Oddworld Inhabitants

The original Xbox cost $299.99 when it went on sale in the United States in 2001. However, GamesIndustry.biz reports that if some at Microsoft had had their way, the console would have been significantly cheaper — as in $299.99 cheaper.

Oddworld Inhabitants’ Lorne Lanning recently told GamesIndustry.biz that during the early days of the Xbox’s development, some Microsoft employees suggested that the company give its inaugural games console away for free. “At the time, [Microsoft] thought that the core market was going to be casual,” he said. “They were going to be the casual gamers’ machine. Now, that’s why they approached us because they said, ‘We think you’ve got something that competes in that Mario space, and we think Mario’s the thing to kill… We see that space. We want that audience. We love Oddworld, so why don’t you get on this bandwagon? And we might give the box away.'”

His story was corroborated by Seamus Blackley, the console’s co-creator. “In the early days of Xbox, especially before we had figured out how to get greenlit for the project as a pure game console, everybody and their brother who saw the new project starting tried to come in and say it should be free, say it should be forced to run Windows after some period of time,” said Blackley.

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Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty was developed by Just Add Water and published by Oddworld Inhabitants. It was released on March 27, 2015 for $19.99. A copy was provided for review purposes.

It’s a funny thing, nostalgia. Only last week I was preparing to write my review of the excellent Shiftlings and likening it to the original PlayStation One Abe’s Oddysee and now, here I am, reviewing the actual remake of that very same game. Unbelievably, the existence and imminent release of Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty had completely bypassed me up until last week, so it’s been especially satisfying to experience it alongside a modern peer.

The good news is that because New ‘n’ Tasty is a ground-up remake of the 1997 PlayStation original, it looks absolutely fantastic running on next gen hardware. More importantly, it retains the clumsy, deliberate weight that epitomises the games titular character, Abe, and adds so much to the way that the game plays. People often say that you should be careful what you wish for, so let’s find out if New ‘n’ Tasty lives up to both the expectation set by the original, and the demands of an increasingly picky modern audience.

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Two and a half years after it was first announced for an Xbox platform, Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty will finally release tomorrow, March 27, publisher Oddworld Inhabitants, Inc. has …
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Here we are once again at the start of what’s sure to be another fantastic year of XBLA releases. Each day this week XBLAFans will be rolling out a list of eight of our most anticipated Xbox Live Arcade releases of 2013. While we can’t possibly cover every single XBLA game planned for this year, we’ll be giving you a varied list of 40 of the most promising titles we expect to release on XBLA in 2013. Once it’s all done, be sure to check back in next Monday when each staff member makes his/her picks for the game he/she is most looking forward to.

Developer: Moon Spider Studio

Harold is a platforming/racing game, but not as you would expect. Far from charismatic or capable, the protagonist Harold is an embarrassment with legs. Luckily he has you, his guardian angel, to manipulate the track against his rivals and occasionally kick him in the pants with lightning. Harold twists side-scrolling racing with urgent puzzle-solving into its environment.

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The story of the Oddworld franchise on the Xbox, and now Xbox Live Arcade is a complex one. When Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee launched for the original Xbox, it was …
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Just Add Water has announced that Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee New N’ Tasty will release for multiple platforms, including Xbox Live Arcade about a year from now, during autumn of 2013. Formerly known as Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee HD, the game is a high-definition remake of the game that started it all, the PSOne classic, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. Known for its unique visual style, blend of puzzles and platforming and truly one of a kind humor, Just Add Water’s update does more than just lay on a shiny new coat of paint.

Gone are the days of “screen-flipping” that the original Oddworld games were known for. Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee New N’ Tasty is being built from the ground up as a three-dimensional side-scroller. While approximately “eighty to ninety percent” of the game’s puzzles remain the same as the original game’s, the change in presentation and other small user friendliness related updates are said to have changed the way gamers move through the depths of the industrial dangers that await Abe. Don’t take our word for it however; Above you will find a video of the footage that Just Add Wated presented to the crowd at the Eurogamer Expo, in high-definition. Read More

As many of you know, developer Just Add Water is working on a high-definition remaster of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath that they want to release on Xbox 360. Their preferred method of delivery is through Xbox Live Arcade, but they have also stated that they are willing to take the Games on Demand route. Thus far, Microsoft has stymied all of Just Add Water’s efforts to release the game on their console…

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