1/25/06 - Marble Blast Ultra for XBox 360 Live Arcade

[Stephen Zepp]

Went live today. >1000 ranked players in under 4 hours. From inital, limited open feedback, single player is fun but multiplayer is an absolute blast!

It seems that it isn't obvious, but the demo allows for playing odd numbered levels in the beginner set, as well as the first of the intermediate and the advanced. It also allows one multiplayer level.

[Stephen Zepp]

Just a quick addendum:

In the last 2 and a half days, there are more than 12,000 players on the leaderboards (which means purchased downloads).

It's also been quite interesting to watch the majority (2/3) of the IGN/GameSpot "official ring" of reviewers drag the game in the dirt (6.8, 6.9/10 ratings, with one of the 3 giving an 8.9/10), while the actual people that download and then buy the game to continue playing have spoken out in reader views quite loudly at the 8++/10 side.

[schild]

f13schild got ranked #24 on one of the intermediate boards. I think it was obstacle course.

Yea, we bought it. It's fun. No likey multiplayer. Apologies :P

[Stephen Zepp]

f13schild got ranked #24 on one of the intermediate boards. I think it was obstacle course.

Yea, we bought it. It's fun. No likey multiplayer. Apologies :P

you just can't stand the heat is all!

It takes some getting used to the various tactics, but there is nothing more satisfying than rolling up to someone just as they are about to get a blue gem and popping your Mega Marble powerup, knocking them clear across the map.

And nothing like the sound of a Mega Marble bouncing towards you to put the fear of gawd into you!

[Stephen Zepp]

I don't like self-serviing bump-age myself, but I had to post a couple of points of information:

In just under two weeks, MBU has more than 37,000 leaderboard entries, implying at least that many sales (have to have full version to be on leaderboard).

MBU was just ranked today alongside the likes of Halo 2, Call of Duty 2, and Perfect Dark Zero (just to name a few) in the top 10 most popular games on XBox 360 Live, based on total users logged in to Live Arcade while playing a particular game.

[Azazel]

Just a quick addendum:

In the last 2 and a half days, there are more than 12,000 players on the leaderboards (which means purchased downloads).

It's also been quite interesting to watch the majority (2/3) of the IGN/GameSpot "official ring" of reviewers drag the game in the dirt (6.8, 6.9/10 ratings, with one of the 3 giving an 8.9/10), while the actual people that download and then buy the game to continue playing have spoken out in reader views quite loudly at the 8++/10 side.

It shows just how fucked up the game industry is when a ranking of effectively 70% is considered "dragging in the dirt". Most games should rate a 5, for "average" and take it up or down from there.

[schild]

The guy who reviewed Marble Blast on Gamespot has 247 reviews on RT. Something to understand about RT's game review system, anything below an 8 is considered rotten. Yes, below an 8. ANYTHING BELOW AN 8. That said..

7.8 - Zookeeper - "When you realize that Zoo Keeper is basically a clone of a game that you can download for free for the PC or for various PDAs, it's slightly tougher to recommend."

You HAVE to take price into consideration. Shockeye and I had a running gag about me buying Zookeeper because nothing was out when the DS came out. Well, I didn't buy it, he just tortured me about it because I had nothing to play. Eventually I found it for $10 (worth it) and now I won't let him play it. Basically, the game - at the original price of $35 or $40, should get a 3 or 4 out of 10. At $10? Should get about an 8, so he's right on that part. Basically, he didn't listen to what he wrote. He laid down a score and then wrote into the score. That's one of the big problems with giving a score. If you're going to give one, don't write anything aside from pros and cons and maybe a paragraph describing what it brought to the table. If you're not going to give a score, then you can write a page or more.

7.2 - Wario Ware Touched! -  "It's a good product, overall, but its overreliance on touching means that many of the microgames have you doing the same sort of activity again and again."

I played this and it was utterly charming. He plays it and thinks touching is repetitive. HI, HOW DO U LIKE UR D-PAD? I don't even think he played the original Wario Ware.

OH WAIT, HE REVIEWED EVERY WARIO WARE GAME...

Let's take a look at that.

