XBLA 8/1 double header is Marathon: Durandal and Spyglass Board Games!

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Sporadic

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Marathon: Durandal - 800

Spyglass Board Games - 400

Marathon: Durandal
ESRB Rating M (Mature)
800 Microsoft Points
Available Worldwide



Seventeen years ago, you survived a vicious Pfhor assault on the U.E.S.C. Marathon. Now you have been awakened by the enigmatic, sentient A.I. called Durandal and sent to an alien world to uncover the mysteries of their advanced technology. In Marathon: Durandal, armed with only a pistol, you are humanity’s last champion!

- Epic story: Exclusive to Xbox LIVE® Arcade, Marathon: Durandal is a cult classic first-person shooter (FPS) that continues the tradition of great gameplay while remaining faithful to the spirit of Bungie lore as the predecessor to the Halo franchise.
- Upgraded visuals: All images in the game have been redrawn in high definition.
- Modern networking: Marathon: Durandal features a new modern networking layer built with Xbox LIVE in mind.
- Superior control: The redesigned controls take full advantage of the Xbox 360 Controller and enhance playing a first-person shooter on a home console.

For more details on “Marathon: Durandel”, please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/m/marathondurandalxboxlivearcade/.


Spyglass Board Games
ESRB Rating E (Everyone)
400 Microsoft Points
Available Worldwide



Spyglass Board Games offers a fun new take on classic board games, like Chess, Checkers, Mancala, and Reversi. Play and chat socially on Xbox LIVE®, or play against the computer. Use the Xbox LIVE Vision camera to personalize the game board, playing pieces, and video effects. Each game has custom pieces to choose from, such as a rook made of stone, or a furry checkers piece with cute gleaming eyes. Make each game your very own!
- Full featured games: Four classic board games to choose from. Play Chess, Checkers, Mancala, or Reversi.
- Video integration with Xbox LIVE Vision camera: Fully integrated video chat lets you see your opponent. Use the video effects to personalize your game.
- Customizable pieces: Choose custom game pieces that range from traditional marble, to metallic silver, to fuzzy and wiggling gel.
- Twelve achievements: Twelve achievements are offered ranging from easy, such as playing all four games, to more challenging, such as taking all four corners in Reversi.

For more game details on “Spyglass Board Games”, please visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/s/spyglassxboxlivearcade/.
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These may both be a buy for me. I'm glad they didn't fuck up and charge 800 for Spyglass.
 
maybe I'm just imagining this but isn't the simpsons arcade game supposed to be released for xbox live? I thought for sure that would come out some time around the movies release.
 
[quote name='exileinoblivion']maybe I'm just imagining this but isn't the simpsons arcade game supposed to be released for xbox live? I thought for sure that would come out some time around the movies release.[/QUOTE]

It was rumored since Ubi Soft and Konami teamed up to release TMNT but it has never been confirmed or even mentioned by EA.
 
[quote name='Sporadic']It was rumored since Ubi Soft and Konami teamed up to release TMNT but it has never been confirmed or even mentioned by EA.[/quote]

ahh okay, thanks. Thats a real bummer though.

Back to the topic, I'm real pumped for Marathon. I've never played it but I heard lots of good stuff about it from friends.

Spyglass board games might be a buy for me also since it's so cheap and its another cam game.
 
Definitely getting Spyglass Board Games, I've been waiting for Chess since forever. And Othello will defintely RULE.

And 400 points is the perfect price.

Does it support spectators???


Then again the graphics seem rather lame, perhaps I'll have to demo it before deciding.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']
Does it support spectators???[/QUOTE]

I don't think so, you think that would have been something they would tout around in the features.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']Then again the graphics seem rather lame, perhaps I'll have to demo it before deciding.[/quote]It's a board game collection. What are you looking for in the grpahic department? ;)
 
[quote name='fraggedbylaggers']Both are def buys for me. Swing by CC this week and you can get two 1600 point cards for $20+tax!!![/QUOTE]
Good luck finding any in stock. Maybe later this week when they're supposed to restock.
 
