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Classics like Paperboy, Sonic, Dig Dug, Coming to XBOX 360 Live Arcade

news.com.com — Microsoft wants you to feel young again and is counting on a blend of old and new to help make the Xbox 360 stand out from its rivals. MS announced deals with Konami, Midway, Sega and Namco to breathe new life into classic titles such as "Dig Dug," "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Root Beer Tapper."

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  • paiguy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5... I'm down with Dig Dug and all, but will they have Chu Chu Rocket?
    • whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Yes, if there were dreamcast games in arcade, it would indeed rule!
    • lukas88, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1how about Gradius III?
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sega and Konami are doing co-op with MS so those might not be impossible.
  • rootnik, on 10/12/2007, -30/+30Note to Nintendo: NEVER release key features of your consoles 2 years before release date. This is why :p
    • whiteguysamurai, on 10/12/2007, -20/+32Well, you could get arcade classics for live from the start, so nintendo didn't do anything original here.
    • bojoes, on 10/12/2007, -18/+25Wow! PERFECT example of how bad digg is getting. The original reply...which is stupid and WRONG, gets lots of positive votes. And hte comment pointing out why it is wrong (that Nintendo was certainly NOT the first one to come up with this idea) gets buried.

      Yup . Digg is sliding downhill fast. With the masses come the masses of ignorant and useless.
    • rm999, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5I would hardly call that a "key feature" of the revolution (sorry I refuse to say wii still). Anyone who really wanted to play classic games learned the word "emulator" years ago. I have been playing the classis NES on emulators for more than seven years now (I can fit every US NES game on a CD and play it on my dreamcast), and have been playing n64 on an emulator on my PC for about three years. Even the dreamcast/ps generation is getting close to being realistically emulated on a PC by now.
    • Flynnz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15"Note to Nintendo: NEVER release key features of your consoles 2 years before release date. This is why :p"

      ahhhh huh?

      You do know that users had the ability to download classic games from live since day one right?

      Man I love Nintendo..love it! but to me people are treating Nintendo like apple on digg....which means they were always first, never wrong, etc etc.

      I mean I get that its cool to like the underdog, and adds to you "hardcore" factor...but COME ON!
    • sladelink, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Although the details hadn't been officially announced, it's been heavily rumored for the past couple years was that the next Nintendo console would in fact play old NES/SNES/N64 games. The only real news that has come out on the Nintendo front which most people seem to be recalling since the Xbox360 came out was that it would be playing Sega and Turbografix16 games, so this whole deal about MS being first because arcade games were accessible on 360 since it debuted is kinda rubbish. If you need further proof that Nintendo had planned this for a while, look back at any old Revolution / Wii articles when they first unveiled the design of the actual system: it included ports for Gamecube controllers, already displaying that the system would play Gamecube games as well. The only thing I'd say Nintendo was kinda ripping off was Sony's backwards compatibility, which, before PS2 came out, I bet we had all been bitching about needing for years anyway, so I wouldn't exactly call that innovation by Sony or thievery by Nintendo.
    • Flynnz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@sladelink

      nice try...but MS talked about and showed that capability loooooooong before it was even whispered by Nintendo. (and I keep up on rumors as well.....live was still first) I mean what do you think they did? set that all up a few months before release? that ***** was in place way before the 360 was out.

      It wont kill you to acknowledge that MS did something right, I promise.
    • JFetch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11You guys do remember that there was a Live Arcade for the first XBox right?
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@rm999

      And don't forget, all of those emulators have Xbox-ports avaliable, you could just slap a 100g harddrive there and upload 20 first years of digital gaming (and not just consoles, either. Arcades and home computers, too) in there and trip up-and-down the memory lane for years. I know I did.
    • Flynnz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"You guys do remember that there was a Live Arcade for the first XBox right?"

      very correct...I just didnt bring it up cause it wasnt part of the xbox from the start.
      You had to install that action. But yeah you are correct 100%
  • tuxidomasx, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7or i could use my emulator for those old games. i never thought XBox Live Arcade was a very innovative feature. Nintendo's Virtual Console might be different tho-- emulators for N64 games are buggy; i would certainly pay to play starfox 64. but paying to play Sonic 1-3? heck naw, its been free for years and runs just as well (if not better) than the original on my PC.
    • millixaw, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Apperently some of the old ROMs are suppossed to feature new content. For instance, Wiimote controlling and rumored Wario/Waluigi modes for SMB1.
    • estvir, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4it was/is innovative, who did it before them ? noone.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3@estvir

      Xbox Live had game downloads for 360 when it came out. You can get some of that functionality even for the old Xbox, i think.

