Contra Coming to Xbox Live Arcade

[fitbabits]

Awesome news (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/708/708327p1.html), courtesy of IGN (http://www.ign.com).

Although there are a ton of triple A console games that are getting a ton of press this year at E3, we can't forget Xbox 360's other success, Live Arcade. In what has been the equiivalent of iTunes in the games space, Live Arcade gives gamers access to simple games they can download over Xbox Live and play whenever they need a quick gaming snack.

Some of the upcoming titles are looking rather cool, so here's a rundown of all the new hotness we have to look forward to:

Classic Games - Konami, Midway and Namco are putting out a nice collection of classica arcade titles for Live Arcade. Konami has Contra, Time Pilot, Frogger, and Scramble. Midway has Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Defender. And Namco has Galaga and Pac-man. All these games play pretty much the way they did on the stand-up machines in the arcades years ago. Visually, the graphics have gotten and update with neater textures. But most importantly, games like UMK3 and Frogger have multiplayer features like versus and co-op. We should see these out some time later this year.
And just like that, Xbox Live gains another several thousand subscribers.

[Goronmon]

Contra!?! Fuck yeah!

...wait...later this year? That sucks, I want Contra now!

[ezzkmo]

My question is why is it taking a year for some of these old games to hit Arcade? Does it really need to take that long? My guess is a little time to remake it, a little bit of hype and waiting on purpose, and a lot of headaches getting licenses and legal mumbo jumbo taken care of.

[Sensei-X]

My question is since when do 2D games have textures that can be updated to "neater textures" :D

[MasterEvilAce]

My question is since when do 2D games have textures that can be updated to "neater textures" :D
Ever play super-mario all-stars?

[Cha-Ka]

My question is WHERE is the multiplayer Pac-Man??!!

[rein]

Where is the backward compatibility update damn it??

But yea... ...cool updates for Live. I can't wait to see how the Nintendo service compares.

[Wombat]

It can take a while because emulation isn't always as simple as it might seem. Getting all the timing issues right can apparently be a major pain in the ass.

[imagecreature]

Quick read of the article; Arcade or NES version? Multi-Player on Live?

[lpmiller]

I thought it was the arcade version, based on another article.

[TrackZero]

Is noone going to ask the real question? Why the fuck isn't Contra having co-op support?!?!

[bone_matrix]

I want contra. I want street fighter. I want UMK3. Xbox Live please deliver.

(not quite the same but close enough)

[gojira]

Galaga? Pac-man?

I think "several thousand" might be an understatement.

[Johan]

Live Arcade is a killer app for the 360, as far as I'm concerned (until Wii or PS3 somehow matches or improves upon it?). Ultimately, games are supposed to be fun (anyone notice how some games today seem to become a second job, they're so difficult?), and some of the best games I've played are old-school, 2D side-scrollers. They're inexpensive, fun to play, and my young-uns can enjoy them as well! I can't wait for Contra and Street Fighter. Bring it on...and another update to the emulator, too....I've got a ton of Xbox games, and I like to dip my toes into my old games every now and then, without using my original Xbox.

[fitbabits]

Live Arcade is a killer app for the 360, as far as I'm concerned (until Wii or PS3 somehow matches or improves upon it?). Ultimately, games are supposed to be fun (anyone notice how some games today seem to become a second job, they're so difficult?), and some of the best games I've played are old-school, 2D side-scrollers. They're inexpensive, fun to play, and my young-uns can enjoy them as well! I can't wait for Contra and Street Fighter. Bring it on...and another update to the emulator, too....I've got a ton of Xbox games, and I like to dip my toes into my old games every now and then, without using my original Xbox.
Welcome to EvAv, Johan123.

You make a good point about Xbox Live Arcade being a killer app. I know that Microsoft have been pleasantly surprised (understatement) by the overwhelming success of it and have allocated more resources to it. There are more good things coming, you can be sure of that.

[Tinderbox]

Welcome to EvAv, Johan123.

You make a good point about Xbox Live Arcade being a killer app. I know that Microsoft have been pleasantly surprised (understatement) by the overwhelming success of it and have allocated more resources to it. There are more good things coming, you can be sure of that.

