News
At Home In The Game Room
Microsoft's Game Room service debuted this week on Xbox Live and Windows PCs. Similar to other Internet-enabled game shops, it sells dozens of classic video games.
But Game Room does something that no other game shop has done until now: One pay, one play. If you'd rather not pay full price ($3) to own an old arcade hit, your Xbox will accept two quarters for a single session, arcade-style.
Is it awesome? The business-minded side of me wants to say no. I already own copies of some of these arcade hits for my original PlayStation. And Microsoft has the nerve to charge me 50 cents a pop to play them again, when I could head over to, say, Full Tilt Ice Cream and pay 25 cents a game there instead?
While still in cynic mode, I saw a note in the Game Room's news feed: "Your friend is playing Scramble!" What's Scramble?, I mumbled as I looked up the game. It's a space-flying game from 1981, like Atari's Defender, and Game Room let me play its free demo—displayed in the original cabinet art, a nice touch—for up to eight minutes. That was fun for a quick burst, but I didn't feel an urge to buy the $3 game.
Then the news feed let me know that my friend had gotten a pretty high score in Scramble. We'll see about that, I said, plunking down 50 cents.
My only regret is that the news feed blurb that popped up on his screen—"Machkovech beat your Scramble score"—wasn't followed with, "and then he shot your dog!" or something. Game Room's connectivity is what makes those 50 cent, arcade-style purchases worth it, at least for the kind of person who likes the old-school feeling of entering their initials in the high score list.
The rest of the experience follows that aesthetic. While picking games, you wander around an amusing 3D arcade, complete with '80s-inspired synth-rock tunes and faithfully redrawn arcade cabinets. If you fail in a game, you can tap a "rewind" button to undo your mistake and try again (though that nullifies any high score, you cheater). And in addition to chasing after high scores, you can issue semi-custom challenges to friends—like,"Who can reach 12,000 points on Centipede the fastest?" I really dig the latter feature, though I couldn't figure out how to toggle the challenge for "Who can stand around the arcade the longest and creep out all the young'uns?"
So far, the game selection of a couple dozen games is sort of random, ranging from Atari arcade classics like Tempest to cult faves like Crystal Castles to obscure crap like the original Intellivision home system's crappy tennis game. I'm sure the cast of King of Kong is elated.
But it's not just a nerd wasteland in there. Game Room, both in its games and presentation, is a charming slice of nostalgia, if a bit heavy-handed (did they really need to decorate the virtual arcade with a phone shaped like big red lips?). The combo of low price points and extra features—particularly that rewind one—makes it an ideal entry point for folks who might otherwise look at the game racks at Best Buy and walk on by. Assuming Microsoft follows through with promises to add more arcade games to the hub over time, I may be blowing quarters in the Game Room for a good long while.
But Game Room does something that no other game shop has done until now: One pay, one play. If you'd rather not pay full price ($3) to own an old arcade hit, your Xbox will accept two quarters for a single session, arcade-style.
Is it awesome? The business-minded side of me wants to say no. I already own copies of some of these arcade hits for my original PlayStation. And Microsoft has the nerve to charge me 50 cents a pop to play them again, when I could head over to, say, Full Tilt Ice Cream and pay 25 cents a game there instead?
While still in cynic mode, I saw a note in the Game Room's news feed: "Your friend is playing Scramble!" What's Scramble?, I mumbled as I looked up the game. It's a space-flying game from 1981, like Atari's Defender, and Game Room let me play its free demo—displayed in the original cabinet art, a nice touch—for up to eight minutes. That was fun for a quick burst, but I didn't feel an urge to buy the $3 game.
Then the news feed let me know that my friend had gotten a pretty high score in Scramble. We'll see about that, I said, plunking down 50 cents.
My only regret is that the news feed blurb that popped up on his screen—"Machkovech beat your Scramble score"—wasn't followed with, "and then he shot your dog!" or something. Game Room's connectivity is what makes those 50 cent, arcade-style purchases worth it, at least for the kind of person who likes the old-school feeling of entering their initials in the high score list.
The rest of the experience follows that aesthetic. While picking games, you wander around an amusing 3D arcade, complete with '80s-inspired synth-rock tunes and faithfully redrawn arcade cabinets. If you fail in a game, you can tap a "rewind" button to undo your mistake and try again (though that nullifies any high score, you cheater). And in addition to chasing after high scores, you can issue semi-custom challenges to friends—like,"Who can reach 12,000 points on Centipede the fastest?" I really dig the latter feature, though I couldn't figure out how to toggle the challenge for "Who can stand around the arcade the longest and creep out all the young'uns?"
So far, the game selection of a couple dozen games is sort of random, ranging from Atari arcade classics like Tempest to cult faves like Crystal Castles to obscure crap like the original Intellivision home system's crappy tennis game. I'm sure the cast of King of Kong is elated.
But it's not just a nerd wasteland in there. Game Room, both in its games and presentation, is a charming slice of nostalgia, if a bit heavy-handed (did they really need to decorate the virtual arcade with a phone shaped like big red lips?). The combo of low price points and extra features—particularly that rewind one—makes it an ideal entry point for folks who might otherwise look at the game racks at Best Buy and walk on by. Assuming Microsoft follows through with promises to add more arcade games to the hub over time, I may be blowing quarters in the Game Room for a good long while.
