'When They Film Ice Cream For Television...'
So, it's that time of week again, and 1UP's latest 'Retro Round-Up' column is certifiably retro, and almost certainly also a round-up. It therefore meets all the criteria it promises in the title, although they did give Root Beer Tapper for XBLA a thumbs down, which I personally disagree with (yes, I know it's not as exciting without the alcohol, but the internal scoring mechanics are really fun to figure out when you're going for some of the Achievements.)
One important note - I don't think Xbox Live Arcade is dropping the ball quite as badly as some others do. But it's clear that the arena of public opinion is starting to turn against them, as evidenced by this paragraph in Retro Round-Up: "Xbox Live's slow trickle of downloads continues at its sluggish pace, and frankly Microsoft's online content service is starting to feel like it's aiming squarely for third place. Wii's Virtual Console is kicking its butt in the classics arena, and PlayStation Network is quickly moving to the fore in terms of original content. And with games like this week's download, you kind of have to wonder if they're even trying."
There's also a podcast [.MP3] which highlights Cave Story (yay!), as well as my personal favorite, the 'Retronauts Bonus Stage: Episode 2' video, in which "The Retronauts hate Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for Saturn. HATE." I personally find the Parish / Sharkey double-act reassuringly 'garky' (that's 'snarky' and 'geeky' together, and I just made it up, and shuddup), and needless to say, the title of this post comes from them trying to explain exactly why the Saturn version of SOTN isn't all it's cracked up to be. Delicious!
Comments
I have to agree with 1UP here. Old arcade games that have been rereleased a thousand times in various compilations (and this one is even available for free from Midway's site) is just not enough. Arcade games weren't designed to be played on consoles, so as retro games go, Nintendo is doing a much better job (with their virtual _console_). And as for original content, it seems Sony is far more serious about this than Microsoft. Soon Nintendo will enter this market as well (perhaps with people like Telltale onboard), and if Microsoft wants to compete they'll have to do better than they are now.
Posted by: fluffy bunny | February 10, 2007 9:54 AM
I guess for me, the slowness of the XBLA release schedule is obscuring the fact that they've announced FAR more interesting original content titles (Eets Chowdown, Catan, Castle Crashers, etc, etc) than Sony (fl0w and some first-party ish games that mainly look a bit iffy) and Nintendo (uhm, nothing.)
But I agree in some ways, maybe announcing lots and dropping the ball on it is worse than announcing a few titles and getting them right?
Posted by: simonc | February 10, 2007 10:41 AM
I certainly don't think XBLA is a failure by any means -- it's far and away the best option for online multiplayer gaming (aside from the fact that everyone you play with is an asshole, but that's not MS's fault). But Sony's original content is already off to a great start, and Nintendo is going to be practically impossible to beat for classic content. I suppose that'd fine, but MS had a one-year head start... I can't help but feel that the lead time made them complacent rather than inspiring them to become the indisputable online leader. But I guess this is maybe turning into a blog post in its own right.
Posted by: parish | February 10, 2007 12:22 PM
I agree, it's not a failure at all, and there is a lot of interesting stuff on the horizon. But I am disappointed. Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing anything proper for it at all, and most publishers are just using it as an excuse to recycle old games that have been featured in so many retro compilations allready that it's a wonder there's anyone left to sell them to at all. And then there's the shareware publishers who give us all these casual games that are allready available for the PC. It doesn't help that some of the promising original content has been disappointing (like the awful Novadrome and the mediocre Small Arms).
Posted by: fluffy bunny | February 10, 2007 2:16 PM
I can download Sony's "original content" and play it for free.
Hell, I played flOw a year ago. It's not worth spending money on.
Posted by: AAAAAAAAAAA | February 10, 2007 2:38 PM