Xbox 360

Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 Launching On XBLA Feb. 2

Capcom announced on their Unity blog earlier this week that Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 will be jumping its way onto Xbox Live Arcade on Feb. 2. Or at least it would be jumping, if your character could- oh, wait, he can jump in the sequel. Never mind.

For those unfamiliar with the series, the ability to jump is actually a big change for the series. In the first Rearmed (and the original NES Bionic Commando it was based on), the only way to move vertically was to use Nathan “Rad” Spencer’s bionic arm to grapple ledges and hooks above the character. Rearmed 2’s developer, Fat Shark, has promised in earlier previews that purists will be able to navigate the game without ever touching the jump button if they do not want to. Rearmed 2 will be a direct sequel to the first Rearmed and will set the stage for the plot of the 2009 360/PS3 entry in the series, which was titled simply Bionic Commando

Is Multiplayer Damaging Our Single-player Experiences?

Multiplayer is rapidly becoming the fastest way to get me to say “what, in that game? really…?”. Over the past few years a multiplayer component has found its way into several franchises that began as single player experiences (Dead Rising, Assassins Creed, Condemned, Dead Space). Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the inclusion of multiplayer in any game, however there are certainly examples where a lacking single player experience seems to coincide with the addition of multiplayer.

Court Fees Taking Toll on Call of Duty Creators

The legal battle between Activision and Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella continues to get uglier as Kotaku reports that the court battle between the two is starting to financially strain West and Zampella.  

Microsoft Has Sold 8 Million Kinect Units

That’s right, you read that number correct. Microsoft has announced that in just 60 days, the Kinect has sold an astounding 8 million units. The sales numbers become astronomically more impressive when you take into account that this is not a 50 or 60 dollar game, but instead a 150 dollar peripheral that is a completely non-essential part of the playing experience. Steve Ballmer of Microsoft announced Avatar Kinect, a service that allows players to chat using their Avatars and Kinect, directly after announcing the figures. It is clear that Microsoft is banking on this big time, and why shouldn’t they be, 8 million is already an established base and the number has nowhere to go but up.

XBLA Update – 1/5/2011

Xbox Live Arcade is ringing in the New Year with another slow week of Marketplace releases. Apparently nobody at Microsoft made the resolution to spread around release dates this year.

Xbox Live Arcade game Ilomilo headlines the releases this week. The cutesy, puzzle title was well-received here at Player Affinity, earning an 8.0 out of 10. In his review, Jay praised the game’s gorgeous environments, unique puzzles and “cutesy-wutesy, hugability.” Okay, that last part was a bit of an embellishment on my part, but the game is still adorable.

ilomilo Review

ilomilo is a cutesy 3^rd person puzzler involving two best friends (one named Ilo, one named Milo) trying to get together to simply play. But after each day passes, they separate from one another and have to find their way back together. This is the simple gameplay structure built around ilomilo. You play as both main characters, switching back and forth between the two all while attempting to solve certain issues, and ultimately bringing the friends together and ending the level with a climactic, incredibly cute dance between the two crazy sacks of whatever they’re filled with.

Tron: Evolution (X360) Review

It’s been close to 30 years since the world was first exposed to the sprawling terminus of Tron. The world has endured through popular culture and has even managed to spawn a hugely popular sequel, Tron: Legacy. Tron Evolution is intended as a bridge between the two movies, filling in some of the finer points of the struggle between Basics and ISOs. The concept is an intriguing one, but the game falls short in almost conceivable way.