to play Adventure?
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(Ratings Average: 4.50 out of 5)
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