      Nintendo's a RIPOFF! THEY STOLE LIVE!
    • Flynnz, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1ooops
  • JustEvk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I demand Paperboy!
    • estvir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3that is one of the titles mentioned during the press conference.
    • duzbin, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3?Throw the Wii Remote to throw a paper?

      The movement would be cool though, maybe holding, and releasing a button to throw the paper, while your other hand on the Nunchaku controls the bike...
  • CamZak, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4Paperboy? Isn't that uhm...a nintendo game? So, are they planning on having people rebuild paperboy from scratch so it runs natively, or are they planning on adding a nintendo emulator to it?
    • ahatter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7no it was originally a arcade game.
    • JustEvk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yes, originally an arcade game by (drumroll) Atari. Wikipedia has a big page on it; apparently it was even ported to the "Acorn Electron", whatever the hell that is.
    • EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Paperboy was an Atari arcade game in 1984. It was subsequently ported to almost every console. http://www.arcade-history.com/index.php?page=detail&id=1935
    • rm999, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2From some random website:
      "The Acorn Electron is basically a cut-down version of the Acorn BBC-B with which it is partly compatible. After the success of the BBC, Acorn and founder Chris Cury wanted a product to compete with "under £200" computers and especially with the Sinclair Spectrum, its main threat. But sadly, Acorn failed to meet the demand for the new system, mainly because of production problems related to the large custom ULA at the heart of the Electron."

      Hope that answered your question, because I'm still confused as hell.
    • 1ivewire, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1It was probably easier on the Acorn because it ran so slow and you could time the papers to hit every single mailbox.

      http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=121
  • EtherGnat, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Paperboy would be a fun remake for the Wii. You could literally throw the newspapers.
    • RatBagu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+18There would be a lot of broken controllers
    • bojoes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1And you would have to ride REALLY slowly as you would have to keep running to pick up the controller so you can throw it again.

      This is where the survival trick of getting every single customer but the first (and last as a safety) to cancel so that once you delivered the first paper safely, you just had to focus on staying alive and breaking stuff.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@RatBagu

      That's actually pretty intresting thing. I know plenty of gamers who take their frustration out on their controllers and now, when it's a more integral part of gameplay, it just might be 'first in the line of fire'..
  • theLEGENDisBACK, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12Nintendo is still going to have all the games from NES, SNES, N64, GC, the Sega games the owned including Sonic, and GraphX (or something), Wii has motion sensitive controls, speakers embedded in the control, 4 memory card slots, a new control (with wire), outlets for the Gamecube controls, online capability, so I say let 360 have what they want but PS3 and X-Box are a little too late to try and compete at this point.
    • quamb, on 10/12/2007, -16/+10Not much innovation going on in the Microsoft and PS3 camps. Seriously, where does all their R'n'D budget go? On binoculars to spy on Nintendo??

      Wouldn't be suprised if Nintendo kept their mouth shut about alot of things in todays E3 Conference, just to keep the competition away from their yet-to-be-released ideas.
    • dugee81, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3speakers in the controllers actually sounds quite odd to be honest. what, 6 watts? although i must say, if they can have downloads for a lot of games from the older nintendo systems, i might just buy one just for that.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Original Xbox already did the whole emulation-thing (way more comprehensively, i might add). Sega's next Sonic-game also comes to X360 and PS2. And Nintendo (+Sony too) totally ripped Live. Sony even ripped the look and feel.. MS has had games avaliable online for X360 from day one.

      Nintendo's controller seems stranger by the minute. I'm not sure if I should be intrested in it or laugh out loud to it.
    • bojoes, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7guamb...how many times does it have to be said that the XBox did this first before you will stop making yourself look silly and suggest that MS is stealing this idea from Nintendo?
    • Flynnz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8its really scary that even when people are pointing out FACTS against nintendo not being the first with something, they get modded down.

      As I have stated before I love Nintendo....but fair is fair.

