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100-484: In Comic Jumper players control Captain Smiley, a comic book hero whose comics are poorly received. Seeking help from Twisted Pixel themselves he "jumps" in other comics, hoping to glean from each genre's popularity. As he enters each comic genre his design and weaponry changes to suit the comic style. In its first month Comic Jumper sold over 40,000 copies and as of year-end 2011 had sold over 103,000 copies. Critics praised

200-531: A disc in it, or when the disc tray was ejected, but the user had the option to select what the console does if a game is in the tray on start up, or if inserted when already on. A simplified version of it was also accessible at any time via the Xbox Guide button on the gamepad. This simplified version showed the user's gamercard, Xbox Live messages and friends list. It also allowed for personal and music settings, in addition to voice or video chats, or returning to

300-541: A drop in software sales in subsequent years. This generation ended with the discontinuation of the Neo Geo in 2004. Features that distinguish some fourth generation consoles from third generation consoles include: Additionally, in specific cases, fourth generation hardware featured: The PC Engine was the result of a collaboration between Hudson Soft and NEC and launched in Japan on October 30, 1987. It launched under

400-537: A flashing power button that alternates between green and red is an indication of a "General Hardware Failure" unlike older models where three of the quadrants would light up red. The Xbox 360 launched with 14 games in North America and 13 in Europe. The console's best-selling game for 2005, Call of Duty 2 , sold over a million copies. Five other games sold over a million copies in the console's first year on

500-399: A heartthrob gym teacher. After completing these jobs, Captain Smiley is able to relaunch his comic which becomes a hit. However, his ego causes tension between his coworkers due to learning nothing from his adventures, resulting all of them to quit, meanwhile Twisted Pixel takes all the profits from the comic's sales, leaving Smiley with nothing. Comic Jumper is a 2.5D action game in which

600-530: A limited-edition bundle which sold out quickly with over 10,000 pre-orders. Blue Dragon is one of three Xbox 360 games to surpass 200,000 units in Japan, along with Tales of Vesperia and Star Ocean: The Last Hope . Mistwalker's second game, Lost Odyssey also sold over 100,000 copies. The 2007 Game Critics Awards honored the Xbox 360 platform with 38 Nominations and 11 Wins. By 2015, game releases started to decline as most publishers instead focused on

700-676: A proprietary port for use with the Kinect sensor. The Xbox 360 E, a further streamlined variation of the 360 S with a two-tone rectangular case inspired by Xbox One , was released in 2013. In addition to its revised aesthetics, the Xbox 360 E also has one fewer USB port, no AV connector (and thus is HDMI-only), and no longer supports S/PDIF . November 22, 2005 April 29, 2007 August 6, 2007 October 27, 2007 July 13, 2008 August 1, 2008 September 5, 2008 August 28, 2009 June 19, 2010 August 3, 2010 June 10, 2013 April 20, 2016 The original model of

800-411: A single year. In 2009, IGN named the Xbox 360 the sixth-greatest video game console of all time, out of a field of 25. Although not the best-selling console of the seventh generation, the Xbox 360 was deemed by TechRadar to be the most influential, by emphasizing digital media distribution and online gaming through Xbox Live, and by popularizing game achievement awards . PC Magazine considered

900-543: Is a home video game console developed by Microsoft . As the successor to the original Xbox , it is the second console in the Xbox series . It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information announced later that month at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). As a seventh-generation console , it primarily competed with Sony 's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 's Wii . The Xbox 360 features an online service, Xbox Live , which

1000-481: Is canceled due to poor sales. In order to get his own series back up and running again, Captain Smiley and Star, with endorsement from Twisted Pixel , must raise the funds necessary by making guest appearances in other comic books. In the fantasy comic, Nanoc the Obliviator , the duo help the mighty warrior, Nanoc, defeat Captain Smiley's enemy, Puttmaster, who has turned the land into a giant mini-golf course. In

1100-529: Is handled by the ATI Xenos , which has 10  MB of eDRAM . Its main memory pool is 512 MB in size. Originally, the Xbox 360 was equipped with only 256 MB of RAM, but Epic , the Gears of War developer, demonstrated to Microsoft that the console should have 512 MB of RAM to deliver much better performance. When asked about this, Epic Games Executive Vice President Mark Rein said in 2006: "So

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1200-525: Is on the bottom when vertical (right side when horizontal) and requires the opening of a concealed door to access it. (This does not void the warranty.) The Xbox 360 Slim/E hard drives are standard 2.5" SATA laptop drives, but have a custom enclosure and firmware so that the Xbox 360 can recognize it. The Xbox 360 uses the triple-core IBM designed Xenon as its CPU, with each core capable of simultaneously processing two threads , and can therefore operate on up to six threads at once. Graphics processing

