Semi-unexpectedly announced last night, the new Xbox LIVE-bound Game Room application is headed our way in the spring. The customizable, pay-to-play feature will be free of charge to download, yet carry a tiered pricing structure for the actual gaming content buried within, and today the first 30 emulated titles -- of the projected 1000+ to arrive in the next 3 years -- were confirmed.
- Centipede (arcade), Asteroids Deluxe (arcade), Tempest (arcade), Crystal Castles (arcade), Lunar Lander (arcade), Jungler (arcade), Road Fighter (arcade), Scramble (arcade), Finalizer (arcade), Tutankham (arcade), Shao-Lin's Road (arcade), Super Cobra (arcade), Red Baron (arcade), Gravitar (arcade), Battlantlis, Astrosmash (Intellivision), Mountain Madness Super Pro Skiing (Intellivision), Armor Battle (Intellivision), Space Hawk (Intellivision)
Sub Hunt (Intellivision), Sea Battle (Intellivision), Space Armada (Intellivision), Astrosmash (Intellivision), Star Raiders (Atari 2600), Outlaw (Atari 2600)
Yar's Revenge (Atari 2600), Millipede (Atari 2600), Football (Atari 2600), RealSports Tennis (Atari 2600), and Combat (Atari 2600).
So much for anticipating these simply as future XBLA releases. More releases from various other platforms and publishers are on tap. Game Room titles will be available on both an Xbox 360 and PC for 400 Microsoft Points; on one platform 240 Microsoft Points; and there will also be an option to pay 40 Microsoft Points just to play a single arcade cabinet.
Another stunning revelation about the service was that, unlike the majority of Avatar-equipped projects, Game Room was not handled by Rare Studios. No, instead Microsoft turned to Aussie company Krome Studios, who you may remember as the developers of recent titles like Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, Viva Pinata: Party Animals, and even Scene It? Box Office Smash. Interesting, as Krome handed out pink slips to over 50 staffers latelast year. Nothing like getting a deal with Microsoft to boost company morale.
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