Nice, agree with others that 400 for the board games is good pricing. I would have hesitated at 800, but 400 (especially given the half-price CC points ;)) is a no-brainer. My kids are all into playing chess now, so they'll like the CPU matches (since they are a little unclear on the rules having the Xbox handle that will be a good way to help teach them, too, when I'm trying to work ;)).
 
If I'm able to grab points cards, then I'll run the demo to both of them then decide. Both look like entertaining games.
 
[quote name='mrcheapo11']I want to try Marathon Durandal, but with it getting a 5.5 in OXM I will probably not buy it.[/QUOTE]


oh wow, damn. you know when a bungie-related game gets a 5.5 in the official xbox mag, there's problems.

guess I'll try out the demo first.
 
[quote name='daroga']It's a board game collection. What are you looking for in the grpahic department? ;)[/QUOTE]
It's not so much that there's not enough, as that there seems to be TOO MUCH. All this jiggly, shiny, skewed-perspective, 3D. I don't want that in a fucking game of Reversi, I just want my fucking black and white pieces right there, easy to see. I think Freeverse needs to take a page out of Carbonated's book.

There better be a way to just simplify the graphics with a simple top-down perspective on the boards.



EDIT: If you don't see where I'm getting with this, check out this screenshot: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/viewer.aspx?productId=1926&assetTypeId=1&shotId=2

It looks absolutely awful! Why not just do the classic wood board with carved out hollows for little gems? Instead it's all 3D and ugly!

And what the hell is this: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/viewer.aspx?productId=1926&assetTypeId=1&shotId=7

All transparent fucking pieces and skewed perspective. I HATE it.


It's not that fucking hard to make a BRILLIANT looking game of chess, just make it look exactly like this:

chessboard_17890_lg.gif




Instead of going with simply and beautiful, they fuck it up with this ugly 3D, transparent, shitwad of crap mess.


[quote name='Sporadic']I don't think so, you think that would have been something they would tout around in the features.[/QUOTE]
And something that a good developer like Carbonated would have included, before making all these crappy "fuzzy" and "wiggly" game pieces.
 
[quote name='mrcheapo11']I want to try Marathon Durandal, but with it getting a 5.5 in OXM I will probably not buy it.[/QUOTE]

Oh please, they always give bad reviews to things like this. It doesn't mean shit.

Guaranteed awesomeness IMO.
 
[quote name='mrcheapo11']I want to try Marathon Durandal, but with it getting a 5.5 in OXM I will probably not buy it.[/QUOTE]
What were there complaints?

I assume then they fundamentally changed the original Marathon 2: Durandal, because that game fucking rocked, and only as shitwad of a magazine like OXM wouldn't be able to recognize that. All three should have been included with Halo 3 for free.
 
Before Halo, Bungie made Marathon,
a sci-fi first-person shooter that in many ways laid the foundation for the ringworld universe we all worship today. most of its fans were Mac owners who had few triple-A titles to enjoy in a era when DOS dominated the gaming landscape. but they did have have Marathon, which when played today, makes us glad we had PCs that could run Doom. In a odd parallel, Marathon and Doom go head-to-head again in the Xbox 360 era, this time as Live Arcade titles. Each sports a deep single-player campaign, full co-op support, and a meaty multiplayer mode. Each also costs $10 on Arcade, but clearly, round two of their heavyweight bout also goes to id's masterpiece. unlike Doom, Marathon's level designs are anything but memorable. in fact, they're downright confusing - even with the game's overhead map - and this is its biggest problem. You'll often wander cleaned-out areas in search of the computer terminal that'll teleport you to the next stage (of which there seem to be an endless supply). Meanwhile, the player movement
foreshadows Halo's floatyness, but there's too much momentum, meaning you're prone to fly off into lava at inopportune times. On the plus side, the hi-def upgrade is very clean, with a smooth framerate, crystal-clear textures, and impeccable control that comes in handy during Marathon's highlight feature: its multiplayer. with 13 maps and several game modes (including the precursor to Oddball), the eight-man action plays similarly to Doom, again save for the good level design. Nevertheless, it's still easy to see how Bungie got to Halo from here. Marathon is certainly interesting for aspiring game designers and historians who want to observe Bungie's roots. but as a $10 offering in 2007, it just doesn't hold up very well.

review by Ryan McCaffrey

review score 5.5 out of 10, Doom Review 8.5 out of 10 same source
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http://www.pfhorums.com/index.php?showtopic=2420&st=0

He essentially claims that Marathon is only popular because mac owners didn't have anything good to play.

