D3Publisher To Support Xbox Live Arcade

Officials from D3Publisher of America (D3PA), a subsidiary of Japanese budget priced publisher D3Publisher, have announced plans to provide downloadable games for Xbox Live Arcade, including the critically acclaimed Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. D3PA’s Japanese parent company is best known for the budget priced Simple series on previous generation consoles, including cult classics such as the Oneechanbara and Chikyuu Boueigun (aka Earth Defense Force) series. However, as revealed in a recent Gamasutra interview, the company is unlikely to continue producing original budget priced titles at retail, due to the larger budgets of next generation titles. It has subsequently been speculated that the company may seek to release downloadable content on the Xbox 360 and other consoles. The first three games on the Xbox Live Arcade will be racing game Mad Tracks by developer Load, Inc., miniature bowling game RocketBowl by Large Animal and puzzle and role-playing game hybrid Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords by Infinite Interactive – the latter already released for the Nintendo DS and PSP. The games are described as the first of many for Xbox Live Arcade, although no further details of other titles have been revealed, nor any hint that other downloadable games will be released for the PlayStation 3 or Wii. "What ties all of D3PA's titles together are not genre or size of game or developer, but an unsurpassable element of fun," said Yoji Takenaka, executive vice president and COO of D3PA. "We look forward to capitalizing on Xbox Live Arcade's wide reach and ease of use to bring gamers unique titles that fit the bill of delivering the highest enjoyment factors."