Xbox, you're so close but your Game Room Fails

How could they be so freaking close, but unable to grasp what they really have? All they had to do was open up the arcade to all the games in their Xbox Arcade. Look "Arcade" is in the name of the downloadable games for crying aloud. How stupid do they have to be not to see that? I mean really.

[Andrew Wiggin]

I disagree, but you raise some valid points

[Anon1974]

Give me some old school Arcade games. Sinistar, Black Tiger, Bad Dudes. Robocop. That's what I want to play.

Actually, come to think of it I could just download Mame32, some rom packs and have all those for free on my PC. I'd prefer to play on my TV with a controller but MS doesn't seem interested in brining a genuine arcade experience to this service. Make with the games!

[FragMnTagM]

This game room thing is rather dumb at best. It would have been a lot better if I could have used the games I already own from XBL Arcade to use in the game room, and also being able to move my avatar from machine to machine instead of navigating a list. I really hope they flesh it out and make it better, but I don't see that happening.

[darthv72]

Perhaps they may allow for previously purchased arcade titles to be playable from within the game room. For now it seems that it may be a licensing issue. I have TMNT the old arcade game and maybe konami would see fit to let those who already own it have a virtual cabinet to dress up their game rooms.

Come to think of it...they may just do this in some form but maybe not free. Something like 10 MS points you can import games you own outside the game room that would be made available in the game room. Yeah I know that probably sounds lame but it is MS.

If they open this up the right way I can see the likes of sega, capcom and others making game room versions of their arcade hits like space harrier, final fight, primal rage...etc.

Obviously they would want titles to retain their original fashion so ones that are made with updated gfx will not be available (ex: rtype dimensions vs the original rtype) within the game room but still available from the live arcade.

[Godmars290]

All they have to do is make a virtual arcade cabinet for games that are already licensed for use on the 360.

Of course now they have to go to the trouble of syncing this arcade to the standard one.

[darthv72]

Yeah...that is what i would like to see happen. I guess it isnt so much MS in making it happen as it is Krone (i think that is what they are called). They created the game room and so most likely need the licenses from the parent companies (ie konami, atari etc) to make the games part of the service.

It just makes more sense (from a gamer side) to be able to play existing classics from inside or outside the game room on titles you already purchased. Somebody knows the answer to that and the 3 parties are MS, Krone and the original publishers.

[Tony P]

I would have given this far less sh*t if they had charged for the Game Room itself as a virtual representation of your already bought n' paid for XBLA library.

[ozone3000]

i also do not like game room as they r missing some features but the reason that they dont bring the XBL "arcade" into game room is because they are made by different people...if you made toy soldiers you wouldnt was someone else to profit off of it....i think what people want here is game room but without the games that they provide...have game room jsut be a place to walk around and have your arcade games there to play (like toysoldiers)...wait a sec...ps3 home anyone?

[Al Bundy]

The most ridiculous thing to me is, in typical Microsoft fashion, charging for free stuff. These games can be played for free on multiple sites online yet Microsoft charges for them. Go figure.

[darthv72]

while i dont agree with charging for free stuff like you say. This is also a convenience and with that comes a price. Plus MS isnt the only ones guilty of that. Nintendo and Sony do similar tactics but I know what you mean.

@alpha: I am not sure about the recharging thing. Given the current games are so old I don't know (or maybe never paid attention to) them if they were available previously.

Perhaps as more game get added they may actually allow you to import original unaltered arcade games into the game room. I made the example earlier but I purchased the original TMNT arcade from XBLA. The gfx are unchanged but they did add the multiplayer and achievements which I believe are also added to these game room games.

If it came down to where konami now offered TMNT in the game room and I had to repurchase the right to play within the game room then I would delete the game room experience all together.

Games that were give a make-over (like TMNT reshelled or rtype dimension) would most likely not be available as it seems the idea is to preserve the look of the arcade originals. I am expecting sega to bring in or over or whatever...altered beast, golden axe and many more.

[-Alpha]

Sony does the same. In fact most games that "Minis" or GameRoom games are just HD, graphic whored games we've come to know for so long now. That's the greatest problem with this gen.

My problem with MS is that, from what I hear, they are REcharging for whatever games you've already bought. I think MS can bring some great arcade titles that are more than the same crap we can play for free, but we have to wait and see. Right now nothing attracts me to GameRoom, and the whole thing is rather gimmicky IMO.