I think it's even more of a surprise considering that when Live Arcade launched on the original xbox, no one really paid much attention to it, and now, blam! it's awesome. At the very least w/ Contra, the old code still works :)

Edited since I was wrong about the co-op of contra :(

[fitbabits]

I think it's even more of a surprise considering that when Live Arcade launched on the original xbox, no one really paid much attention to it, and now, blam! it's awesome. If I recall, i thought co-op Contra was mentioned during the MS conference and that the original code will still work :D
And welcome to you, too. So many new 'faces'!

I was guilty of looking at Live Arcade on the original Xbox as somewhat of a novelty. Guess that's why I'm not working in marketing. :D

[Watership]

I think it's even more of a surprise considering that when Live Arcade launched on the original xbox, no one really paid much attention to it, and now, blam! it's awesome. If I recall, i thought co-op Contra was mentioned during the MS conference and that the original code will still work :D

That's really because MS has very dedicated people getting lots of freedom in their departments. The head of xbox live arcade championed it for years. Just like the guys at Microsoft did the same for the xbox.. just like some microsoft guys back before windows 95 came out.. championed Direct X

[Tinderbox]

And welcome to you, too. So many new 'faces'!

I was guilty of looking at Live Arcade on the original Xbox as somewhat of a novelty. Guess that's why I'm not working in marketing. :D

Thanks! I actually lurked on the site for awhile b4 I registered. I realized this wasn't the usual group of idiots that permeate most other forums :D

[Nessus]

Does no one remember that the arcade version of Contra sucked?

The levels were much shorter and more simplistic. The graphics were better, but that's about the only thing the arcade had that the NES version didn't.

[Ondo]

My question is WHERE is the multiplayer Pac-Man??!!
It's bundled with the GameCube version of Pac-Man World 2. It was designed by Nintendo, so they'd probably take a dim view of it appearing on the Xbox.

[Tinderbox]

That's really because MS has very dedicated people getting lots of freedom in their departments. The head of xbox live arcade championed it for years. Just like the guys at Microsoft did the same for the xbox.. just like some microsoft guys back before windows 95 came out.. championed Direct X

Oh I know, I actually contracted out at MGS for 3 racing titles (I'm no longer there though). I remember seeing Live Arcade in it's infancy and thinking "that's kinda neat and kinda gimmicky". And now I wait impatiently for the next geometry wars!

[GunnyMo]

More great Live news! Woot! Now if they could get some classic Genesis games on there. :) Guess I'll have to wait for the Wii.

[GWhite]

I just want the panzer dragoon series.
Upgraded for HD natch.

[Tinderbox]

I just want the panzer dragoon series.
Upgraded for HD natch.

I just want a new panzer dragoon for my 360 :(

[johnperkins21]

This wasn't announced earlier? All of these games were on the XBLA montage video. The notable absence being Paperboy and Tapper, two games that were previously announced but curiously missing from that video.

[Tinderbox]

This wasn't announced earlier? All of these games were on the XBLA montage video. The notable absence being Paperboy and Tapper, two games that were previously announced but curiously missing from that video.

It was announced during the MS conference, but not everyone saw the conference, and if you blinked you missed some of the games they did announce. I noticed paperboy after my 3rd viewing.

[dena miscreant]

I'm just looking forward to Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Lumines LiVE!, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

[Grimgrock]

Will the cheat code that seemed to work for all the konami games be valid still? The ole' up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start was the reason I was able to finish many of those games.

[captainspankypants]

Microsoft needs to release a $100 Live Arcade-only 360. Don't even put a disk drive in it for the regular 360 games, just a hard drive for downloading Live Arcade stuff. I'd snatch that shit up in a second.

[fitbabits]

Will the cheat code that seemed to work for all the konami games be valid still? The ole' up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start was the reason I was able to finish many of those games.
Drop the 'start' from the code and we'll talk. :)

[mos]

Yep. I'm now going to buy a 360.

Oh well. I was probably going to be buying it for Halo 3, anyway.

[ÜberJumper]

My wife practically came in her shorts when she heard Galaga was coming to the Arcade.

[Kefkataran]

My question is why is it taking a year for some of these old games to hit Arcade? Does it really need to take that long? My guess is a little time to remake it, a little bit of hype and waiting on purpose, and a lot of headaches getting licenses and legal mumbo jumbo taken care of.

XBL Arcade guys have said they're purposefully spacing out the release of new content so only five or six new arcade games a month are released.

[Hizawky]

Yes, the Konami cheat code will work. Peter Moore said that in the press Conf.