Move: Control Pterry through this musical platforming adventure using your Xbox Live Vision camera.
Cooperate: Join in with a friend to juggle your totem collection using the camera and a controller.
Roam: Use Free Play mode to practice and explore environments without affecting your progress.
Groove: Sway to the sounds of the music generated in-game by you!
The members of the ancient Ptolmec tribe compose striking and innovative music in TotemBall. When they simultaneously discover gunpowder and barbeque, the explosive results scatter their musical totems across the breadth of the jungle!
Now Pterry the Pturtle must roll across mountains, islands, bridges, and through giant pinball games to retrieve the lost totems and bring the groovy Ptolmec music back to the party. Using your Xbox Live® Vision camera, help Pterry recover all the musical totems while moving to the totem beat.
And although it is free you will need an Xbox L!ve Vision Camera to play it. So if your planning on buying one this Friday (The UK release date) then you might as well grab a copy while its still free. :)
Before X06, Microsoft had been telling us that we were going to be treated during the conference to a previously unnanounced IP, which was set to be released as an XBLA title. Several names were thrown into the mix, from several different publishers, but no one was particularly sure.
Well, we're pleased to announce, the waiting is over, and the title is none other than....
Doom!
The original Doom is rumoured to be seeing a release later today, with a much higher resolution, 5.1 sound, 4 player split-screen co-op, and on and offline multiplayer, all for the comparitvely low price of 800mp. Whilst this may seem a bit disappointing to some who were expecting a new IP, I'm sure the multiplayer and achievements will be enough to sway a lot of people into buying it.
Talking at an interview conducted by Gamasutra during the 2006 Tokyo Game Show, Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade head Greg Canessa explained the future of the successful Xbox 360 digital download service, including the concept of an 'Imports' area on XBLA to highlight the best foreign-territory titles, and upcoming improvements to the service.
Japan And Xbox Live Arcade
Since the meeting was taking place at TGS, a natural starting point was a discussion of Japanese support for Xbox Live Arcade. Canessa commented that Microsoft was in the process of developing "deeper and broader support" from Japanese developers and publishers, pointing to deals with companies such as SNK, which is to debut Fatal Fury Special as an Asia-exclusive title for the service, joining another Asian-specific XBLA title, Konami's Yie Ar Kung Fu.
Canessa also referenced the Q Entertainment agreement for Lumines Live, as well as Namco and Konami's continuing deals for worldwide distributed games including Gyruss, Rush 'N Attack, Super Contra, and Track 'N Field. (As an aside, when asked about Metal Slug's possible appearance on Xbox Live Arcade in the near future, hinted at by an SNK brochure distributed at Tokyo Game Show, Canessa simply commented: "We haven't finalized or announced [titles with SNK] apart from Fatal Fury Special.")
"Blue Dragon” Leads Holiday Lineup of Games; “Pac-Man” World Championship, Xbox 360 HD DVD Player in Japan and 1080p Support for Xbox 360 unveiled.
TOKYO — Sept. 20, 2006 — Today at the Tokyo Game Show 2006, Microsoft Corp. delivered information on new and improved entertainment experiences for Japanese gamers, including details of the Xbox 360™ library of nearly 110 high-definition games available this holiday season in Japan, which will include the highly anticipated “Blue Dragon” from Microsoft Game Studios. Microsoft also paid tribute to NAMCO BANDAI Games and “Pac-Man,” announcing that the first “Pac-Man” World Championship will be held in early 2007 using Xbox 360 and Xbox Live® Arcade. Microsoft also revealed details of other entertainment offerings enabled through Xbox 360, with availability date and pricing provided for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player in Japan, as well as news of an update that will allow the Xbox 360 console to output full 1080p games and video.
At the best-attended gaming convention in the world, Microsoft showcased games that will boost the Xbox 360 software library in Japan to nearly 110 titles by holiday season 2006 as well as more titles coming well into 2007. The Xbox 360 games showcased include “Blue Dragon” (Microsoft Game Studios), “Lost Planet: Extreme Condition” (Capcom), “Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2” (Tecmo Inc.) and the newly announced “Trusty Bell” (NAMCO BANDAI Games), and a host of anticipated Xbox Live Arcade titles. For 2007, Microsoft also announced a pipeline of great games that include the epic role-playing game (RPG) “Infinite Undiscovery” (Microsoft Game Studios).
“The key to winning the hearts and minds of the Japanese market is great games, and this great lineup demonstrates that Xbox 360 has those games in spades,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “Our lineup of role-playing games from the acknowledged masters of the genre is proof positive that there has never been a better time for Japanese gamers to jump in and pick up an Xbox 360 system.”
