5 Games I’m Anticipating in 2010 – #2

This is part of a list of 5 Games I’m anticipating getting to play in 2010. They are numbered but are in no particular order.

The second game on the list is not so much a game as a platform.. XBox Live Game Room.

The concept behind the XBL Game Room is the same concept behind a real-life arcade. The service will have games available with 2 different means available to you to play the games.

There is a method of playing that is akin to how we already think of games on our console; you buy the game and then you’re able to play the game as much as you’d like. The step that intrigues me in this process is that, much like a real arcade, a person (in this case, limited to XBox Live friends) can walk up and watch you play the game! This is a concept that I absolutely love!! It is definitely one reason that I miss the college roommate days. I can recall many a day when I would not feel like playing a game so I would grab a sandwich and watch my roommate Blake play any game from Gradius to World of Warcraft.

But there is also another method of play XBL Game Room will allow. It will allow you to use Microsoft Points like quarters (or perhaps tokens is the better comparison). So you can play a game one time for 50 cents instead of buying the game outright. I’m less excited about this approach but I like the attempt to recreate the arcade feel.

I think this platform has some nice room for growth in the coming months and years as well. So far there is no online multiplayer component. To actually play multiplayer, the players will need to be sharing one console; hopefully that will change given time. And maybe the Microsoft engineers will devise a way to have the players with the highest scores in a given game be viewable by even people not on their friends’ list. It would be akin to the whole arcade gathering around to watch those two epic players compete in Tekken or Daytona USA.

The service should launch in Spring of 2010 with 30 classic games. From there, Microsoft is talking 7 new games per week! So the library of games should build up quickly. And just like XBox Live Arcade games, each game will give you a trial play so you can try before you buy (or waste 50 cents).