Microsoft’s inventive virtual arcade space launched on Wednesday as scheduled, but its launch didn’t go off without a few annoying bugs. Some games were simply “out of service.”
Game Room is a virtual arcade, reminiscent of the 1980s era, that gamers can customize with different machines and decor. Microsoft wants to simulate the feeling of being in an old-school coin-op arcade room, right down to the pay-per-play environment.
Players walk up to a machine of Centipede, Outlaw, or Lunar Lander and are prompted to pay 50 cents for a go at the game. The money is deducted from their balance of Microsoft Points. Or, for those so inclined, they can purchase the arcade game outright for around $5.
However, Xbox faithful who entered the virtual arcade space early on were greeted with error messages. “Game Room is available for download, but there appears to be some problems with loading games. It’s being investigated,” wrote Microsoft’s Larry Hryb in an official Twitter post.
By the end of the day, issues seemed to have been resolved.