8.8 - Wario Ware Twisted! - "WarioWare: Twisted! is a great game that any Nintendo portable owner can enjoy."

7 - Wario Ware Mega Party Game$ - "If you've already played the GBA version, there's little more for you to see here. And if you haven't played the GBA version, you're better off getting that one instead, as it achieves a certain level of purity that the GameCube version lacks."

9.1 - Wario Ware Mega Microgame$ - "Anyone looking for an exciting change of pace will have a fantastic time with WarioWare."

So really, I don't even know what these scores mean. They released one version for each system and one using a special gameboy cart that played almost completely differently from the rest. The original GBA one and the GC one had a lot of arrow and button pressing, the one called touched had a lot of touching, and the twisted one had a lot of...tilting.

Basically, someone touched our friend Jeff.

Stephen, it's not worth taking personally. Ever. Those sites are filled with some of the worst minds in gaming that pimp the wrong stuff 90% of the time. At no point in EA's recent history have they shown their deep pockets in the production of a game. Meanwhile, there are indie devs and small dev houses pushing every dollar they can through a goddamn torture device squeezing every bit of quality they can out of the software they're making. From, Atlus, Clap Hanz, Nippon Ichi, Aruze, Q?, and countless others deserve front page news when they release so much as a PR announcement.

Instead we get shit like this: UP NEXT FROM CAPCOM and FROM A-WING TO Z-95. While I realize game sales and popularity function a lot like Hollywood, it's become a parody of the original culture. We've forgotten what matters. The camps are split too much (between PC, MS, Sony, and the Big N) and the publishers are taking things far businesslike. A lot of the creativity and love is gone and it shows more in the press than anywhere else.

I don't know what to tell you other than keep making games, keep selling games, and tell those fuckers to die in the fire they're creating in the industry. A day doesn't go by where a wee tiny part of the child inside me dies when I read bluesnews, gamespot news, shacknews, and gamespress. The entire focus of the industry is depressing. PC Gaming is all but dead. Microsoft and Sony are really screwing the pooch by not choosing a unified disc format and it's just going to confuse the already retarded customers. Nintendo is just grasping at whatever direction they think they might find a branch. And no one is helping.

I think all of this hit me the day Working Designs shut down, even if their last release was assy. They were really the originators of "not playing by the rules" when it came to releases, packaging, and localization. The vast majority of companies just don't seem to care. As proven by UBISoft's dedication to Starforce.

See, now look at what's happened. I've made myself angry.

[ahoythematey]

Speaking of which, did you ever get around to sending that fish?

[Stephen Zepp]

What was most interesting to me here is just how far off the mark he was for what the XBLA seems to want and enjoy. We don't have any official numbers from MS, but we do keep track of the number of total people on the leaderboards (not a solid accounting of sold units, but at least a minimum number)--and there are more than 45,000 sold units of MBU in just now over a month (yesterday was 30 days).

There are dozens of reviews out now that more accurately reflect the market's acceptance of MBU, but being both first and "biggest", that IGN one is still showing up in very important places like CNET, MTV, and the like, and it still irks!

[Azazel]

Stephen, you seem to be equally as brainwashed as everyone else in the industry if you're complaining that 7/10 is a bad score. I mean, what are you honestly expecting? 9/10? close to a "perfect" game?

[HaemishM]

Review scores are for fucking idiots. You know, the vast majority of humanity.

[schild]

Unfortunately, the vast majority of players are the ones Steven wants buying his game. That's how they make money. The system is set up so review scores do mean something. I can't tell you how many people I've met who won't buy a game if Game Informer gives it lower than an 8.

[Stephen Zepp]

Been away (busy as hell) for quite a while, but for the life of me I can't figure out how the currently highest grossing XBox360 Live Arcade game around gets a 7 out of 10....just seems to me that the reviewer was out of touch with the market that would be playing LA games.

[Yegolev]

Are you new to gaming journalism?  You might have gotten a 8/10 if you could hold your pistols sideways, or if you were storming Omaha beach.

[HaemishM]

Or if you paid the reviewer in hookers and free games.

[Shockeye]

Or if you paid the reviewer in hookers and free games.

More hookers less games. Do any reviewers really care about games? I thought not.