Marathon is an absolute classic. Only an idiot like Ryan McCaffrey wouldn't be able to recognize that. The review is absolute crap.

I agree the game shouldn't be $10. Should be free.
 
Ryan McCaffrey is clearly a moron. And the game is well worth $10---it uses an all new engine and networking layer.
 
[quote name='porieux']Ryan McCaffrey is clearly a moron. And the game is well worth $10---it uses an all new engine and networking layer.[/QUOTE]
Really? A new networking layer? I totally thought it would just use the Xbox 360 version of AppleTalk ;)

I definitely don't think it's worth $10 when you can play the original for free on the PC.



EDIT: I'm reading that thread I linked to with discussion about the review. This sums it up nicely:

Sure, plenty of us are nostalgic over the Marathon trilogy. But there's a big difference between most of us and that reviewer : many of us actually played BOTH Doom and Marathon back in the day (in fact, I had been playing Doom1/2 for about a year before I even knew Marathon and Bungie existed). Clearly, the reviewer only played one of the 2 back then. Therefore, his opinion is far more biased than yours or mine. I think that's pretty clear by the review's tone, content, and score.
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[quote name='PyroGamer']Really? A new networking layer? I totally thought it would just use the Xbox 360 version of AppleTalk ;)

I definitely don't think it's worth $10 when you can play the original for free on the PC.[/QUOTE]

What’s different about Marathon: Durandal on Xbox Live Arcade?

There are a number of new items.

New Engine. Marathon: Durandal is running in a true 3D engine on the Xbox 360.

New Save System. You still must find Pattern Buffers to save, but let's say you beat the first level and get to the 2nd level. What used to happen is if you died, you’d load a save game back on the first level. Now if you die, when you respawn you are brought back to the start of the new level (with all your weapons). Also if you save then immediately die the game takes note of this. If it happens really often (as in you saved in a really bad spot) it will respawn you back at a previous save point. This is to remove frustration.

HD Graphics. You can turn on HD graphics (they are on by default). This is a total replacement—walls, guns, aliens, effects even the marine.

720p Widescreen. The game is running in true widescreen at 720p. This actually gives you a bit more visual room.

60 frames a second game play. Marathon 2 was originally locked to 30 frames a second. We increased it to 60 (and ensured the existing logic transferred over to 60 ticks a sec instead of 30). This gives the game a much more fluid presentation than it’s computer counterpart.

Brand new networking layer. Instead of using the old Marathon networking system, we implemented a new one with ReplicaNet. This allows the game to play smooth and reliably over the Internet, something the original Marathon 2 could not do. This also allow for online coop play with up to 8 players (the original supported 8 players, but getting the game to not fall apart was another story).

A control scheme designed for the 360. Bungie was very nice to us, and assisted us in setting up a control system very similar to Halo. Using these acceleration curves we are able to give players a fluid control system.

Achievements, Rich Presence and Leaderboards. Staples of the Xbox 360, but these give ultimate bragging rights. Plus our Achievements were designed with hardcore Marathon fans in mind.

French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese and Korean translations of the entire game. This is the most accessible Marathon to date. Every terminal (even the secret ones) were translated by Microsoft’s expert localization team.

Survival is a brand spanking new mode for Single Player Marathon, give us the scoop! What is it?

Survival is a giant truck that pulls up to your house one day, where a platoon of alien commandos jump out, kidnap you, and wail on you until you're dead. And then the truck explodes, just to make sure the job gets done. If you're lucky, you'll take out a few hundred of them before your final moments.

When you start a Survival game, you're dropped randomly into one of four brand-new deathtra--er, levels and given a metric -blam-ton of guns and ammunition. After you gather your bearings, we start teleporting groups of enemies, dozens at a time, into the level. It's literally wave after wave of Pfhor and S'pht against you, and we keep the action moving by changing things up every sixty seconds. The more enemies you sack--and the less damage you take--the higher your score will be at the end. (And we all want to be at the top of the Leaderboards, right?)

