Summer of Arcade In-Depth Look: Hydrophobia

For those who don't know "Summer of Arcade" is a promotion Microsoft runs on the 360 every summer. A panel of judges sort through finished and unfinished arcade games and after a lengthy elimination period they are left with five top games. Here is an in-depth look at one of these games, Hydrophobia.

[pat_11_5]

I may pick this game up, it depends on how much it costs. I wanted Shadow Complex but I always felt like it was so expensive, 1200 points is a lot of money.

[TheSleepyGamer]

I always wanted to play Shadow Complex but I never really got around to it. I usually spend all of my money on the big games as opposed to Arcade ones.

[SuperSaiyan4]

On the price reduction? It was on sale for 560points recently.

[SJM]

Kind of lack in any unknown information, but a good overveiw for those who don't know about it.

[Rampaged Death]

The title is very misleading. Hydrophobia isn't in the Summer of Arcade line-up

[studonaplug]

It depends how you compare the titles really!. Reading up on this i've found that it's comparable in length and quality near to a full release title!. But because of new Tech they can fit it under the size limit needed to be part of XBLA!...which is great news for this title and future ones. As start getting AAA quality stuff for a fraction of the price!...good times for game I feel!

[pat_11_5]

I've watched some videos on this game and was rather impressed with it. Like studonaplug said, I'd be cool if more quality games started to get to the arcade. They cost way less money in that case.

@rampaged death, I thought it was part of the Summer of Arcade line-up?

[studonaplug]

@pat_11_5 , agreed as I feel that with the new generation of consoles and games. I know the price of production of these games have gone up because of the expectation we have for them and so we have accepted the price increase!. But with Digital releases and downloads getting more frequent everyday!. I feel that a the price and quality difference that is sometimes quite apparent between a digital release and a in shop version of a big release is becoming smaller and less than justified. To me this is showing the unfortunate cracks that are starting to appear in the industry!. Developing a game and then within a few weeks releasing a download pack (sometimes the quality of which you can tell has been produced along side the game and then detached and stored for this very money grabbing purpose does not impress me!. < rant over! (but don't get me started on tax breaks).

But on the plus side, being of of digital releases and seeing a huge future in it. It's apartment to me that the costs associated with the production of retail versions will be cut from the price tag!. (hopefully). I can see hope in the fact that companies such as Ubisoft have recently announced that they will not be including paper manuals in their future titles, but rather provide a manual as a downloadable option in game. The choice for this could be as simple as cost cutting...but at the moment the industry needs to take it's wins where it can! And this...to me is a step in the right direction!.

New tech is always a winner with me too. The stuff coming out of E3 this year was fantastic. And like Hydrophobia....I'm again truly impressed that this system could be integrated into other games in the future. I know that true water physics has been been a holy grail for games for a while. And judging from this game. Not only is it showing something new and exciting. But the possibilities behind it (not just from a dynamic game play point) are stunning!.

Keep up the good work I say!, I cant wait to play it!

[SJM]

Sounds cool.