1300-514: Is recognized on all models released before the Xbox 360 S by three quadrants of the ring around the power button flashing red. This error is often known as the " Red Ring of Death ". In April 2009, the warranty was extended to also cover failures related to the E74 error code . The warranty extension is not granted for any other types of failures that do not generate these specific error codes. After these problems surfaced, Microsoft attempted to modify

1400-451: Is shown over the gameplay, with the developers destroying nearby enemies. By performing well in each issue players can earn extra cash on top of their base fee. Additional bonuses can be earned by fulfilling reader expectations, which involves things such as completing a certain section without getting hit. Cash can also be earned by completing special challenge levels or exploring the main base and conversing with characters. Money earned from

1500-451: The Kinect motion sensing camera. The release of these additional services and peripherals helped the Xbox brand grow from gaming-only to encompassing all multimedia, turning it into a hub for living-room computing entertainment. Launched worldwide across 2005–2006, the Xbox 360 was initially in short supply in many regions, including North America and Europe. The earliest versions of

1600-611: The Mega Drive/Genesis console, the Super NES eventually took the top selling position, selling 49.10 million units worldwide, and would remain popular well into the fifth generation of consoles. Nintendo's market position was defined by their machine's increased video and sound capabilities, including exclusive first-party franchise titles such as F-Zero , Super Mario World , Star Fox , Super Mario Kart , Donkey Kong Country , The Legend of Zelda: A Link to

1700-650: The PS2 and Nintendo DS . Over 1 million units were sold in Spain across the console's lifecycle. The Xbox 360 crossed the 1 million units sold in Japan in March 2009, and the 1.5 million units sold in June 2011. Lifetime sales of the Xbox 360 in Japan stand at 1,616,218 million units. While the Xbox 360 has sold poorly in Japan, it improved upon the sales of the original Xbox , which had total sales of 474,992 units. Furthermore,

1800-835: The Satellaview and the Super Game Boy . The Satellaview was a satellite service released only in Japan and the Super Game Boy was an adapter for the SNES that allowed Game Boy games to be displayed on a TV in color. Nintendo, working along with Sony , also had plans to create a CD-ROM drive for the SNES (plans that resulted in a prototype version of the Sony PlayStation ), but eventually decided not to go through with that project, opting to team up with Philips in

1900-562: The United Kingdom would reach 3.2 million units by January 2009, per GfK Chart-Track . The 8 million unit mark was crossed in the UK by February 2013. Sales of the Xbox 360 would overtake the Wii later that year, topping 9 million units, making the Xbox 360 the best-selling 7th-generation console in the UK, as well as making it the third best-selling console of all time in the region, behind

2000-715: The Xbox One . The last official game released for the system was Just Dance 2019 , released on October 23, 2018, in North America, and October 25 in Europe and Australia. As one of the late updates to the software following its discontinuation, Microsoft will add the ability for Xbox 360 users to use cloud saves even if they do not have Xbox Live Gold prior to the launch of the Xbox Series X and Series S in November 2020. The new consoles will have backward compatibility for all Xbox 360 games that are already backward compatible on

2100-400: The 1993–2013 period, stating "It had its own social network, cross-game chat, new indie games every week, and the best version of just about every multiformat game ... Killzone is no Halo and nowadays Gran Turismo is no Forza , but it's not about the exclusives—there's nothing to trump Naughty Dog 's PS3 output, after all. Rather, it's about the choices Microsoft made back in

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2200-599: The American and Japanese NTSC standard to the European and Australian PAL standard. Companies such as Konami , with large budgets and a healthy following in Europe and Australia, readily optimized several games (such as the International Superstar Soccer series) for this audience, while most smaller developers did not. Also, few RPGs were released in Europe because the market for the genre

2300-511: The Elite was also marked down in price to US$ 299. Two major hardware revisions of the Xbox 360 have succeeded the original models; the Xbox 360 S (also referred to as the "Slim") replaced the original "Elite" and "Arcade" models in 2010. The S model carries a smaller, streamlined appearance with an angular case, and utilizes a redesigned motherboard designed to alleviate the hardware and overheating issues experienced by prior models. It also includes

2400-481: The Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo decided to censor the game's gore, but Sega kept the content in the game, via a code entered at the start screen. Sega's version of Mortal Kombat received generally more favorable reviews in the gaming press and outsold the SNES version three to one. This also led to Congressional hearings to investigate the marketing of violent video games to children, and to

2500-472: The Hedgehog franchise to compete with Nintendo's Super Mario series, as well as a very stylized marketing campaign aimed at American teenagers. Several other companies released consoles in this generation, but none of them were widely successful. Nevertheless, there were other companies that started to take notice of the maturing video game industry and begin making plans to release consoles of their own in