      I know how cool it is to not like MS, but they do come up with some good stuff from time to time.
      And you know what? we all benefit from it...so chill out!
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Nintendo-fans are in denial, since it's becoming more and more apparent by the minute that "Wii" just isn't a Revolution but a description of the market impact
  • bking, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7I think Wii is going to get the point here. They have all the nintendo stuff, and the better sega stuff. A lot of stuff that is coming out on the 360 arcade are old arcade games that have been (legally) on computers/consoles for years now.
    • bojoes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6They are not trying to compete with CONSOLE games. They are going after the classic ARCADE fans. Different generation of gamers played Pac Man than played Sonic the Hedgehog. Yes...before anyone says I am wrong...I know that there are overlaps, but the early 80s (arcades) is generally considered Generation X, while the early 90s (16 bit consoles) is generation Y. It is the difference in thinking that home gaming started with the NES and thinking it started with Atari. (And don't bring up Pong. I know Pong came way before Atari. But relatively speaking, no one had Pong.)
    • sert, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2most people with half a brain who really wants to play these games has been doing so for a very long time now. what they need to do is to incorporate some new features into the games (like other people said nintendo was doing).
  • gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I can't wait, seeing how the X360 seems to be going for a solid year this time
  • jorelv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4the article left out quite a few. here's the full list that was announced, from what i'm aware of:

    "Pac-Man, Contra, Frogger, Galaga, Sonic the Hedgehog, Defender, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Time Pilot, Ultra Mortal Kombat 3 and Scramble ... and more old arcade content from Konami, Midway (Ultimate Mortal Kombat), Namco (pacman, digdug, ...) and Sega (old Sonic games!) ... ofcourse all updated in High Def."
  • afpunk, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3While I'm not a fanboy of Gametap by any means, you CAN get all those games mentioned plus like 100 classic (and some recent) PC games for 10 bucks a month. Point being, this isn't really anything new, though it is still a great idea.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2How can classic gaming be something new =)
    • afpunk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Having a large selection of classic games available legally. You know, the whole concept. That's whats not new. It doesn't make it a bad thing though.
  • SimonX314, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8CONTRA! Imagine 2 player co-op over live!!!
  • saudama, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2They're ripping off Nintendo!
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9X360 has had downloadable games from day one, way before Nintendo announced their system.
    • bojoes, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Here we go again! Digg was a great site once. Once. Back when being ACCURATE was more important than being a fanboy. Not anymore.
    • matts0344, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Here we go again! Digg was a great site once. Once. Back when being ACCURATE was more important than being a fanboy. Not anymore."

      Yup, and look! You get -dugg for saying the truth. Thats exactly what I hate most about Digg (and any online community), Company fanboys.
  • kriminalintent, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The version that will be up on xbox arcade games will be in HD and have new things put into them like online leaderboards and mutiplayer in arcade games that never originally had it. Plus nintendo only wants to have there own old games, not sonic or mortal kombat.
  • Koushiro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3You can't really "rip off" something like Xbox live. After all, there have been tons of gaming networks for the PC for years and years? Gamespy Arcade and so on, it's totally not an original idea for any of them. It's a feature though, and nice to have.

    I mean heck, wasn't there a modem adapter for the Sega Saturn that let you play games on-line with other people? The Dreamcast was on-line too, though multiplayer wasn't huge for a majority of the games it was still there in a couple of them. Phantasy Star On-line, Quake 3, Chu-Chu Rocket and so on.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4@Koushiro >You can't really "rip off" something like Xbox live.

      Well Sony and Nintendo are certainly trying hard.

      Live is more than just a hub to join you to a multiplayer game. What Saturn and DC didn't have is the download and update-system. Live gives you updates and addons to your games, plus new games for a small charge. It also keeps score on how you're playing and what you've accomplished (the gamercard). And coming soon are the voice-messaging-systems and video.
    • Koushiro, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3That sounds almost exactly like Battle.net from Blizzard from what your describing. Keeps your games up to date, keeps your scores, finds games for you and so forth. Minus the new games, and technically they did (do?) have banners that told you about upcoming titles. I'm trying to make a point that they can't be ripping off Xbox Live because Xbox Live isn't an original idea.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4It's not like Battle.net. Battle.net is Blizzards own hub for their games. It works with games only by Blizzard. While they had some similliar features like ladders and such, it only worked with select few titles and didn't venture beyond the gaming, and those certain Blizzard titles. Live has media-content, game demos, chatting beyond matchmaking for a game, blogging(or so i'm told) and more. E3 press conference demonstrated crossplatform functionality with mobile phones and Windows PC so you could for example tune your Forza-car in your mobile, or paint it on your PC - or buy a game with a mobile phone and play it on Xbox later. They even suggested that it would be possible to start playing on a mobile, pause and switch to Xbox on the fly without restarting the game.. They're breaking new ground and no-one on the market has anything even remotely similliar. There are parts of Live done by other people before but never this level of integration under one application.

