Three more for Xbox Live Arcade on Weds

By Tom Bramwell Published 9 September, 2008

RocketBowl, Sam Shodown 2, Shotest Shogi.

Another week, another three new games for Xbox Live Arcade - set to be released tomorrow, 10th September - in an effort to swallow up a few more of your Microsoft Points and thoroughly exorcise lingering recollections of the Summer of Quality. Not that we don't have high hopes for RocketBowl, Samurai Shodown 2 and Shotest Shogi, but...oh who are we kidding.

Sadly nothing to do with your aunt's petunias, RocketBowl is in fact a crazy ten-pin bowling game where you can bounce the balls off the walls and earn upgrades for your bowling balls. The screenshots point to something akin to crazy golf. No doubt it will have an easy time securing your 800 Microsoft Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60)...

Next up is Samurai Shodown 2 from SNK, which refreshes the character line-up from the original NeoGeo beat-'em-up and its control system in a way that will undoubtedly be appreciated by teenagers brought up on Halo and Gears of War. Judging by the screenshots there's some funky bordering going on too, but it's only 400 MSP (GBP 3.40 / EUR 4.80), so we're inclined to be nice to it overall.

Finally, there's Shotest Shogi, based on a Japanese tabletop strategy game. We have absolutely no idea how it works and the Wikipedia page is intimidating, but apparently it's a chess variant and these screenshots show how it looks in action. 800 MSP for this one too (still GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60).

Elsewhere on Xbox Live tomorrow, there are 1200 new puzzles for Buku Sudoku (200 MSP - GBP 1.70 / EUR 2.40), while N+ receives 150 new single-player levels, 50 new multiplayer races and 25 new survival maps as part of a 200 MSP add-on.

Look out for our reviews of this week's three XBLA games - and indeed last week's trio - sometime tomorrow.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Gnort #1 3 years ago

    I feel sorry for independent developers putting out games like Rocketbowl after all the big hitters of September, as I don't even have any urge to try them when I haven't got around to playing Braid or BC:R yet. A lot of people will have run out of MSP, too, which limits the amount of impulse purchases they'll get.

    400MSP for SamSho2 is a steal, though. Also, it seems unfair that the XBLA version is nearly half the price of the VC version, and it also includes online play. What's up with that?

  • Dizzy #2 3 years ago

    I used to love Samurai Shodown 2... not sure if it has aged well. probably not going to try because I do not want to destroy my good memories.

  • menage #3 3 years ago

    I would be all over SS2 if the d-pad was up to scratch.

  • ParanoidZombie #4 3 years ago

    Samurai Showdown 2 FTW!

  • septimus #5 3 years ago

    Love Samurai Showdown, well worth it for VC. But it is such a pain in the ass to buy wii points that I'll get the sequel on Live instead. Shame the 360 pad is shit for these games though.

    Twice the price, or crappy pad... crappy pad wins.

  • miiiguel #6 3 years ago

    spetimus: get Hori Arcade stick, it's great for... er... Arcade. Light 40 cigarettes and you'll think you're actually at the Arcades minus the people, which is great.

  • MuppetThumper #7 3 years ago

    where the f*%k is PEGGLE?!

  • layleeloo #8 3 years ago

    Some things should be left alone. Time destorts memory in all cases. Things often are not as good as you remember. For instance look at road rash - everyone loved it, it was brilliant at the time, yet me an my mate dug out our old 3D0 and cracked it on and were utterly appauled. Same with Rock N Roll racing. Some classic games we love so much just shouldnt be played again if we want to continue to hold them in the same high regard.

    On an XBLA front, it just seems a cheap and easy cop put for a second dire week in a row for new game releases.

  • skullcommander #9 3 years ago

    Samurai Shodown II is still a brilliant game and 400 points is cheap as chips. It's hardly a 'poor' release for the arcade, just because it's retro.

  • bad09 #10 3 years ago

    SS2 for 400 is a bargain!

    Cheap retro live games FTW, overpriced new Live games FTL!

  • adamamosa #11 3 years ago

    I might give rocket bowl a look at.

  • muscleblade #12 3 years ago

    Look again. It says 800 on Live?