Microsoft reveals Game Room for Live

By Robert Purchese Published 7 January, 2010

Virtual Avatar arcade to "trick out".

Microsoft has announced a new Xbox Live and Games for Windows - Live feature called Game Room, which is due for launch this spring.

It's a virtual arcade that Avatars can walk around and play in, challenging friends to retro-flavoured competitions. You'll also be able to build or "trick out" your own arcade space and invite your friends there, according to a CES 2010 video on the Microsoft press site.

There will be 30 playable Game Room titles at launch, including "classics" Space Hawk, Sea Battle, Football, Astrosmash, Sub Hunt, Millipede and more - most of which were unreadable on the video. A subsequent press release tells us over 1000 games will be released throughout the next three years. New games will be released weekly.

You'll need to buy each game but they'll be transferrable between PC and Xbox 360 Live accounts and share leaderboards and Achievements.

Krome Studios is the developer behind the wheel.

We'll bring you more news as Microsoft's CES 2010 press conference unfolds.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Lusterpurge #1 2 years ago

    I guess it is like Home. I kind of want Nintendo to do something like this, but use Animal Crossing as the interface.

  • 3william56 #2 2 years ago

    So, they're expecting Xbox folks to pay to wander around Home360, and play crap retro games? Can see where the moneyhat for the CoD DLC is coming from...

  • Ryze #3 2 years ago

    Yep - I foresaw and posted about both a mini, decent, version of home that uses avatars and works properly, and about pay per play games on the X360.

    This Game Room is a tester. If it takes off then I fully expect it to be expanded to include the entire XBLA in a couple of years.

  • Ryze #4 2 years ago

    Home could have been great if it had been designed and integrated properly, and not a slow, tacked on piece of crap that shows up the hw and os deficiencies of the PS3 whenever you click on it accidently on the way to the Playstation Store.

    More RAM, OS integration and possibly an integrated flash cache to store Home data could have made all of the difference, but Sony just aren't good at network software and services.

    Stevie Wonder would have seen that back when Phil Harrison was hyping it up a couple of years ago.

  • NotSoSlim #5 2 years ago

    Sony are fine in relation network services just not as adept as MS but is anyone suprised by that? Anyway this sounds okay but if they do release a Home clone then Greenberg will look like even more of a prat

  • Bigglesworth #6 2 years ago

    Hmm. Thought there'd have been more apologists than this out by now, somehow heaping praise upon a cut-down, hamstrung, paid-for copy of Home, whilst simultaneously heaping scorn upon Home itself!

    Oh, posted at 3am? This should be a fun day =)

  • Lee_Morris #7 2 years ago

    But everything Microsoft do is is original and amazing Mr Bigglesworth, why can't you seeeeeeeeeeeee.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #8 2 years ago

    All I can say is... why?

  • Beano #9 2 years ago

    Home Lite then?... well, I'm not surprised but at least that will (hopefully) stop the PS3 haters from bashing Home.

  • jellyhead #10 2 years ago

    I've no interest in Home and no interest in this.

  • miiiguel #11 2 years ago

    Can see where the moneyhat for the CoD DLC is coming from...

    So the "moneyhat" for something that happened 6 months ago (wtf is that moneyhat thing, btw), is something that is coming in 6 months from now. Not to mention that we're talking about the wealthier company in the world. I thought this kinda lunacy had stopped 2 years ago... it just goes on and on...

    ahah, now that I read it properlly these comments are hilarious, every PS3 owner came out to play. I indulge thee.

    Ooooh, ooooh, I love this and I hate Home, let's have a word-fight!
    Edited by 2 at 07/01/10 @ 09:29

  • FHUTA #12 2 years ago

    I don't really see the point in this as it's further splitting up the various game download options on the 360 - Arcade, Games on Demand (+ xbox 1 games), Indie and now this which seems just a more cumbersome way of navigating the stuff that was originally on XBLA.

