First Soul Calibur XBLA screenshots!

Gaming-Age have got the scoop on the upcoming Namco XBLA title - Soul Calibur. Check out all the images here!

Here it just looks like a completely straight up port of Soul Calibur from the Dreamcast - which is fine, but it seems nothing else was added. No true wide screen support, same old textures and occasional flat background. It is what it is - but some additional effort would have been nice.

Source: Gaming-Age

Mr. Driller getting fixed this month!

Team Xbox have gotten in contact with Namco Bandai and have confirmed that their latest XBLA release Mr. Driller Online will be getting a free title update by the end of the month.

For those not in the know, Mr. Driller Online does not live up to its namesake - the online portion of the game is very, very broken. In fact, it's unplayable! The rest of the game is fine though - but it's good that Namco are going back and fixing this up, even if it may be too late. At least you might get those online achievements now!

Source: Team Xbox - "Mr Driller Online to Get Title Update This Month"

Namco announce Soul Calibur and Infinitum (or Powerup Forever?)

Namco seems to be taking a brand new look at the Xbox Live Arcade after numerous 'classic' arcade titles. They've just announced that the original Soul Calibur (Not Soul Edge - the Dreamcast one) will be making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade, along with a brand new game titled Infinitum!

From the Press blast:

Game: Soulcalibur
Release Date: Summer 2008
Platform: Xbox LIVE Arcade

The highest rated console fighting game ever is back again for a new generation! Sharpen your blades and relive old grudges against classic adversaries in high definition. Prove your mettle against the world with a variety of leaderboards spanning every character and mode. Match your wits and fighting instincts in Arcade, Training and Survival modes, or challenge a friend in local-play Versus mode.

Interestingly, Namco have decided to make Soul Calibur an Xbox Live exclusive title instead of releasing it on both XBLA and PSN. This may be due to the PSN already having Tekken available for quite some time now, and don't want to spoil that with another fighter.

At the same time, one disappointing thing is that it does NOT include online play - though going by the Mr. Driller Online modes it may be for the best. Another thing is that Tekken on PSN was also released without online play - and was later able to via an DLC expansion pack you paid for. Considering Namco haven't been the best sports with DLC (See: Beautiful Katamari, Ace Combat) they hopefully aren't trying to nickel and dime fans again.

Still, a wide screen, HD version of Soul Calibur will make many Dreamcast fans happy. Hopefully they ARE working off the Dreamcast version, and not the original Arcade release, which was based off the original Playstation hardware.

Infinitum
Release Date: Summer 2008
Platform: Xbox LIVE Arcade, PLAYSTATION Network

Get ready for high-octane, shooting action with Infinitum. Space and time are irrelevant in your search for evil forces as you fight a relentless horde of enemies across an endless spatial battlefield. Destroying elite enemies allows you to absorb their energy, transforming your ship’s size, shape and power. As your ship evolves and grows your world and its enemies shrink to insignificance, revealing even more massive and powerful enemies that were previously too large to see.

Now this game has been called Infinitum by the Namco press release, but appears to be called PowerUp Forever everywhere else. That's kind of bizarre - hopefully we'll get an update on this soon.

From the few images that have been released - which you can view here - it's looking pretty good. However, it may get a little... lost in the current landscape of Twin-Stick Shooters currently available for the XBLA. Already it looks like a mix of Mutant Storm and the upcoming Schizoid.

It's too early to tell, but it looks like it may go the way of Geons: Emotions and be completely forgotten. Time will tell - hopefully we'll see more soon.

Source: NAMCO BANDAI GAMES ANNOUNCES NEW TITLES FOR XBOX LIVE® ARCADE AND THE PLAYSTATION® NETWORK

Namco: 'Yeah, Mr. Driller Online is pretty broken! We're on it...'

Namco's recently released Mr. Driller Online has had a LOT of problems - particularly, the 'Online' mode is a completely unplayable mess, as seen in this lovely video provided by Xbox 360 Fanboy. People are mad about it - some people even got a refund, and the game has been given a bevy of crap scores.

Since then, Namco has released a response to the public, which can be read here in Japanese. Basically, it says the following:

- We are aware that there are some problems in Mr. Driller Online's online play.
- We are currently investigating the issue.
- We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.
- We will post an update at a later time.

Let's hope they do something fast, and slap the back of the developers collective heads for this tremendous screw up. I wonder if this'll get picked up by Major Nelson & co?