2600-429: The Hedgehog , pushing the Genesis as the "cooler" alternative to Nintendo's console and inventing the term "Blast Processing" to suggest that the Genesis was capable of handling games with faster motion than the SNES. Their advertising was often directly adversarial, leading to commercials such as "Genesis does what Nintendon't" and no scream at all. When the arcade game Mortal Kombat was ported for home release on

2700-660: The Mega Drive in Japan to concentrate on the new Sega Saturn . While this made perfect sense for the Japanese market, it was disastrous in North America: the market for Genesis games was much larger than for the Saturn, but Sega was left without the inventory or software to meet demand. Nintendo executives were initially reluctant to design a new system, but as the market transitioned to the newer hardware, Nintendo saw

2800-550: The Past and Super Metroid . The CD-i format was announced in the late 1980s, with the first machines compatible with the format being released in 1991. The Philips CD-i's main selling point was that it was more than a game machine and could be used for multimedia needs. Due to an agreement between Nintendo and Philips about an abortive CD add-on for the SNES (which eventually evolved into Sony 's PlayStation ), Philips also had rights to use some of Nintendo's franchises. The CD-i

2900-483: The PlayStation 3's lifespan for its sales and games to reach parity with the Xbox 360. TechRadar proclaimed that "Xbox 360 passes the baton as the king of the hill – a position that puts all the more pressure on its successor, Xbox One". The Xbox 360's advantage over its competitors was due to the release of high-profile games from both first party and third-party developers. The 2007 Game Critics Awards honored

3000-636: The Turbo Duo, ceased manufacturing in North America by 1994, though a small amount of software continued to trickle out for the platform. The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29, 1988. The console was released in New York City and Los Angeles on August 14, 1989, under the name Sega Genesis, and in the rest of North America later that year. It was launched in Europe and Australia on November 30, 1990, under its original name. Sega built their marketing campaign around their new mascot Sonic

3100-479: The TurboGrafx advertising from 1990 to 1994. The platform was well received initially, especially in larger markets, but failed to make inroads into the smaller metropolitan areas where NEC did not have as many store representatives or as focused in-store promotion. The TurboGrafx-16 failed to maintain its sales momentum or to make a strong impact in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 and its CD combination system,

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley - Misplaced Pages Continue

3200-441: The Xbox 360 completely. The significance of Japan's poor sales might be overstated in the media in comparison to overall international sales. The Xbox 360 sold much better than its predecessor, and although not the best-selling console of the seventh generation, it is regarded as a success since it strengthened Microsoft as a major force in the console market at the expense of well-established rivals. The inexpensive Wii did sell

3300-409: The Xbox 360 has been subject to a number of technical problems . Since the console's release in 2005, users have reported concerns over its reliability and failure rate . To aid customers with defective consoles, Microsoft extended the Xbox 360's manufacturer's warranty to three years for hardware failure problems that generate a "General Hardware Failure" error report. A "General Hardware Failure"

3400-617: The Xbox 360 managed to outsell both the PlayStation 3 and Wii the week ending September 14, 2008, as well as the week ending February 22, 2009, when the Japanese Xbox 360 exclusives Infinite Undiscovery and Star Ocean: The Last Hope , were released those weeks, respectively. Ultimately, Edge magazine would report that Microsoft had been unable to make serious inroads into the dominance of domestic rivals Sony and Nintendo; adding that lackluster sales in Japan had led to retailers scaling down and in some cases, discontinuing sales of

3500-408: The Xbox 360 the prototype for online gaming as it "proved that online gaming communities could thrive in the console space". Five years after the Xbox 360's debut, the well-received Kinect motion capture camera was released, which set the record of being the fastest selling consumer electronic device in history, and extended the life of the console. Edge ranked Xbox 360 the second-best console of

3600-518: The Xbox 360 version included a cut-down version of the Media Remote as a promotion. The Elite package was launched later at US$ 479. The "Xbox 360 Core" was replaced by the "Xbox 360 Arcade" in October 2007 and a 60 GB version of the Xbox 360 Pro was released on August 1, 2008. The Pro package was discontinued and marked down to US$ 249 on August 28, 2009, to be sold until stock ran out, while

3700-414: The Xbox 360 without a game controller by using gestures, spoken commands and presented objects and images. The Kinect accessory is compatible with all Xbox 360 models, connecting to new models via a custom connector, and to older ones via a USB and mains power adapter. During their CES 2010 keynote speech, Robbie Bach and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer went on to say that Kinect would be released during

3800-524: The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 stood at 36.9% and 18.0% market share, respectively. The main unit of the Xbox 360 itself has slight double concavity in matte white or black. The official color of the white model is Arctic Chill. It features a port on the top when vertical (left side when horizontal) to which a custom-housed hard disk drive unit can be attached. On the Slim and E models, the hard drive bay

3900-399: The Xbox One and can use any Xbox 360 game's cloud saves through this update, making the transition to the new consoles easier. The Xbox 360's original graphical user interface was the Xbox 360 Dashboard ; a tabbed interface that featured five "Blades" (formerly four blades), and was designed by AKQA and Audiobrain . It could be launched automatically when the console booted without

