xbox 360
XNA Community Games Only Available Until Sunday at Midnight
Posted by Flynn De Marco at 1:00 PM on February 24, 2008
For those of you wanting to download and check out some of the XNA community games, be aware that they are only available until tomorrow Sunday, Feb. 23 at midnight. After that you will have until March 9 at midnight to play the games before they expire. So get while the gettings good and download your XNA games now before it's too late!
[Thanks, Epsicode]

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
kftgr
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@J0hnny-Kickass:
"The dishwasher is interesting but theres not enough there."
WTF?! It has as much content as the others combined. Pretty much the complete first level free to play. On top of that, there's the arcade levels which shows off the Shift Blade and Dishwasher magic. Lots of style and fitting music. Needs a bit more polish on the gameplay, adding lifebars to enemies, and pacing -- gets repetitive killing an unknown number of enemies to proceed from screen to screen. Arcade mode is nice for score-attack enthusiasts.
BTW, did anyone get a chance to try out co-op? Check out the options and see that both local and XBL is listed!
BTW, very unimpressed with little gamers. Nice simple style and wry humor, but the gameplay is weak. Many different weapons, but they're hardly different. super easy game play, but get to stage 3 and get pwned so easily by mobs of gun-wielding enemies. :(
kftgr
system11
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I didn't like The Dishwasher that much. It's cool to look at but the actual gameplay itself is nothing to write home about. Jellycar however, I had a lot of fun with that (girlfriend very amused by my struggles to turn the car the right way up again while blocks kept squashing it) - it will be interesting to see how they all flesh out into completed games.
system11
CSat420
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
dishwasher love
CSat420
Tuxy79
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Scratch that...I meant Culture and Jely Car. I wonder if the full version will have insects and stuff?
Tuxy79
Tuxy79
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I would buy Bloom and Jelly car if it were available in the market place.
Tuxy79
Soulgenesis
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Archaotic: exactly. I love The Dishwasher. I can't wait for it! :)
Soulgenesis
LORDofDANCE
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I've tried Culture, which was pretty interesting but very boring, and Rocketball, which needs a lot of work done. The controls gave me a headache and I spent lots of time on the ground.
LORDofDANCE
Archaotic
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Tried The Dishwasher. Suffice to say, day 1 download for me. It's that cool.
Archaotic
J0hnny-Kickass
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Jelly car, and small gamers are the best games on there. The dishwasher is interesting but theres not enough there.
J0hnny-Kickass
Dragoonkin
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@catapult37: Which of the launchers did you download? One is 8 megs and not the right one, and the other is six-point-ought and is the one you want.
Yes, it's confusing. Don't blame me.
Dragoonkin
SAKY
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@skitzogreg: they are 16 day trials.
SAKY
SAKY
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@CheekyLee: it's ok for about 10 minutes but yes repetative. Narratives are pretty funny.
SAKY
SAKY
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@catapult37: no it's free.
SAKY
SAKY
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Dishwasher kicks ass and Jelly Car is pretty good also, a bit difficult but interesting nevertheless.
SAKY
L_K_M
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Uhm... Why? Is this some kind of practical joke Microsoft is pulling? One day they pretend to "get it" and be cool and open, the next day they're laughing at us yelling "Ha-ha! We were only kidding! It's gone again!"
Huh.
L_K_M
RuneX
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
so far little gamers and dishwasher are pretty good.(dishwasher is damn amazing, little gamers is more funny than actually great. Kinda the same way the old MK games were good)
The other games seem unpolished, but all have give off a sense that good things can come if they have work done. Overall, im very impressed with the titles and hope its a sign of whats to come.
RuneX
PeterQC
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@catapult37: Can't find it in the Xbox Market, where do you download it?
PeterQC
catapult37
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Do you have to have an XNA membership for this? I get all the way to the game launcher and then get a message that my profile doesn't have a membership, and it boots me out. What a pain.
catapult37
Cchrist
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@CheekyLee: Helps a little but then again microsoft also announced movie marketplace for europe and that still hasn't happend anywhere other than england.
Cchrist
CheekyLee
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Cchrist:
I downloaded them here in England, if that helps.
Agreeing with all the Dishwasher love, that one really is the pick of the bunch. But, WHY are so many people praising Little Gamers? All I saw was a dull and repetitive side-scroller with little to no reason to bother continuing once I died.
CheekyLee
Cchrist
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Are they available world wide? Because i dont want to end up looking an hour for something that turns out isn't there in the first place...
