Galaga makes its way over to XBLA
by Joystiq Staff 
{ Jul 26th 2006 at 5:55PM }
The latest Xbox Live Arcade title to make its Wednesday appearance is the truly old school alien shooter, Galaga. We would be a smidgen more excited about this if it wasn't something most of us can already play on our PSP or PS2 classic hits compilations (or any other system that has one of them).
For that reason, there's just not that much to get hyped about with this one since all it does is the same thing it did back in 1981. Where's the enhanced online play? Where's the co-op mode? How bout we get that little something special for our 400 points?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rabidog @ Jul 26th 2006 5:58PM
Sony exclusive!!!!!!!!
T-Man @ Jul 26th 2006 5:59PM
how much is 400 points in real money?
Thryon @ Jul 26th 2006 6:05PM
LOL. I paid for this puppy as I saw it. I love Galaga....nothing but mindless fun...something to do between Hitman and Dead Rising.
Kid Chemical @ Jul 26th 2006 6:21PM
400 points is $5
Clint @ Jul 26th 2006 6:22PM
How boring...I've already played this to death on the PSP, not to mention the fact that it's old as hell.
striderhayasa @ Jul 26th 2006 6:29PM
"yawn"
J.Goodwin @ Jul 26th 2006 6:32PM
Or it could be four dollars, depending on how you choose to buy your points. In some places it could be up to seven and a half (if you're a moron who would pay thirty dollars for your points cards).
aka Bitter @ Jul 26th 2006 6:33PM
T-Man, 80 MS points=$1US, so 400 is $5.
I don't see any reason to complain considering the price. Co-op didn't exist in the original(or any of the arcade classic compilations) and it's nice to be able to play on your TV via the arcade interface. i.e. no disc to load.
Bitter
Disclamer: Galaga fanboy
Bloo @ Jul 26th 2006 6:41PM
"How boring...I've already played this to death on the PSP, not to mention the fact that it's old as hell."
Seriously, this is out of control. I have contributed useful and informational comments to this site as well as posts that I was credited for and got a negative star for making a joke in one of my comments because it was more relevant to one of the comments than the actual post. But here we have this troll Clint, who even Christopher Grant has commented to shut up and go away, post something ridiculous on every single 360 post and yet he has not even a single negative. Can you either ban him or give him the money to buy every console so he can learn it's about the games and not the consoles? Who cares if you played this to death on your PSP? People already played this to death in the arcade before you were even born.
Kirk @ Jul 26th 2006 6:45PM
Hmmm...High Definition Galaga for $5 isn't good/change enough I guess.
Adolescent Don @ Jul 26th 2006 6:53PM
I love Galaga and I purchased the game as soon as It came out, don't regret my purchase at all.
reguy @ Jul 26th 2006 6:56PM
I agree with bloo, how can clint not have 5 negative stars by now? all he ever says is how stupid or boring things are on the 360. Please joystiq, ban this guy he is nothing but a troll. And here they say we xbox fanboys are the problem.
Lee @ Jul 26th 2006 6:56PM
Bloo, true, Clint is a dick. And I got a negative star for saying Wii jokes were old before they were "officially" declared old. ¬_¬
But on topic, I forgot it was XBLA Wednesday, so just went on. I am severely disappointed. It actually says "High Definition". So we get a hi-res wallpaper in the background whilst playing an unchanged (graphically) 25 year old game for $5?
XBLA has severely disappointed me. One of the main reasons I bought a 360 was playing Geometry Wars round a friends, since then it's just that and Marble Blast that are worth paying for. Solid gameplay and pretty visuals, great games. Frogger, with it's slightly better sprites in this rectangular box taking up about 30% of my TV? Never mind the endless Geometry Wars clones.
Cloning Clyde seems interesting, but not $10 interesting.
They seriously need to get their act together. I mean making Capcom redo their sprites for SF2 is a bit ridiculous, if they haven't done it themselves in all these years they're sure as hell aren't going to do it for the 360. Online play will have to do, but that's going to be a stupid 1200 points or so.
360 had a good launch, but it's been far too relaxed, there's not been a single title I've wanted to buy for it since I got DOA4 and GRAW. Any others I've just picked up for PC.