      I think personally that Sony and Nintendo SHOULD be ripping this, since this is the only real revolution of this generation of consoles.
  • kriminalintent, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1xband was the first look into online for gaming consoles.... The time off, people were not ready for it. It was for the SNES and Genesis.

    http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/snes/peripherals/xband.html
    • Koushiro, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Yeah, though that's very vaguely rememberable. See? It's been done before by lots of people. Nothing to get heated up over.
  • kriminalintent, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1There already is a voice-messaging-system on xbox live.... And it looks like nintendo is focused more on other things then online play and there doing a good job...
  • cyberghost232, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2now if i could get tempest and super pacman i might be interested.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Atari works with MS, so Tempest might not be out of the question. It's a absolute classic so i'm kinda puzzled that it hasn't been released yet. Maybe they're making a upgraded version kinda like the Geometry wars EVO - i'm thinking Tempest 2006 or something. Also, Jeff Minter, who did X360's music visualization has done a Tempest 3000 for a DVD-player called Nuon, it's looking way trippy and cool (haven't played it tho.)
    • XSforMe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here you go:

      http://sourceforge.net/projects/mameox
  • horrorpunk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1root beer tapper ??

    was there a game called that ??
    or are "they" just changing the name of the game 'bartender' ??
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3When it was a arcade game it was originally just plain Tapper, with Budweiser-logo in the background. When home version was made out of the arcade machine, they changed it to Root beer Tapper, so it wouldn't advertise alcohol to minors.
  • demonicume, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1PAPERBOY? time to break some windows.

    this is great for the guys who refuse to use their CPU for gaming.
  • astrotrain, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Rootbeer Tapper?... Where is the Budwiser Tapper (yes there is one, parents didn't like the idea, so Midway created a Rootbeer version for the kiddies).

    Need to see Dragon's Lair and the rest of the Laser Disc games.. (Firefox, Cliff Hanger, Space Ace, M.A.C.H. 3)
    drop the Sonic and stick with the older ones.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Dragon's lair 1 and 2 and Space Ace are avaliable as DVDs (yes, the game mechanics are simple enough to be implemented on a plain DVD). Check your favorite DVD-retailer, they'll most likely have them.
  • sagedude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I would be very happy to get online Street Fighter 2 Turbo...
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Street fighter II is coming. Online play might be added, since they hinted that it would be included in some titles.
  • TurdFaceManLove, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Why do all the Nintendo ***** keep high jacking the thread? I thought this was about XBOX 360's Marketplace acquiring new games?

    Anyway, like someone mentioned above, you can play these games with emulators just fine...and best of all it's free. I own a 360, and I think the marketplace is ridiculous. Why do I want to pay Microsoft about 8$ for a crappy ass internet game? And their "coin-op" section is so weak, there is like 5 games to download and most of them are Atari games.. WTF, if they really wanted to offer a good service, they would offer good games. They just want more of our money without having to provide a descent product for it. I mean, c'mon it's basically just those ***** ass games Microsoft tries to sell you on msn, you'd have more fun twisting your ankle. I'm just waiting for Halo 3, until then the 360 blows.

    and if any of you have any desires to play those games from your childhood, do yourself a favor and find the free emulators and roms.
    • aniseed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There's obviously money being made from the "i used to play these when i was a kid"-sector, since all three major players are putting money to it. PSP gets original Playstation games, Nintendo gets NES and others and MS, who has no oldschool-catalog of its own (Flight simulator 2, maybe ;) gets Coin-ops. At least MS apparently upgrades the games to some extent..

      But the emulators are valid point, only thing is that they're considered piracy and if you want to be 100% legal, it's a no-go.
  • vtwin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is subliminal advertising from MS:

    Paperboy: Throw Wii controllers through windows while riding a bicycle.
    Dig Dug: Ensures that this carefully crafted "news" item gets on Digg.com
    Sonic: Show that they have Sega games too.
    Root Beer Tapper: Tries to imply that Wii fans drink Root Beer instead of real Beer, like "manly" Xbox players do while playing "real games" like Halo.
  • digitaldd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sounds a lot like xbox live is becoming Gametap.com
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