Interview: David Edery (Part 3)
Here is the final part of the David Edery Interview. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. (Also posted at XBLArcade.com)
Challenges, Bugs, and Rumors
Many games have come out with some pesky bugs in their release version (e.g., Alien Hominid HD‘s save game glitch, Trial to Full game upgrade issue in Mad Tracks, Marble Blast Ultra leaderboard problems, various achievement issues.). This is despite a notorious reputation for XBLA certification being very difficult. How has certification changed since launch and what are you doing to prevent these problems from happening in the future?
The certification process is always being reviewed for potential improvements. Unfortunately, it isn’t an exact science, and it’s always going to be harder for newer developers. People often forget that many XBLA developers have never produced an Xbox 360 game before. We help our developers catch a huge number of bugs, but ultimately, we’re only human.
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Nicole Kidman to be Nintendo’s Frontwoman
Nicky and Ninty are pairing up to promote Brain Training on the Nintendo DS. What better way for Ms. Kidman to celebrate the dawning of her 40s than by pimping a video game for Nintendo? I certainly can’t think of any better ideas. And hey, as a fringe benefit to all the money she’s probably making (Did I just get overly cynical there?), Brain Training is “a great way to keep my mind feeling young.” And there you have it.
I am very curious to see what channels the TV ads will run on. But, what’s more interesting and funny to me is this: why does Nintendo have to advertise at all when sales numbers for the DS are mopping the floor with the competition?
[via BBC News]
Interview: David Edery (Part 2)
Here is part 2 of my interview with David Edery (Worldwide Games Portfolio Planner for Xbox Live Arcade). Part 1 can be found here. (Also posted at XBLArcade.com)
Competition
David Jaffe (Calling All Cars) was quoted likening XBLA to Ashlee Simpson and an oldies radio station. How are you combating the notion that XBLA is merely for ports and retro arcade titles?
Jaffe is a brilliant designer, but he’s not exactly an unbiased observer. It’s a bit disingenuous to ignore XBLA games like Geometry Wars, Marble Blast Ultra, Assault Heroes, Small Arms, Catan… etc. It’s also a bit ironic, given that XBLA still offers significantly more original content than the PlayStation Network.
Interview: David Edery (Part 1)
Recently, I had the opportunity to contact David Edery (Worldwide Games Portfolio Planner for Xbox Live Arcade). Such opportunities should not be squandered, so I posed a massive number of questions to him about the past, present, and future of Xbox Live Arcade. The questions (and his candid answers) will follow in this multi-part interview. (Also posted at XBLArcade.com)
Successes, Sequels, and Casual Gaming
Here we are in the middle of 2007 and it seems that Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is finally hitting its stride. Was the flood of releases just inevitable or is this a perfect storm of sorts?
I’d like to call it “inevitable”, but the portfolio would not be hitting its stride if not for the tremendous efforts of our production, marketing, and PR teams, as well as the significant efforts of our many developers and publishers. There was a time when very few people believed that XBLA would be successful. A handful of very passionate, very hard-working people got us where we are today, and I’m lucky to be working with them.
Band of Bugs Preview: Final Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Band of Bugs, and maybe I am too much of a tactics fanboy for my opinion to matter. But I truly think that if a tactics type game could entice and hook casual players, this is it. NinjaBee set out to create a game with a casual point of entry and a hidden depth and I think they have succeeded. NinjaBee’s visual style and humor are here in spades as well.
When I stated at the beginning of this epic hands-on experience that they had hooked me I was not exaggerating. I literally came home, booted up my 360, and thought to myself, “I’ll just play some Band of Bugs…oh…wait…” So, I have been suffering alongside all of you who have been looking forward to this game too. The only difference? I have known exactly what I am missing.
Band of Bugs Preview: Debriefing Qs and As [Update]
Well, thanks to everyone that sent in questions. Here are all the answers I could scrounge up. If there is still something on your mind, feel free to comment and I’ll try to answer as new ones come up. All answers are from me unless noted as being directly from Steve Taylor (President, Wahoo Studios/NinjaBee).
On with the show:
Q from AC91: Release date and price please…
A: As if my NDA allowed me talk about such things… [Update]: Well, the cat’s out of the bag now so get it on 6/20/2007 for 800 MS Points!
Band of Bugs Preview: Level Editor Pt. 2
Here is part 2 of my Level Editor breakdown with two new exclusive screens. Part 1 can be found here.
Creating maps hooked me right away because the maps did not require a crazy amount of detail to be fun. I could easily test an interesting idea and if it sucked I had not wasted hours working on a bad idea. I just scrapped it and started a new one. However, with some advanced editing techniques you can often turn a bad design into a great one.
Much more after the break.
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Band of Bugs Preview: Level Editor Pt. 1
The long wait is finally over. Here is the first part of my breakdown of the Level Editor (complete with exclusive screens – 1 now, 2 later) which is, in my mind, the best part of a great game.
(Click for the full 1280×720 version)
NinjaBee has said that they used their editor to layout all the levels in the single player campaign and I absolutely believe them. It takes a little while to get used to using the editor, but the slight learning curve is only a result of the editor’s robustness. Every available
button is used in the editor. The d-pad allows you to switch between the following: (see right, clockwise from top) tiles, doo-dads, units, and items. The left thumbstick handles moving around the map itself, and the right thumbstick handles choosing the specific piece you want to place in or on the map (in the top picture, all the different tile choices are shown at the top).
(More after the break)
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Band of Bugs Preview: Debriefing
Now that I am drawing toward the final bits of my Band of Bugs Preview (more exclusive screens upcoming!) I would like to invite you, the XBLA community, to ask any Band of Bugs questions that might be pressing in your minds.
Of course, I have yet to cover a couple key topics (I know, I know, get to the Level Editor already) but I want to collect your questions in order to post a bunch of answers at once. So, anything that I did not cover that you are dying to know about (besides release date and price, of course)?
Post your questions here or at XBLArcade.com and I will do my best to answer them (NDA willing) or get them answered!
Band of Bugs Preview: Live Integration Pt. 2
Two topics on the docket for today: Camera and DLC.
First, the Xbox Live Vision camera support. If you play other camera-enabled games this will all feel familiar to you. In multiplayer matches, when you arrive in the pre-game/post-game lobbies, you will see either a person’s gamerpic or his/her camera stream. Once you are in the game, the streams and pics are relegated to a small section on the right side of the screen. Within the lobbies the video feeds add something fun (when is it not fun to witness the look of defeat on your enemy’s face?), but in-game the windows are so small that they are barely interesting.
Click below for info on DLC.
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Lunar's Duality 