[UPDATE] SAN FRANCISCO--Tonight, Microsoft threw a bash for the San Francisco games press at the half-swanky, half-funky Bambuddha Lounge in the city's Tenderloin district. The reason was to "kick off the Summer of Xbox Live" and show off the Xbox Live Arcade editions of several beloved arcade classics.
Though it was somewhat upstaged by a preemptively e-mailed press release earlier in the day, the party gave Microsoft a showcase to launch its summer Xbox promotion, "Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays." Starting tonight at midnight PDT with the launch of Frogger, Digital Eclipse's reworking of the Konami arcade classic, a new Xbox Live Arcade game will debut on Marketplace each Wednesday until August 9.
July 19 will reportedly see the release of an all-new game, the 3D adventure/puzzle hybrid Cloning Clyde from NinjaBee. Then it's back to the old school with Namco's seminal space shooter Galaga, due July 26.
The following week will see one of the most anticipated Xbox Live Arcade releases yet. Both Microsoft and Capcom have confirmed that Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting will finally hit Marketplace on August 2. Capcom had originally indicated that the game would arrive in "early 2006." It is the first title from the publisher for Xbox Live Arcade and is a reworking of the early-'90s arcade classic Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting. If Hyper Fighting isn't old-school enough, August 9 will reportedly see one of the elder statesmen of the game world, Pac-Man, begin gobbling up ghosts on Marketplace.
Microsoft also used the San Francisco event to answer another question in the front of gamers' minds: How much will the latest wave of Xbox Live games cost? As expected, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting will be pricier than its brethren, weighing in at 800 Marketplace points, or around $10. Cloning Clyde will bear the same price point, most likely due to the fact that it is a brand-new title.
However, old-school gamers present at the event breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that the other three Xbox Live Arcade games in the summer's first wave of releases--Galaga, Frogger, and Pac-Man--will cost just 400 Marketplace points (approximately $5).
So what happens after August 9? Microsoft reps on hand at tonight's event said that though they won't be able to guarantee a new Xbox Live Arcade game each Wednesday, the day will become the traditional launch day for any new titles on Marketplace.
XBOX LIVE WEDNESDAY RELEASES--all games become available at midnight PDT.
July 12 - Frogger, 400 points ($5)
July 19 - Cloning Clyde, 800 points ($10)
July 26 - Galaga, 400 points ($5)
August 2 - Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, 800 points ($10)
August 9 - Pac-Man, 400 points ($5)
the comment below me isnt ture you can save the files to an external HD or flash drive, or simply redownload it from xboxlive..............PS3 losers trying to turn a buck for the corporatation that puts sypwear on your computers and caps the consoles so you have to buy brand new games ONLY...............right!!!! so much for the rich getting richer
Some one heard Bill Gates scream>>>>>> I'M RICH BIAT_CH. Talk about the rich getting richer, you wont even get a Diskfor your $10, so if for any reason you XBOX System gets ruined you'll lose all your game data.TSK TSK, Shame on you Microsoft, milking your loyal fans
Im over 18. And i dont rely on my folks. Whats the big deal about the price. Dont buy it if ya dont want to. I have bills to pay and other things but this doesnt seem to be a problem for me. As for the dpad. I guess i'll have to get used to it.
How many people here are 18 or over? Anyone under 18 and saying that its cheap is becuase they are living off daddies money. And unless you got a high paying job, you'll say it doesn't cost that much. But there is a reason why people say is expensive. Not everyone have enough extra money to spend on something entertaining every paycheck they get. So, if your **** about how it isn't that much, then you don't understand how hard they have to work to get some decent money and even lucky enough to buy a 360. For people that doesnt have enough dough, then complain and write a letter to Microsoft. They need to know that they should care about the customers as much as money (just like nintendo) or else Microsoft will just charge people stuff that rich people can only afford.But Somewhere in life, Microsoft needs to draw the line. They really do only care about the money. For the street fighter game, the D-pad is terrible to play with when I'm tring to bust out a move in dead or alive.
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10 dollars is insane.... just pass it !!! I hope that NO one buy this game, so MSFT can see that the price is wrong!
It seems like Street Fighter has the board so I am hyping Cloning Clyde.
Can anyone say price gouge? Wii will have better downloads at cheaper prices, i guarantee it. lemme think about it, $5 for Earthbound, or $5 for f*cking frogger? i'll pass on this deal.
