Handful of exciting XBLA news

Microsoft's XBox Live service has seen some rather rough times lately between unexciting releases and lots of downtime over the holidays. It seems they want to make it up to us by hitting us with how great the service will be this coming year. Over the last week, we have see three big announcements, all which have me excited.

-Microsoft is giving us a free download of the fan favorite XBLA game, Undertow, in apology for all the recent down time. It's a nice gesture for a good game. I've been on the fence about a download since I played the demo. It's a fun and frantic 2D action "King of the Hill" multiplayer game, but it also feels a little cliche as just another dual-joystick shooter waking in the success of Geometry Wars. However, I would put it in the good cliche category along with Assault Heroes. It's a very original look at an overabundant genre at the moment. I would easily recommend it for free. Now it seems would be the opportune time to obtain it. The download begins January 23 and ends January 27.

-If you have read some of my older posts, you have seen me rant and rave about how huge of a fan I am for the original Bionic Commando, and how excited I am for the new reimagined 3D game due out later this year. Well, Capcom has officially outdone itself this time with yet another recent announcement with the Bionic Commando...series...yes, we can officially call Bionic Commando a series now! See the trailer below, and it should speak for itself

-a Rare created dual-analog, online multiplayer supported, HD remake of the N64's most successful (and most popular?) game, Goldeneye, was on the verge of being of being released to the service. However, Nintendo demanded a piece of the action, and Rare has since pulled the plug on the project a mere two months from being finished. You can petition here to tell the execs to stop being stingy.

Chains of Olympus

God of War, you seem to know me so well. Just when I'm beginning to regret my PSP purchase (regardless of insane price) you come along and show me what's for.


This post will serve as almost a double feature in expressing two points of process. First off, the God of War demo disc is available at GameStop right now when you lay down 5 bones on the reservation of the game ('would you like to reserve anything else, you know we almost closed off the reservation date for ? you're really gonna regret not getting this one'). Pick it up, you won't regret it.

Like your favorite cookie or any Rom-Com you can think of, Chains of Olympus sticks to the recipe. The vicious combos, the stunning visuals (more on that in a sec), the finishing moves and the special abilities are all back in fine form. This in itself speaks volumes for Ready at Dawn, the company responsible for the development of the portable Kratos. SCE Studios is responsible for the first two forays and will also be responsible for GoW3, but Ready at Dawn is a separate developer. While I'm certain that there was some coding and engine sharing, the replication and, in fact, innovation are impeccable.

A while back, Ready at Dawn spoke up in the video below about how the new firmware release was going to affect Chains of Olympus. Because of some recoding, the PSP can now handle a lot more information. For that same reason, Ready at Dawn was able to move through their version of Chains of Olympus and add some fantastic visuals aided by the new processing ability of the PSP. Check out that vid:

So what about the actual demo? Well, it's what you would expect from what I said above. The gameplay feels great, the levels develop like they always have and the camera work as game relatively-stationary. In essence, this is a God of War game.

Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles

Source: IGN.com

Since one of my last posts was about Assassin's Creed, perhaps it is better that I resurface with a new trip into the world of the wicked Templar.

So, for those of you that were not aware of the critically disagreeable Assassin's Creed for the 360 and PS3, I would like to take the opportunity to direct you here. While you may not gain a full understanding of the game, at least you can understand one enthusiast's thoughts.

Ever since Ubisoft had directed all of its PR attention towards AS for the consoles, Altair's Chronicles for the DS has lurked well beneath the radar. The only thing to surface between the release of the console version and the upcoming DS version is the boxart. While looking fantastic, this did little to get gamers salivating.

Perhaps the fact that the development team has been so hush-hush is actually driving me to yearn for more information. I found myself clawing at the latest release from Ubisoft.

That's right, screenshots. Credit goes to IGN.com for these bad boys, but nevertheless they do reveal some insight into the world of the DS version of Assassin's Creed.


We now know that the software will be in 3d, for better or worse, and the bottom screen of the DS will be used to facilitate the inventory, dialogs and minimaps. The shots, however, do little to indicate the gameplay mechanics of the title. Will it be touch based, will the camera be locked in place, how will combat be handled? In fact, one image seems to indicate that some combat will be in the nature of interactive cutscenes..."Press A to live."


I for one am excited and welcome any new information between now and the February 5th release of Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles.

Check the source for some further screenshot linkage.