    That said the amount of XBLA titles I now have on the system including trials etc isn't super intuitive to browse - if I could populate an arcade with 5 or 6 titles I already own that I can just wander over to and play (from the top level of the dash, not some tucked away niche like the indie games channel) then that'd suit me a treat.

  • jambo74 #13 2 years ago

    I want a good poker game.....

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #14 2 years ago

    It seems like a better idea than Home, TBH, although I'm not completely sold. I probably won't buy old arcade games for 400 points a pop, I've got loads of unfinished games as is. But introducing it just as one feature is better than building a whole "world", a la Home, and it has room to expand.

    My main problem with Home as a concept is I don't want a "realistic" avatar. I liked Lustpurge's idea of a "Wii Home" using Animal Crossing, and something similar on 360 with Avatars would be alright (I suppose, if it was free). I'd still rather just use a menu to launch games mind ;-)

  • Dizzy #15 2 years ago

    "I don't really see the point in this as it's further splitting up the various game download options on the 360 - Arcade, Games on Demand (+ xbox 1 games), Indie and now this which seems just a more cumbersome way of navigating the stuff that was originally on XBLA. "

    It looks more like a 3D view on your friends list Arcade games, with everybody having a room in a virtual arcade. True, it is a pain in the *** to walk around to play games, but it looks like the purpose is more to encourage people to "show-off" their games and room thus encouraging them to buy more. Kinda smart.
    It seems you will have the ability to play the games of your friends for free (probably without highscores or something like that). That could be cool if true.
    And it looks like it will be cross platform (XNA?) so I guess it will continue to work on next XBox and maybe on Zune or WM Phones?

    Home is more build on the MMO/second life concept, this looks a lot more limited on purpose.
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/10 @ 10:51

  • SAMagic #16 2 years ago

    This seems like a neat concept, but, like Home apparently demonstrates, I hope it's implemented well. For example, I trust the games will have a trial mode like other XBL games - 40 MS points just to try them out would be ridiculous. I'm sure they'll expand the games over time, this wouldn't be worth the effort if they leave it with a few poor games from the early 80s.

    The idea of virtual arcades where Friends can conveniently drop in and hang out is great, I'd much prefer that for text-chatting with lots of people (I'm surprised there aren't virtual chat rooms already in this generation). It would be awesome if one player could buy an arcade and a friend could join in for free, but I doubt MS would settle for that.

  • Beano #17 2 years ago

    "Can you get much lighter and less interesting than home itself though? "

    Home is a more advanced and a "bigger" concept ... but I still find Home very uninteresting, slow and dull, and I am a bit surprised that MS even bother with the avatar arcade. Sure they can easily make it faster - but what's the point of playing classic games in a virtual arcade?

  • septimus #18 2 years ago

    Inspired MS, inspired.

    Lame.

    At leas their tech announcements were good to make up for the gaming stuff.

  • Eraysor #19 2 years ago

    Never really understood the point of this or Home. I'd rather just browse a menu, it'd be a lot quicker.

  • Dizzy #20 2 years ago

    "It would be awesome if one player could buy an arcade and a friend could join in for free"

    Or maybe playing arcade games owned by your friends would cost you just 2 MS points per play and 1 of those points would go to your friend? It would be like running your own arcade. Now *that* could be fun! ;)

  • Shrike #21 2 years ago

    30p per play, £3 for a game seems expensive, otherwise I don't see why this couldn't work. As long as it loads quickly, runs smoothly, and remains game focused, certain groups will find a use for it. Also by staying largely within friends lists it'll circumvent Home's "box of rapists" issue. Mostly.

    The main things that put me off as ever with XBLA are cost and the ease of finding groups of like-minded players. It'd be great if as well as visiting your friend's arcades you could pull up a list of non-friends - or friends of friends - whose arcades are similar to your own, for score table population purposes.

  • Chazmeister #22 2 years ago

    So you take the lamest feature the PS3 has to offer and copy it, why?

    We want the iPlayer Microsoft, the iPlayer do you hear. GIVE US THE BLOODY IPLAYER ALREADY!!!

  • Kanjin #23 2 years ago

    doesn't interest me. Before my time.