4000-633: The Xenon processor were developed using a slightly modified version of the PlayStation 3 's Cell Processor PPE architecture. According to David Shippy and Mickie Phipps, the IBM employees were "hiding" their work from Sony and Toshiba, IBM's partners in developing the Cell Processor . Jeff Minter created the music visualization program Neon which is included with the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360

4100-427: The ability to create a highly optimized pipeline for the unique requirements of their games". Twisted Pixel wanted Captain Smiley and Star to be unique in each different comic iteration. To do so the developers created four unique sets of models for Captain Smiley and Star, and also created unique animations and weaponry for each iteration. When the game was compared to Comix Zone , Whitford responded that inspiration

Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley - Misplaced Pages Continue

4200-1506: The amount of translation required. Popular US games imported at this time included Final Fantasy IV (known in the US as Final Fantasy II ), Final Fantasy VI (known in the US as Final Fantasy III ), Secret of Mana , Street Fighter II , Chrono Trigger , and Super Mario RPG . Secret of Mana and Street Fighter II would eventually receive official release in Europe, whilst Final Fantasy IV , Final Fantasy VI , Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG would be released in Europe years later on other consoles or formats outside of this generation. US$ 399.99 (Silver version) (equivalent to $ 890 in 2023) Game Boy (using Super Game Boy ) Hudson Soft HuC6280 A (based on 8-bit 65SC02 ) 1.79 MHz (0.77  MIPS ) or 7.16 MHz (3.08 MIPS) 32X Add-on: SA-1 enhancement chip : Upgrades: Enhancement chips : Hudson Soft HuC6280A PSG 32X Add-on: 32 KB main, 128 KB video RAM Upgrades: Enhancement chips: Upgrades: Enhancement chips: Upgrades: Hudson Soft HuC6280 A (based on 8-bit 65SC02 ) 1.79 MHz (0.77  MIPS ) or 7.16 MHz (3.08 MIPS) Philips SCC68070 @ 15.5 MHz Motorola 68000 @ 12.5 MHz (2.19 MIPS) Philips SCC66470, MCD 212 Sega ASIC coprocessor Oki MSM5205 MCD 221 Ricoh RF5c164 Super CD-ROM²: Upgrades: 1 MB RAM CD BackUp Ram Carts: Xbox 360 The Xbox 360

4300-425: The best-selling console of its generation, the Xbox 360 was deemed by TechRadar to be the most influential through its emphasis on digital media distribution and multiplayer gaming on Xbox Live. The Xbox 360's successor, the Xbox One , was released on November 22, 2013. On April 20, 2016, Microsoft announced that it would end the production of new Xbox 360 hardware, although the company will continue to support

4400-529: The console only accessible to a niche market. A less expensive version, retailing for $ 399.99, did not include a memory card, pack-in game or extra joystick. Nintendo, NEC and Sega also competed with hardware peripherals for their consoles in this generation. NEC was the first with the release of the TurboGrafx CD system in 1990. Retailing for $ 399.99 at release, the CD add-on was not a popular purchase, but

4500-419: The console suffered from a high failure rate , indicated by the so-called " Red Ring of Death ", necessitating an extension of the device's warranty period. Microsoft released two redesigned models of the console: the Xbox 360 S in 2010, and the Xbox 360 E in 2013. Xbox 360 is the ninth-highest-selling home video game console in history , and the highest-selling console made by an American company. Although not

4600-470: The console to improve its reliability. Modifications included a reduction in the number, size, and placement of components, the addition of dabs of epoxy on the corners and edges of the CPU and GPU as glue to prevent movement relative to the board during heat expansion, and a second GPU heatsink to dissipate more heat. With the release of the redesigned Xbox 360 S, the warranty for the newer models does not include

4700-400: The console, including both wired and wireless controllers , faceplates for customization, headsets for chatting, a webcam for video chatting, dance mats and Gamercize for exercise, three sizes of memory units and five sizes of hard drives (20, 60, 120, 250 (initially Japan only, but later also available elsewhere ) and 320 GB), among other items, all of which are styled to match

4800-575: The console. In 2006, Microsoft released the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player . The accessory was discontinued in 2008 after the format war had ended in Blu-ray 's favor. Kinect is a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" for the Xbox 360. It was first announced on June 1, 2009, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo , under the codename, Project Natal . The add-on peripheral enables users to control and interact with

4900-643: The creation of the Interactive Digital Software Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board . Sega concluded that the superior sales of their version of Mortal Kombat were outweighed by the resulting loss in consumer trust, and cancelled the game's release in Spain to avoid further controversy. With the new ESRB rating system in place, Nintendo reconsidered its position for the release of Mortal Kombat II , and this time became

