Xbox Live Arcade

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Official Xbox Live Arcade logo

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

  1. insidegames.ch: insidegames - Microsoft increases gamerscore
  2. 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 .