[Biggest]

What in the name of God are you going on about, Alpha-Male22? Sony has an "Arcade" room with crappy games you have to buy? Or do you mean that the same mini games that many people are making for devices like the iPod are very close to classic games in nature? Whatever you're trying to say isn't accurate to the topic anyway. It is nothing like the Xbox thing.

[Ch1d0r1]

@Alpha-Male22 i think fanboyism across all aspects of gaming is the biggest problem we got. This ms arcade thing, it will fade away.

[-Alpha]

I'm talking about Minis and how they are like games you can get for free. Many of them you can get for free, and it's exactly like the GameRoom situation, how isn't it? The point is that it's all a nickel-and-dime ripoff scheme where all they do is pretty up the graphics and add some gimmicky mode or something like that.

[Godmars290]

???

PSP minis are original titles playable on either a PSP or PS3, not 20+ year old games that have been emulated and bundle packed to death. They certainly don't cost $2 more to play on multiple systems.

There only real negative, if you wish to call it that, is that they don't enlarge e-penises with points or trophies.

@Biggest:
Think Alpha is talking about the Namco game room in Home which is actually a separate game that's four of their classic titles, plus a remake. It costs $9 and doesn't need Home to use, but Namco's done nothing with it, like putting in additional games, the year or so since its release.

Which really pisses me off because a poster in the Home space promises a game that was one of my favorites.

[Fanb0y]

Of course, here comes Al Bundy - the ultimate Microsoft hater.

[-Alpha]

So I wont find Sudoku on Minis?

The same logic can apply to GameRoom then: games can get better and the titles can get more innovative and unique.

Right now the games seem to be typical arcade games but hopefully they get better and devs put in more unique effort

[Godmars290]

*facepalm*

You're honestly trying to make generalizations based on one game vs the whole of the Game Room? Really?

Yeah, Sodoku, and well as Testis, are overpriced and older than dirt - hell, I got Sodoku for free on my PS3 - but that still doesn't change the differences between PSPmini games largely being original titles and looking at least five console generations older then what the Game Room offers. That you're directly being asked to re-buy games you probably already own just so you can have a virtual cabinet in a virtual space.

[Biggest]

Oh! You mean Sudoku the straw man? That is still nothing at all like the Xbox thing. It's just some little games for a small price. The Xbox thing is meant to be a big draw. There were articles about it. I wasn't here at the time Minis were released, but I don't understand why it would be a big deal. No one says "OMG GUYS! HURRY UP AND GO TO THE APP STORE! THEY HAVE A UTILITY LEVEL FOR $2!!" That is what the Minis are. Little game apps for your 2 minute pleasure. The Xbox thing is meant to be a draw. It's like Home in textbook form. . . But with the need for money if you actually want to use it.

Edit below: Alpha-Male22, you're just going further away from the point. There is no Minis-room. There is no community. There are no fake-friend avatars. There are no arcade machines or credits. There are small games that may or may not be original for small prices that you choose to buy or not. I can't shake the feeling that you're trying to hide trolling in conversation form. What you're saying makes no sense. The Xbox thing is not good in any way, shape, or form. Comparing it to things that have nothing to do with that fact won't change the truth. And please tell me how the Xbox thing, which is supposed to be an arcade, is going to get original games. Doesn't that defeat its purpose?

[-Alpha]

"You're honestly trying to make generalizations based on one game vs the whole of the Game Room? Really?"

What do you mean one game? Don't Minis consist of older games you can play for free on the internet?

And what is "the whole of GameRoom"? GameRoom hasn't been out for long and I was saying that the rip off is that it has games you can get for free, like Minis. HOWEVER, more unique games could come out in due time, but right now it's not worth it.

Are you telling me Minis doesn't nickel and dime with age-old games like GameRoom does?

[Redempteur]

alpha male , seriously
go into home , billard is free , echochrome is free , audi run is free , GAME tm is free infamous shooting is free , uncharted strategic game is free and the list goes on ..( the only paid game in HOME is "sodium" and it's not a small game ) that's what the game room should have been .. free stuff to enjoy with friends ..it's not.

as for the minis, they are mini games ( in the mix there are classics , like tetris or sudoku )and their goal is to do the same as the apple store .no more not less ..at least the apple store games or minis are not straight ports of old games

[Godmars290]

It is pointless arguing this with you since you refuse to see the differences between the two. Put them on par with each other especially when the Game Room's version of something like Centipede looks like a bad Atari 2600 emulation. That should be a warning flag what a game like the very first Street Fighter or Double Dragon might look like is they're ever offered.

