Review wrap-up: Lost Cities finds demographic

A little late, but not many reviews have popped up for the game - it's a little difficult to get into I suppose.

Two great reviews have popped up from Gamespot and Team Xbox. Both reviewers loved the game - the art style and design, they seemed quite into it. The main problem cited as some sloppy AI by the CPU Player.

IGN gave a lower review of the game, mostly citing the lack of options and variation in game play - you can only play it one way, and they weren't too happy with the graphical design at all - and got bored of it rather quickly.

So the game gotten a bit of love-it-hate-it from reviewers. Best to check out the demo and see what you think.

Gamespot review by Brett Todd - 8.0 / 10

Team Xbox review by David Chapman - 8.5 / 10

Xbox360 @ IGN review by Ryan Geddes - 5.5 / 10

Confused by Lost Cities? Maybe this'll help.

Sierra has released a new video in the hopes to help those who don't know how to play their latest game Lost Cities, as well as some tips on how to win.

Source: Gametrailers

Lost Cities is out!

Little late for the update, sorry!

Developer: Sierra Online Shanghai
Publisher: Sierra Online
Genre: Action
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Availability: Not available in Japan and Korea

Click here for the NeoGAF forum topic!

Click here for Images of Lost Cities!

Click here for the Official Xbox.com webpage!

Lost Cities is your game of the week!

Lost Cities comes to life on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (1:00 a.m. PDT).

True to the original adventurous card game, “Lost Cities” transports players to exotic destinations where riveting adventures await. Before players embark on their trips they must choose how much to invest in the expedition in hopes of increasing their investment. Players then play their cards with the goal of amassing the most points and making prosperous expeditions through the various lost cities: the Himalayas, the Brazilian rain forest, the ever-shifting desert sands, ancient volcanoes and the mystifying depths of the oceans. Don't journey alone, invite up to three friends to join in the journeys over Xbox LIVE!

Developed by Sierra Online Shanghai, Lost Cities will be available worldwide (with the exception of Japan and Korea) for 800 Microsoft Points

Click here for the Xbox.com webpage

Click here for new images of Lost Cities!

Major Nelson Podcast - Interview with Sierra Online's Ross Erickson

After making the rounds on the Three Red Lights Podcast, Sierra Online's Ross Erickson has popped up on the Major Nelson Podcast, discussing their recent and upcoming XBLA games!

On Lost Cities:

"Possibly 3 weeks out [before release, maybe]"

On Assault Heroes 2:

"Bigger Badder, Better, Bolder. A lot more enemies, lot of weapons. [...] Playing with the camera for different opportunities, hijacking weapons.."

On Aces of the Galaxy:

"Pure Adrenalin Space Combat, a cross between Starfox 64 meets the original Warhawk on PSOne."

On upcoming games:

"We have roughly a dozen titles in production for the XBLA right now, we're very committed to the platform."

On the quality of games:

MN: "Recently there has been some Buzz on the internet with the quality of games on the XBLA. That's got to hit you right below the belt!"

RE: "Well it kind of does in two ways, number one I'm responsible for identifying and fighting for some of these games to come to the XBLA and that covers a wide variety of game experiences and types for different kinds of users, and you're also talking about games I'm publishing right now.

I can appreciate when people - particularly hardcore gamers who have their favorites talk about their favorite game. I think the situation is that gamers are very wide and diverse these days. I like Astropop but I don't think many people pay attention to it much.

Some categories on XBLA on the original vision was diversity and something fun for everyone. I can't get my wife to pay Assault Heroes for instance, and I like N+ and Commanders but they're very different kinds of games."

On bringing classics to the service:

"There is a lot of buzz around Bionic Commando and the fans of that, and we're looking at some of our old franchises and not just figuring out how to quickly put a coat of paint on it, but how to reinvent the franchise without turning it into another franchise.

A lot of our franchises at Sierra have been known as retail 50-60 dollar games and here we are with Sierra Online and seeing how we can bring IP we own to the online space, so it's a challenge but a lot of fun too!"

There is also a great discussion about just how much Erickson loves Lode Runner, and his difficult time in trying to find just who owns the rights to the franchise. A great interview.

Download the podcast here or join the RSS feed.

Lost Cities officially 800 Points, coming in Spring

Sierra just sent out a short, sharp and shiny press release officially placing Lost Cities in the 800 Point price range. The conflicting reports were from the 3 Red Lights Podcast as well as the Lost Cities preview - both from IGN. Read on:

Sierra Online, a division of Vivendi Games, is bringing the award-winning card game Lost Cities® exclusively to Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system this Spring for 800 Microsoft points.

In Lost Cities, players draw from a pool of cards with the goal of amassing the most points and making prosperous expeditions through the various lost cities: the Himalayas, the Brazilian rain forest, the ever-shifting desert sands, ancient volcanoes and the mystifying depths of the Oceans.

You can check out some images of the game here.

Source: Gamespress

Three Red Lights Podcast - Ross Erickson from Sierra Online as guest!

Ross Erickson, Vice President of Content Acquisition at Sierra Online Games popped up on IGN's 3 Red Lights Podcast to discuss their current Xbox Live Arcade initiative. It's a great listen - here are some interesting tidbits:

- Sierra will be publishing an XNA game in the future, one which won an award.

- The best selling game they've released for XBLA is 3D Ultra Mini Golf, and they intend to expand on the 3D Ultra series. (Note: Personally, I think it's because it's the first game on the list)

- Lost Cities is nearing completion - might be in certification right now. The price is still up in the air - it may just be 400 points. (Note: Admittedly I forgot to add the previews some places had recently, check it out here)

- Assault Heroes 2 is also completed and hoping for release in April.

- Several other games in the pipeline for 2nd half '08, not announcing till later (Though we already know of a couple)

- They have been thinking of bringing back classic franchises such as the Sierra point and clicks, though it sounds like outside of XBLA - in a similar fashion to the new Sam & Max series.

- Loves Boogie Bunnies!!

- Expansions tend to sell to less than 50% of the original owners.

Check out the whole podcast below.

Source: Three Red Lights Podcast: Episode 28