Anybody looking to get this game should also consider whether or not you play this game with the analog stick or the D-pad. The 360's D-pad is incredibly terrible. I sometimes have a hard time just navigating menus with it. I won't get the game simply because of that fact, and I don't think it warrants buying a different controller. I paid $50 already for a controller. It should have a decent D-pad.
I've been enjoying the arcade aspect of XBL well enough... I have a few of the releases already -- Geometry Wars, Uno, Zuma... but honestly, $10 for Street Fighter? How does that happen? The Capcom collection that sells for $20 for GC, PS2 and Xbox has Street Fighter and a few dozen other great games... not to mention that $10 is about 20% of the way to what Dead Or Alive IV is going for these days. Street Fighter is OK and all (to be honest, I wasn't that impressed back then either), but I'd be much more receptive to it being about half that price.
May or may not buy it i like arcade games though :)
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What people may be forgetting is that they're not just paying 5-10 dollars for an original port of an old game. What you're paying for is the ability to play these games while participating in an interactive online community -- leaderboards, acheivement points, voice chat, and pure competitive play are all expected. Would I pay $10 to play SF2: Hyper Fighting wrapped up in my room, all by myself? Definitely not. But I'd definitely pay that price it if I knew it was offered to an entire online community via download for just 10 simple dollars. You can bet your last penny that come August 2nd, I'll be amongst the millions downloading SF2:HF. I'm itching to beat a complete stranger up in the game right now.
Youd have to be pretty freakin cheap not to be able to afford a 10 or 5 dollar game! I pity those people!
Why would anyone be excited aboot this? Street Fighter Hyper, and much better versions have been avalible for online play for years. And why Hyper Fighting? It was the WORST of the SF 2 games. It was virtually unplayable because of the super cheap AI. Capcom should've used that version that was released on PS2 last year where you can use a World Warrior Bison against say Super Turbo Ken.
You people all need to calm down. If you don't want to pay $10 for SFII or $5 for Pac-Man, DON'T BUY IT!!! Nobody's holding a gun to your head and saying to buy this. If you don't need the game that bad, then live without it, but I am willing to spend that much money on some of those games, and other people are too.
all this digital buying and downloading makes me sick...where do we draw the line? Soon enough, nothing will be free...some day we'll have to pay for the oxygen we breathe...I guess fatter people would be paying a lot...
I was assuming that SFII was going to be 1200 points or $15, which would have been a little much for me, so I'm happy with $10. The way I look at it is, if the arcade was sitting in my room, would I play it 40 times (or 20, if it's 25 or 50 cents, don't know). And with something like SFII definitely. So far the only things on XBL marketplace I've been annoyed with are the GRAW expansion pack and Joust. Joust I bought and played once, so my arcade in the room tradeoff didn't work. With GRAW, it's just annoying they are charging $15 when I already paid $60 plus like $10 in taxes for the game. But whatever, it just depends on the game. If i was still into GRAW I would have bought it as I'm sure a lot of people are gonna say that pack was worth $15.
Price isn't too bad, I'm sure online balancing took lot of effort. I'm just beginning to think I'm purchasing a lot of "thin air" these days, with all these digital purchases. I think I'm going to quit and get back to actually being able to hold what I've purchased... with all the cell phone d/ls, 360 marketplace, and PC digital distribution, it seems like I'm supporting a very bad trend.
my super nintendo and my atari still works- i'll keep my $$$$ money $$$$ and not buy 20+ year old games, thanks
I'm sick and tired of these whinny little SOBs complaining about the price. $10 is cheap compared to the retailed games. So stop crying!
Wondering how much will mortal kombat cost tho.
Here is a tip, the more people hype a game the more it will probably cost. Everyone was freakin' out about this game the moment it was announced so naturally Microsoft knew they could get away with the 800 pts. This is only pricey if you are buying the games for the hell of it because when Sonic the Hedgehog 2 comes out I am buying it even if it's 1200 pts just because I loved that game and it's such a classic. If you b!tch about the price you obviously don't respect and care enough for the game.