Cchrist
Manny
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
It's been extended to March 9th
[letskilldave.com]
Manny
el_rezzo
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I just got my 360 back from a RROD episode and it seems they have screw my refurb up, whenever I try to turn the unit on with a controller I get one red ring, using the remote seems to work fine though. I really hope it holds out long enough for me to try these games out. The Dishwasher sounds exactly like the kind of game I would play for hours.
el_rezzo
johnnylineup
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
its late, i'm drunk, and I didn't read the comments. But.......seriously? They announce this 3 days ago and they are already taking the downloads down tomorrow? This is like BP making all those renewable energy commercials. good pr, but in the end its not really helping the community out that much. Hopefully these will be available again at a later date, i'm not holding my breath tho. M$ ::obligatory::
johnnylineup
j14rk1n
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@TrettOff: The games aren't interpreted, they run under the .Net Compact Framework.
j14rk1n
TrettOff
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Moonshadow101: The file limit is for XBLA titles. Technically these are demos or DLC (which there is no size limit on) since they are interpreted code by the XNA player. BTW, Capcom can easily get around the size restriction for Bionic Commando the same way Lumines did. Make the main game <150MB then release a Hi-res exapansion pack that contains the hi-res texture (or gratuitous FMV or gratuitous J-Pop theme or whatever the hell is taking up all the space). Lumines was only 50MB but had multiple 100+ MB content packs. One of those 100MB packs was released for free, so technically Capcom wouldn't even have to charge for it.
TrettOff
Fyren
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Dishwasher is a winner..
Did anyone notice the character in "arcade" mode for the tanks look EXACTLY like Bitey of Brackenwood.
I thought for a minute it was another newground--->xbla; i.e. Alien Hominid Newground to Alien Hominid XBLA
Fyren
Zerozaki Ishiki
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@mardigan71: Except for Dishwasher, which is fucking amazing.
Like something Treasure would make; can't wait to get my hands on the full version.
Zerozaki Ishiki
Dragoonkin
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
The good: Dishwasher is really good, like God of War in side-scroller form, basically. This definitely looks like a purchase. Little Gamers has potential...it just needs to be taken from someone's hobby project in Flash up that extra "step" to a real game. Jelly Car could be neat, or it could be a physics demo gimmick. I'm really on the fence about it. Proximity is a solid concept, but there needs to be more understanding of the tiles in your hand and how you get them in order for proper turn-to-turn planning.
The bad: Bloom sucks. Just sucks hard. Rocketball is so terrible I just kind of shake my head at it. It's basically a much more awful version of an NES game called Penguin Wars or something of the like where you chuck marbles across a table at another player. TriLinea is bogged down in its own complexity for the kind of game it wants to be. I think it would fare much better as a turn-based game. And the fact it breaks the XBLA limit is hilarious for what's it is.
Dragoonkin
mardigan71
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
No thank you, it's basically a bunch of crap that is just like Flash games you can play in your internet browser for free.
mardigan71
reywing
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai FTW!
Haven't tried trilathon or watever it's called but the other games were alright.
Of course, these are pre-trial-evaluation versions so some might not be representative of what the final product would be. Some have potential like Jelly Car, "The Dodgeball Game", and "The Flower Game".
reywing
sirsonik
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
i dont think anyone's noticed that sunday is actually the 24th, not the 23rd
sirsonik
dowingba
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Ramstein: Hmm. Strange that I didn't notice that.
dowingba
j14rk1n
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@dowingba: You can select different levels in the demo by pressing up and down. There are several levels.
j14rk1n
Ramstein
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@dowingba: If you press up/down in JellyCars main menu you can play the many other levels. But yes, it is not enough to warrant a purchase as a stand-alone-game.
Trilinea was the Puzzlequestlike game.
Ramstein
dowingba
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I was disappointed with Jelly Car only because the demo was only one level. As a full game, that game has definite potential, and is a seriously cool concept.
Me and my roommate played a couple rounds of ProximityHD and had a blast. If and when that game ever comes out for purchase I'll surely be picking it up.
Dishwasher is amazing. It's like Ninja Gaiden meets Viewtiful Joe, with the most hilarious concepts ever.
Rocket Ball was pretty much horrible. It was bad even in comparison to the average crappy free flash games you can find on the web. I find myself wondering why it's even up there if these are supposed to be the best picks or something. Man what a crappy game. Nothing appealing at all.
I couldn't really get into that puzzle-battle game (can't remember the name). You know the one, it was like fast-paced Puzzle-Quest multiplayer.
dowingba
Spartan1308
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Jelly Car would need a lot of expansion, but it has potential.
Spartan1308
ocalot
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
The Dishwasher was good and so was Little Gamers. I also enjoy the one that involves flowers since its very relaxing. There is one thing that I can't get rid of is it feels like I am playing a flash game sometimes.
ocalot
Ryumeka
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Oh boy. That Dishwasher game sure was fun. Skipped the story stuff though.
