Microsoft’s scheduled maintenance of Xbox Live came to a close this morning, but not without a few kinks. Kotaku reports several post-maintenance issues with the Xbox Live Marketplace, including errors when downloading certain pieces of content, issues with redeeming Ghostbusters preorder bonuses, and even a few games that are now missing entirely from the service.
The official XNA Community Twitter states, “We know there are a few issues and top agents have been deployed to resolve them. Thanks for understanding!”, while Microsoft’s Xbox Live support page offers a more formal apology:
“Users may experience difficulties when attempting to use Marketplace and/or making purchases. We are aware of the problem and working to resolve the technical issues. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.”
Hopefully they’ll be able to work this stuff out sooner rather than later. We’ll keep you updated as Microsoft attempts to resolve these problems.
Fans who purchased Ghostbusters on the PC may have noticed something missing. Unlike it PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 counterparts, the PC edition is lacking a multiplayer mode.
Asked by the Big Download what happened to it, the game’s multiplayer developer Threewave Software said that it was cut so that they could focus more on the console versions.
According to Threewave CEO Dan Irish, “Multiplayer for the PC version of Ghostbusters is something that Threewave and Terminal Reality always wanted to do. However, our focus was on making the console version the best that they could be – an experience that allows multiple players to re-live and re-fight many of the themes from the movies.”
How do you distinguish one shooter from another these days? A demo certainly doesn’t hurt. In fact, according to Singularity producer Kekoa Lee-Creel, it’s “absolutely critical.”
“We’re definitely on track to release a demo,” he said. “[Demos] are so absolutely critical. It’s so hard to convey how a game feels, but I have confidence that once we can cross that threshold I think we’re good.”
He also said, “The shooter market is saturated, it’s tough to break in right now when there’s a lot of great, well-established franchises.”
Quote from GameTrailers:
“Given all the ways you can play as well as the superb Wii Motion Plus controls the Wii version of Tiger Woods 10 is EASILY the best one.“
It’s tough being a super hero. If you’re Dr. Doom and you’re feeling down, you can just blow something up. If you’re The Thing, well, all you can really do is look in a mirror and cry to yourself.
That was before Punch-Out!!, though, with a new ad (courtesy of Gamervision) popping up in comics showing two beefy brawlers finding a proper outlet for their stress. Oh, we really wouldn’t suggest playing with the Wiimote and Nunchuk, super guys. The game is way better with the classic controls.
[Via Kotaku]
Super heroes duke it out in Punch-Out!! originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Platinum Games’ ultra-violent Wii debut,
MadWorld, has a great soundtrack; it’s just hard to hear with all the obscenities being dropped by commentators Greg Proops and John DiMaggio. Soon those who didn’t pre-order the game will be able to land a pristine, vulgarity-free version of the soundtrack on CD or via digital distribution. Platinum Games has announced on its official blog that the album will be available to order in both forms on June 30. It’ll run .99 from
Sumthing.com and include 20 tracks, none of which are “Mad World” by Tears for Fears or the Gary Jules cover featured in
Donnie Darko.
[Via GoNintendo]
MadWorld soundtrack seeing physical, digital release June 30 originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nintendo’s Yoshio Sakamoto, who’s been involved with every 2D Metroid game since co-creating the original, tells Game Life that the latest in the series — Metroid Other M – will (in addition to looking awesome) help flesh out the character of Samus Aran. Bridging the gap between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion in series canon, the game’s plot goal is to depict the legendary bounty hunter as “an appealing human character,” according to Sakamoto, and the joint Nintendo / Team Ninja production team will be “explaining a little bit about what happened in her past as well as the characters that influenced her.”
The Metroid Prime games haven’t been devoid of story, but we get the sense from Sakamoto’s comments — “The story will play a big part,” he said — that Other M will offer something meatier, perhaps through more cinematics … and no scanning. In fact, we hear that any planned instances of scanning in Other M have been replaced with badass.
[Via 1UP]
Story will ‘play a big part’ in Metroid Other M originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In Japan, Let’s Tap comes in a large cardboard box containing two smaller cardboard boxes for use as tapping surfaces. In Europe, Sega is releasing a similar set as a “limited edition.” In North America, the game comes with no boxes except the standard white plastic Wii game case. You’re forced to find your own cardboard box.
Giant Bomb discovered that, if you buy the game at Best Buy, you get an exclusive “tapping pad” inside, which, as it reveals in its unboxing video, is basically a thick sheet of paperboard — or, if you prefer, one-sixth of a box. We’ve embedded the video after the break, so you can see their impressions of this small card.
[Via GameSetWatch]
Continue reading Purchase Let’s Tap at Best Buy and get an exclusive peripheral
Purchase Let’s Tap at Best Buy and get an exclusive peripheral originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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One major issue with marketing Tatsunoko vs. Capcom in North America is that nobody but old-school otaku knows who the hell half of the characters are. It took a few months of watching matches on YouTube to realize that all the Tatsunoko characters looked really fun in gameplay, but the name recognition wasn’t there for us like it is in Japan, where Tatsunoko Production anime is an institution.
Seemingly in an attempt to combat that handicap, at least among the hardcore blog-reading audience, Capcom Unity has started a series of posts introducing the characters. The first, “Dragon vs. Eagle,” provides a fairly detailed bio of Gatchaman‘s Ken the Eagle, with background about the character and the Gatchaman show, and supplementary video clips. There’s also a bio of Ryu, but everyone knows Ryu: torn sleeves, headband, likes fighting.
So who are these ‘Tatsunoko’ characters anyway? originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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