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Thread: Xbox 360 Game Room, thoughts?

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    Default Xbox 360 Game Room, thoughts?

    Did anyone download and try it out? So far, I love the concept but with so many lock ups and issues I'd say this one needs a patch badly. However, the Konami Arcade classics they haven chosen to start it off with are quite impressive. Shao-Lin's Road and Battantlis was a big surprise.
    These cartridges are dirty as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!

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    I downloaded it to play some crystal castles, have tried much other than that.

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    My Video Review of MS Game Room:


    I'm enjoying it, if I don't think about it too much. It's really a microtransaction nightmare, but I'll get to that.

    I had no issues with freezing, crashing or server errors that keep getting reported on - on either 360 or Windows versions. The games themselves aren't bad for starting off and the achievements for playing in the game room itself are nice. There are tons of nice touches, like the arcade ambience option, the retro themes and objects, realistic arcade machines (even down to actual control panels and glowing coin boxes), and the extras like Mascots are awesome. I like the medals system too, it gives a great incentive to get better at a game I normally wouldn't.

    However, they are two totally different versions - Win and 360. You have to make separate arcades for each platform, which sucks. You also have to pay extra to use the machines on both, so pick one platform and go with it. I'm staying with 360, more friends there.

    And it's EXPENSIVE! Or, it can be - haven't bought but a few games myself. Of course, if you have Namco Museum or something from XBLA, the games don't carry over. But worse is how costly everything gets.

    Here's the thing: to unlock new items for your arcade, you have to earn medals to level up. To do that, you have to buy arcade games. But once you unlock the few medals for a game, you have to buy another game to get more medals to unlock any more stuff to customize your arcade - otherwise things get bland quickly. The games needed to level up are only $3 each for each platform, but here's the math:

    15 medals per game
    20 medals per "level up"
    50 levels to unlock all arcade items

    so...
    1000 medals needed = 66.6 games needed

    @3.00/game...
    ~$200 to unlock all items, not including "extras" ie. mascots

    not to mention there aren't 66 games yet. This sucks. But the concept is interesting, I hope eventually you can walk around in the arcade with your friends, as the ambiance is incredible.
    Last edited by phreakindee; 03-27-2010 at 02:44 PM.
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    I'll let you know if I get my 360 back, or play it again...

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    Do the games have normal achievements, or just the medals you mention?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Leo_Ames View Post
    Do the games have normal achievements, or just the medals you mention?

    No game-specific achievements at all. You get three sets of medals per game, at gold/silver/bronze. These are for high score, survival (longest play) and total time playing the game. These medals add to your arcade's level, with enough medals you gain a level and certain levels give achievements - sort of an odd role-playing deal.
    Last edited by phreakindee; 03-24-2010 at 08:44 PM.
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    Leo,
    To answer your question, yes: there are normal achievements.
    http://www.xbox360achievements.org/g.../achievements/

    They require that you purchase enough games to earn the medals, however.



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    Do the games have normal achievements

    To clarify, the games do NOT have achievements. The Game Room, however, does.
    Last edited by phreakindee; 03-24-2010 at 10:56 PM.
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    I've tried to download it but it keeps giving me a Xbox Live error

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    It's a good concept but the prices are WAY too high. If the games were 100 points across the board then I can see it becoming pretty popular. 240 points is just too much for most of these games.
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    I bought 4 games because I've had 1000 points sitting in my account since October of last year - i figured what the hell....

    Bought Astrosmash, Yar's Revenge, Tempest, and Tutankham. I was happy to see Tutankham included in the first round of games, seeing as how it was one of my favorite arcade games as a kid. I used to play the hell out of it at my local Super X (now a CVS) Drug Store, while sitting there drinking my Bubble Gum Slush Puppy with about 20 squirts of syrup. I have now discovered I'm not as good at it, as I used to be.

    This game room concept has potential, as soon as they get the bugs out. I've gotten the loading freeze 3 times already, and couldn't connect to the server about 2 times.

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    The interface sucks. Great idea though.

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    I was stoked for some Yar's Revenge and Crystal Castles. They did not disappoint.

    I can pretty much take or leave the whole setup. It's neat, but it's just missing a certain something that would put it over the top for me. I can't quite place my finger on what that is, though.
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    I'm liking it. There's not a lot that I'm interested in right now though, other than CC and Shao-Lin's road. I probably won't use it much till some more titles trickle in.
    And don't bring up that stupid girlie Aladdin rip off! Shantea?

