'Game Type' for XBLIG lampoons Xbox 360 dashboard

Microsoft has long squandered the wealth of gaming in Xbox Live Indie Games by hiding the user-submitted titles away, but the recent dashboard update buried them even deeper. Inspired by the cack-handed categorizing, Mommy's Best Games--maker of Serious Sam Double D and several XBLIG titles--has released parodic arcade shooter Game Type to send up the new dashboard.

Since the update, the Indie Games category has been hidden several tabs into the dashboard, behind an inconspicuous box with a picture of a jumping woman, labelled "Game Type." As well as rooting around there to buy the game in the first place, you'll need to do that in-game too before you can play. Game Type's in-game dashboard is packed with adverts for TV shows including that famous sitcom "Fat Guy and Pretty Girl," and talk shows hosted by cats.

"I've been thrilled Microsoft created the special dashboard tile just for our game. It's such a terrible name which I created as a placeholder while starting the project," Game Type lead designer Nathan Fouts joked in the announcement.

"With the incongruous stock photo of a woman in a hoodie doing a jump-kick, and the forgettable 'Game Type' title, it's good to know Microsoft was advertising our poorly-named game, and not trying to label the console's entire digital game storefront. Otherwise, it'd be a horrible match that would simply make no sense and generally lead fewer gamers to find the store and browse on their own terms."

Numerous XBLIG developers have complained that the updated dashboard will harm sales.

As for Game Type the video game, it's an arcade shooter starring the famous woman in a hoodie, taking on giant enemy crabs, cars, cats, and other bizarre enemies. It supports two-player local co-op, if you happen to know another hoodie-wearing lady.

"Check out 'Game Type' on Xbox Live Indie Games. Find it in the Xbox 360 Games Marketplace. Or just do a search on it," Mommy's Best Games says. "Otherwise, you'll probably get lost in the dashboard, stuck watching advertisement for TV shows." Probably the easiest way to find Game Type is on the Xbox Live Marketplace website. It only costs 80 Microsoft Points ($1).