Rumor: Worms HD wriggles out after CES

by Richard Mitchell { Dec 27th 2006 at 11:30AM }

Our friends at XBLArcade have informed us that Worms HD -- an Xbox Live Arcade version of the classic series -- is near completion, according to a forum post on the Team17 website (registration required). The post declares that the game is already on Partnernet (a debug and press only version of Xbox Live) and has only one more bug to be worked out. Furthermore, the game should be available "hot on the heels" of CES, which ends January 11. Worms HD will be officially announced during the show.

XBLArcade also reports that Team17 is already working on downloadable content -- free and premium -- and that the game is supposedly easier to "pick up and play" than previous iterations. We share their sentiment that this may or may not be a good thing for Worms, as one of the best parts of the series is its depth of strategy. Hopefully, this will remain intact in the Arcade release. At any rate, we can't wait to get a crack at Worms HD in all its 2D glory. With any luck, it may wash out the sour taste of the recent 3D iterations. Anyone else excited to pick this up?

Tags: arcade, live arcade, LiveArcade, team17, worms, worms hd, WormsHd, xbla, xblarcade, xbox live arcade, XboxLiveArcade, xla

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jon @ Dec 27th 2006 11:43AM

Oh hell yea. I've always loved the 2D versions of the Worms series. I even went so far as to purchase Worms Blast for the Gamecube. :o

BklynKid @ Dec 27th 2006 12:00PM

I think I speak for everyone when I say: w00t!

JRock3x8 - 2o2p @ Dec 27th 2006 12:44PM

somewhat off topic : I received 1600 MS Points as a gift this Xmas and started looking around the Marketplace for what I wanted to buy.

When it finally came down to pushing the button to pay for content I found that I really couldn't do it - the stuff was just too darn expensive.

I did finally unload 800 pts for Doom, but only to relive the literally countless hours of my adolescent life that I spent playing that game (how do you do the iddqd and idkfa on the 360?)

If these games were sold at retail on store shelves, they would barely fetch $5 for the $10 games and the $5 games would have to be bundled in groups of 10 and sold for $10. The point is these things are way way way overpriced.

Did anyone see the 12 gamer tiles for Pac-Man for 190 points?!? Let me do the math for you : That's $2.40 for 12 pictures or 20 cents per picture for a 40x40 thumbnail of Pac-Man.

I love MS' defense on all of this stuff - you don't have to buy it. You're right, MS. And I won't buy it.

(Except that they already got my family to spend $20 - curses!!!)

J.Goodwin @ Dec 27th 2006 1:03PM

Given how long some games sit on partnernet before release, I wouldn't hold my breath. It would be nice to have a Doom style announcement of immediate availability.

Matt Hayes @ Dec 27th 2006 2:01PM

If you have to pass around a single controller like all the other console ports of yore, then no thank you. Not even for free.

lord hobo @ Dec 27th 2006 6:53PM

hell yeh a game that will bring back memory's

RMGreen @ Dec 27th 2006 8:43PM

Worms World Party for the Dreamcast allowed for each player to use their own controller (although you could pass the controller as well if you liked). I don't see why they wouldn't do it the same way this time.

RE: Cost of games, obviously whatever price is acceptable is subjective. I certainly wouldn't buy any picture packs for those prices. But with some of the games, you do get a little more than buying it in the store. You get to play it online on your XBox 360 with all the benifits that XBox Live brings.

Sure, plenty of people will say "I can get the same experience using a PC!". Well great, then don't buy the games. But for myself, XBox Live presents such a lower barrier of entry to actually playing the game that it's worth a markup to make it happen. With a PC game, you pretty much have to consiously say "I'm going to go play Worms", put the CD in, load it up, and hunt for a game. On XBL, you can just hop on, see a friend online and invite them on the spur of the moment. That's worth an extra $5 to me.