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    It's really fun, I like the detail they've put into a lot of things, like the ability to play games with interlacing or the scanlines you get when you "time warp" through games to replay parts. The way they included DIP switches for arcade games or all the console switches for the console games shows a real attention to detail you just don't usually see with retro game compilations. There are even some nice write-ups on the history of each game, the genesis of the arcade and more that really help to bring you back to that nostalgic context again, too. The medal/achievement incentives, coupled with the accessibility and presentation really make me excited to try out new games or revisit old ones that I normally wouldn't play. Considering the Game Room itself is free, and you start off with 20 tokens and can quite easily win more without ever paying, it's definitely a great little bonus for 360 owners.

    That said, a couple things that piss me off:

    -Not every game you buy qualifies for medals or achievements or whatever. My first game was Adventure, but I ended up having to get Yars Revenge because Adventure had no ranking option thus no medals. It's not like some time attack stuff couldn't be added to games without traditional high scores...If they aren't going to put medals and stuff on many games, then at least lower the 240 points price, since you're getting a lot less for your money.

    -Glitches. I've had a few stellar runs at Yars that I was unable to record because I kept getting a server error when I'd try and upload. Another time my system just completely freezed up during a game. I know some of those Atari 2600 games are memory intensive, so it's understandable...heh heh.

    -I like the idea of your friends wandering around your arcade, but it would be better if you could have the option of actually watching your friends in real time. Like, oh, sweet, X person is playing my Adventure game right now. That would add a lot more interactivity. As it is now, it just randomly picks people from your friends list and populates them in your arcade. It's nice, but missing that extra level of interaction that I could see pulling me in for a lot more games and hours.

    Oh, and being able to review the videos of dudes who get the high scores is pretty interesting. On one hand it's great to see the methods to some of those insane totals, but on the other hand it really demystifies the whole thing by revealing strategies and such. Still, I dig how you can save videos of your play throughs in case you want to check it out later or (I think you can do this) show it to a friend.

    The spate of games so far is good, but I hope some more developers, specifically Sega and Taito, are added into future game packs. Overall, though, it's great!
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    Damn I thought this was going to be about a games room that was totally decked out in 360 stuff.

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    I liked the concept, but a couple things put me off (other than the price). Having avatars in the arcade makes it incredibly difficult to see the game you are trying to choose, because their gigantic heads block the marquee and screens. Not as big of a problem for games with side art, but for the games with generic "Atari" or "Konami" on the side, you have to scroll around or wait for the avatar to "move" in order to see what game you want. Maybe there's a way to bypass this? Also, the glitchiness and slowness of the arcade application, combined with the fact that all purchases are tied to Game Room, and not directly accessible from the dashboard turned me off.

    That said, it is nice to see a company like MS support older titles like this. If you listen to this week's Major Nelson podcast, he interviews one of the developers behind the Game Room. The sheer amount of work and research the Game Room team put in to find the license holders and obtain the rights is impressive and deserves some props. I can tell that he's enthusiastic and into retro games... I just wish I LIKED the final product.
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    I'm confused about the difference between the 240 pt purchase vs. the 400 pt purchase of games.

    What are the differences? Is it just playing on Xbox for the 240 and Xbox & Windows for the 400? I don't use Windows (only own a Mac), so if that is the only extra thing I would get for the extra 160 pt, I can safely skip that then?
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    Quote Originally Posted by tholly View Post
    I'm confused about the difference between the 240 pt purchase vs. the 400 pt purchase of games.

    What are the differences? Is it just playing on Xbox for the 240 and Xbox & Windows for the 400? I don't use Windows (only own a Mac), so if that is the only extra thing I would get for the extra 160 pt, I can safely skip that then?
    400 let's you play the game on 360 and PC, since you can carry over your profile. Yet, imho spending the extra 160 is pretty stupid, since I don't find myself playing on both platforms.
    Last edited by MegaDrive20XX; 03-25-2010 at 01:24 PM.
    These cartridges are dirty as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!

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    Quote Originally Posted by tholly View Post
    I'm confused about the difference between the 240 pt purchase vs. the 400 pt purchase of games.

    What are the differences? Is it just playing on Xbox for the 240 and Xbox & Windows for the 400? I don't use Windows (only own a Mac), so if that is the only extra thing I would get for the extra 160 pt, I can safely skip that then?
    Exactly. The 400 point purchase gives you access via 360 and Games for Windows Live.


    Edit: WTF? It took me less than a minute to type up my post, not 6. Yet that last post was not there before. Odd.

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