As you progress through each round, we rotate new threats in and out of the game, from lowly Pfhor Fighters to Hunters to Juggernauts. (Did I say Juggernauts, plural? Hmm.) Our goal was to keep the experience fresh both while you were playing and between individual games. By rotating the enemies in waves and randomizing the placement of the enemies each time we add more, we keep Survival challenging and unpredictable--each time you play, it's a little different.

While the placement of the enemies is random, the progression of the waves is not. Thanks to our wonderful testing crew, we've been able to craft a cleverly escalating difficulty ramp for the Survival rounds. It's also a pretty awesome way to play with some of the weapons the game doesn't give you much time with outside of multiplayer.
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If that isn't worth 10 bux, what is?
 
[quote name='Sporadic']If that isn't worth 10 bux, what is?[/QUOTE]
I doubt, after playing the Marathon trilogy on my Mac for 10 years, that I'll play $10 worth of Marathon 2 on the Xbox 360, even at 60 fps. Then again I suppose they wouldn't make much selling this at just $5, maybe not enough to even recoupe the development costs.

I think a better way of doing this would be to directly port the whole trilogy and somehow tack it on with Halo 3.

I dunno, being a marathon fan I'll probably enjoy this anyways.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']Really? A new networking layer? I totally thought it would just use the Xbox 360 version of AppleTalk ;)

I definitely don't think it's worth $10 when you can play the original for free on the PC.
[/QUOTE]


Well I guess you don't have to buy it then. Nobody is taking away the free PC version, but this version required extra work and thus has value IMO.

I will be purchasing it immediately. Actually that's not true, I will try the demo version first, just to be sure, but I will d/l it the minute it goes live and am pretty likely to purchase it right away.
 
[quote name='mrcheapo11']I want to try Marathon Durandal, but with it getting a 5.5 in OXM I will probably not buy it.[/quote]

ditto that. I wonder what happened. It's supposed to be a good game so it must be a porting issue.
 
Im not sure whether or not I'd waste my money on a board games pack with checkers or chess or something, as I can get that on Yahoo for free. However X-Box Live Monopoly or Scrabble would be without a doubt the greatest thing ever.
 
For 400 points, I'm probably in for Chess/Checkers/etc but I too am concerned about those graphics, more specifically the perspective.
 
maybe marathon just doesn't hold up that well after all these years? there are plenty of classics that are a pain to play today...anyway, we'll see in the demo
 
I'll buy spyglass chess and etc but not that FPS. I remember hearing a long time ago that you can find it for free the legel way on the internet anyways.
 
[quote name='dubbfoolio'] It's supposed to be a good game so it must be a porting issue.[/QUOTE]
No, no porting issues at all. It's a fantastic port. Ryan McCaffery simply has no respect for a classic title, and he's an idiot.

Though I suppose most Xbox 360 owner's wouldn't appreciate the game either. It's greatnes lied in it's immersive and engrossing story, which might not be appreciated as well today due to dated graphics.
 
Ooook, based on what everyone has said, I am now more interested in Marathon. I guess it was just that OXM is the only review for the XBLA version for now, so I guess I may buy it now. I just hope the achievements aren't a pain.
 
[quote name='Hey_its_a_good_day']Weird achievements... don't even tell you what you need to do![/QUOTE]
Achievements like that are usually just achieved by progressing the story.
 
Got the board games overall they're very well done. But the copyright date on them is 2006...

Played 3 games of chess first two games I won, then the third I lost in under two minutes. :)

Mancala is different your stacking chips instead of "sowing seeds." I haven't played Mancala that much in the past.
 
Since I only had time to download - but not actually play - today's releases, is it actually true that Spyglass is only single-player locally? I was really (a lot) looking forward to some in-house chess and reversi games, but now even $5 seems to much for it, especially since I won't really be using the "chat" aspect of it all that much. I guess that maybe I am not the intended target audience for the game, but come on, it took years to bring chess to XBLA...and I still can't play against sitting right next to me?
 
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