I presume they're waiting out for the competition this christmas, I hope for my sake that they pull some better games out of their arse and aren't just relying on Halo 3 to carry their system (a la the first two years of Xbox).
Adam @ Jul 26th 2006 6:58PM
"I hope for my sake that they pull some better games out of their arse and aren't just relying on Halo 3 to carry their system (a la the first two years of Xbox)."
Uh.. it's called Gears of War
gameclu @ Jul 26th 2006 7:00PM
I figure if I play 20 games or more, it's worth it. 20 games is 5 bucks in quarters.
Carl Winslow @ Jul 26th 2006 7:12PM
Lee - valid points, but you can adjust the screen size in Frogger, and SF2 will be 800 points.
sony shill, lol @ Jul 26th 2006 7:12PM
It's more legal than I've been playing it before...Better than most shooters, despite it's age.
games and games @ Jul 26th 2006 7:25PM
Bought and playing. If you don't want it don't buy it. I'm an old fan and have played it on a lot of systems, online scores, and (limited) achievements are still worth the price of a pint.
Give the XBLA bashing a rest and play some fkin games already! ;)
Lee @ Jul 26th 2006 7:25PM
Thank you Carl, I'll feel much happier about paying 800 points for SF2, as if I don't already have it for the Mega Drive, two for SNES, and the Hyper Anniversary for PS2. Does it feature the New Challengers?
Oh and I've adjusted the Frogger screen size, your frog gets stretched so wide it looks like a snake. Maybe I'm being harsh, perhaps a little slug-type creature with tiny appendages.
They're lucky that Live is so damn good, else my 360 would be getting no use at all...
...fine, fine, so I still play GeoWars about 5 times a day, so sue me! ;)
Matthew M @ Jul 26th 2006 7:35PM
I highly enjoy Galaga, and I think it is worth the purchase. $5 really isn't that much when I think about all the times I want to just sit down and play a round or two of Galaga.
It is also a nice change from spending $60 on the new games.
I agree with gameclu, if I play it enough, than the price will be justified. In my head at least. Better than spending more quarters!
Diskoboy @ Jul 26th 2006 7:53PM
Oh my god - "It's old..." Thats the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life - period.
I own a fucking cocktail Galaga machine, and I still bought the game. When I have friends come over, they kinda flock staright towards my Galaga machine and have a game started before I can even turn on the TV. Jesus... I wonder why Galaga and Ms. Pac-Man are pretty much the only arcade games you can find anywhere, anymore? Why? Peolpe like them and still play them. They still make $$$$$.
Whenever I go to Dave & Busters, I have to honestly sit and wait to play the Pac-Man 25th Anniversary or DK/DKjr/Mario Bros. machines. Man, you 12-year-olds make me laugh. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
Now is that so hard?
C. Grant @ Jul 26th 2006 7:58PM
FYI for all those complaining, Clint has been banned as of yesterday. He was bugging me and, after checking his comment history and discovering he's never once contributed anything of value, we banned him. We try to be on top of that stuff, he seems to have slipped through far too long.
SonicRift @ Jul 26th 2006 8:17PM
Sorry to go off topic, but is that, like, banning his IP from commenting, or just his username/email?
Thanks mista C
Mike @ Jul 26th 2006 8:19PM
Love, love, love Galaga. It may be simple but few games of any era or genre are as finely tuned. IMHO, this IS something to get excited about because of the worldwide leaderboards and achievement points. It's the essence of old-school arcade 1-upsmanship going global.
I agree: Don't like it, don't buy it.
jc @ Jul 26th 2006 8:24PM
Galaga was well worth it for me as well. I have been patiently waiting since word came out and am happy with the result.
I think you made a good decision, Chris Grant... censorship of ideas and banning people sucks and all, but really, you can only give so much leway when it comes to trolls who constantly talk out their arse.
The ZeroCorpse @ Jul 26th 2006 11:21PM
I have some young nephews, and they just don't get their crazy uncle's interest in these old games. They think the games are unsophisticated and would rather play something that's "badass" and has every graphical bell or whistle possible.
Hey, I like cool, impressive-looking games too! I just also like the idea of being able to sit down and play a quick game of Galaga without having to watch a 2-minute cinema, and listen to lots of storyline or dialogue before ever getting to play the game.