5000-472: The day they made the decision, we were apparently the first developer they called; we were at Game Developers Conference, was it two years ago, and then I got a call from the chief financial officer of MGS and he said 'I just want you to know you cost me a billion dollars' and I said, 'we did a favour for a billion gamers'." Various hard disk drives have been produced, including options at 20, 60, 120, 250, 320, or 500 GB. Many accessories are available for

5100-522: The development of the add-on instead (contrary to popular belief, the CD-i was largely unrelated to the project). The fourth generation was also the era when the act of buying imported US games became more established in Europe, and regular stores began to carry them. The PAL region has a refresh rate of 50 Hz (compared with 60 Hz for NTSC ) and a vertical resolution of 625 interlaced lines ( 576 effective), compared with 525/480 for NTSC. Because

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5200-477: The difficulties of programming for the PS3. TechRadar deemed the Xbox 360 as the most influential game system through its emphasis of digital media distribution, Xbox Live online gaming service, and game achievement feature. During the console's lifetime, the Xbox brand has grown from gaming-only to encompassing all multimedia, turning it into a hub for "living-room computing environment". Microsoft announced

5300-416: The end of 2014, Xbox 360 sales had surpassed sales of the Wii, making the Xbox 360 the best-selling 7th-generation console in the US once again. In Canada, the Xbox 360 has sold a total of 870,000 units as of August 1, 2008. In Europe, the Xbox 360 has sold seven million units as of November 20, 2008. The Xbox 360 took 110 weeks to reach 2 million units sold in the UK, generating £507m in revenue. Sales in

5400-627: The end of the year. As well as enjoying exclusives such as additions to the Halo franchise and Gears of War , the Xbox 360 has managed to gain a simultaneous release of games that were initially planned to be PS3 exclusives, including Devil May Cry 4 , Ace Combat 6 , Virtua Fighter 5 , Grand Theft Auto IV , Final Fantasy XIII , Tekken 6 , Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance , and L.A. Noire . In addition, Xbox 360 versions of cross-platform games were generally considered superior to their PS3 counterparts in 2006 and 2007, due in part to

5500-732: The erosion of the commanding market share it had built up with the Nintendo Entertainment System . Nintendo's fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21, 1990; Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours. The machine reached North America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on August 23, 1991, and Europe and Australia in April 1992. Despite stiff competition from

5600-432: The eventual creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board . The emergence of fifth generation video game consoles , beginning around 1994, did not significantly diminish the popularity of fourth generation consoles for a few years. In 1996, however, there was a major drop in sales of hardware from this generation and a dwindling number of software publishers supporting fourth generation systems, which together led to

5700-860: The first console of this era, sales were mostly dominated by the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo across most markets: the Sega Mega Drive (known as the Sega Genesis in North America) and the Super Nintendo (known as the Super Famicom in Japan). Cartridge-based handheld game consoles became prominent during this time, such as the Nintendo Game Boy , Atari Lynx , Sega Game Gear and TurboExpress . Nintendo

5800-583: The future. As with prior generations, game media still continued to be distributed primarily on ROM cartridges , though the first optical disc systems, such as the Philips CD-i , were released to limited success. There was additionally technical competition with home computer games on the Amiga and on DOS -based IBM clones . As games became more complex, concerns over video game violence, namely in titles such as Mortal Kombat and Night Trap , led to

5900-512: The game Twisted Pixel released Comic Jumper T-shirts and posters as well as a Captain Smiley maquette for purchase. When asked about the possibility of a Comic Jumper comic book series, Whitford responded "we've thought about that", adding "it's definitely a cool idea, and something we might do later [...] but we'll have to see". In an interview given during an Evil Avatar podcast, Josh Bear revealed that there would not be any downloadable content for Comic Jumper . Bear later explained that this

6000-492: The game feeling "fresh and vibrant from start to end". Game Informer criticized the checkpoint system, noting that on occasion when the player dies they are at an earlier point in the level than was expected. Further criticism pointed to the penalty for death, with Marie calling it "nonexistent". Joystiq noted the game was difficult, citing a difficulty level from the 16-bit era, a sentiment which OXMUK shared. GameSpot also shared feelings of occasional frustration due to

6100-404: The game had "laugh out loud" moments and "spot-on comedic delivery". Game Informer ' s Meagan Marie also appreciated the humor and commented that "Twisted Pixel didn’t break the fourth wall; they completely decimated it". Joystiq ' s Ludwig Kietzmann added that "Twisted Pixel regularly drives a bulldozer through the fourth wall". GameSpot also praised the character design, calling

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6200-459: The game's difficulty, adding that there were also a few moments where the game's momentum slowed. GamesRadar+ ' s Matthew Keast criticized the game's sense of humor and repetitive gameplay. The reviewer said that it "just feels like a first-time attempt at a twin-stick shooter, however the devs didn’t look at what makes these games function smoothly or provide an interesting and fair challenge". Kotaku ' s Luke Plunkett said Comic Jumper

