Just what is the Microsoft Game Room?

For those of you've logged into Xbox Live or it's PC counterpart in the last couple weeks, you may have noticed a strange new game available in the "Games on Demand" section of the marketplace. It's called the Game Room, but what the hell is it? That's what we're here to tell you.



The Game Room is a free (I say that loosely, it'll be explained soon) download for the your 360 or the PC. It's essentially a build-your-own arcade game. There's a variety of empty rooms, that you can customize with themes, props and arcade cabinets.

The graveyard is one of many unlockable themes you can customize your room with.

This is where the the cost comes in. Though things like themes and props are free, unlocking more as you level up in the game, Mascots (Little 8-bit versions of game characters that run through your store) and the actual games themselves cost you money. Though you can demo many of them for free, you'll have to shell out roughly 240 Microsoft Points (400 if you want the "play anywhere" version so you can play the games on the PC and the 360) to actually have them in the arcade.

The more games you own, the more avatars that traverse your arcade.

Though it'll eventually start to cost you (I spent 1000 MS points in less than 5 minutes) the arcade ports are smooth and there is a huge variety of them that will be continually added to, from the more memorable and beloved games like Centipede on the Atari 2600, to Konami's obscure and difficult Battlantis, which plays like a fantasy Space Invaders.

This is Battlantis. It's awesome.

Customizing your arcade is loads of fun and there are many classic titles on here that are worth more than the $2 you'll be shelling out. So to put it simply, you should play this game.

I'll have a full review of the Game Room up at some point by the end of the week.

-Kyle K.