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Player-Created Xbox LIve Games Look Like Ads

by Tim Stevens on October 30, 2007 at 12:14 PM

Doritos Contest Produces AdvergamingNot long ago, getting any game on a video game console like Microsoft's Xbox or Sony's PlayStation required some sort of publisher to front thousands of dollars in capital for the production of discs and boxes and manuals. Thanks to Xbox Live Arcade, getting games on the Xbox 360 is a lot easier than it used to be, since publishers are essentially no longer required because games are sold and downloaded directly onto the console.

Xbox Live Arcade has been a boon to independent game makers, who were recently encouraged to submit concepts for original games in the in the Doritos "Unlock the Xbox" contest.

Submissions were narrowed down to five finalists, and those five ideas have been turned into relatively simple, Web-based games you can access at the Unlock Xbox site, where you can vote for your favorite. The winning title, to be announced on November 19th, will be the first user-created game to be developed into a full-fledged Xbox Live Arcade title for the Xbox 360.

We gave the games a test drive and think that picking the best one is a bit of a challenge -- and not because they're all so good.

Some, like 'Monkeys form Mt. Doritos,' are just existing games with a thick layer of corporate branding applied. In this case, a monkey chasing 'the wonderful flavor of Doritos(R)!' instead of Pac-Man chasing power pellets. Another, 'Rhythum Racing' seems highly derivative of an earlier PlayStation game, 'N2O: Nitrous Oxide', which itself was a bit of a knockoff of classic shooter 'Tempest 2000.' Then there's 'UDC: Ultimate Dodgeball Champions,' which seems to be the most playable, but may find itself a bit overshadowed before it gets out of the gate, given there's already a dodgeball-themed game coming to the Arcade, .

So, go try out the games and see which one you like, knowing that whichever wins at least won't cost any money.

And if you have any thoughts on any of the games, tell us what you think!


From BetaNews

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Tags: Contensts, Contests, Doritos, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox360, XboxLive, XboxLiveArcade

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