Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade (usually abbreviated as XBLA ) is a service that Microsoft has integrated into the Xbox 360 and Xbox One . Users with broadband internet access can download and play unlimited games for a fee that is paid with so-called Microsoft Points . The games cost 400, 800, 1200 or 1600 Microsoft Points, which corresponds to a price of around 5, 10, 15 or 20 euros each.
An undecided user also has the option of downloading demos of the games for free. The Hexic HD puzzle game is preinstalled on the console's hard drive. The best-selling Xbox Live arcade game to date is the implementation of the classic sandbox game Minecraft, the Minecraft: Xbox360 Edition.
Gamerscore
In an arcade game, the player can earn 200 gamerscore points with a maximum of 12 successes; additional, chargeable expansions increase the maximum possible number of points for an arcade game to 250 gamerscore points. Since June 1, 2012, up to 400 points can be unlocked in Xbox Live Arcade games. The game may not contain more than a maximum of 30 successes.
In a "normal" Xbox 360 game, however, it is usually 1000 points and the number of successes varies. In the meantime, however, additional gamerscore points have been activated for individual titles through download content, so that in individual cases more than 1000 points can be collected in a game.
history
The Xbox Live Arcade service was announced by Bill Gates at E3 2004 and went online on the original Xbox on December 3, 2004. You had to order the Xbox Live Arcade Disc from Microsoft's website or purchase the Xbox Official Magazine.
The service went online with the launch of the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005. Shortly afterwards it became apparent that the concept had enormous potential and so Arcade Wednesday was soon introduced. Since then, all games have been released on a Wednesday. Before that there was already an XboxLive Arcade DISC for the Xbox, but it was hardly noticed and did not find much support from developers and publishers.
Games
Below is a list of Xbox Live arcade games that have been released (excerpt):
category | title | developer | publication | price | Live features * |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Action arcade | |||||
Aces of the Galaxy | Sierra Online | June 4th, 2008 | 800 points | LB, M, CO | |
Alien hominid | The Behemoth | February 28, 2007 | 800 points | LB, M, CO | |
Arkadian Warrior | Sierra Online | December 12, 2007 | 800 points | LB, CO | |
Assault Heroes | Sierra Online | December 13, 2006 | 400 points | LB, CO | |
Assault Heroes 2 | Sierra Online | May 14, 2008 | 800 points | LB, CO | |
Band of Bugs | Ninja bee | June 20, 2007 | 800 points | LB, M, CO | |
Battlestar Galactica | Sierra Online | October 24, 2007 | 800 points | LB, M | |
Bionic Commando Rearmed | Capcom | August 13, 2008 | 800 points | LB | |
Castle Crashers | The Behemoth | August 27, 2008 | 1200 points | LB, M, CO | |
Cloning Clyde | NinjaBee | July 19, 2006 | 800 points | LB, M, CO | |
Crystal Quest | Stainless Games | February 7, 2006 | 400 points | LB, DC | |
Doom | id software | September 27, 2006 | 800 points | LB, M, CO | |
Feeding frenzy | Sprout Games | March 15, 2006 | 400 points | LB | |
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved | Bizarre Creations | November 22, 2005 | 400 points | LB | |
Marble Blast Ultra | GarageGames | January 25, 2006 | 800 points | LB, M | |
Mutant Storm Reloaded | PomPom Games | November 22, 2005 | 800 points | LB, CO | |
Wik and the Fable of Souls | Reflexive entertainment | December 15, 2005 | 800 points | LB, M | |
Worms | Team 17 | March 7, 2007 | 400 points | LB, M, C | |
Recreational sports | |||||
3D Ultra Mini Golf Adventures | Sierra Online | April 18, 2007 | 400 points | LB, M | |
Bankshot Billiards 2 | PixelStorm | November 22, 2005 | 1200 points | LB, M, C | |
Brain Challenge | Microsoft Game Studios | March 12, 2008 | 800 points | LB, M | |
Card and board games | |||||
Hardwood backgammon | Silver Creek | December 8, 2005 | 400 points | LB, M, C | |
Hardwood Hearts | Silver Creek | December 8, 2005 | 400 points | LB, M, CO, C | |
Hardwood Spades | Silver Creek | December 8, 2005 | 400 points | LB, M, CO, C | |
Texas Hold'em | TikGames | August 23, 2006 | 800 points | LB, M | |
TotemBall | Strange flavor | October 4th, 2006 | Free | CO, C, DC | |
U.N. | Carbonated Games | May 9, 2006 | 400 points | LB, M, CO, C, DC | |
Arcade classics | |||||
1942: Joint Strike | Capcom | July 23, 2008 | 800 points | LB, M, CO | |
Battlezone | Atari | April 16, 2008 | 400 points | LB, M | |
Contra | Konami | November 8, 2006 | 400 points | LB, CO | |
Defender | Midway | November 15, 2006 | 400 points | LB, CO | |
Dig Dug | Namco | October 11, 2006 | 400 points | LB | |
Double dragon | Razerworks | May 9, 2007 | 400 points | M, CO | |
Frogger | Konami | July 12, 2006 | 400 points | LB, M, CO | |
Galaga | Namco | July 26, 2006 | 400 points | LB | |
Gauntlet | Midway | November 22, 2005 | 400 points | LB, CO | |
Joust | Midway | November 22, 2005 | 400 points | LB, CO | |
Pac-Man | Namco | August 9, 2006 | 400 points | LB | |
Robotron: 2084 | Midway | January 6, 2006 | 400 points | LB, CO | |
Scramble | Konami | September 13, 2006 | 400 points | LB | |
Smash TV | Midway | November 22, 2005 | 400 points | LB, CO | |
Street Fighter II | Capcom | August 2, 2006 | 800 points | LB, M | |
Time pilot | Konami | August 30, 2006 | 400 points | LB, M | |
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 | Midway | October 21, 2006 | 800 points | LB, M | |
Castlevania Symphony of the Night | Konami | March 21, 2007 | 800 points | LB | |
Streets of Rage II | Sega | August 29, 2007 | 400 points | LB, M, CO | |
Puzzle games | |||||
AstroPop | PopCap Games | March 22, 2006 | 800 points | LB | |
Bejeweled 2 | PopCap Games | November 22, 2005 | 800 points | LB | |
Hexic HD | Microsoft Game Studios | November 22, 2005 | Free (on HDD) | LB | |
Jewel Quest | iWin Games | March 8, 2006 | 800 points | LB | |
Lumines Live! | Q entertainment | October 18, 2006 | 1200+ 800 points | LB, M, DC | |
Zuma | PopCap Games | November 22, 2005 | 400 points | LB | |
strategy | |||||
Outpost Kaloki X | NinjaBee | November 22, 2005 | 800 points | LB, DC |
(*) Note: LB - Leaderboards, M - Multiplayer, CO - Cooperative game mode, DC - Downloadable content, C - Supports camera
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ insidegames.ch: insidegames - Microsoft increases gamerscore
- ↑ Luke Guttridge: E3 2004: EA joins the party live as MS dates Halo and more. May 11, 2004, archived from the original on March 3, 2016 ; accessed on September 3, 2016 .