The Incredible Machine

I sat down with the head producer. He's wearing a knit vest depicting a landscape while he walks me through the features of Switchball, a promising XBLA title that crosses Marble Blast with The Incredible Machine.

I look again at that vest and wonder if he paints watercolors on the side.

We've seen the idea before: you're a ball that has to make it from one end of the map to another. But this iteration keeps it fresh with excellent physics. Things just "felt right," and I was really impressed when the ball rolled off a wooden platform onto a stretched blanket. The cloth gives the perfect amount—there is a ton of polish here. A well-built camera system seals the deal, trailing right behind the ball or rotating a wider image with ease.

Different ball types like a helium ball (that can be affected by wind) and a power ball (that glows dynamically while smashing through heavy objects in your way). Note: That's where we think they got the name Switchball.

Levels are Rube Goldberg inspired, with mousetrap type chutes and slides. But it's just a bit too high on the taste scale for us. We'd love to see everything zanified to the max within the conservative, oak wood framework.

I mean, it's not going to change the world or anything, but Switchball is just the sort of tight, pick up and play title that's good on the XBLA platform.