If you want to see them as being the exact same money suck, that's your choice. No one is forcing you to buy games from either.

Just continue to ignore that the Game Room uses your friend's list, achievement points as well as game room point to get you buy and keep playing games you've probably played before.

@Redempteur:
Where the heck is the Audi room?! Is that EU-only or am I just missing the portal?

[Redempteur]

world map => audi ( it's in the eur HOME at least )

complete the audi road challenge and get a appart ( with furniture included ) for free ..yeah i know free

[Biggest]

What the hell? I want the Audi room! Where is it?

[hazelamy]

ok alpha, you could say many of the minis on psn are are just copies of previous games, colour matching puzzle games, robotron style shooters, tower defense games, racing games, platform games, other puzzle game types and games based on arcade games.
but then that describes most of the line up on the live arcade, most of the games on the arcade have similar titles that can be played for free online.
so isn't much of the live arcade guilty of the same thing as the minis?
mind you, the minis are usually cheaper, and unlike this game room i don't have to pay for the same game more than once, the one purchase allows me to download the game on psp and ps3, from what i understand if you have the pc version of game room you have to buy the games again and if they release any games currently available in the live arcade you'll have to buy them again.
and can you play those free flash games on your handheld for free?
seriously, sudoku, you're using that as part of your argument?
what machine that plays games doesn't sell a version of sudoku?

[GiantEnemyCrab]

So close? Not even in the ballpark. Game Room completely sucks and it's nothing but a low quality cash-in. Having to buy games twice, it is not interactive at all and the interface is clumsy and rushed.

Besides Windows 7 what is the last quality piece of software or hardware MS has done? I think they've completely bred quality out of their business model. It's now all about cheap, short sighted cash-ins.

[UP]

or maybe everyone agrees that the game room fails (as of right now).

[KingME]

If gameroom was on the PS3 and wasn't that good, you would never be able to admit it. As a matter of fact most of you would deny it.

[Biggest]

No way dude! I totally disagree! The Xbox Game Room is how a game room should be done! It is the best thing in the world! You're a retarded fan boy!

Does that make you feel better? But seriously. . . Game Room sucks.

[maxcer]

totally agree gec, the thing is MS will see it as a failure soon enough and support will start to wain. i just wish they focused on something else like 1vs100 type content.

we already have xbla, the trials and full games are perfect for that type of arcade experience.

[360FTW2]

I really liked you second comment. Funny, I don't think the mods did. But what's funnier is I saw nothing in your second comment that the MODS should have deleted it for.

Interesting, I wonder what the mods were thinking. (Pondering) What could have possibly made them delete that comment. Oh I got it. IT WAS THE TRUTH!

[Hitster]

I love me some Toy Soldier, but I don't currently have the funds to buy it. so I really think that they could do well if you could use coins to play the game, but not be able to get achievements. For some incentive, you know.

[Cajun Chicken]

Downloaded it today. It fails.

[Ch1d0r1]

Im sure people will download this and never use it, just like HOME on PSN. just make sure you un-install it.

[Biggest]

That is probably the most common outcome. I download just about everything that is free even if I have no intention of using it. It's there just in case something good happens.

[Eddie20101]

Big difference between PS3's home and Xbox 360 Game room, Home has much more to offer than the game room, and many people do use home quite a bit. Home and Game room should not even be compared to begin with. Those people that assume that no one uses Home because they don't do not make very much sense, how would they really know how much people use and like or dislike something if they are not using it themselves.

[darthv72]

home and game room are nothing alike. The only similarity is the virtual representation of moving about an open space. While i dont use home, I have it and from time to time i do check to see if there are any new spaces. Usually lots of people wandering about in home that are "real" interactive people.

The funny thing about game room was that when I first went in I saw all my friends in there as well. Go figure they werent really there but just manifestations of my friends the service was using to create the impression they were.

So i guess one of the objects is to create an arcade to have friends over to play in. I did that, got a few achievements for doing so but none of my friends have come to play.

I feel like that pakistani man in seinfeld who was talked into turning the restaurant into pakistani food. Nobody came....

[FragMnTagM]

I agree man. Home does have a lot of people in it all times and it does have more to do. I just wish they would make it to where the spaces load faster. I don't use it too often, but if we are comparing Home and the Game Room, Home wins without a doubt. I was hoping the Game Room would be a great alternative to Home, but at the moment it is pretty clunky and I will not be using it until it gets better.