Source: Your friend and mine, rmk106!

Mr. Driller Online is up!

Developer: NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
Publisher: NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
Genre: Xbox LIVE Arcade (Uhh...)
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: All Xbox Live Arcade Regions

Click here for images of Mr. Driler Online

Click here for the official Xbox.com webpage

Mr. Driller Online is your game of the week!

Joining the fabulous lineup of puzzle games available on Xbox 360, “MR. DRILLER Online” comes to Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Players take on the role of a driller moving through levels of colorful blocks, avoiding the threat of being crushed by falling blocks, all while keeping their air supply from running out.

“MR. DRILLER Online” features single player modes including Standard Driller and Quest Driller, as well as online multiplayer support for up to four players on Xbox LIVE. In online multiplayer mode, players can participate in a split screen Solo Battle, where the best score wins, or in Tag Battle, where friends team up in pairs to beat the game.

Mr. Driller certainly is a weird one - not for the game itself, but the fact that.. well, NOBODY has played it! Despite being a fairly well known puzzle game to Namco fans, there has been absolutely no news about the game at all. The only 'preview' information can be seen here at IGN, which is little more than a list of features (though admittedly, much like the beginning of this post), outside of that, nobody has played the game. It's not even up on Microsoft's Partnernet service for developers.

Considering Namco's previous effort of Pac-Man CE was so well received by Gamers and Game Press alike, it's a little strange to do the same here. Though Pac-Man CE was a secret addition to XBLA when originally announced, the game was a collaboration between Namco and Microsoft. Mr. Driller Online appears to strictly be a Namco idea, and of the very few screen shots available it's looking a little half-arsed - particularly the sprites of your players.

We'll know in less than 24 hours, I guess. But the Xbox Live Arcade service should have gotten over this a long time ago.

Check out images of the game here.

Check out the Xbox.com page here.

Source: Major Nelson

Whoops again! Another release date pops up! Mr. Driller next week?

Sad_Panda over on NeoGAF has spotted another release date leak over at the Mr. Driller Online webpage. It looks like - despite not being announced until a few weeks ago, it may end up getting released... next week!

Source: Mr. Driller Online @ Xbox.com Japan

Mr. Driller Online - direct screens, trailer and feature list!

After the Famitsu announcement a day or so ago, the first direct feed screens and first details have emerged from Watch-impress.

Included in the details are the different modes available:

Single Player
- Standard Driller: The regular single player mode.
- Quest Driller: Every 100 metres drilled will add a new "Quest" for the player to finish, which must be completed by the next 100m drop.
Multiplayer modes
- Solo Battle: 4 players compete for the highest score.
- Tag Battle: A 2 Vs. 2 mode where players play cooperatively against another team. This mode is brand new to Mr. Driller games.

The first trailer has also made it online



Currently the game looks.. okay. It's Mr. Driller, no doubt about that, but the graphics themselves are VERY blurry from being made large through a softening filter - not sharp at all, looks quite poor. Hell I'd even go for the pixelated look, but surely Namco have these very simple characters somewhere in a Flash or Photoshop file somewhere - there really isn't an excuse for it.

You can see all the new images here. Also, strangely, the Xbox.com Japanese page has also popped up at the same time! You can check that out here with more images.

Source: Mr. Driller Online on Watch Impress Japan

Famitsu: Mr. Driller Online made official!

It's been known for a while - through the OFLC and USK - that Mr. Driller Online will be making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade. This week's Famitsu issue has the very first details for the game!


Two images have been released - both showing new online multiplayer modes for the game. The first image shows a 4 player VS. Mode against other players - much like the previous games but now online - as well as a 2v2 Cooperative VS match.

We should hopefully seem more soon - apparently this game is due for "Spring" this year.

Source: Famitsu, Jonnyram on NeoGAF

OFLC / ESRB Update: More confirmation for Mr. Driller Online

Namco's Mr. Driller has shown itself up on the OFLC rating website for the XBLA! A few weeks ago it also showed up on the German USK rating site, now we have a second confirmation!

Mr. Driller Online should be the second non-emulated production by Namco Bandai on the XBLA, and the first title since Pac-Man CE. And Pac-Man CE was fantastic, so this should be on everyones radar too.

On the ESRB front, Boku Sudoku and Assault Heroes 2 have also been rated.

Source: OFLC Mr. Driller Rating, ESRB Website