Exo-Zombies: The New "Zombies"?

Category: ID@XBOX July 8, 2026 Zaxoid Revives Golden Age Arcade Magic on XBOX Steve George, Founder & Developer, M80 Games Before high-definition flat screens and home consoles, video games lived in arcades filled with bright neon, pumping music, the clatter of quarters, and the pure joy of chasing a high score. Zaxoid is reviving that unforgettable piece of pop culture for a new generation on XBOX. Making this game wasn’t about following charts, trends, or data – it was about something much more personal. My mission was to capture that exact feeling of retro rock-star glory and build the game I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid parked in front of those glowing screens.  Even if you didn’t grow up in the arcade era, you’ve seen it.  Movies and TV have continuously depicted the absolute magic of early gaming.  There is a deeply satisfying feeling when your skills click, rhythm aligns and every second counts. That pure, unfiltered thrill is what I set out to create. That Unfiltered Thrill is Zaxoid Think of games like Asteroids, where pure reflex and spatial awareness decided your fate amid relentless vector fields. Defender, with its frantic race to rescue civilians from alien abductors while chaos erupted around you. Star Castle, the hypnotic vector masterpiece where you chipped away at fortress walls just to reach the relentless boss at its core. And later, Geometry Wars on the original XBOX, the addictive twin-stick flow that always pulled you back for one more run. Zaxoid honors those classic arcade and shoot-em-up roots while giving players a fresh experience. The core idea was simple but powerful: take the precision twin-stick shooting and high-stakes navigation that made those older titles so rewarding and wrap them around a spherical battlefield.  Zaxoid pays homage to the iconic pod systems of classics like the Gradius and Thunder Force series. In Zaxoid, these evolve into a flexible drone system earned through power-ups. Ships start with limited drone capacity that expands by upgrading the vessel’s CPU core, allowing more loyal drones to trail the ship. They add both offensive punch and defensive utility, becoming a visual and mechanical extension of the player’s skill. The original soundtrack deepens the connection to the retro experience. Zaxoid captures the energetic spirit and memorable melodies of the classics, delivering them with crisp, modern production that elevates every level. Whether soaring through intense waves or facing down a towering boss, the music pulses with the same sense of excitement and triumph that made those retro classics unforgettable. At its heart, Zaxoid is about recapturing that pure, joyful feeling from the arcade. The thrill of getting better, the satisfaction of a perfectly timed maneuver, and the simple happiness of playing something that respects your time and your skill. I poured my love for those golden-age experiences into every detail, from the way your ship handles to the escalating tension of each wave, because I believe that feeling is still worth chasing, no matter when you first discovered it. Making Zaxoid reminded me of why games captivate players across generations. It’s been an absolute joy to bring these memories to life in a new form, and I hope that when you play Zaxoid, you feel a little of that same spark, that warm connection to the arcade spirit, and of course the pure joy of getting the high score. Zaxoid is out now on Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.  Zaxoid M80 Games Inc. ☆☆☆☆☆ 3 ★★★★★ $14.99 Get it now Face an alien onslaught in Zaxoid, an adrenaline inducing, twin-stick mayhem shooter! Defend the galaxy from relentless invaders by upgrading your ship or fortifying your city with strategic choices that make every run unique. Wield dual joysticks for precision chaos, transform into tank mode to repel surface invasions, and protect your population. Intense gameplay that takes you back to the golden years of gaming. .post-template-default .xwsrc-block-content-block .wp-block-column.flex-basis-50.push--25.column--content { flex: 100%; margin-left: 0; } Related Stories for “Zaxoid Revives Golden Age Arcade Magic on XBOX” Category: ID@XBOX In Albion Online, the Keepers are Rising Up Category: XBOX Game Pass Coming to XBOX Game Pass: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+ 2, The Planet Crafter, Palworld 1.0, and More Category: ID@XBOX The Horror Awaits in the Feardemic Publisher Sale Now Live in XBOX Store The post Zaxoid Revives Golden Age Arcade Magic on XBOX appeared first on XBOX Wire. View the full article

In response to Sony announcing that it will stop producing physical game discs for PlayStation starting in 2028, a lot of people have had a lot of things to say. One of those voices is Circana analyst Mat Piscatella, who offered a refreshing, if not brutal, reminder that your loyalty and love of PlayStation--or any other game console or franchise--means nothing to the corporate overlords controlling them. It's all about money, and it always has been. "You can love your preferred video game ecosystem, franchise, or whatever all you want. You can think your years of customer loyalty should/will be reciprocated. But these businesses don't love you back. Same with your job, fwiw. You're a number on a spreadsheet," he said. Piscatella also pointed out that, with forecasts for the PS6 and Project Helix to cost $1,000 or more (if they are ever released), console manufacturers like Sony and Xbox will "prioritize profitability" where they can. The thinking is that, if Sony can't convince as many people to buy a very expensive console, it can make up some of the difference by cutting out discs to improve margins. As reporter Jason Schreier breaks down in a great video, a company like Sony would take home about $45.50 from the sale of $70 game sold at retail on a disc. With digital games, Sony keeps the full $70. It's not hard to see why Sony is shifting to an all-digital future. Third-party games will go all-digital on PlayStation in 2028 as well, and this will help those publishers make more money (by way of improved margins), and Sony will make lots more money as well through collecting its platform fees. "Digital is just too lucrative" Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games said Sony is not going to reverse its decision on killing off physical game discs because the money to be made in an all-digital world is too lucrative to ignore. "I sympathize with physical media fans, but Sony will not reverse this decision," Toto told IGN. "They of course knew what the online reaction would look like, and they now wait for this storm to pass." "Sony has over 120 million active PlayStation users," he added. "Around 50 million people subscribe to PlayStation Plus. As a thought experiment, let's say 500,000 cancel in protest, that would be just 1% of that business gone--of course not enough to Sony to start rethinking. Digital is just too lucrative." The numbers According to IGN's accounting, a first-party PlayStation game sold on a disc at retail would see Sony keeping about 65% of the sale price, with about 30% going to the retailer; the other 5% is for the manufacturing costs. A third-party game sold on a disc at retail--say, a Call of Duty game from Activision--would provide Sony a licensing fee of about 15%. For a digital game, a first-party game sold via the PlayStation Store would net Sony all of the revenue. For third-party games, Sony would collect its 30% cut as the platform owner. That works out to about $21 for a $70 game. When all games go digital in 2028, Sony stands to make significantly more money, as you can see. What's next For what it's worth, while Sony has confirmed plans to kill discs, Microsoft has not yet announced plans, but many are theorizing the next Xbox will be all-digital as well. After all, the numbers show that the share of digital game sales only continues to grow at Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and third-party publishers. Sony still sells many millions of physical PlayStation game discs annually, and there are many people who want to see physical media live on. There are also real game preservation concerns in an all-digital world. More than 225,000 people have signed an online petition calling on Sony to reinstate physical games. The obvious enthusiasm for physical media is unlikely to change the calculus for Sony for the main reason Piscatella and Toto laid out: money. View the full article