6300-474: The game's humor, saying the game had several laugh out loud moments and excellent comedic delivery. The difficulty of the game was compared to games from the 16-bit console era. Comic Jumper follows the story of superhero protagonist Captain Smiley and his biologically attached abrasive sidekick, Star. The duo must travel through different comic books, each with unique drawing styles, and complete missions to earn popularity. Four distinct comic styles exist in

6400-488: The game; Modern , which features bold colors, Fantasy , which features subdued colors and watercolor backgrounds, Silver Age , which is presented with cel-shaded graphics, and Manga , which is presented in black and white. When in a respective comic style Captain Smiley and Star's character designs and weaponry adapt to fit the look of the comic. Following an issue involving a showdown with his nemesis, Brad, Captain Smiley's comic series, The Adventures of Captain Smiley ,

6500-497: The gameplay that's the real problem in this tedious 2D actioner". In its first month Comic Jumper sold over 40,000 copies, with a total of over 58,000 sold in 2010. Sales nearly doubled in 2011, with 103,000 units moved. In Twisted Pixel's VR game Wilson's Heart , Wilson comes across a comic book of Captain Smiley during his time in Improbable Paper Pals, however the comic cannot be finished as Wilson cannot flip

6600-406: The graphics processing unit for the new console, a deal that was publicly announced two days later. Before the launch of the Xbox 360, several Alpha development kits were spotted using Apple's Power Mac G5 hardware. This was because the system's PowerPC 970 processor was running the same PowerPC architecture that the Xbox 360 would eventually run under IBM 's Xenon processor. The cores of

6700-504: The holiday period (November–January) and work with every Xbox 360 console. It was released on November 4, 2010. Built-in Through AV connector (excluding E models which have no AV connector) At launch, the Xbox 360 was available in two configurations: the "Xbox 360" package (unofficially known as the 20 GB Pro or Premium), priced at US$ 399 or £ 279.99, and the "Xbox 360 Core", priced at US$ 299 and £209.99. The original shipment of

6800-412: The humor as akin to Earthworm Jim . Wilford further told: "Back in the day, there seemed to be a whole lot of mascot-type characters in games, like Mario, Sonic, all those things, and not many devs seem to be doing that anymore. We're trying to bring that back a little bit with our games". Comic Jumper is the brainchild of Josh Bear, co-founder and director at Twisted Pixel. Wilford stated that Bear had

6900-481: The idea for the game beginning in seventh grade. It was released for the Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace on October 6, 2010 as part of Microsoft 's Game Feast promotion. When Twisted Pixel was formed the developers decided that due to the desired scale they would need to release a few games in order to be able to realize the scope of Comic Jumper . In January 2009 The Maw

7000-432: The lead characters "memorable". OXMUK also praised the number of unlockables in the game, as did GameSpot . Official Xbox Magazine ' s Mikel Reparaz noted that the constant change of gameplay mechanics kept the game feeling fresh and enjoyable. He also lauded Comic Jumper ' s visuals, calling them "striking". Levi Buchanan of IGN shared similar comments, stating the game had "sharp art direction" which kept

7100-556: The levels can be spent on upgrades to Captain Smiley's abilities or to unlock various content, including concept art, interviews, gamerpics and two additional levels for 'Splosion Man . Purchased items and abilities also increase the amount of money Captain Smiley earns from missions. Comic Jumper was revealed on September 4, 2009 at PAX . Joystiq interviewed Twisted Pixel's Mike Wilford who cited Final Fight as an inspiration for melee combat, while Contra and Gunstar Heroes served as inspirations for gun sequences, and said

7200-464: The market: Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter , The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion , Dead or Alive 4 , Saints Row , and Gears of War . Gears of War would become the best-selling game on the console with 3 million copies in 2006, before being surpassed in 2007 by Halo 3 with over 8 million copies. Six games were initially available in Japan, while eagerly anticipated games such as Dead or Alive 4 and Enchanted Arms were released in

7300-407: The most console units but eventually saw a collapse of third-party software support in its later years, and it has been viewed by some as a fad since the succeeding Wii U had a poor debut in 2012. The PlayStation 3 struggled for a time due to being too expensive and initially lacking quality games, making it far less dominant than its predecessor, the PlayStation 2 , and it took until late in

7400-655: The name TurboGrafx-16 in North America on August 29, 1989. Initially, the PC Engine was quite successful in Japan, partly due to titles available on the then-new CD-ROM format. NEC released a CD add-on in 1990 and by 1992 had released a combination TurboGrafx and CD-ROM system known as the TurboDuo . In the United States, NEC used Bonk , a head-banging caveman, as their mascot and featured him in most of

