Denuo - denuology.com

The classic Nintendo controller has 4 buttons and a directional pad. Today, there are exactly 12 buttons, a directional pad, and two joysticks on an Xbox 360 controller. However, the days of single-digit button gaming are far from gone and, in my opinion, have not lost any luster. Simplicity, approachability, and raw (uncomplicated) fun are some of the core characteristics you’ll find in two upcoming Xbox Live arcade games that I’m personally looking forward to: ‘Splosion Man by Twisted Pixel and Zombie Apocalypse by Konami.

The thing that’s changed is, for the general population, new arcade titles easily get lost with all of the attention drawn onto today’s mega blockbuster hits.

‘Splosion Man is pretty much what it sounds like. You play as a character made entirely of explosives and explode yourself to jump into the air, jump off of walls, and kill your enemies. With explosions as the answer to everything, it really doesn’t get much simpler.

Zombie Apocalypse is a fast-paced top view shooter with a simple objective: Kill all zombies. The simple concept of blasting swarms of zombies to beat the game seems to get lost in the complicated storylines of today but I love that Zombie Apocalypse embraces the pure unadulterated fun that is destroying swarms of zombies over 55 levels of non-stop action – awesome!

Both games are slated for release this summer and both will be available as a quick download on Xbox 360 or PS3. I’m a hardcore gamer so I know this and I would have found out regardless. Yes, arcade titles are far less expensive to develop and don’t merit big advertising budgets but it seems a bit counterintuitive that hardcore gamers like myself are the only ones that are anticipating upcoming arcade hits.

A casual gamer may see a wonderfully artistic commercial for say, Assassin’s Creed 2, and be impressed with the “graphics” but it’s unlikely that he’ll justify spending $60+ to purchase it. On the other hand, get a casual gamer excited about an approachable arcade title that costs $10-$20 to download and your chances go way up