Braid XBLA release date has been announced; it’s soon.
Finally the veil of secrecy is lifted. Braid is being released on Xbox Live Arcade on August 6th, 2008 (a mere 9 days from now!)
This is part of Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade promotion, wherein they publish good games on XBLA all in one big bundle. Here’s the full list of games:
- Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, July 30
- Braid, August 6
- Bionic Commando: Rearmed, August 13
- Galaga Legions, August 20
- Castle Crashers, August 27
Here is Microsoft’s official Summer of Arcade site where you can find more information, including contests that some folks may be interested in. Disclaimer: We apologize for the way Microsoft chose to present our game’s logo with the big word “Braid” covering the interesting part of the picture, along with popping-out animals on it to make it look XXXTREME like the other games. This is not much like the art we submitted to them; our tastes don’t run that way.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Yes! (Whew)
July 28th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Also, um, why did Braid get E 10+? I figured that, well, there’s nothing too horrible…
July 28th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Braid was originally rated E, but at one point I revised the ending and now it has mild naughty language in it. That was enough to push Braid over the ratings line. (There already was a little bit of naughty language when it was rated E, but not enough to set off the alarms).
July 28th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Ah, well anyways, can’t wait to play and congrats.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:37 am
The title was briefly changed to Fuckin’ Braid.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Jonathan, any plans on ever releasing a level editor for the PC version? There are a lot of excellent mechanics in this game and I kinda want to play with them…
Regardless, day 1! Curious about the new ending. :3
July 28th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I would like to release the level editor. The bigger question is whether the game can be made to reasonably run with different levels than what’s there now. Braid is very, very hardcoded…
July 28th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Sorry if this has been asked many times before…but any chance this will get a PS3 port? Would you be interested in having someone else port it for you, maybe?
July 28th, 2008 at 11:11 am
There is a possibility for a PS3 port but not for a little while; there is a limited-time exclusivity in place.
I think it might be pretty hard to port Braid to the PS3 (speaking as someone who has done PS3 programming before). Jeff at RAD Game Tools tells me they have a pretty fast Vorbis decoder that (I think) uses the SPUs, so that is one of the main stumbling blocks. But there are other parts of Braid that are more expensive CPU-wise than you might think, and they might have trouble running at sufficient speed on the PS3.
I probably would hire someone to port it, though (given that I have the money to do that) since I would rather be working on the next game.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I just wanted to congratulate you on finally releasing what looks to be an extraordinary game, both in concept and execution. I hope that it is a huge success.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I hope so too! We’ll see.
But really, the important part is that the game will be out where people can play it.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Congrats Jon and David
And so are you telling me this game isn’t extreme? Yawn… I can only play games that require me to chug 30 Mountain Dews and get into fights in-order to calm down after playing them.
Seriously looking forward to it
July 28th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I have been waiting for this game to come out for three years.
Congratulations Jon and David, and August 6th can’t come fast enough.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Congrats again. Does that exclusivity thing also exclude a PC version, and how long is it?
July 28th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I can do the PC version at any time… the hold-up is me doing the necessary programming and testing.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Can I ask how long will have to wait till STEAM version?
July 29th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Finally!
I hope people notice Braid despite being sandwiched by Geometry Wars and Bionic Commando, but maybe being released in a busy month will draw more attention.
Reading about Braid over the last year has really excited and resonated with me (and challenged some of my perceptions), although I hesitate to mention the game or use it as an example of something I believe in because it hasn’t been released. Hopefully soon I can speak of it with confidence.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:10 am
I’ve got a gamer-chubby…
This is THE game I’ve been waiting for.
If you want to make Braid more extreme, how about releasing a licensed gamer fuel taurine-infused beverage alongside it? That or doritos.
In all seriousness, congrats! we wait with baited breath.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:53 am
Not sure if this has been announced/revealed yet, but how many levels are there in the game?
July 29th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Great to see it coming out finally, though I’ll have to wait for the PC version as I’m not impressed with the rest of the xbox360 offerings enough to warrant a purchase.
So good luck with the PC development!
July 29th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Man, it feels like this game has been in production for a long time! lol
Congrats on the game, I have my Microsoft Points put aside already.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:47 am
This fantastic, I think this is the most solid game in the “Summer of Arcade!”
Also congratulations for your Best of E3 2008 award from IGN. You’ll get a cool little trophy to put on a shelf.
Bug Kevin about it at MS, IGN likes to send these to Microsoft instead of the developers.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I had not seen that IGN award; thanks for pointing it out. (I am at the Develop conference in England right now and so am a little slow on the uptake).
July 29th, 2008 at 10:58 am
FuKuy: I don’t know if there will be a Steam version; that depends on conversations that have yet to happen between me and Valve. There will definitely be a PC version though.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Phil: There are about 70 … or so … puzzles in the game. They are divided up unevenly between levels — the levels vary a lot in size. I think there are about 40 levels if you don’t count the story screens.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
This game makes my heart dragons dance for joy. I’ve been purposefully avoiding reading about it too much, but at long last the time is nearing when I can play the game!
July 29th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
awesome news, I had hoped I would have a 360 by release, but I guess I can crash my stepbrothers for the time being
July 30th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Dude, get working on the PC version and try release it same day. The xbox live arcade wont appreciate the game like us PC players will.
And if you don’t want to use valve, maybe you could use Penny Arcade’s new online distribution company. http://www.playGreenhouse.com. I had a pleasant experience buying the game there.
and I think they give more developer returns than valve.
July 30th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I’m sure Jonathon will get to the PC verison as fast possible (give him a break; 3 years{+?}!)
Also, please don’t disrespect console players by saying they can’t appreciate it as much as PC players, because that is entirely false.
(Sorry if you’d consider this spam, Jonathon)
July 31st, 2008 at 3:14 am
Just wanted to let you know Johnathon, Valve doesn’t contact developers for getting their games on Steam, You would have to contact them!
http://valvesoftware.com/business/
August 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am
Also try Stardock’s Impulse distribution (sorry that I doin’t have a direct link): http://www.stardock.com/
August 1st, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I’m really looking forward to this one and want to congratulate the developers on creating a unique and vivid world. Any chance of a Mac ver?
August 7th, 2008 at 6:55 am
Very nice game man, contrats.
I’ll be waiting for the PC version, specially if you manage to ship a level-editor. +1 too stardock distro. Much better than Steam in my humble opinion.
August 7th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
A Mac or PSN version would make my year…
August 8th, 2008 at 9:15 am
“But there are other parts of Braid that are more expensive CPU-wise than you might think, and they might have trouble running at sufficient speed on the PS3″
“Learn to code!”
August 9th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Please bring this to PC soon!
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:40 am
This game is driving me nuts in exactly the way I’d guess it’s supposed to. The feeling of achievement when you finally suss out how to get the apparently impossible pieces is something I haven’t experienced in years.
Congrats all round.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Any word on the PC version? The main page says sometime in 2008, but there’s not many days left in 2008.
Thanks!