7500-486: The original Xbox's lifetime. The PC-like architecture meant the early EA Sports games ran at 60fps compared to only 30 on PS3, Xbox Live meant every dedicated player had an existing friends list, and Halo meant Microsoft had the killer next-generation exclusive. And when developers demo games on PC now they do it with a 360 pad—another industry benchmark, and a critical one." The Xbox 360 began production only 69 days before launch, on September 14, 2005, and Microsoft

7600-471: The pages due to losing his arm to an animated mannequin. History of video game consoles (fourth generation) In the history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles , more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era , began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics ' PC Engine (known as the TurboGrafx-16 in North America). Though NEC released

7700-406: The platform with 38 nominations and 12 wins – more than any other platform. By March 2008, the Xbox 360 had reached a software attach rate of 7.5 games per console in the US; the rate was 7.0 in Europe, while its competitors were 3.8 (PS3) and 3.5 (Wii), according to Microsoft. At the 2008 Game Developers Conference , Microsoft announced that it expected over 1,000 games available for Xbox 360 by

7800-406: The platform. On August 17, 2023, Microsoft announced that on July 29, 2024, the Xbox 360 game marketplace would stop offering new purchases and Microsoft Movies & TV app will no longer function (the console will still be able to download previously purchased content, run it, and enter multiplayer sessions). Known during development as Xbox Next, Xenon, Xbox 2, Xbox FS or NextBox, the Xbox 360

7900-423: The player must defeat enemies to progress. The main gameplay revolves around using Captain Smiley's dual pistols and platforming across levels broken up by various segments which include melee combat, on-rails shooting and quick time events . In keeping with the game's abstract humor, Captain Smiley can call on the game's developers to perform a special attack , in which live action footage of Twisted Pixel employees

8000-517: The preferred version among reviewers. The Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service reported that during the key shopping month of November 1994, 63% of all 16-bit video game consoles sold were Sega systems. The console was never popular in Japan (being regularly outsold by the PC Engine ), but still managed to sell 40 million units worldwide. By late 1995, Sega was supporting five different consoles and two add-ons, and Sega Enterprises chose to discontinue

8100-439: The same website gave it 9.8 out of 10 and called it "the best XBLA game available, period. Not one of the best, not contender for best, THE BEST". However, Samantha Nelson of The A.V. Club gave it a B: "The game's humor goes a long way toward making up for the weaknesses in gameplay". Roger Hargreaves of Metro gave it six out of ten: "The comedy is an acquired taste but the presentation is an unqualified success. However, it's

8200-400: The silver-age comic Improbable Paper Pals , Captain Smiley and Star must assist Paper Lad to find his sidekick Origami Kid and defeat the feminist Mistress Ropes, as well as the various censors constantly trying to fine them. In the shōjo manga , Cutie Cutie Kid Cupids , Captain Smiley must battle his way through a world of hearts and rainbows in order to rescue Brad, who is being forced to be

8300-525: The simulation speed of contemporary game systems was directly linked to the output frame rate , which was in turn synchronized with the TV's refresh rate, this meant that the game would run more slowly on a PAL television. The smaller number of vertical lines in the NTSC signal would also lead to black bars appearing on the top and bottom of a PAL television. Developers often had a hard time converting games designed for

8400-518: The successor to the Xbox 360, the Xbox One , on May 21, 2013. On April 20, 2016, Microsoft announced the end of production of new Xbox 360 hardware, though the company will continue to provide hardware and software support for the platform as selected Xbox 360 games are playable on Xbox One. The Xbox 360 continued to be supported by major publishers with new games well into the Xbox One's lifecycle. New titles were still being released in 2018. The Xbox 360 continues to have an active player base years after

8500-505: The system's discontinuation. Speaking to Engadget at E3 2019 after the announcement of Project Scarlett , the next-generation of Xbox consoles after the Xbox One, Phil Spencer stated that there were still "millions and millions of players" active on the Xbox 360. After the launch of the Xbox Series X and S by the end of 2020, the Xbox 360 still had a 17.7% market share of all consoles in use in Mexico; comparatively, newer systems like

8600-420: The three-year extended coverage for "General Hardware Failures". The newer Xbox 360 S and E models indicate system overheating when the console's power button begins to flash red, unlike previous models where the first and third quadrant of the ring would light up red around the power button if overheating occurred. The system will then warn the user of imminent system shutdown until the system has cooled, whereas

8700-414: The weeks following the console's launch. Games targeted specifically for the region, such as Chromehounds , Ninety-Nine Nights , and Phantasy Star Universe , were also released in the console's first year. Microsoft also had the support of Japanese developer Mistwalker , founded by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi . Mistwalker's first game, Blue Dragon , was released in 2006 and had

