TWiG 3: A Lonely Winter Week

It’s definitely a slow winter news week, but here’s this week’s rundown of the news.

Quick Hits

Hot on the heels of last week’s news from CES that Gears of War had sold 2.7 million copies since its release, Microsoft put out a press release late this week announcing a new landmark: 3 million copies of Epic’s shooter sold. They also noted that over 750,000 copies of the free Gears of War map pack from Epic have been downloaded over Xbox Live since being released January 10th. 750,000 seems a mite bit small for a free map pack, but these numbers are as impressive as ever. The press release hypes Gears of War as quickly becoming one of the most popular and best-selling franchises. One wonders if Microsoft will try alternating Halo and Gears of War sequel releases in the future.

In what seems to be an attempt to make up for previous pricing plans that have received heavy criticism, Microsoft announced several cheap add-ons to Lumines on Xbox Live Arcade. The add-ons include a new skin (free) and a new VS CPU pack (100 points) and Puzzle/Mission pack (100 points) that will be at the low prices listed for the first month – from Jan. 24th until Feb. 21st. It’s not proof that Microsoft is really trying to change their pricing plans, but at the very least this shows that when the crowd gets upset over a decision, Microsoft hears them. After the promotional month, the add-on packs will revert to the normal price of 300 points, which is still probably a bit better than might have been expected.

Popular RPG developer Bioware revealed their plans for episodic content in upcoming releases. This includes downloadable additions to PC releases Dragon Age and Jade Empire: Special Edition as well as 360 exclusive Mass Effect. A game with as much hype and potential as Mass Effect can only be helped by the ability for Bioware to add to the game universe’s size post-release. If done right (i.e. if they’re not charging for horse armor), this could seriously help legitimize episodic content, especially on consoles.

In further RPG digital distribution news, Bethesda announced the first official expansion to hit 2006 RPG Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Titled The Shivering Isles, the expansion will be released this spring for both the PC and the Xbox 360. Most interestingly, the 360 version will only be available as a download on Xbox Live. This worries me if only because most of the Xbox Live add-ons to Oblivion have been sparse to say the least. Of course just putting the same small add-ons into a box wouldn’t increase the value any, so it’s still wait and see on this expansion.

The Japan sales charts this week are topped by Wii Sports. Even more interestingly, every title on the charts save one was on a Nintendo console – two Wii titles and seven DS titles. The non-Nintendo title, at number 8 is Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops on the PSP. Nintendo’s sales in Japan are remaining quite strong, and the DS success seems to slowly be translating to Wii success as well. Curiosity: six months from now will we see an equal or close to equal number of Wii and DS games on the charts?

The hit PS2 rock series Guitar Hero is switching to a new developer. Following the acquisition of RedOctane by Activision last year, it looks like Guitar Hero III will be developed by Neversoft, the group behind the Tony Hawk series of games. Surely fans of the shredding simulator will be waiting nervously for the next iteration to make sure the developer doesn’t ruin the game, but if there’s something Neversoft has done well in the past, it’s create strong yearly updates to a well-respected IP.

My Week in Gaming

You don’t really know what you’ve got until it’s gone… and then back again. As I briefly mentioned last week, my 360 got sent in for repair right at the start of the year. A new unit arrived safely in the mail from Microsoft this week, prompting me to spend several late nights this week reminding myself why I love Xbox Live Arcade. Of the twenty or so games I’ve purchased on Live Arcade, I probably spent a significant chunk of time with at least half of them this week. Part of the beauty of the types of games found on Live Arcade currently is this ability to just jump in and out. Sure, I hadn’t played Geometry Wars or Bejeweled or Galaga for a month or two. But all it took was a quick look at my achievement list to remind myself what I was currently trying to do in the game.

I also finally got to test out the copy of Viva Pinata that I bought my girlfriend for Christmas. This game is quite the anomaly – an sickeningly cute game on the very adult-focused 360, which is strange enough in itself, but also a game obviously targeted at kids that no kid under the age of 10 could ever actually play. As a breeding simulation, Viva Pinata is fairly successful, fun, and definitely addictive. But there’s so much complexity in the ever-growing list of requirements to keep your piñatas happy and mating and the sheer number of tasks available to complete that I can’t imagine many children getting past poking around with Whirlms and Sparrowmints, the game’s starting creatures.

No, Viva Pinata is actually something much more fascinating than a children’s game on the Xbox 360. As others have astutely pointed out, it is in fact a game meant to be played by parents that they can safely and enjoyably play with their children in the room. Even when making a game that appears to be kiddy in nature, 360 titles are stubbornly maintaining their adult focus. Still, it’s hard to complain about the variety. An Xbox 360 title that’s not a shooter, sports, or driving game? I’m happy to support that.

As always, thanks for reading, and your comments are very appreciated. Either comment here or send e-mails to kefkataran@gmail.com. Hope to see you next week!