It's not often that a developer takes the time to create a live action video replication of their game, but then again it's not often that a game of N+'s caliber will be hitting XBLA. In the video (not embedable sorry) a "ninja" does his best to freerun through a city N+ style collecting and avoiding obstacles. Also of note is that at the end of the video there is a short ingame clip of N+.

I must give a thumbs up to MetaNet for an original idea to help spread the word about their game and for having it actually turn out with such high quality. What do you think about the video?

This week on XBLA: The Xbox Live Arcade Hits program! Okay, so maybe that's not the biggest news for everyone (since most of you have already snagged those games). But the promise of cheaper games on XBLA over time is certainly a good thing. Mini-woo!

Since the dash update and the rollout of the Hits program seem to be taking center stage this week, Microsoft has been kind enough to tease us with their slated December and January Lineup. The XBLA iceflow will bring us:

Arkadian Warriors, Brain Challenge (ooh, a mystery title), Gripshift, N+, Omega Five, Poker Smash, Rez HD, and (say it with me now, finally!) Sensible World of Soccer.

Now let's just hope we actually get all these games in the next two months, as promised. And now that we're finally getting Sensi (December 19th) where's poor lost War World?

[via X3F, thanks to everyone that sent this in!]

Joystiq's JC Fletcher was able to track down Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard of Metanet Software to learn a bit about the quirks and triumphs of earning the "+" at the end of N+.

Amongst the many destination platforms for N+ (DS, PSP, and XBLA), Burns and Sheppard are thrilled to be working on XBLA in particular. The high points of the XBLA version are the high degree of flexiblity in "level dimension" and also the "rich HD goodness."

They also briefly discuss the three multiplayer modes in the XBLA version (co-op, race, and survival) as well as drop the name of their next game: Robotology. Robotology will see a PC/Mac release first and a console port of the game is only a dream at this point.

Follow the link for the whole conversation.

[via Joystiq]

After a long silence, N+ was recently on show at PAX. Besides the obvious vicarious living I was getting looking at photos of people playing the game, there was little solace for myself and those waiting (im)patiently for the game. But that has all changed. Now, I can imagine myself attaining achievements as a ninja "driven not only by a thirst for gold, but also by a physics simulation."

[Section excised]

I guess if I can't have Lode Runner, this might satiate me a bit. I am very curious if co-op will be fun.

Anyone love (or hate) these achievements?

[via DaKing240.com]

[Update]: At DaKing240's request I am removing the achievement info from this post as his post was removed (thus the broken link).

We heard about a possible XBLA turn for N+ about a year ago. Actually, a little more than a year ago to be exact. Klei Entertainment was also onboard to help MetaNet bring the title to XBLA. It is possible that N+ was even delayed a bit because Klei had their own game to deliver to the service. Then again, maybe the simultaneous development of DS, PSP, and XBLA versions slowed them down.

Whatever the reason, we hadn't heard a peep from them for a long while. Then, in June, a contest popped up that would allow regular people like us to get our own level designs into the game. Winners were decided and we got a list of all these levels that would be included in the XBLA version. But still no word on a release.

By now, many of you may have lost the faith. I understand. And that is why I bring this picture to you. This shot was taken at PAX and shows N+ and a 360 controller. Could the game be closer than we think? Or is this just the PC version taunting us even more?

[via GamerscoreBlog Flickr]

Metanet Software has created a unique contest called SUBLiME!, which asks you the world to create levels for the upcoming DS, PSP and Xbox Live Arcade versions of the game. Pretty interesting because this is the first time a developer has acted and done something like this. Sorry Little Big Planet, but you're a little slow on this one. Just for entering the contest, you could win N+ shirts and stickers, but the grand prizes are that if your level is selected for the retail version of the game you will get your name in the credits and a free copy of the version of the game your level was in. This is a great opportunity for any aspiring game designers out there. After reading the instructions it seems to not be too difficult. Good luck.

With some exceptions (read: Geometry Wars), the best selling games on XBLA tend to be games that people remember playing in their childhoods. On the other hand most of the best rated games tend to be from Indie developers. Due to this, and due to the manner of XBLA, it should be no surprise that many of the winners and runner-ups at the Independent Games Festival (IGF) are, or will, be coming to the service. It seems that this trend is continuing with a sequel to the 2005 IGF - Audience Choice Award in the Web/Downloadable category, N.N has a description of: [quote] In N, the player controls a ninja with a thirst for gold, trapped in a world of well-meaning, inadvertently homicidal robots. N is a unique 2D puzzle / platformer which adds modern physics simulation to classical game play; the addictiveness of tetris, the simplicity of pacman, and the intangible hilarity of ninja dismemberment. [/quote] Metanet with Klei Entertainment are working on the sequel dubbed "N+" and will be adding such features as cooperative and competitive multiplayer. You can check out the original N here and see how addicting the gameplay is for yourself. N+ is currently slated to be released June 2007.We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.