The official announcement and launching of the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) happened in the year 2004.  It was originally obtained by ordering through the website of Microsoft.  Buyers were given a free version of the Ms. Pac-Man when they were sent the disc through mail.  There were six titles available at its launching which customers can easily expand through additional purchases once connected to Xbox Live. 

There were about 27 games released in the original Xbox.  These included Alien Sky, AstroPop, Atomakers, Bankshot Billiards, Bejeweled, Bookworm, Dangerous Mines, Dino and Aliens, Feeding Frenzy, Fuzzle Fever, Gauntlet, Guardian, Hamsterball, Hardwood Solitaire, Joust, Marble Blast Gold, Ms. Pac-Man, Mutant Storm, Namco Vintage, Orbz, Pipeline, Ricochet Lost Worlds, Robotron: 2084, Smash TV, Super Collapse II, ThinkTanks, and Zuma.  Its relaunching in 2005 was marked by the Xbox 360.

All the titles provided on the Xbox 360 featured high-definition graphics, support for leaderboards and 200 achievement points.  Trial versions were made available for free downloading although purchase of the full version was required to complete the game experience which included the option to play multiplayer mode online.  Further additions and enhancements were facilitated through software updates.

Interest in Xbox was largely sustained by programs launched by Microsoft such as the “Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays” and the “XBLA Summer of Arcade” as well as the release of compilation discs of several games.  Through the years, Xbox Live Arcade Game registered an impressive download record.  The Microsoft points earned by customers in the Live Arcade games were being used to purchase succeeding games offered.  Some of the earlier released games have been discontinued due to expired license, and the existing evolving rights and permissions of game publishers.  The entertainment experience has been changed forever with the coming of the Xbox.

One of the biggest benefits of having an Xbox is that you can download all the titles you like without having to amass a large collection of discs and boxes. Simply sign in to Xbox Live and you can choose from a variety of games to download, including budget titles at low prices if you are a little short on cash. However, if you have to get a new Xbox and a new hard drive for some reason, what’s going to happen to your games? They’re all stored on your old hard drive and you’ll have to repurchase them all again right? Wrong! There is a way for Xbox Live Arcade users to transfer all of the titles they have purchased from one machine to another, helping you avoid the headache of lost games or having to rebuy the titles from scratch! Follow these simple guidelines if you want to transfer your Xbox titles from one machine to another. continue reading…

The recent earthquake in Haiti has brought such devastation and loss of life that everyone is doing their best to try and give help to the country and to Haitians who are suffering so much right now.

The gaming community is joining in on this humanitarian effort in their own different ways. For example, The Behemoth announced that it is going to donate 100 percent of the revenue it will get from the downloadable content of two of its games on the XBLA – Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid HD. The gaming company said that all purchases of the DLCs made until the end of January will all be funneled to the Haiti disaster relief. What’s more, the company also said that it will match the total amount generated by the DLC downloads, effectively doubling the money that they will donate. The donation will be funneled through the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development.
With Castle Crashers being declared as Xbox Live Arcades Game of the Year, it’s expected that a lot of people will be downloading its DLCs. In fact, Castle Crashers is one of the largest games on Xbox Live Arcade’s roster of games.

EA Play Label, which is a part of Electronic Arts, Inc., is going to bring one of the most recognizable board games in the world to the Xbox Live Arcade.

Hasbro’s Risk, one of the most popular strategy games of all time, will be coming to the Xbox this 2010. Risk will feature different warring factions and a very distinctive art style that will set it apart from other games. There will be new gameplay changes that will make seasoned Risk players interested enough to give it a try. This new Risk iteration will surely attract both new players and veteran Risk players. The XBLA style gameplay is surely one of the best come-ons for this new game. It’s going to be refreshing to play on a new medium. I myself am quite intrigued as to how the Risk game will translate into a video game. We’ll find out soon enough though.

Risk: Factions will feature both objective based and world conquest modes and will offer five different factions that have different strengths and weaknesses. A cool feature of the game is that when engagingin in the combat missions, enemis can trigger “overkill” moments, which will unlock new avatar awards.

There are still no information on the exact game release and how much it will cost. We’ll keep you updated as soon as information is released.

Microsoft has officially announced another addition to the XBLA experience that will surely hook fans.

The Game Room is being described as a modern and virtual take on classic video game arcades. The Game Room will seek to replicate the look, sound and feel of a video game arcade. It will be virtual place that your avatar can visit and play in.

At launch, the Game Room will feature a library of 30 arcade and console classics, among them Centipede and Asteroids Deluxe. The games will be shown in their original arcade cabinets. You can the games yourself or challenge friends in beating your high score. The Game Room can be personalized — you can move and rearrange the cabinets, decorate the room with carious themes and icons from classic video games. And every week, a new title will be released to add to your Game Room experience. What’s more You can enjoy the Game Room not only on the Xbox 360 but also on your Windows PC. Yes, the Game Room is a cross platform virtual room where you can play the games your purchase on either platform.