Many game titles, including the much-anticipated epic RPG “Blue Dragon,” will be playable for the first time in the Microsoft® booth at the Tokyo Game Show. Other playable titles include “Lost Odyssey™” (Microsoft Game Studios) and “Viva Piñata™” (Microsoft Game Studios).
Xbox Live Arcade and the “Pac-Man” World Championship
The creator of “Pac-Man,” Toru Iwatani, announced onstage with Moore that Microsoft and NAMCO BANDAI will host the first “Pac-Man” World Championship in early 2007. The top 10 players in the world for “Pac-Man” on Xbox Live Arcade will compete for the title in New York City. More details, including how to qualify for the championship, will be made available in the coming months.
Continuing its tremendous momentum, Xbox Live Arcade has also announced in Tokyo a host of exciting new games, including some that will be exclusive to the Japanese market. Gamers will have the opportunity to try a host of new games on the show floor, including the classic side-scroller “Contra” (Konami Corp.), the space-shooter “Gyruss” (Konami), the enemy-popping classic “Dig Dug” (NAMCO BANDAI Games), arcade favorite “Track & Field” (Konami), “New Rally-X” (NAMCO BANDAI Games) “Rush’n Attack” (Konami), a favorite 1980s side-scroller, and the inimitable “Ms. Pac-Man” (NAMCO BANDAI). In addition, the Japan-exclusive Xbox Live Arcade game “Yie Ar Kung Fu” (Konami), one of the very first fighting games, was announced for release in 2007.
Xbox 360 HD DVD Player and 1080p Support
Microsoft announced pricing and availability details for the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player in Japan. The accessory will launch on Nov. 17, 2006, priced at ¥19,800 (estimated retail price), and will come with an Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote.
“Xbox 360 and the HD DVD Player together deliver the most powerful and affordable games and movie system for Japanese consumers,” Moore said. “The freedom to choose their entertainment experiences is extremely important for consumers as they enter the next generation.”
In addition, Microsoft announced that its fall software update, scheduled for release later this year, will allow all Xbox 360 consoles around the world to output game and movie content in 1080p resolution.
XNA
Demonstrating its pledge to democratize game development for tomorrow’s game developers, Microsoft announced that four Japanese universities will use its XNA™ Game Studio Express software in educational material and research within their course offerings. The XNA software allows hobbyists, students and independent game developers to create games for Windows® and, for the first time, Xbox 360 with the goal that user-generated games made with XNA will arrive on Xbox Live Marketplace. Tokyo University, Tokyo Polytechnic University, Ritsumeikan University and Osaka Electro-Communication University join the dozens of universities worldwide that have pledged support for Microsoft’s XNA vision and are recognizing the potential of XNA Game Studio Express as an educational tool. As a result, these four schools will integrate XNA software into their game development curricula, labs and games-related research.
“As I turn my attention and passion toward teaching the next generation of game developers, I am thrilled with XNA Game Studio Express and related products,” said Toru Iwatani, a lecturer at Tokyo Polytechnic University and original creator of “Pac-Man.” “I believe that these products are attractive and effective because they create a development environment that matches the skill level and area of expertise, widening the entry of future developers into game development.”
XNA Game Studio Express beta was made available to users worldwide on Aug. 30, 2006. The final version of XNA Game Studio Express will be made available this holiday season.
We've made a little discovery here that may prove useful to 360 users without an expensive harddrive for their console.
Xbox Live Arcade Titles will execute when placed onto CDR/DVDR disks.
XBLA on HDD reside in this format on Partition3 of HardDrive. /Content/0000000000000000/*TitleID*/000D0000/*XBLA Game*
Burning this directory structure to any writable disk and placed in a console will populate the XBLA Menu with the titles on the disk. Of course, they will still run in TRIAL mode unless said console has purchased this content. However, we felt this was still useful for people with Memory Units that can only hold one title at a time or even people without any storage options at all.
Demos, Videos, Profiles, and Saves were also tested in this fashion but were not recognized by the system unfortunately. USB Drives and Memory Sticks also tested and not working for either XBLA or the latter.
Xbox Live Vision for Xbox 360 launches today, Tuesday September 19. Xbox Live Vision is an affordable next-generation camera that allows gamers to chat via video in real time with their friends and family, send photo messages, put their own face in a supported game, and customize their gamertag on the Xbox Live network.
On Wednesday, September 20, four previously released games will receive automatic updates on Xbox Live Arcade, making them Xbox Live Vision-enabled, including:
These games will join “UNO!,” the classic card game for Xbox Live Arcade that is already compatible with Xbox Live Vision, giving gamers a lineup of popular titles to play with Xbox Live Vision, right out of the box!
We’d also like to remind parents who have young children to enable Family Friendly settings for their kids Xbox Live account, and to configure the settings to the communication level with which they are most comfortable.
For more information about Xbox Live Vision and Family Settings, please visit Xbox.com.
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