Living LIVE 01.03.09: Hyper Turbo 2009 Edition III

Posted by Trace Aber on 01.03.2009

It's time to nuke, shoot, and tap our way into the new year as we look at the first week of 2009 for XBox LIVE.



Welcome to the third edition of Living LIVE. Hope everyone brought the New Year in right and spent some time thinking of things they would like to accomplish by the end of the year but know they would never actually achieve. It is a vicious cycle, really.

Last week I mentioned how I got Skies of Arcadia for my Dreamcast. Not wanting to get into too much detail (this column is supposed to be about Xbox, anyways), I have fallen in love with my Dreamcast all over again. I am not leaving my 360 out of the mix, however, as I bought Phantasy Star Universe and Infinite Undiscovery. I only played a little bit of PSU (buying games at 6AM is never a good idea) and it seems to be a decent game. Have yet to play Infinite Undiscovery. Anyways, back to the column.

My name is Trace Aber and this is Living LIVE.

Game Marketplace - A weekly look at the arcade games, demos, and add-ons released this week.

Arcade Games
The people at Microsoft must hate me as for a second week in a row I am forced to download, play, and review a puzzle game. Remember when they released Portal? That was a good week if I ever saw one. And it was a good puzzle game!

Merv Griffin's Crosswords (800MP)
Finally, a game that takes crosswords to the ultimate level! The game is based on the "hit" TV show of the same name, despite the fact I have never heard it. Personally, I am not a huge fan of crossword puzzles, but even if I was I cannot honestly see myself playing a virtual game show about crossword puzzles. The game consists of trying to guess words based off the clues you are given within a set amount of time. It also allows for some form of customization as you can create your own contestant. Of course, this also begs the question as to why you would even want to do that.


Some of the heart-stopping action you will see in the ultimate crossword experience

I am not trying to say there is anything technically wrong with this game. I just do not understand why someone would pay 800MP to finish virtual crosswords when there is a plethora of free crosswords online and most people would rather play them in the newspaper anyways. This game does not need to exist.
Recommendation: Not even remotely.

Community Games
I have been noticing that Microsoft likes to reorder the position of its games in certain categories to make it seem as though there is more new content when there really is not. Shame on you, Microsoft.

Planet Panic! (400MP)
Planet Panic is described as "a fun and frantic game of over-the-top space combat." It is space combat, yes, but fun and frantic? Not at all. In fact, this game is one of the slowest I have played in a while. Up to four players (out of a choice of four characters) fly around and shoot each other as slowly as possible.


The picture is moving at the same speed as the game

What is really upsetting about Panic! is that it could have been really good. The idea is good in theory, and the characters are all quirky and wacky enough to pick out your favorite one pretty quickly (I am a fan of the robot, myself). This game could have been so much more fun if they would have increased the speed, but in the end they did not. Perhaps later in the game there will be turbo boosts to speed things up. Or, perhaps, they should have just made the game faster and lived up to the advertising.
Recommendation: This is a great space-shooter for the elderly. Otherwise, stay away.

Amazing Wizard (200MP)
Remember when those websites that were "magical" and could answer all of your questions were the craze? Yeah, me neither. Regardless, Wizard tries to play up on this old idea. The only problem is you need a keyboard to play this game, and, much like in the first edition, I am severely lacking one. Thankfully, Wizard looks boring anyways.
Recommendation: Unless you really want to know what color shirt Mary is wearing, avoid.


Is that the Wizard? He looks like a white Jack-o-Lantern covered in radiation

Nuke Your Neighbor (400MP)
This is another game where the title is extremely deceiving. And it is even more deceiving when you load up the game and select 8-player deathmatch. Why is this game so deceiving? Because it is a card game! Granted, maybe Nuke Your Neighbor is the name of an actual card game and I am just missing out, but I still feel as though there should be some sort of warning. To make matters worse, it is a bad card game. The font and cards are really small and because of that I cannot really figure out what I am supposed to be doing. Despite all of this, I still somehow won the game and beat about four records at once. I just do not understand.
Recommendation: Considering all this game did was make me want to play Zombies Ate My Neighbors, I am going to say avoid.


Thy neighbor has been nuked

Machiavelli's Ascent (200MP)
Finally, a decent game this week! This game is rather unique as you are a "negatively buoyant jellyfish" hoping to escape the sea and see the sun. You do this by pressing the trigger buttons to move and hitting any object you can to increase your ascension. I did find the game to be quite challenging (considering you are a jellyfish) but still fun nonetheless.


Fly Machiavelli, Fly!

The biggest nuisance to me is the music and I found myself quickly turning my television down. Still, for 200MP you will be able to get your money's worth and have a good time with it.
Recommendation: Check it out. If you are into quirky games (which XBLA is great for), then you will like this.

Demos
Finally, a new demo this week for a game that is not out yet!

