Game Room: It Has The Goods

While I liked the concept of Microsoft's Game Room, a downloadable virtual arcade for the Xbox 360 and PC, I didn't know if I would actually enjoy its games or not. I spent time in arcades in the 70's and 80's, I owned an Atari 2600, and played games on a friend's Intellivision, so the games from all of these sources were definitely familiar to me.

But my fondest gaming memories aren't any of those. It's the early Commodore 64 and Amiga games I played in the 1980's, so Game Room, while interesting, was never a slam dunk for me. But if the first crop of games released for it are any indication, I think it's something I will be returning to for quite some time to come.

In a nutshell Game Room is a virtualized environment, capable of emulating any number of arcade or console systems. For starters a handful of arcade, Atari 2600, and Intellivision games are available for it, priced at $3 for the Xbox version or $5 for a version that is playable on both the Xbox and also the PC, via Microsoft's much maligned Games for Windows platform.

When you first install Game Room you are given a handful of tokens, the system's equivalent of quarters. This allows you to initially try out games before laying down any money. And you can opt to not buy the games outright; you can pay 50 cents to play a game at any time. There are other ways to get tokens or free plays as well, but suffice it to say the prices seem a bit steep, although compared to other platforms, are actually fairly reasonable.

But the actual experience is what matters, and for me, it definitely delivers. Game Room is a quick download on either of its supported platforms, and once you download the game packs available for it, you can hop in and start playing games. The whole experience is very retro, with the definite vibe of real arcade. You can bop around from room to room, trying arcade machines, and once you buy a particular game, you can place the cabinets in themed rooms with unlockable props adorning them.

And while all of that is cool, what's really neat is the actual game play. I have tried maybe a dozen or so of the games, but the ones I bought initially are Red Baron, Super Cobra, and Lunar Lander. All of them seem authentic, look great, and control really well. For anyone who is a god at arcade games, that's probably enough. But for those of us looking to have fun, not rule the leaderboards, there's more.

Every game supports game saves, replay saves, and even allows you you to rewind mid-game so when you make a mistake, you can try it again. If you never made it to the end of a particular game because you ran out of patience or quarters, now you can give it a try. These features alone make Game Room very approachable, and when combined with the ability to play on either the Xbox or the PC, it makes it an irresistible platform for anyone with any love for these old games.

Microsoft had a lofty goal when they devised Game Room, and though many were skeptical of how it would turn out, from my standpoint it's a real winner. The games are fun, the environment is well thought out and inviting, and it's all inexpensive enough to afford. Microsoft has set a goal of delivering at least 1000 games in the next year or two, and if they get close to that goal, they will have created the ultimate virtual console.