Xbox 360

Quarterly Report: Part I

Welcome to the Xbox Team’s new feature that myself, Jay
Malone, will post every three months. In this, I’ll discuss the games released
in the past three months (the months being January, February, and March in this
installment), specifically the games’ quality, and at the end make a list of the top 5
Xbox games of 2011 so far. Now I know not everyone cares about my opinion so to
get readers a bit more involved, I want you all to comment with your own current
top 5. If you haven’t played 5 Xbox 360 games, just list the ones you have
played, as long as you enjoyed them. And then at the end of the year, I will add
up all the games mentioned in the comments section and we’ll have an official
Player Affinity fan voted Xbox 360 Game of the Year. And hell, while you’re here,
mention some games you’re anticipating in 2011. Let’s get started, shall we?

Xbox Live Releases for the Week of March 27, 2011

Xbox Live Releases for the week of March 27th, 2011 include Seisou Kouki Strania, Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot, and Islands of Wakfu. This week’s games feature an interesting assortment of gameplay mechanics. Seisou Kouki Strania
is a top-down, vertical-scrolling shooter. You are tasked with stopping
an alien invasion. You have a mech suit at your disposal that is able
to shoot long range weapons along with equipping short range weapons
like swords. The game also features drop-in and drop-out co-op. Seisou Kouki Strania will be available March 30th for 800 Microsoft Points.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Further Detailed

To add to the ton of Resident Evil news that has been rolling out over the past few weeks, Capcom has finally confirmed their new Resident Evil game, entitled Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City coming out for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Capcom did not specify if the new game would be an XBLA/PSN title or a full retail release.

The Future Importance of Graphics

We’ve
reached an interesting point in this generation as far as graphics are
concerned. Consoles are starting to show their limitations (especially the 360) and with PC’s
getting their fancy new range of high end video cards, games on the PC are
looking a lot better. There’s a lot more to good graphics than a high polygon
count, though, and it’s not always stuff that can be represented in a screenshot. Graphics are
never going to be “perfect”; there is always going to be that one rough edge or
texture that isn’t quite mapped right. The debate of whether graphics matter or
not will most likely never end, but where are they going to end up by the end
of the next generation of hardware?

Swarm Review

Describing
Swarm by its core mechanics would leave most people rather puzzled. The
game takes very clear inspirations from the Lemmings titles, in that you
control a group of creatures that act as a single unit and you have to make use
of their abilities to make it to the end of the levels. The similarities end
there, however. The Swarm controls are far more dynamic and you are not limited
to the number you start with. There’s virtually no narrative to speak of in
Swarm; this is a game that is all about the gameplay, which offers up more
depth than you might initially think.

“Mortal Kombat” DLC Revealed

Even before its release, Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm
Studios has announced three characters that will be available as DLC for the
upcoming installment of its bloody fighter. In an interview with CVG, Mortal Kombat producer Hans Lo revealed the
first two “kombatants” available through DLC will be Kenshi, a character from
previous Mortal Kombat titles, and Scarlet, a new female ninja.

Xbox 360 Games to Expect in April

April doesn’t have many big hits but the two it has, Mortal Kombat and Portal 2, are guranteed to be humongous hits.

Michael Jackson: The Experience
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: April 12^th

Michael Jackson: The Experience, already released on the Wii, will now finally be arriving on your Xbox 360 (and PS3 if you’re that kind of guy) console and will feature Kinect support. So you can kind of dance like Michael but not really. Not at all actually. I don’t exactly see the point in this project but maybe MJ fans will love it.