Microsoft has been playing with the Game Room idea since early last year so it’s a good thing that they have finally pushed through with the project. I think this will be a great way to make the kids today better appreciate the history of gaming by giving them the opportunity to play classic games where gameplay is the most important aspect of a game and not the graphics. Although PS3′s Home also offers free games, I think the Game Room is a much more fully realized concept. It will be interesting to see how Sony will react to the Game Room announcement.

NinjaBee, an independent video game developer, is kicking off 2010 with a new game that it is developing for the Xbox Live Arcade. And to mark this event, the developer is going to allot each Tuesday in the month of January to show off new art from the game in development. The artworks can be seen on the company’s blog at www.ninjabee.com/blog. The teasers all lead up to a more detailed and announcement of the project by the end of the month.

Ninjabee’s management is quite excited about 2010, saying that this is the year where things will get big for them. And a lot is riding on the as-yet-secret game. But there are some details of the game that are already made available to the public. First, it is a game that will be based on avatar experience. It will allow gamers to actually play the game as their avatar. This game mechanic is nothing new to Ninjabee, as it has already developed other avatar-based games for the XBLA, among them A Kingdom for Keflings and Band of Bugs. Add that to the fact that some of the developers currently working at Ninjabee had a hand in making the free Xbox Live Indie games Dunk Tank, Football Toss, Snawball Fight and Fireworks, and you’ve got a team that has the know-how and experience to really deliver on their promsie.

I’ve been playing the hell out of Call of Duty: World at War 2 for the last couple of weeks. The multiplayer campaign is still as challenging as ever (good thing I can hold my ground against some of the better players in the deathmatches). And for those of you who I know bought the game primarily for the multiplayer component, do try to play the single player campaign. It’s an overlooked part of the game that should be played because it is a really cool and immersive campaign, albeit very short.

My love for the Call of Duty games has been reignited so much that I just bought Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty World at War. Two of the best FPS games in the venerable Call of Duty series. But if you really want to get into the Call of Duty games and experience it from the very start, you’re in luck. Infinity Ward’s original 2003 game that basically launched the top-selling and award-winning franchise is now coming to Xbox Live Arcade. Call of Duty Classic is the original Call of Duty given a high definition sheen. The classic in new clothes will still include the online multiplayer component that really put the COD games in the map. A great addition for multiplayer fans is support for Leaderboards.

Callof Duty Classic will officially be made available today. It will retail for 1200 Microsoft Points and is rated T for Teen.

“Call of Duty Classic” goes to war on December 2nd at 9 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. PDT).

Strategy game fans will surely want to get the newest strategy game offering from Xbox Live Arcade.

W! Games has announced the release of its turn based strategy game, Greed Corp. This new and innovative strategy game will make its appearance on the Xbox Live Arcade in the next couple of months. Greed Corp is the first game in a new series that is based on the Mistbound universe. The setting of the game is in a world of feudal warfare and environmental consumption that was brought about by industrial greed. Players will compete through a new land collapsing mechanic that will constantly change the landscape and, thus, the strategies used to defeat enemies.

Greed Corp’s innovations and amazing promise as a game was actually recognized with a nomination for the European Innovative Games Award 2009. This is an initiative that seeks to encourage and reward developers who pursue new innovations in video games. This initiative is actually supported by the European Commission.

I love playing games that claim to make you smarter. It makes spending hours playing games seem like a self-improvement task, where you end up becoming a better person after all the button mashing. Blitz Arcade probably had the same thought that’s why it is launching the Xbox Live Arcade game Encleverment Experiment.

Encleverment Experiment is a new game that its developer is claiming to really challenge your brain cells. The game will reportedly carry challenges that will test your memory, reflexes, and even your dexterity. Garnering fast response times and accuracy will be rewarded with in-game currency called Noodles. The goal of the game is to amass the most Noodles, but of course, beating your friends is really the best part of the game.

Encleverment Experiment will have two game styles — the Take-a-Test mode, which is for single players and Game Show Mode, which is the multiplayer mode where 1 to 4 players can compete.

Usually, when we talk about games, the usual topics that are discussed revolve around new releases, how awesome or bad a game is, or how much a game developer has earned from a hit game. Topics about charity is as alien as talking about talking about games that teach moral values (those will definitely be boring games). But OneBigGame is about to change this.

OneBigGame, a non-profit game publisher that was formed in 2007, recently introduced a game that will be published under the OneBigGame label. Chime is a pro bono creation by Zoe Mode, who is a music game specialist. The game is a unique block puzzle that has an accompanying music creation element and also contributions from other famous musicians. The innovative game will come out this winter on Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade.

Chime puts a great spin on both the music and block puzzle game with the player being asked to cover different grids with different shapes that have a connection to a sound effect from other music tracks. The objective is to form rectangular bricks that are called quads.

The great thing about Chime is that the profits OneBigGame will get will be funneled to a number of children’s charities it is supporting. I like the idea of buying a game that will help other people. It eases the guilt of throwing money at a hobby not many people can afford. And it also feels good knowing that even while you’re sitting like a blob in front of your TV, you’re actually making a difference in the world.