8800-420: Was "what happens when a developer sets out to make a funny game, then forgets all about the game part". Todd Vote of 411Mania gave the game nine out of ten: "With plenty of unlockables, good fast paced gameplay, and plenty of hilarious jokes, Captain Smiley delivers in a big way. From start to finish, Captain Smiley delivers a fun and engaging experience with a great story behind it". Later, John de Large of

8900-539: Was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1998, selling only 1 million units worldwide despite several partnerships and multiple versions of the device, some made by other manufacturers. Released by SNK in 1990, the Neo Geo was a home console version of the major arcade platform. Compared to its console competition, the Neo Geo had much better graphics and sound, however, the prohibitively expensive launch price of $ 649.99 and games often retailing at over $ 250 made

9000-435: Was able to capitalize on its success in the third generation , and managed to win the largest worldwide market share in the fourth generation as well. However, particularly in the lucrative North American market, there was a fierce console war that raged through the early '90s, which eventually saw Sega outselling Nintendo in North America by 1991. Sega's success in this era stemmed largely from its launch of its popular Sonic

9100-461: Was conceived in early 2003. In February 2003, planning for the Xenon software platform began, and was headed by Microsoft's Vice President J Allard . That month, Microsoft held an event for 400 developers in Bellevue, Washington to recruit support for the system. Also that month, Peter Moore , former president of Sega of America, joined Microsoft. On August 12, 2003, ATI signed on to produce

9200-447: Was drawn from it, but that transitions between comic panels and turning of pages were to "savor the moment", adding that the premise of transitions was to create a cinematic transition. Twisted Pixel combined live action video along with the existing gameplay to further the feel of the game being read as a comic book. As with previous Twisted Pixel games avatar awards and premium themes can be unlocked through gameplay. As part of promoting

9300-591: Was due to the complexity of the game's levels. Twisted Pixel released the game's soundtrack to the public via their website on November 3, 2010. Comic Jumper received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic . Critics had been generally favorable of the game's humor. The Official Xbox Magazine UK (OXMUK) staff called the game "bloody funny". GameSpot ' s Carolyn Petit concurred, stating that "Twisted Pixel delivers big fun and big laughs in this varied, comic-book-themed side-scrolling shooter". Nick Chester of Destructoid said

9400-727: Was expanded from its previous iteration on the original Xbox and received regular updates during the console's lifetime. Available in free and subscription-based varieties, Xbox Live allows users to play games online ; download games (through Xbox Live Arcade ) and game demos; purchase and stream music, television programs, and films through the Xbox Music and Xbox Video portals; and access third-party content services through media streaming applications. In addition to online multimedia features, it allows users to stream media from local PCs. Several peripherals have been released, including wireless controllers , expanded hard drive storage, and

9500-493: Was largely responsible for the platform's success in Japan. The Sega CD was released with an unusually high price tag ($ 300 at its release) and a limited library of games. A unique add-on for the Sega console was Sega Channel , a subscription-based service (a form of online gaming delivery) hosted by local television providers. It required hardware that plugged into a cable line and the Genesis. Nintendo also made two attempts with

9600-525: Was not able to supply enough systems to meet initial consumer demand in Europe or North America, selling out completely upon release in all regions except in Japan. Forty thousand units were offered for sale on auction site eBay during the initial week of release, 10% of the total supply. By year's end, Microsoft had shipped 1.5 million units, including 900,000 in North America, 500,000 in Europe, and 100,000 in Japan. In May 2008, Microsoft announced that 10 million Xbox 360s had been sold and that it

9700-498: Was not as large as in Japan or North America, and the increasing amount of time and money required for translation as RPGs became more text-heavy, in addition to the usual need to convert the games to the PAL standard, often made localizing the games to Europe a high-cost venture with little potential payoff. As a result, RPG releases in Europe were largely limited to games which had previously been localized for North America, thus reducing

9800-415: Was released on November 22, 2005, in the United States and Canada; December 2, 2005, in Europe and December 10, 2005, in Japan. It was later launched in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and Russia. In its first year in the market, the system was launched in 36 countries, more countries than any other console has launched in

9900-648: Was released, followed by ' Splosion Man in July of the same year. The technologies implemented those games were developed with Comic Jumper in mind. For example, the cinematic camera angles in ' Splosion Man were all implemented into the engine in preparation for the game. The game is powered by Twisted Pixel's BEARD engine, which was upgraded to implement RAD Game Tools ' Granny 3D technologies. Twisted Pixel CTO Frank Wilson stated: "Granny’s highly optimized runtime and suite of tools for both art and engineering provide our development team and our engine licensees

10000-456: Was the "first current generation gaming console" to surpass the 10 million figure in the US. In the US, the Xbox 360 was the leader in current-generation home console sales until June 2008, when it was surpassed by the Wii. By the end of March 2011, Xbox 360 sales in the US had reached 25.4 million units. Between January 2011 and October 2013, the Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in the United States for these 32 consecutive months. By

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