Another week, another update. Double Dragon is an excellent title in my opinion. Too bad many of you will be playing Mario Kart Wii, or stealing cars and destroying random things in Grand Theft Auto 4. A darned shame. Well, at least Nintendo only put out one offering this week. It is an NES title that sells for 500 Wii Points.

DISCUSS

VC GAMES LIST

-Thomas 

For those of you who live outside Japan, you will be happy to know that there’s finally some Lost Odyssey downloadable content released on XBL. The “Triple Bonus Pack” includes 3 new items, “The Shattered Bond” which will allow plays to experience a new dream, the “Killer Machine” a special ring which gives extra protection against magic-powered weapons and the “Memory Lamp” that will let players re-live previous dreams. The Triple Bonus Pack is available to all regions for 200 MS points. For more info about the pack, check out Xbox.com

Seems a tad on the expensive side for just 3 new items and we’re still waiting on that new dungeon! You can discuss this on our forums, here!

Credit to A Reaver for the tip.

- Tiberian

This week’s Xbox Live Arcade game is the strategy card game Lost Cities. Lost Cities stays true to the original card game while translating to a easy to learn console experience. It features exotic locales from the frozen Himalayas to the sandy deserts of Egypt and will have online multiplayer with 3 friends over Xbox Live. Lost Cities will set you back 800 MSPs (or $10 USD) this Wednesday, April 23rd.

Visit Xbox.com for more information

- Tiberian

Great week for the VC here. I love River City Ransom, a lot. It’s one of the oldest brawlers around, and still one of the best. Some of you may love Phanasy Star 3, others of you might loathe it. Regardless of your stance, pick up River City Ransom.

BARF!

“Helping out your friends is often as easy as a ride to the airport or a kind word of advice. But when they fall victim to dastardly kidnappers, things get a little more complicated. Step up and find out what it takes to rescue your imperiled pals in the latest additions to the Wii� Shop Channel. Both of these classic titles feature distinctive rescue-driven storylines and villain-busting action to help bring out your inner hero. Isn’t that what friends are for?

Phantasy Star� III Generations of Doom (Sega Genesis, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): As Rhys, the crown prince of the Orakian kingdom of Landen, you are engaged to be married to Maia, a woman from a rival kingdom. But Maia is kidnapped on your wedding day, setting you on a quest filled with twists and turns that will reintroduce you to people and places from previous Phantasy Star games. This epic spans several generations of characters, and your choices will dramatically impact the way the story unfolds, which makes it a great game to play all the way through more than once. In Phantasy Star III, things aren’t always what they seem-check it out and watch the mysteries unfold.”

DISCUSS

VC Games List 

-Thomas 

Some heads up for any one thats not seen the message on their Xbox 360s but there will be some XBL maintenance on April 21, from 2 AM to 10 AM Pacific Time.  We’re told its not the spring update and there should be “no immediate or noticeable changes to the interface or services for Xbox LIVE or the Xbox 360.” Bummer. Looking forward to that spring update!

While the maintence is in affect, obviously Live will be down, the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won’t be able to post.) The rest of Xbox.com should still be up.

To find out what time the maintenance will start in your country/region click the link here.

Source: Gamerscoreblog

- Tiberian

Sorry guys! I spaced making this post yesterday after picking up my copy of Okami on the Wii. Rocky and Bullwinkle is supposedly a really bad game. However, if you’re a fan of old school cartoons, this one might just be worth a trial. There is also another Atari classic, Battlezone, out today. Take your pick, Rocky and Bullwinkle will run you ten bucks, Battlezone will run you five.

Discuss

XBLA Games List

-Thomas 

Looking forward to the upcoming Soulcalibur IV (dated for July 29th)? There was some good news from the Namco Bandai Editor’s Day yesterday and that was the game that started it all, the original Soulcalibur making its way to XBLA! The good news is the game with be getting a face lift with HD graphics and will include local play, the bad news? There doesn’t seem to be any online play over XBLA as of yet. Come on Namco, make it happen! There is no current date announced besides “summer” which is a little vague.

Hit the link for the press release.

- Jamie “Tiberian”

Microsoft is doing a pretty good job with this service so far. Next week’s update will be an excellent one, in my opinion. Chaos Theory is a simply excellent title from Ubisoft. Many of us would even call it the best stealth game ever. If you have never played this gem, I’d highly recommend picking it up. As for Metal Arms, I cannot say anything, because I have never played it to vouch.

In any case, you will be able to purchase these titles next Monday for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) each. They run at a rough 3-4 gigabytes, so clear out your HDD if you haven’t upgraded.

Thank you, A Reaver, for the tip.

SOURCE 

DISCUSS

-Thomas

It’s official, those new Halo 3 maps are out. Get Ghost Town, Avalanche, and Blackout now for 800 Microsoft points. As an early purchase bonus, Bungie is giving out Subscriptions to it’s new Pro service. Supposedly, you get space for Halo 3 Screenshots and movies. It boosts the storage amount from 25 megabytes to 250 megabytes. Not bad, if you ask me.

SOURCE

DISCUSS

-Thomas 

 Meh. What more can I say about this week? Apparently I missed out on a biggie, Fantasy Zone, but something about it just doesn’t appeal to me. Regardless, I was right about the wave of Master System titles. Enough about me though, what do you thinks of these titles? Tell us all about it in the forums.

 ”Danger may not be your middle name, but you’ll find plenty of it in this week’s additions to the Wii™ Shop Channel. Two classic side-scrolling action titles invite players to blast and battle their way to a thrilling climax. In a spaceship or an assault suit, it’ll take all the grit and gusto you can muster to survive these perilous, heart-pumping adventures.

Mega Turrican (Sega Genesis, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older-Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): The Machine has enslaved the galaxy under its tyrannical rule. As Bren McGuire, the last survivor of the United Freedom Forces, it is your duty to destroy the evil forces of the Machine that have devastated the galaxy. Fight through countless hordes of enemies using everything at your disposal. Use the weapons and power-ups of your Turrican Assault Suit, including the incredible Plasma Rope, to fight back the tide of oncoming enemies and find the health and power-ups that will keep you alive. Fifteen levels of chaos and destruction stand between you and freedom.”

VC Games List

-Thomas