There's a place for both types of games. It's too bad so many kids look at games with low-end graphics and instantly decide they hate them and that they must suck.
Lee @ Jul 27th 2006 12:04AM
Adam, Gears of War isn't guaranteed to be great. I'm only quoting Halo 3 because I know the gameplay will be solid and multiplayer hella fun (unless they really change some things).
I've seen the GoW trailer, didn't amaze me, not quite sure where the hype's come from. Anyone point me to any in-game footage so I can be swayed?
And I understand the appeal of the arcade games, but giving them a visual upgrade can't take too much effort, I'd probably pay twice as much for a pretty Galaga, at least it'd offer me more than on other platforms. The online leaderboard doesn't appeal to me much, I go on and I'm like 6000th in the world at GeoWars or something, big whoop.
Arcade games - good.
But money for something my phone can play at the same graphical level - bad.
Graphics aren't everything, but when they tout "High Definition" and offer this, I'm a bit disappointed. I'm not a graphics whore, but it just doesn't sit well with me paying for essentially a straight up port of a 25 year old game.
peyote @ Jul 27th 2006 12:13AM
besides no multiplayer, the online scoreboard will mean nothing if it's exactly like the original since there's a 'no shoot' cheat on the first or second level. after that it's just a matter of who'll play long enough on enemies that don't shoot. that sounds like a boring mess for the scoreboards.
peyote @ Jul 27th 2006 12:45AM
i might add that i'm a big galaga fan, i just don't think xbox live scoreboard will mean anything on galaga (that includes 'friends scoreboard'- which actually is fun if you have friends you compete with, ie. geo wars).
skrills @ Jul 27th 2006 3:03AM
you know, not all of us own ps2's and play psp's.
i welcome this galaga with open arms. To write a 'yeah whatever' article because it doesn't have extra options is weaksauce, brother. It's fuckin galaga. nuff said.
geekinabox @ Jul 27th 2006 9:10AM
#27 ...
GOW in-game footage:
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/747/747891/vids_1.html
You can find some more videos at http://www.xboxyde.com (I can't get there from work, so I can't send specific linkies).
Personally, I think it looks hella fun.
joe @ Jul 27th 2006 10:01AM
Too add the the new wave of 360 games not being next-gen enough, look at the mass effect trailer on XLM now, ill be first to say the 360 lanch games killed the "next-gen" buzz for the 360, but watching Mass Effect E3 trailer i was floored by the character animation.
And that my friends is yet another 360 exclusive...
Dan @ Jul 27th 2006 10:26AM
I downloaded Galaga and loved it.
I'd really like to see some more varitey in the old school games. I mean Tron would rock in addition to Qbert, Crazy Climber, and Black Widow for good measure.
I get tired of seeing the same old early 80s games in compilations or other forms.
Clint @ Jul 27th 2006 11:45AM
Wow....The PSP is insulted for having so-called ports from the PS2, but it looks like lately all the Xbox 360 has are ports from the arcades 25 years ago!
Bloo @ Jul 27th 2006 12:08PM
"Wow....The PSP is insulted for having so-called ports from the PS2, but it looks like lately all the Xbox 360 has are ports from the arcades 25 years ago!"
No, it's insulted because almost all it has is watered down PS2 ports for $50. The 360 has plenty of all new games *as well as* arcade ports with various degrees of *added* functionality for an average of $5 a pop. They obviously can't ban you, but you can still be corrected.
Lee @ Jul 27th 2006 3:26PM
Hmm, GoW looks alright, what is it offering over other generic FPS though? Or is it just another solid shooter? Not saying that'd really be much of a bad thing, but with the market flooded (especially PC/Xbox) what separates it from the rest?
I mean, I've seen the hype as much as anybody, but why? =/
Usually games get hyped because of some feature that they've implemented, or just taken an existing feature, and upped it, to the max!
On-topic, doesn't anyone else feel drastic range in quality in the XBLA range?
Lee @ Jul 27th 2006 3:36PM
And Bloo... don't like the many original PSP titles, don't buy a PSP. Simple. Denying their existence, despite poor sales, is simply ignorance.