Rez HD arriving this month for 800 MSP

37 Comments by Scott Jon Siegel Jan 8th 2008 8:00AM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm

Good news for synaesthetes and fans of all things awesome: a friendly press release from Q Entertainment informs us that Testuya Mizuguchi's Rez HD will be landing on Xbox Live Arcade in "only a few weeks," for the very reasonable price of 800 Microsoft Points.

Along with the highly-anticipated "trance vibration" support, the enhanced port of the Dreamcast/PS2 classic will include a high-definition upgrade to the visuals, and feature 5.1 surround sound. The game will also introduce new audio and visual effects, a new Replay Theater for re-watching play data, and the usual suite of XBLA leaderboards and achievements. Check out the gallery below for some gorgeous new shots of Rez in all its trippy, HD glory.

Gallery: Rez HD (XBLA)

Tags: q-entertainment, rez, rez-hd, tetsuya-mizuguchi, xbla

(Page 1) Reader Comments

Xanto: Jan 8th 2008; 8:03AM

Ah, such great news to read first thing in the morning!

Orenthol James Simpson: Jan 8th 2008; 8:10AM

Best news I've gotten so far this week.

Psaakyrn: Jan 8th 2008; 8:21AM

Ok, lets see how many post we can get before someone comes in with an "extra controller support" joke.

baby sea tuna: Jan 8th 2008; 8:23AM

We don't need to wait, Joystiq already mentioned it.

Rocketboy: Jan 8th 2008; 8:22AM

Worth buying a 360 for Rez HD alone...

Now if only there was a reason to buy a PS3...

Or a Wii

(See how I slammed everyone? Booya..)

Psaakyrn: Jan 8th 2008; 8:28AM

Until they offer support for the original controller you still have to get the Dreamcast for optimal experience anyway.

Yubastard: Jan 8th 2008; 8:39AM

or PS2...

Greyseal: Jan 8th 2008; 8:49AM

I don't follow your logic... what is the 360 controller missing? It's light-years better than the DC controller, and I prefer it to the Dual Shock as well (but I'll leave that one open to debate).

Foetoid: Jan 8th 2008; 9:21AM

Well said Rocketboy, i'm glad Rez is coming out because like you said, now there is actually a reason to buy a 360. BOOYA!

Most 360 fanboys are pissed because Prime 3 showed them that an 'inferior kiddy gimmick machine' has better FPS controls than thier own hardcore FPS console. Do you need a tissue?

Foetoid: Jan 8th 2008; 9:24AM

Rocketboy: Jan 9th 2008; 3:26PM

Wow Foe, way to be the "I Don't Get It" guy...

Lekko: Jan 10th 2008; 4:23PM

Funny, I was playing Rez in HD on my PS3 earlier today.

PS3 80 GB / PS2 version Rez disc / Dualshock 3 controller.

Rocketboy: Jan 10th 2008; 8:19AM

Last gen graphics on HD < Updated Graphics on HD designed for HD

Yubastard: Jan 8th 2008; 8:41AM

it seems the "extra controllers" thing is native? I won't have to do a hack job or strip the guts out of the vibrator to put it inside xbox gamepad?

at last my gf will be pleased when I play... worth 8 trillion MS points alone...

Gangsta Smurf: Jan 8th 2008; 9:32AM

I no longer do drugs therefore Rez is unnecessary. Monopoly however..

JeffM: Jan 8th 2008; 12:44PM

I don't keep up on XBLA releases... is there Monopoly? They could publish a whole suite of board games that I would like to play... much like Uno is very entertaining!

baby sea tuna: Jan 8th 2008; 9:45AM

Dunno, I personally wasn't all that impressed with MP3 "revolutionary FPS control scheme." Not enough to play it all the way through, anyway...and *certainly* not enough to double-post about it.

baby sea tuna: Jan 8th 2008; 9:47AM

I'm beginning to think the reply system doesn't play all that well with our Active Directory.

Greyseal: Jan 8th 2008; 10:12AM

MP3 had an amazing control scheme, but I'm not sure it's applicable to other FPS games. The lock-on mechanic puts circle-strafing on autopilot while you aim your weapon. It makes sense within that game, but it would eliminate one of the primary gameplay challenges of games like Halo.

baby sea tuna: Jan 8th 2008; 10:52AM

My main problem was with the non-shooting controls, like weapon switching and scanning. More of a Wii-mote layout design flaw than anything else.