Plus it looked like it had plenty of levels. Must buy when it's out.
Little Gamers was alright. A bit repetitive, most of the weapons seemed to have the same strength, but overall very good. Hope the completed version is nice.
Ryumeka
j14rk1n
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@skitzogreg: (Not Sarcastic) The games are just a preview, and give everyone a chance to look at the possibilities of XNA community games on the Marketplace. Not sure why there's a limited time to download and play, but it may have something to do with the fact that the games aren't fully completed, and we could see more completed versions on Live in the coming months. This is true for Dishwasher, especially, since it's official that it's going to be an XBLA game when it's finished.
j14rk1n
Aresef
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Get Little Gamers. It's awesome and win.
Aresef
skitzogreg
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
So we don't get to keep the games? Will someone explain this, please? (Without being sarcastic)
skitzogreg
rebelphoenix
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Kind of Ironic that the games expire on the 9th... Guess M$ doesn't want anyone to miss out on Brawl.
rebelphoenix
NeoNess
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I downloaded all of them, and out of the seven, The Dishwasher and Proximity HD are the ones I had the best time with. I will be buying both upon release, if they're between $5-$8.
NeoNess
Lackshmana
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Dishwasher seems like it might be near Alien Hominid level fun. Depending on how they price this, (or preferably don't) I approve.
Lackshmana
Xander
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
This is retarded, my 360 broke three weeks ago, and I'm probably gonna get it back on Monday. My friend was telling me all about Jelly Car and stuff. Are these games ever going to be actually released? And why are they making it so you have to download them for a certain period and then they expire at a later date? Why can't we just download AND play them until then?
Xander
kylenalepa
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
The Dishwasher and Proximity HD are great. RocketBall sucks. I haven't played the others yet.
kylenalepa
2NinjasTapedTogether
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Good thing they extended it. Cuz Flynn's post was confusing since tonight is the 23rd.
I don't actually know what this is, not having an X360... I just thought I'd chime in about the error.
At the sound of the wrong, the time will be 8:20. Or so.
*wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong*
You're wrong! You're wrong! You're wrong!
2NinjasTapedTogether
Lackshmana
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@j14rk1n: Thanks, I appreciate it.
Lackshmana
xMaverick
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Dauragon88: *pat pat* You'll be alright, buddy. One of these days, something extremely awesome is going to happen to you that everyone else will hate you for. So cherish that moment when it comes :)
What's dishwasher like? :3
*a PS3 owner who is open to all and any games*
xMaverick
j14rk1n
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Lackshmana: [letskilldave.com]
Everyone should download and play despite what they've read. They are good games that should be given a chance and not dumped on!
j14rk1n
cubed2D
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
[blogs.msdn.com]
they extended it till the 26th
not downloaded them yet? dave explains how to get them here [letskilldave.com]
cubed2D
Lackshmana
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Can somebody throw me a clue here?
Where do you download these games? Are they available on Xbox Live or on a website or something?
Lackshmana
Markus
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
They've just extended the XNA games until the 26th at midnight:
[gamerscoreblog.com]
Markus
Xer0Ph0kus
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Well Dishwasher is fun but they are definitely pre-release. Jelly Car and Little gamers won't even recognize your controller (the one with the account logged on with) unless it is player one. I had to unhook my rockband setup just to play those games.
Xer0Ph0kus
Ramstein
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Out of all the XNA demos I believe Little Gamers and The Dishwasher are the most 'complete' and I would see myself buying them. Culture has almost no gameplay(sure, its proof of concept is beautiful) and JellyCar has just barely enough to constitute a game(Ive played many flash games like it before on free game sites) Proximity HD is a nice basic puzzle game that needs a little bit more polish and it should be ready for primetime. Rocketball is dodgeball with an exploding ball? Or atleast I think it would be if I had not been kicked back out to the XBLA screen. Trilinea, the biggest(191MB) of them all has a nice Bejeweled/Dominoes type of feel and should be interesting once its done.
Like I said, Little Gamers is very fun, which reminds me of Codename: Gordon and The Dishwasher's art style is very cool. Its hack&slash-combo system reminds me of DMC, which is nice. 2 out of 7 aint bad, right? For the first batch of XNA games. After people get a taste of whats possible with the dev tools maybe we will see some more gems.
[Sorry for the wall of text! -Ramm]
Ramstein
PeterQC
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I would download some, if only I could come up with a good Live nickname not taken so I could sign up.
PeterQC
j14rk1n
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@tralfaz23: Oh please, I'm so sick of this trash.
