My Video Review of MS Game Room:
I'm enjoying it, if I don't think about it too much. It's really a microtransaction nightmare, but I'll get to that.
I had no issues with freezing, crashing or server errors that keep getting reported on - on either 360 or Windows versions. The games themselves aren't bad for starting off and the achievements for playing in the game room itself are nice. There are tons of nice touches, like the arcade ambience option, the retro themes and objects, realistic arcade machines (even down to actual control panels and glowing coin boxes), and the extras like Mascots are awesome. I like the medals system too, it gives a great incentive to get better at a game I normally wouldn't.
However, they are two totally different versions - Win and 360. You have to make separate arcades for each platform, which sucks. You also have to pay extra to use the machines on both, so pick one platform and go with it. I'm staying with 360, more friends there.
And it's EXPENSIVE! Or, it can be - haven't bought but a few games myself. Of course, if you have Namco Museum or something from XBLA, the games don't carry over. But worse is how costly everything gets.
Here's the thing: to unlock new items for your arcade, you have to earn medals to level up. To do that, you have to buy arcade games. But once you unlock the few medals for a game, you have to buy another game to get more medals to unlock any more stuff to customize your arcade - otherwise things get bland quickly. The games needed to level up are only $3 each for each platform, but here's the math:
15 medals per game
20 medals per "level up"
50 levels to unlock all arcade items
so...
1000 medals needed = 66.6 games needed
@3.00/game...
~$200 to unlock all items, not including "extras" ie. mascots
not to mention there aren't 66 games yet. This sucks. But the concept is interesting, I hope eventually you can walk around in the arcade with your friends, as the ambiance is incredible.
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