XBLA House Party (BG&E HD, Torchlight, Hard Corps Uprising)

Mr E

Some cracking games coming out in February/March on Xbox Live Arcade's House Party event.

I hear Full House Poker is their next 1 vs. 100 type game (with huge live tournaments and real rewards and prizes).

I'll probably be grabbing them all apart from Bejeweled Blitz.

I haven't played BG&E since the Gamecube, so I'm really looking forward to that..... Never played torchlight either (but loved the Diablo games).

Microsoft has announced their next Xbox Live Arcade event, House Party, will kick off on February 16th with the Contra prequel "Hard Corps: Uprising," running for five weeks total with the following lineup:

* Hard Corps Uprising (February 16th): Thrilling retro run-and-gun action is back with a vengeance in"Hard Corps: Uprising," a new 2D side scroller developed by ARC System Works that pays homage to classic Konami action series. Play as the soldier Bahamut as he begins to write his legend in this prequel to"Contra: Hard Corps."

* Full House Poker: In the world's capital for card playing, Microsoft is unveiling "Full House Poker." Compete against your Xbox LIVE friends on Xbox 360 and build your bank roll on the go with a companion game on Windows Phone 7. Play a quick two-player game for some lightning action, join a big 30-player tournament, or play a round of Texas Heat, our live poker game show where you play with thousands of players worldwide and have 30 minutes to bluff, bet, and raise your way to the final table!

* Bejeweled Blitz Live: Take on friends in the brilliant gem-matching action of Bejeweled Blitz Live! Choose your favorite playing style -- Classic or Twist -- and rocket up the leaderboards! Battle your way to the top in the all-new 16-player Party mode over Xbox LIVE.

* Beyond Good & Evil HD: Now you can experience the thrill of the fan-favorite"Beyond Good & Evil" on Xbox LIVE in full HD. Enter the futuristic world of year 2435, a world full of deception, where nothing is as it seems and exposing the truth is the only hope of restoring freedom. Play as action-reporter Jade and capture the truth using stealth, force, and wits against a government that deceived you in this action-adventure game with elements of puzzle-solving and stealth-based games.

* Torchlight: A highly-regarded PC game with over 800,000 units sold to date,"Torchlight" is now coming to Xbox LIVE! Combat is more exciting with revamped controls and mechanics, new armor and quests! There's even an exclusive new pet for your character. Send a select goodie or two to your friends on LIVE to share the fun for the first time.

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news/news-7230-The-Xbox-Live-Arcade-House-Party-Kicks-Off-February-16th.html

mcgovern

Looking forward to BG&E, I never got to play it on the original Xbox though it was on my list of games to get.

Lab_Mouse

torchlight is an excellent game,highly recommend it.Makes me look forward to diablo 3 even more though

Gunmonkey

Also in the camp of never played BG&E....

*goes for summary horse-whipping for such failure*

.....but the HD version is looking great. Torchlight is great, it takes what made Diablo 1+2 good and adds much more (sending pets to offload your loot, brilliant).

Retr0gamer

Got Beyond Good and Evil for the PC already for peanuts from the GoG sale.

As a huge Contra fan I can't wait for Hard Corp Uprising. It looks amazing.

tman

Hmmm... I can't imagine Torchlight working very well on a controller, but I'm glad that this fantastic little gem of a game is going to get more well deserved exposure!

Already have BG&E for the PC and GC, and the PC version is technically "HD" anyway, so no point in buying it for a third time...

gizmo

Some cracking games in there alright, BG&E and Hard Corps will be insta buys. Torchlight seems to have been on the receiving end of some interesting changes too.

As with the releases of ilomilo though, it once again raises the issue of getting the same game on XBLA as you do on WP7 wrt Full House Poker. I really can't see myself forking out twice for the same game so hopefully MS decide to do something about this in the future, whether it's via discounts for owners of one version or either enabling the unlocking of one version when you purchase the other for the alternate platform.

johnny_ultimate

Torchlight will be interesting alright, will be one radical change - pretty much the entire game on PC is spent clicking, inventory managing, hotkeying etc... Potions up to 99 is a welcome change though. Although must say I'm considerably more interested in Torchlight 2 on PC.

Otherwise Hard Corps ftw, and HD may be the perfect excuse to give the masterpiece that is BG&E another whirl...

Mr E

Beyond Good & Evil HD out today... can't wait to play it again. The last time I played it was on a gamecube through a 14 inch portable TV. Now I can play it in full HD on a big TV and I can't bloody wait.

Grumpypants

Mr E wrote: »

Beyond Good & Evil HD out today... can't wait to play it again. The last time I played it was on a gamecube through a 14 inch portable TV. Now I can play it in full HD on a big TV and I can't bloody wait.

Just got it myself, looking forward to it, should i drag the 14inch out of the attic for nostalgia sake ??

Mr E

Ooh you're right, its out.

1.68gb too....

Kiith

Think i'll pick BG&E up later as well. Fantastic game.

johnny_ultimate

BG&E is one of my all time favourites. Still have a few MS points knocking around so sure why not

mayordenis

Somehow missed out on it when it ws released think I might even of owned it at some stage just never played it so have it downloading now, looking forward to it.

Mr Freeze

Looking forward to Full House Poker, hopefully the live part is well done.

