Got this game yesterday and, although I figured that Game Informer didn't have a clue what it was talking about, I was a little worried that it was going to be a bit tedious. Well, 3 hours later I'm completely hooked on this little game.
The basics of Chibi Robo is that you play a little robot that was purchased for a little girls birthday. As Chibi Robo you must go around that house cleaning things up. More than that though, you also have to help out the family and deal with living toys that come out at night. All of this makes the game a very fun and quirky experience. It's kind of like a cross between Animal Crossing, Pikmin, and Katamari Damacy.
or at least it's showing some promising potential...
Quote:
February 9, 2006 - Flip on your Xbox 360, log onto Xbox Live and you're more likely to find your friends playing Geometry Wars and Zuma than Perfect Dark Zero or Madden NFL '06. Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service, which offers users the option to download classic-style games -- usually for a small fee -- has become the platform's sleeper attraction. And according to Microsoft bigwigs and third-party publishers alike, the service is shaping up to be more than a means to keep players glued to their systems. It is, in fact, proving to be a valuable alternative revenue stream that requires both very little investment and even less upkeep.
At the DICE 2006 summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week, we had the chance to schmooze with several sources representing big-name third-party publishers, and everyone we talked to was in agreement that Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is flexible and -- dare we say it -- profitable. Sources intimately familiar with Arcade's model say revenues are on the rise as more and more users log on and download.
Microsoft is aggressively encouraging external XBLA support by actively propositioning third parties about porting their classics and by offering an attractive pricing model. Publishers tell IGN that model is generously divided between two different structures. Third parties who port their classics over to XBLA take home 70% of all profits -- the remaining 30% going to Microsoft. Meanwhile, the company that Bill Gates built purportedly has developed an internal group whose sole purpose is to take over the responsibility of porting publishers' classic games. If Microsoft handles the port, the company takes 40% of XBLA profits, leaving the remaining 60% to third parties. Either way, small-level developers and big-name publishers win.
Microsoft has so far shied away from announcing official XBLA sales figures, but a publisher told us that Geometry Wars, one of the biggest titles to hit the service, has sold more than 60,000 copies. This figure could not be verified by Microsoft. Nintendo, whose next generation console -- codenamed Revolution -- is set to offer a similar service when it debuts later this year, may be playing catch up to Microsoft from day one. Publishers tell us that more than 30 XBLA titles from various third parties have already been submitted to Microsoft and that the company has them queued up and ready for release. These efforts are likely to trickle out at a rate of Microsoft's choosing, providing users new reasons to play with their 360 and Microsoft and its partners new and growing streams of revenue.
It's nice to see one aspect of the 360 being well received. I hope Street Fighter II does well so Capcom considers more of their classics for Arcade. It'd be nice to see more original content as well.
MS is being really aggressive. Porting games for free, then letting the developer have 60% of the profits! Why wouldn't a developer or publisher want their old games on Arcade?
Speaking of Live Arcade, there are two rumors that EGM recently published. One is that Bungie's next game is an Arcade game and will release sometime this spring. The second rumor is that full Xbox games will be available for download at some point in the future.
What do I mean? I mean, watching TV is fun, in a mindless way, but when I don't have TV, or are limited to just a channel or two, I just don't care very much. So I'm missing some stuff I would watch... eh, oh well. Was it really worth it anyway? Going to the same website for the fifth time today has much more value. :) ... but really, it is true... though I watch TV when I have it, when I don't, or only have limited access, I barely mind at all... (and that is most of the time; at home we only have the cheapest package, which means 'the networks and just a few others', and at school... well half of the time I haven't had a television at all and of the other half, it hasn't always been cable- ready... like one semester I had one that only got up to channel 13, or there's this year, where my cable line has been broken all year so all I've gotten is very fuzzy PBS and ABC over the air...)