XNA is a free toolkit where people are offering to spare their time to show off their creations. These games aren't created by huge studios with tons of money, and it's likely that no money went into them at all. They are games created entirely by gamers, and I think that their efforts should be applauded.
This isn't your oppertunity to judge how good the games are, but rather to appreciate the fact that gamers/hobbyists can make games at all, because we haven't seen anything like this in the past.
j14rk1n
ninja_squirrel
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
yeah, great time for my 360 to RRoD, thank you 360/obvious sarcasm :(
ninja_squirrel
Arttemis
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
"Limited Time Demo: 14 Days Remaining"
I can't say I like seeing that.
Arttemis
tralfaz23
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
out of all of them, dishwasher and little gamers were the most tolerable.
tralfaz23
Truepatriot
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@dsmx:
i dont think everything is ironed out yet.like if all the devs have to charge for their creations like can there be free games, then the whole ratings board ms is gonna do to make sure stuff isnt offensive and not infringing on copy rights,plus how much will developers get if they choose to charge for their games.
Truepatriot
dsmx
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
At the risk of being moaned at for the rest of this page, why can't microsoft just leave these games up so people can download them whenever they want?
dsmx
KirbyMorph
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Moonshadow101: Probably not optimized or anything if it's still in development. More than likley just bloated code banged out for a demo and GDC.
KirbyMorph
otakucode
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Truepatriot: Ouch... "holiday 08" is really far off. I'm interested in seeing what MS does to keep the community arcade fresh in peoples minds in the intervening months...
On a wholly different subject, does anyone happen to know if the XNA Game Studio app will coexist with Visual Studio now? I know it wouldn't previously and I'm just wondering if that has changed. Thanks.
otakucode
chenry
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Download the XNA. Do it, because Dishwasher is friggin' awesome.
chenry
bleeps
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Dauragon88: Oh God, I'm in RRoD limbo too. Hate.
bleeps
mind in rewind
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@romBox: It's gotta be true. That site is run by MS employees.
So, we have until Tuesday at midnight to download, and until March 9th to play.
mind in rewind
Truepatriot
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
to clear things up
this was just a preview of community arcade.the full version is supposed to launch "holiday 08".think of it like a sneak peek of whats to come.
Truepatriot
romBox
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Here is a site claiming the extension. Don't know if it's true though.
[gamerscoreblog.com]
romBox
Sekiria
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Easier said then done when you're still waiting for MS to ship you a new 360 to use.
Sekiria
nflsonic
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I wasn't having that much fun with Jelly Car, but it is a pretty cool concept. The Dishwasher is freakin' awesome though! Definitely a buy from me once released!
nflsonic
method47
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Dishwasher is pretty cool. So is Jelly Car. I didn't download the rest, but I doubt I will before tomorrow.
method47
niall077
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I tought it was gonna be a permenent thing
niall077
MXs219
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
PLay the Dishwasher that game is soooo cool. it a must buy when released.
MXs219
DemonBlood
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@edb87:
Yeah it's just an awesome game. You should try Little Gamers it's pretty funny. I just tried Jelly Racer or what ever it's called and I'm not seeing why people like it so much.
DemonBlood
edb87
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Man. I love Dishwasher. Dunno if I'm gonna have time to play the others.
edb87
Randomcitizenx
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Yay, one more reason to be aggravated about my 360 being out for repairs...still...
Randomcitizenx
romBox
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I thought they extended it to the 26th! Or did I just imagine that?
romBox
otakucode
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I second scottys question: Why?
My wild guess: Since they're not bringing out the financial transaction side of things until later, they don't want people to play the demo and then completely forget about the game. Making people wait will both cause the people who have played games they want to buy accumulate anticipation AND people who haven't played them will be experiencing the games as new when they come back around.
The fact that they can't make any money off of the downloads right now might also factor into it.
otakucode
Nirolak
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Dauragon88: Sometimes when they red ring they'll work one more time about an hour later before they die again so you may have a short chance to try them.
@Moonshadow101: Yeah what's up with that. They really need to just get rid of the limit or offer a non arcade download service if they want to keep arcade small.
Nirolak
Okari
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Today is the 23rd.
Okari
scotty
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
I'll be the first to ask:
Why?
scotty
DemonBlood
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
@Moonshadow101:
I was laughing at that too. Everyone who has a 360 should try The Dishwasher. Great game. Little Gamers is cool too.
DemonBlood
Dauragon88
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Oh goddammit!
My 360 red ringed a few hours ago :(
Dauragon88
Moonshadow101
Posted 8:06 PM 3/3/08
Interesting note: One of the games clocks in at 190 megs.
Apparent, no-name indies are more important than Capcom.
Moonshadow101