StrangeBum: Jan 8th 2008; 9:49AM

Also, not sure if anyone here read the article about Texas Instruments' new 3D technology built into their new tvs. But those televisions (or any other 3Difying means) plus this game plus the Trance Vibrator and the 5.1 surround = most immersive gaming experience evar!

Antonio: Jan 8th 2008; 10:09AM

w00t! I'll be there for this one on day one! And $10 is a steal.

Nate: Jan 8th 2008; 10:10AM

Aww... for XBox? But it was a PS2 game! No love for us PS3 guys wanting to please our girlfriends?

Nudgenudge: Jan 8th 2008; 10:46AM

How do you want to please your girlfriend with no rumble?

Just asking.

Laner: Jan 8th 2008; 4:22PM

Did you just admit that you can't please your girlfriend without outside assistance?

ScottyGEE32: Jan 9th 2008; 6:04AM

Hahaha. those two comments were hilarious!
XD

Dustin: Jan 8th 2008; 10:26AM

I'm just glad it's finally coming. Seems like all the high-profile XBLA games take forever and a half to get out the door. I sold my PS2 copy of REZ not too long ago, so now it will be nice to compare the original Dreamcast version with the HD 360 version when it comes out.

tim: Jan 8th 2008; 11:40AM

PLEASE let this be one of the free downloads we can redeem from the Xbox Live outage!!!

Lunatone: Jan 8th 2008; 11:41AM

Okay, so here's the difference (at least why Rez on Dreamcast kicked the snot out of the PS2 version of Rez) for those not in the know.

When the PS2 was developed, it had an inferior sound card compared to the Dreamcast and therefor, suffered. When one plays rez on the PS2, some of the subtleties which made the experience of Rez more and more enjoyable were unable to be processed and were removed. But, when one plays the Dreamcast version of Rez after playing the PS2 version, you'll never want to go back again.

But now, since the 360 is bringing Rez HD, there should be no excuse for lost sound effects. I'm excited to be able to bring this to Hd. I think that there will be some epic shitting of bricks when it comes out.

Matthew: Jan 8th 2008; 12:12PM

That's much cheaper than the PS2 version. I'll bite.

KiraXD: Jan 8th 2008; 12:19PM

WOOOOOOOT this made my day... this game alone will be worth the weight of my 360 (since the only other game it runs is FFXI 99% of the time)

Most anticipated title of 2008!

Macroy: Jan 8th 2008; 12:20PM

Is anyone else a little wary of buying ANY XBLA games until we get our free game?

JeffM: Jan 8th 2008; 12:47PM

Question: I've heard a lot about this game- is it really worth buying? Or is it more of a novelty throwback?

Hopefully there will be a demo...

Matt_M: Jan 8th 2008; 2:37PM

First- for $10, heck yes it's worth buying. The only major complaint during its initial release was it was too short for $50- but because it was such an amazing experience copies of the game are hard to find for that price even now. $10 is a steal.

Second- every XBLA game has a demo. Every single one. It's part of the approval process. So, yeah, you can try it out.

Saneless: Jan 8th 2008; 2:46PM

I bought it because people were as enthusiastic as everyone here was.. And I did it from an import shop at 50 bucks. I loved every second of it and to this day it's one of the rare games I keep going back to over and over. A beautiful experience.

Then I bought it for the PS2 just for the heck of it.

DC version is better, though.. All I know is if I buy this on XBLA I will have officially spent about 140 on Rez. 50 DC Import, 40 PS2, 10 XBLA, and 40 for the Trance Vibrator :)

JET: Jan 8th 2008; 6:51PM

Nice to see the REZ DC fans here. I liked that version better too. I know it sounds antiquated now, but I had the VGA box for Rez, allowing it run in 640x480 instead of PS2's 480x360. Until I played the DC version, I could never read the tiny text on the sides of the screen and in the aiming reticule.

Shame their not activating the official Trance Vibrator, though. I'm still gonna plug mine in to see if they work...

JET

Jeff: Jan 9th 2008; 9:00PM

hope it comes out before my birthday! Man I'm excited, even though it's the same 'ol game, it's gonna be like putting on glasses for the first time.

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