Figured out what had happened to the cable port today (it broke off onto the end of the wire), so now it works, in a fashion, and I am reminded of why I didn't bother to try to get this fixed before now. :)
There's also the problem that I have to use an RF switch for my consoles (it's not all bad though, at least the screensize is at least moderate... (18" I think?)) and, as with every one I've used, this RF switch's "TV passthrough" port is completely nonfunctional, requiring me to unplug the cable line every time I want to use videogames... yeah, that was another consideration of mine. Videogames > TV too, after all. :)
It would seem the hurricane that devastated New Orleans was predicted very well indeed. This provides EVIDENCE that... meteorology is a fairly accurate science.
There is cold reading, general statements that apply to anyone, warm reading, statements based on cues you pick up looking at someone, and then there is hot reading, statements you picked up via secret channels.
Quote:2 men charged in killing of 'Curious George' collaborator, Florida police say
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Two men have been arrested and charged with murdering Alan Shalleck, who collaborated with the co-creator of Curious George on a series of books and TV episodes about the mischievous monkey.
Rex Spears Ditto, 29, and Vincent Puglisi, 54, were jailed after turning themselves in to police on Wednesday. Investigators said the two men knew Shalleck, and were tracked down using the victim's telephone records.
"They came in . . . and confessed to robbing and murdering this guy," Sgt. Gladys Cannon said.
A maintenance worker Tuesday found Shalleck's body covered in garbage bags in the driveway of his home. The 76-year-old man had been stabbed.
Authorities said the killers stole jewelry from Shalleck and money from his chequing account.
Shalleck was the writer and director of more than 100 short episodes of Curious George, which aired on the Disney Channel, and co-wrote more than two dozen Curious George books with Margret Rey, who created the character with her husband, H.A. Rey, in 1939.
Quote:DS Download Service: Starting next month, Nintendo will offer all DS owners free downloadable game demos and other downloadable content at thousands of participating retail locations around the United States. An in-store kiosk will beam wireless demo versions of games and other downloadable content into a players' Nintendo DS system. Users simply stop by the store with their Nintendo DS, click "DS Download Play" on their system and choose one of a variety of DS games they want to sample. The game will download automatically and users can play all they want (even if they leave the store) until the Nintendo DS is turned off.
Sequentially, players can try out as many games as they want, letting them test drive the wide array of games that can only be played on Nintendo DS. The first DS Download Service stations will include free demos of Tetris® DS, Brain Age™: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, Mario Kart® DS, Meteos™, True Swing Golf and Pokémon® Trozei, along with a Metroid® Prime Hunters video clip. The selection of games and other downloadable content at DS Download Service kiosks will refresh quarterly.
Metroid Chat: The new Metroid Prime Hunters game for Nintendo DS will give gamers the ability to chat directly with one another before and after matches played via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Players in North America simply click the chat icon and say what they have to say. The microphone of the Nintendo DS picks up voice communication and transmits it to the people on their friend list. Players can use the chat function before a match to agree on settings or after a battle to relive their glories. This Teen-rated first-person adventure arrives March 20 and promises to open a dramatically fun new facet of gaming to Nintendo fans.
Nintendo DS Momentum: Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection now boasts more than 20 million different connections, representing more than 850,000 unique users worldwide. Nintendo DS has enjoyed extremely strong sales worldwide, selling more than 14.4 million units worldwide through December. The Japanese sell-through of the existing Nintendo DS hardware exceeded 5 million within 13 months, which made Nintendo DS there the fastest-selling video game launch ever. In addition to Metroid Prime Hunters, Tetris DS also launches March 20. Using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, up to four players can compete in wireless two- or four-player Tetris DS battles against friends or strangers, near or far.
Nintendo DS Lite: The lighter, brighter Nintendo DS system goes on sale in Japan next month. Nintendo DS Lite is about two-thirds the size of the original Nintendo DS and more than 20 percent lighter. Its availability in other regions will be announced at a later date.
Nintendo's moronic, horribly misinformed, 'almost makes me not want to care at all about the "online" multiplayer' quest to not allow people to add people they meet online to their friends lists or communicate with them in any way continues! Way to go!
