Xbox Live Arcade Update

Ever since Xbox 360 launched, the poster child for success over Xbox Live Arcade has been Bizarre Creations' top-down shooter Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. With Microsoft looking to champion as much synergy as possible between its two main gaming platforms, Xbox 360 and Windows Vista, the company must have decided that Geometry Wars would make a good choice for crossing over to its stable of casual Windows games. Yesterday, during Bill Gates' keynote address at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft quickly and quietly revealed the Vista version of the game during a montage of upcoming PC titles. Today I had the chance to go hands on with the game and try out two of its three control options. For PC gamers unfamiliar with Geometry Wars, it is a space shooter with a control mechanism derived from the Robotron style, with the left controller analog stick corresponding to player movement and the right stick aiming in 360 degrees. Unlike in many games of its ilk, there are no discrete levels; increasingly difficult waves of enemies simply appear until they become overwhelming. Simple line-based sprites are complimented by gorgeous sparkly graphical effects. The Vista version of the game seems essentially identical to its console counterpart, though it of course has new control schemes specific to the platform. Like many PC games from Microsoft Game Studios, Geometry Wars supports the Xbox 360 controller. There are also two keyboard-based methods, one using WASD and the arrow keys, and the other using keyboard and mouse. The game will automatically switch the control mode to whatever input method you use to start the game; if you use the keyboard to select Start, the game will switch to keyboard controls for the game, and likewise with the controller. Using the controller feels just like it does in the Xbox 360 version of the game; if you've played that version, you know what to expect--and even if you haven't, you still probably know what to expect. Move and aim with the analog sticks. Keyboard control allows the player to move with the WASD keys and aim with the arrow keys. This mode certainly takes some getting used to, both as a console gamer used to having analog control in both hands and as a PC gamer used to gaming with a mouse. Movement with WASD is fine, particularly as most PC gamers have been using that method for years, but aiming with the arrow keys really doesn't work too well. Without analog aiming control, it is incredibly difficult to pull off any feats of sharp shooting. In the early levels, you can compensate for this by moving to adjust your firing position, but as the game gets more intense it's not likely to be sufficient. Keyboard and mouse control is likely to be the best option, but unfortunately that was the one scheme not yet implemented in the build I played. Assuming it is implemented well, it should allow seasoned Geometry Wars players to achieve even more insane feats of survival by having essentially instantaneous change of direction in aiming. Unfortunately, one aspect that will not be making it into Geometry Wars Vista will be its online features, so players won't have a global way to compare their scores to the games' best. This seems like an odd exclusion given Microsoft's emphasis on a shared online identity that travels between as many platforms as possible, and will probably have more of an impact on some potential buyers than on others. Microsoft plans to release Geometry Wars on Vista when the operating system launches later this month. The near future for Xbox Live Arcade I was also able to chat for a bit with Xbox Live Arcade's Scott Berfield, who spoke a bit on Microsoft's plans for the Xbox 360 downloadable games service going forward. So far, Microsoft has been taking on essentially a producer role for Xbox Live titles. With a relatively small team in charge of the platform, this has led to the team working around the clock to deliver content for Live Arcade. Several months ago, Microsoft introduced Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays, which aims to bring out one Live Arcade release each Wednesday. This schedule has been largely followed, resulting in a much more consistent stream of content heading to Live users. However, we still occasionally see a new Uno deck or other content pack in lieu of an actual game. I asked Berfield if Microsoft expects to step up the pace of Live Arcade releases; some gamers have been rather vocal about the issue. He said that while having games up to spec is of course more important than getting tons of games out quickly, there are a few factors that should help Microsoft fulfil its weekly content goal and potentially speed things up a bit. For one thing, the system is fairly mature at this point, with several publishers familiar with the requirements and features that go along with the platform. More publishers are signing up to join, and some are proposing or developing projects that are of a greater scope than what we currently associate with the service. "Publishers have got some impressive original content lined up," Berfield noted. Most significant is that Microsoft will be allowing third party publishers to fully take on publishing their own Xbox Live Arcade projects. It is not clear how many publishers will be using this system, but it is likely to start out with the companies that have already released several games and are familiar with all of the ins and outs as well as Microsoft's point by point requirements. "We've got a fairly small group and we want to stay small," said Berfield in regards to the reason for allowing publishers to take on more responsibility with Live Arcade, "but we want to keep the quality bar high." Microsoft will still handle final certification of every game to ensure that a consistent standard is being met. Finally, I brought up the topic of episodic content, something that has been a topic of major discussion in the PC realm and which many have commented seems ideal for Xbox Live Arcade's streamlined downloadable system. Surprisingly, Berfield stated that Microsoft has been considering the possibilities of downloadable episodic content even before the original Xbox hit the market. The challenge, as it has been on the PC, is actually finding development studios with the development strategy and ability to produce quality content on a regular enough basis to be termed "episodic." After all, Valve's first two Half-Life 2 episodes are coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 as a full retail release packaged with Half-Life 2, not as downloadable content. With a 50 megabyte Live Arcade download limit, it may be a matter of time before we see anyone step up to the plate. "We would need a developer to commit to 12 or 22 episodes in the can, or whatever the run is, similar to the TV model," said Berfield, though the company has not laid down any overall guidelines for episodic content. Microsoft has been approached by a few developers looking to work within the episodic space, and we reported last E3 that Sam & Max episodic developer Telltale Games is interested in taking its episodic models to consoles, but without any firm strategies worked out just yet, we'll have to wait and see what happens.