SFII is going to be great and Galaga is going to be a nice addition to live arcade and stop complaining about the price. you dont have to buy it then. its that simple
Cool
Mice wear dresses? (to nztauranga 's post :) I think almost all of the stuff on XBL marketplace is pretty gouge-tastic. Considering that a lot of these games and things have cost practically nothing in development compared to retail products, they're really sticking it to us when you look at previous compilation costs (and don't even get me started on gamer pics and themes). I realize that Street Fighter has had a whole new online competition mode added and that's great, but for anyone that isn't a huge SFII fan that's a lot of coin for an OLDDDD game that you're only going to fire up once in a while.
That's a good idea
Cloning Clyde is really the one game on that list to get excited about--an original game with an original property that is able to get out there on a home console without a monolithic budget and the play-it-safe-isms that come with it--that's where the potential of the Marketplace really lies, so I hope they don't stop making games like it. As for the other games... if you ever wanted to play them, I can't possibly believe you haven't already. It doesn't make sense to me for anyone in 2006 to wait around in anticipation of Frogger or Pac-Man in any form, honestly. I can understand Street Fighter, though. Purely out of interest in its online multiplayer, of course.
Wow, this is just making me so excited to get my 360 so I can spend $5 on old arcade games. O sure doesn't sound like much but what about when that adds up to 20 games that are 15-20 years old for $100, yea right i'll just stick to the nice little classic compilation discs on the PS2 and X-Box where I can get 40 classic games or a bagillion versions of SFII for a mere $20.
street fighter will be great, pacman should be fun, dont know about cloning clyde....maybe it will be fun:)
If your a Golden Oldie on SF2 and you want to take SF2 to the final level , world wide then 800 points is nothing but if your a mistaken Identity and you were meant to wear a dress then you would complain about 800 points, seperating the Mice from the Men.
I dont care how much they are. I'll get em anywayz. People stop complaining. Its not like you have to buy them.
finally...
I agree with mike_mgoblue. $10 is not that much for a game, in fact it's almost nothing compared to the $50+ we spend nowadays. but pay that much money for a game already released countless times before is way more than should be charged. then again, people dont HAVE to buy the game.........
Alright! Frogger! However, I will not be satisfied until Q-Bert returns.
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TALK ABOUT MILKAGE OMG Xbox Live is taking people for everything the got. These stupid little 2$ games and usually free map packs are WAY OVERPRICED. You have a good time being milked cows! I hope PS3 and Nintendo dont do this. ^ ^ ^ ^ Seeing as a "Cow" refers to a Sony "fanboy" ... I believe you're right! "You have a good time beeing milked cows" $600 for a PS3 my A$$! ^ ^ ^ ^ ahem, but with the ps3 think of all the "raw potential" you are investing in. RAW POTENTIAL I say, raw potential !! OMG RIDGE RACER !
Wow, everybody here spent hundreds of dollars to buy a 360 and some games and yet $10 is too much for SF II? WTF? It's almost that much to rent a freakin game at Blockbuster? If you guys didn't waste your cash on crap like Tony Hawk 74: American Junkland you might have money left over for the good stuff!!!!!!!
Alll I Know is that I'm buying. The rest of you can cry all you want. But 10$ for this game ain't bad at all.
Yeah should be good and stop moaning about the price people
Just downloaded Frogger, Nice graphics, cooly updated to. Theres just a problem with multiplayer... theres major Lag issues!
$10 for SF2 No way, I'll just keep on playing it for another system
slife_basic - my suggestion is based on my play style. I am not spending $10 to play a game about 3 to 4 times - which is what I would devote to a game like Street Figther. I would play it once in a blue moon. For those who love Street Fighter and want to spend all their time on it, the $10 is a worthy pruchase.
10 is a fair price for the greatest fighting game ever made.
Demetri_OS, you claim $10 is too much, then go on to make a suggestion that's even pricier? Odd.
$10 is too much. Maybe if you can spend points per game played? Like 5 points per game, until you lose and drop another 5 to continue?? Like an arcade game. I think it would make more money like that.
Anyone else find it odd that while SFII will be available on XBLA for $10, SF Anniversary Collection for Xbox still is not backward compatible. Coincidence?
800 points is fine with me. I feared they might release it a 1200...
Assuming SF2 offers lag-free gameplay, $10 is worth it. As for the rest, $5 seems just outside what could be considered reasonable. What I do not understand is why it takes months and months to release old arcade games with seemingly no updates.