This morning there are a few new Xbox Live Arcade related interviews on the net. The first is an [url=http://xbla-info.livejournal.com/1327.html]interview about Worms and Team 17[/url] over at XBLA Info. One of the interesting parts of this interview is that Martyn Brown mentions that they are working on other Xbox Live Arcade games, which hopefully points to a possible Lemmings release. Martyn also mentions that there will be no downloadable weapons for the game. Meanwhile on the otherside of the internet, Tales of the Rampant Coyote has an [url=http://www.rampantgames.com/blog/2007/02/console-indie-interview-with-steve.html]interview with Steve Taylor of Ninja Bee[/url]. This interview itself is insightful due to it's back history into Ninjabee and Wahoo Studios. It's long so clear out a chunk of your afternoon for this one.

The Xbox Domain has [url=http://thexboxdomain.net/2007/02/16/developer-interview-team-17-worms/#more-1068]an interview with Martyn Brown of Team 17 about Worms[/url]. I thought one of the interesting parts of the interview was the part about not including as many goodies as previous Worms games (granted this game is releasing at a lower price point). Here is Martyn's response to that complaint.[quote]Firstly, we have to consider that not everyone has played the game, this is an opportunity for us to introduce the game to a new audience and because of that, we’ve presented a weapon set that we feel best describes the strategic balance of the game. Having a lot of super-weapons was good fun, but ultimately it watered down the strategic play that was so strong in say the original game and Worms 2. With so many weapons and options it can become unwieldy for new players and given we believe this is almost a fresh start for the series, we wanted people to enjoy the core game. When you play online you also want to know what type of game you’re playing and that wasn’t always the case with the expanded series, where users would configure very different schemes and again, if you were a new player, it was very difficult to feel your way around. Microsoft cites XBLA as a casual, fun place and we’ve kept things reasonably quick, easy and clear because of that. In terms of overall content, we’ve been buffered by an overall limit of 50mb which didn’t go too far given the amount of data in the game. [/quote]Head to the [url=http://thexboxdomain.net/2007/02/16/developer-interview-team-17-worms/#more-1068]Xbox Domain[/url] for the rest of the interview.

Worms - 7.5 Pros - Addictive - Incredibly fun multiplayer - Back to it's roots Cons - Fewer weapons and environments - Game feels incomplete Facts - It is stated that Worms will cost exactly $10 (800 Microsoft Points) Catan - 8.0 Pros - Fans will enjoy it - A unique Live experience Cons - A. I. isn't too smart Facts - It is stated that Catan will cost exactly $10 (800 Microsoft Points) as well. (Ouch) - 3-D skins available, instead of a flat board

The [url=http://www.gamertagradio.com/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=3383]Gamertag Radio Episode #85 Worms interview[/url] has been [url=http://www.xboxic.com/news/2368]condensed into a nice, short written form by Xboxic[/url]. The most important part of the interview was the always touchy downloadable content segment. Worms will feature a lot of downloadable content like voice packs, but the team will try to keep the prices on these items low or even free. Other subjects touched on were weapons, leaderboards, and multiplayer. Godfree and gang have always been great interviewers, so make sure you [url=http://www.gamertagradio.com/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=3383]listen[/url] or [url=http://www.xboxic.com/news/2368]read[/url] about this quality Gamertag Radio interview.

While Microsoft yesterday announced the next 10 games that will be hitting the service, they were very specific in the fact that they stated that the list was not in any sort of order, so now the guessing begins.

Adding to the speculation of what will come first, Martyn Brown, the studio director for Team17 has just posted up on his blog that Worms is "out of the test loop and awaiting the full greenlight to go Live". He then goes on to remind everyone that it doesn't go live as soon as it's gotten the green light, but rather that's when it gets put in the schedule.

This begs the question of how many titles are currently sitting in the schedule, having passed certification, but not yet released, after missing the last two weeks, is it possible that Microsoft are actually sitting on releasable titles, and if so, what could possibly be the reasoning?

Back to happy news though :) Gamertag Radio will have Martyn Brown on their podcast, #85 which should be hitting the net late Sunday/early Friday, discussing Worms, so make sure you check it out.

[via Half way through...]

Martyn Brown, the Studio Director at Team 17 posted a brief update (and I do mean brief) stating that Worms is still in the certification process, but he hopes that it won't be much longer.

Here's the link to the full blog post.

[via ilovexbla.com]

Xbox-attitude has just posted 27 great looking screen shots of the upcoming Team17 title Worms HD. With the polish that these shots are showing, it's looking like we'll be definitely seeing these squirmy little buggers soon.

Check them out here (mind the French)

Our forum member qwerty tipped us off to go check out the team17 forums for a bunch of new info about the upcome XBLA title Worms HD.

The biggest bit of news is that the title has hit Partner Net (Microsoft's Dev system for live) and is down to it's last bug. According to this post, with a little bit of luck, we'll be able to play the game sometime after it's official announcement at next months CES.

Other tidbits of info from the forums:

Due to the 50MB limit, we'll be getting a full version of the game, but it sounds like they are already working on DLC for the title, with some slated to be free and some to be premium.

While this one is certainly not perfectly clear, I'd be willing to bet the the final price is going to be 800 points as we all know this isn't a 400 point title and comments from team17 that it will come in at a good price when compared to other titles.

It seems that this version of Worms will be a bit different from any of the others before it, as it has been made with the ability to let the title to be far more "pick up and play". I'm not quite sure if this is a completly good thing yet.

I'll certainly be buying this title when it arrives.