[BannedForNineYears]

Rofl@How 360 owners would bash Home and, tadah! They get a game room. + You have to technically pay for it!
And Home is actually awesome now...Believe it or not.

[Socomer 1979]

home stomps a mudhole in this thing.

shouldnt you produce something better than a original when you are late to the party. Geez, i feel that microsoft thinks gamers are retarded or something. They hand out weak stuff and expect everyone to pay twice to smoke garbage.

[Bot Smasha]

Xbox 360 just fails plain and simple..fixed

[Socomer 1979]

Even Wii has a better program than this sh!t.

ha ha ha ah ah ah ah! Its over micronuts.

[TheColbertinator]

Agreed that the Game Room is stupid.Its boring kinda like HOME.Great ideas,poor execution

[Tron_Rocks]

I agree with you for the most part. The term shi**y old console games could not be more wrong as they still great game-play value.

I agree that you should be able to easily walk around and interact with your friends, as you would in an arcade (virtually of course)

You should also be able to not have to purchase again the games you have already bought on Xbox live

The most important reason I don't like the arcade is that a standard controller is not made for the same type of button mashing that would get inside an arcade(same would apply to a PS3 controller). This should be an option, not a $150.00 street fighter controller option either!

I only hope that MS listens to people and stops trying to milk milk milk our money in ways that they should not!

[maxcer]

yeah the games room is a fail and i haven't even tried it yet.

if you don't mind a wired controller pick up the madcatz fightpad, its great for fighting games and old school gems like the genesis collection. retails for $30-$40

[SCEE]

Did Micro$oft Game Room failed & got overshadowed by PlayStation®Home's success combined with the dominating lines of AAA PSN exclusives?

SCEE thinks so.

Micro$ Slaves are at an immense loss in regards to the failure of a service on their console, their brains and emotions are so scrambled, that they must feel the need to channel their frustration towards PlayStation®Home we finds great humor in the fact that all of the pain and frustration that Micro$oft Slaves endure, PS3 owners doesn't.

[Insomnia_84]

My friend has owned a 360 for about 3 years, recently he bought a PS3 just to play the God Of War trilogy. I told him about Home so we went on to check it out, I left to play some GOW3 and he stayed, 2 hours later a get a message from him: "Dude I could stay in this place for hours!!"...that surprised me coming from him knowing how he defended the 360 so desperately for a long time. The latest message from him? "hey you know I've never liked Metal Gear(he's never played it lol) but I want to try it, can I borrow it?"...

btw He LOVES Killzone3 and since he bought the Triple, the 360 is getting little to no time from him...the one thing he hates, the little keypad on top of the PS controller lol.

[Godmars290]

I can't get over the fact that one criticism this game room thing is drawing is that avatars can't walk around and actually interact. That's exactly what Home is.

[Tony P]

The Home thing comes up because people are intent on comparing the two.

These types of features however are expected of practically any game today. Kind of short-sighted to overlook it.

[saint_john_paul_ii]

this "game room" would work really well in home. the tech is there, just look at the Sodium home space.

[Godmars290]

Home has a game room. A Namco game space to be precise. Though you have to pay $10 to play the five games offered, can play them outside of Home, and if you play them enough get arcade cabinets to put in your own personal spaces. Though I only currently have one.

Worse, its been over a year since they released it, and have yet to add new games. Something that the 360's game room may have caused.

[saint_john_paul_ii]

the thing with the gamespace is it boots you into the game, which is cool(i have it as well). but what im talking about is playing those games naively in HOME, like the arcade machines in the bowling alley in Home.

if home had a dedicated room just for arcade games it would work x100 better than this XBL game room. you just have to pay up for tokens or pay a flat fee for buying the games.

[Godmars290]

No, you're not playing them in Home. They have to be uploaded and installed just the same. They're just smaller, simpler, so they're less of a hassle.

Nevermind that they removed two and haven't bothered to add others.

[respn]

Are you PS3 kids really this upset that you don't get anything as simple as game room? Don't worry, I'm sure Sony will copy them sometime in the next few months. That is usually how it always happens... Don't worry girls, you might get one too. Just remain calm and play with Kratos for another month or two.

[Hitster]

In case you would like to hear more about what The POW Block thinks about the Game Room, you can go to the website, hit episodes and go to episode 56. or click http://thepowblock.com/show...