Lord of the Rings: Conquest Multiplayer Demo
I am not the world's biggest LOTR fan. In fact, I have never seen a single movie from the series and I am quite content with that (though most of my friends disagree). This lack of fandom does not mean I appreciate the video games that go along with the series. This one, while only a demo, appears to be no different. You have your typical modes including capture the ring, deathmatch, conquest, and a couple of new modes such as Ring Bearer where you try to kill whoever is wearing the ring, then you become the Frodo, rinse, wash, repeat. The graphics look great and appear to be faithful to the movie, though I am no expert on that part. Still, this is a pretty fun demo and the game looks to be solid.
Recommendation: It is a large file, but if you are a fan of the series, I highly suggest it.

Game Add-Ons
Seriously though, I hate music games thanks to this column.

Lips
Men at Work: Be Good Johnny (160MP)
Earth, Wind, and Fire: Let's Groove (160MP)
The Supremes: Where Did Our Love Go (180MP)

Guitar Hero: World Tour
Reggae Rock Track Pack (Free)
Di-Rect: Johnny (160MP)
Backyard Babies: Degenerated (160MP)
Fito&Fitipaldis: Por La Boca Vive El Pez (160MP)

Rock Band
Snow Patrol: Take Back the City (160MP)
James Gang: Funk #49 (160MP)
Jethro Tull: Hymn 43 (160MP)
Deep Purple: Space Truckin' (160MP)

Video Marketplace – I am still trying to figure out what to do with this section as there is always a lot added it seems. On one hand, I realize most people read this for the video game aspect and not the movies. But, on the other hand, it is a part of the Marketplace. Any suggestions, readers?

Along Came Polly (Std:240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Mr. Untouchable (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Closing Escrow (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Redacted (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Enron (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Shrooms (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
League of Ordinary Gentleman (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Hank and Mike (Std: 320MP) (HD: 480MP)
Surfwise (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
The War Within (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Alien Autopsy (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Towelhead (Std: 320MP) (HD: 480MP)
Keane (Std: 240MP) (HD: 360MP)
Canadian Bacon (Std: 320MP) (HD: 480MP)
Permanent Midnight (Std: 240MP)
Narnia: Prince Caspian (Std: 320MP) (HD: 480MP)
Copycat (Std: 320MP)
Wall-E (Std: 320MP) (HD: 480MP)


Events

Monday: Music Monday – Lips
New event type on LIVE it seems. Every week Microsoft picks a music-game and people play it. I do not understand the appeal of Lips. Even the title is terrible.

Tuesday: Family Game Night – Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
Microsoft picks a game for you and your family to enjoy. It is a very cute idea, but why does Microsoft have to pick for us?

Wednesday: GamerchiX Ladies Night – Gears of War 2
A night for ladies only, and if you don't want to play Gears of War 2, you can just go on the MyGamerCard.net Chix Tracker
and search for other games that girls want to play.

Wednesday: Game With Fame – Call of Duty World at War
If you ever wanted to play COD: WOW with Chris Henderson of 3 Doors Down, then consider this to be your lucky day. If you have not, however, go on with your normal life and pretend this never happened.

Thursday: Game With Fame – Halo 3
Now is your chance to play Halo 3 with everyone's favorite band…Innerpartysystem! I imagine this one to be rather crowded. *cough*'

Sunday: Community Playdate – Call of Duty: World at War
Playing COD: WOW with the community Breaking the Game. That's about it, really.

Ten Xbox-Live Arcade Games Everyone Should Own
I love playing the random, quirky, and classic games that Xbox Live has to offer. Obviously, like everyone else, I have my own quirks about me that form the types of videogames I like. So, each week, I will be revealing a new game to my list of XBLA games that everyone should own. Or, at the very least, try out. These are in no particular order, by the way.

Week 1: Root Beer Tapper (400MP)
I have a soft spot for old arcade games that require you moving with the directional pad and pressing one button for everything else. Root Beer Tapper does just that. If you have yet to play this gem, quit reading, go play it, then come back and read the rest. It is a fairly simple game in concept –serve the customers root beer before they get to the end of the counter and you lose a life. As the levels progress, however, you find yourself freaking out and trying to please everyone until you finally realize that it is impossible and you need to give up before you break your controller in half.


This would be the Sports Bar level. Just serve a bunch of jocks root beer. Though, I have always wondered – wouldn't that upset their stomachs?

The game is divided into different root beer bars that increase in difficulty over time. You have your typical country bar, the sport bar seen above, a punk bar with rockers, and, finally, a space bar with aliens. After you complete all 13 levels in the game, you start back at level one with an increased difficulty and some slight changes.

Root Beer Tapper is actually a clone of the original game Budweiser Tapper, but was changed due to the game appearing in arcades with heavy amounts of children running around. Another really cool thing about this game was the original arcade cabinet was actually designed to look like a real bar, including having the joysticks act as beer taps.


This is the best picture I could find to show off the unique design

Finally, proving that this game was made by people who know arcade games, a lot of the people who designed Tapper also created the immensely successful Golden Tee Golf series. If you need any more reason to play this, you hate happiness.

Closing
That does it for the third edition of Living LIVE. Be sure to join me next week as I discuss another game you have to own and all of the latest happenings in the world of Xbox LIVE. As always, comments and questions are always welcomed.

Screenshots
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