Microsoft unveils Game Room
The Project Natal release date wasn’t the only thing Microsoft announced during their CES 2010 keynote address, they also had something else up their sleeves. Microsoft unveiled a new Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live feature called Game Room, a virtual arcade for Avatars. You will be able to customise your arcade space as you see fit and invite friends over to play a variety of retro arcade games. Game Room will be hitting Xbox Live in Spring and upon its launch there will be 30 playable titles such as Space Hawk, Asteroids Deluxe and Centipede. The service will be update weekly with new games and Microsoft expect over 1000 titles to available through the Game Room over the next three years.
The Game Room itself will be free but you will have to pay for the arcade games.  To play a game just once it will cost 40 MS points, to own the game on either the Xbox 360 or PC it will cost 240 Ms points and to own the game on both Xbox 360 and PC it will cost 400 MS points. All the titles will also have achievements and online leaderboards, so you can be that extra bit competitive with your friends!
What do we make of this? Well the first thing that springs to mind is Home on the PS3. There is no denying that it does look and sound remarkably similar to what Sony have done with their virtual online space but what Microsoft have done with the Game Room seems alot more focused and organised. It’s like they looked at Home and thought to themselves, “How can we do something similar but better?”. Enough talking though, hit the jump to check out the official trailer for the Game Room.
