Get Shank'd in the Xbox Live Deal of the Week

@Cleric

You and me both!

@Axcalibur

"Instead of giving me something creative and different for cheap, please focus on ripping me off for with the same bland content I keep buying over and over again."

... I just don't get people anymore.

@sunfiredragon

You missed a couple points. First, the game isn't cheap - $10 for a throwaway title is a rip off. Have I played the game? Nope, hardly even heard of it. There's so much crap on XBLA that I can't be bothered reading up on every single title.

Second, I'd rather invest money in an experience I'm going to get more fun out of. A Halo: Reach map pack will give me much more "game time" than a game like Shank will, for the money. Same goes for COD: Black Ops - but if the price stays at 1200 points, then it's a pass for me, even I have my limits with map packs.

I'd much rather expand a game that I play with friends for hours a week, then take a gamble on a minor blip in gaming radar.

@Axcalibur lol invest. its a videogame dude. what kind of returns do you expect to see on your "investment"

@kojo87

You don't think enjoyment is a "return"?

Why the heck does anyone play videogames? I would say mostly for enjoyment. Whether you buy, rent or steal, ultimately you're investing money and time into something for a return of enjoyment.

@Axcalibur

You seem kind of out of place here on Joystiq. You're big into Halo and COD, which is fine, I like them too, but you claim this is a throw away title without even trying it. You've never even heard of Shank and obviously know nothing about it, but (worst of all) think that XBLA is full of crap? XBLA has some of the best games this gen! You should read Joystiq a little bit more as they do a good job in educating people about what other gaming experiences are out there besides Halo and COD.

@Axcalibur

Maybe you shouldn't waste your "points" on expensive repetitive map packs

@Uncle Jesse

You make valid points (makes sense, you made valid points on Full House as well). It's unfortunate because obviously the few sentenaces I limit myself too when making a post doesn't paint the full picture of me as a gamer, and readers have to fill in their own blanks.

In reality, I read Joystiq every day, but I won't read every article or review, I'd rather spend those few minutes doing what I love to do, and that's game. I own a Wii, PS3 and 360. So what? Well, with all three consoles churning out great games, i just don't have time to waste on games that come out of no-where. If this means I miss out on great titles, that's the price I have to pay.

Now, your most valid point was that I haven't even tried it. Ultimately, it's wrong of me to critique a game I haven't played, let alone read about. So, just now, I've done a quick read on the Gamespot review, and it honestly sounds like I'm not missing much.

I think ultimately my comment was aimed at using my MS points for something I know I'll enjoy (Halo/COD DLC) rather then something that's unknown. My mistake? Possibly.

@Axcalibur

You're right, all I have to go buy is the couple of sentences you post out there for everyone to make assumptions from and when you say XBLA is full of crap and judge a game you never played, Uncle Jesse has very little mercy for that kind of talk.

Obviously, it's your money and if you are guaranteed to get enjoyment out of the map packs, then spend it on that stuff. I just think that you should check out what XBLA has to offer as well. You can demo everything for free which a lot of people don't seem to take advantage of. I own all three consoles too and just bought Black Ops yesterday, yet I still find myself going back to Super Meat Boy instead.

Anyhoo, thanks for the response!

@Axcalibur

It's ashame Joystiq doesn't have some sort of "Xbox Live" integration, an opportunity to view others Xbox Live persona's to see what they play and so on.

Uncle Jesse made a point of saying that I should check out more of XBLA, it's unfortunate, because if he saw my gamercard, he'd see that I play and purchase new XBLA games at least 1-2 per month. The last being the surprising fun Snoopy game.

At any rate, if any haters or lovers have a need, my Xbox Live name is the same as my Joystiq name - Axcalibur

(on that note, my PS3 name is the same as well).

Anyways, time to move on to another story :)

@Schlecht

Similar point I'm making in an above post, but it's looking pretty down-voted by now. Guess most Joystiq readers aren't social gamers...

@Schlecht it has multiplayer you dolts.

@kojo87

A few co-op levels... technically, you're right, that's multiplayer. However, realistically, it'll last you all of 30 minutes. That doesn't sound worth the effort.

So, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't have multiplayer.

@Schlecht

I can't wait until every game is made as JUST multiplayer deathmatch thanks to you guys

@Schlecht
Unfortunately, not every genre of game hosts multi-player aspects very well. So saying you won't buy a game just because it's not multi-player sends the wrong messaging to the publishers/marketing folks that ultimately decide what features end up in a game.

I'd say Shank is one of them. The small local coop campaign they implemented was perfect for the size of this gem.

The developers of this game knew it was going to be a "smaller" game. And if you consider that multi-player in just about every smaller game is ignored by the community within a couple weeks of release, I'm glad they didn't waste their budget on a portion of the game that will inevitably sit vacant. It's especially annoying when they base achievements and trophies off multi-player modes. If you don't buy the games the moment they come out, you can usually forget about being able to add them to your gamer score/trophy case.