Big problem with multiplayer XBLA games, is they don't seem to have lasting appeal, could be nobody playing it online after a week.

A recent example, Bomberman Battlefest, I think I was the only person to buy it, no games online at all.

johnny_ultimate

Tried the first hour of BG&E, the exact same game and it's just high-def textures as opposed to a significant graphical update.

But it's still BG&E, so being the exact same game is no criticism Some of the combat feels a little awkward in comparison to today's stuff, but the world is extremely vibrant, full of character and lots of fun stuff to do. Just hoverboating around taking photographs remains a joy. Looking forward to another few hours in this world to 100% this wonderful game again (I wish more games were as tightly paced as BG&E)

Also, buying this is supporting the movement for a sequel! You know you want to!

Mr E

Still downloading..... evening broadband speeds eh?

johnny_ultimate

Mr E wrote: »

Still downloading..... evening broadband speeds eh?

I've given up trying to download anything significant between the hours of 6 and 12 :pac:

YouSavedMyLife

Hard Corps looks like fun, but ill wait for a price drop as its been getting mixed reviews at the moment. Torchlight is also a buy for me, but im gonna test it on the Xbox first and compare it to the PC version as i have just downloaded the PC version last week and enjoyed it, dunno how i missed it when it was released.

johnny_ultimate

YouSavedMyLife wrote: »

Hard Corps looks like fun, but ill wait for a price drop as its been getting mixed reviews at the moment.

Hard Corps is awesome. The mixed reviews have largely criticised the difficulty level, which is entirely missing the point :pac: Not for everyone, but it's a gorgeous looking, super-hard old school actioner with the best spinny boss since Ikaruga, if that counts for anything.

F1ngers

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Also, buying this is supporting the movement for a sequel! You know you want to!

BG&E2 available for pre-order on zavvi, http://www.zavvi.com/games/platforms/ps3/beyond-good-evil-2/10052907.html?utm_source=eurogamer&utm_medium=display&utm_content=preorder-buybutton&utm_campaign=eg-productpage.

The game has not yet, however, been officially announced under the title "Beyond Good & Evil 2" -- it is instead referred to simply as "Next Michel Ancel Project" after its creator, it it might possibly have a unique title to reboot the franchise.

Star Lord

I'd lost my old GC copy of BG&E, so downloaded this last night. Using tethering on my mobile phone. Took forever, but so worth it!

Burning Eclipse

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

I'd lost my old GC copy of BG&E, so downloaded this last night. Using tethering on my mobile phone. Took forever, but so worth it!

Oh man that is hardcore. Kudos.

I never played this back in the day (for shame ), so I downloaded it yesterday... About an hour in and it's quite nice. The colour palette is gorgeous.

Vyse

Bought this last night. Loved the original and went to install it on my new PC recently. It does not like Windows 7 so I'm looking forward to sitting back on the couch and having a good play through with the controller (the PC version did not offer controller support).

I'd put this game on the same pedestal as Psychonauts i.e. an overlooked classic.

Mr E

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

I'd lost my old GC copy of BG&E, so downloaded this last night. Using tethering on my mobile phone. Took forever, but so worth it!

Using the data plan on your phone? Hope you have a good bundle! :cool:

Optimalprimerib

I always understood why bg and e did not sell. It uncomfortably sat between a cutesie platformer and a realistic looking game, so it did not appeal to either demographic.

But in true never judge a book by it's cover fashion, the very second you start playing, you fall in love with the game, the atmOsphere is fantastic, the story is interesting and the gameplay is varied enough to keep you interested. Delighted to be able to experience it again.

Mr E

Torchlight is out now. A meagre 196mb (compared to some other recent releases!)

Link for trial version....

Gunmonkey

Yeah torchlight was always tiny, it follows the Diablo model of "3 enemy models x 100 colour palette swaps = 300 enemies "

tman

Gunmonkey wrote: »

Yeah torchlight was always tiny, it follows the Diablo model of "3 enemy models x 100 colour palette swaps = 300 enemies "

It was still well over twice that size on the PC though...
Just a shame about the price. It would have been an instant purchase at 800, but 1200 is a bit too steep for a double dip...

ShadowHearth

Hehe, I allways knew about B g&e, but newer had a chance to play it. So when I sow it in xbla I grabbed it.

I love it, I miss such games now... They were giving you so much stuff to do .... Simple thing as photography of animals, hoovercraft races, that chasing looters bit, mini games... All that with great story on top of that.

It's great thing, but one thingvannoys me.. I allways have y axis inverted in my games. In here you can invert bouth or none... Really annoys me

ShadowHearth

Hehe, I allways knew about B g&e, but newer had a chance to play it. So when I sow it in xbla I grabbed it.

I love it, I miss such games now... They were giving you so much stuff to do .... Simple thing as photography of animals, hoovercraft races, that chasing looters bit, mini games... All that with great story on top of that.

It's great thing, but one thingvannoys me.. I allways have y axis inverted in my games. In here you can invert bouth or none... Really annoys me

Retr0gamer

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Tried the first hour of BG&E, the exact same game and it's just high-def textures as opposed to a significant graphical update.

Didn't notice any high definition textures. It's the same game in a higher resolution. Still an amazing game but think it's pretty low of Ubisoft to advertise the geometry and textures being improved when it's a straight port of hte PC version which was in high def to begin with.