Contra storms XBLA, original titles to follow this holiday, Atari classics in '07

by James Ransom-Wiley { Nov 6th 2006 at 11:55AM }

As Gears of War begins to arrive at retailers across North America this week, Microsoft and Konami will give Xbox Livies a chance to check out one of its forebears. This Wednesday, for 400 points ($5), Contra will be yours, again. The Xbox Live Arcade version includes both original (arcade; not NES) and enhanced modes, featuring Live co-op. And yes, "the code" works (though technically it wasn't part of the arcade original).

With the exception of Defender, the rest of XBLA's holiday lineup will be bolstered by a quartet of original titles:

Assault Heroes (Wanako/Vivendi Games) - top-down shooter with 2-player co-op
Heavy Weapon (PopCap Games) - side-scroller with 4-player support
Novadrome (Buena Vista Games) - futuristic racer
Small Arms (Gastronaut Studios) - indie Smash Bros. clone (4-player brawler) focusing on ranged attacks

Microsoft has also announced a partnership with Atari to bring Asteroids/Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Centipede/Millipede, Missile Command, Tempest, and Warlords to Xbox Live in 2007. As customary, Atari's classics will feature both original and "evolved" modes.

[Via Press Release]

Tags: Contra, Konami, Konami code, KonamiCode, XBLA, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, XboxLive, XboxLiveArcade

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

BlindsideDork @ Nov 6th 2006 12:00PM

How is Joystiq the only site to report this code WORKS in the game and no others?

Robotic House Plant @ Nov 6th 2006 12:08PM

Can't wait to play Contra again. Also looking forward to Tempest, Warlords, Small Arms, and Assault Heroes.

Draco @ Nov 6th 2006 12:11PM

I wonder if it will cost 200pts to unlock the konami code?

Daniel @ Nov 6th 2006 12:15PM

Live co-op?

Consider it bought.

Wild Homes @ Nov 6th 2006 12:15PM

this would be more awesome if Microsoft was helping to repair the consoles killed by the fall update. they're still maintaining that the update only produced the problems resulting in E71 and E66 errors, and none of the problems resulting in consoles that freeze up in every disc based game (games that worked flawlessly moments before the update was installed)... despite the overwhelming number of people who've suffered this problem. Joystiq, why aren't you guys working to expose this? Microsoft did minimal work to assist only those update errors that were undeniably linked to the patch, and left the rest of the affected to suffer. word I got from the supervisor I spoke to at tech support is that the update issue is closed and no one else is looking into it, and that the hundreds, if not thousands, of people whose consoles began to freeze up like clockwork from the very moment they updated are just lying opportunists.

Bob @ Nov 6th 2006 12:18PM

I was a big fan of the NES version, but I didn't really like the Arcade at all. Anybody else think the NES version was superior?

Brandon/Phunk @ Nov 6th 2006 12:21PM

GoW and Contra, thats all I need for the remainder of this year.

BlindsideDork @ Nov 6th 2006 12:21PM

Why did Joystiq delete comments from the Zelda blog and then lock it? Scared of people knowing the truth?

sambo @ Nov 6th 2006 4:14PM

how sweet would this be if it was upgraded to support widescreen?

CC @ Nov 6th 2006 12:26PM

There is nothing like playing it with the original NES controller. My hands hurt thinking about it.

http://atariace.com/nintendo/joysticks.php/item/36

KilgoreTrout XL @ Nov 6th 2006 12:56PM

For 400 points I will most certainly be buying this. I was a Sega Master System owner as a kid, so I never had my own copy of contra.

umm....hello? @ Nov 6th 2006 1:18PM

awesome....live co-op...done deal. never played the arcade version though. hopefully the Wii will offer the NES version, then I can have both!!!!

@3 Draco-
You're confusing Konami with EA. = )

@9 yessss....Nintendo Thumbitis...back when you didn't have auto-rapid-fire.

@6 the NES version is probably superior, IMO, but to be honest since I never played the arcade version, it's hard to say...either way, without the code it's probably still a difficult game.

Dave @ Nov 6th 2006 1:22PM

Previously, Microsoft had claimed the only 1080P games you'd see on the PS3 would be like the original arcade BattleZone. (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=144727)

While Sony has proven it can do quite a bit more in 1080P than that, it will be interesting to see if the 360 can play such simple games in 1080P. In Microsoft's own words, that's about the limit of what we can expect from the 360.

jabbertrack @ Nov 6th 2006 1:33PM

THIS is how to charge $5 for a game. Wii VC releasing ROMs without enhancements for the same price is a complete ripoff.

dutch726 @ Nov 6th 2006 1:35PM

Is this the extent of the XBLA titles this holiday? I am definately excited about Small Arms, but what about the multitude of board games...namely Settlers of Catan. Do we have to wait for the other games that were shown in the Bringing it Home 06' montage.

Neil @ Nov 6th 2006 1:38PM

This game is a waste. You have unlimited men and the aliased the graphics so it looks like it was run through a Photoshop filter.

Foppe @ Nov 6th 2006 1:48PM

When will we see SOTN?

tehWabbit @ Nov 6th 2006 2:03PM

This is all good, but when is Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers coming?

rrenna @ Nov 6th 2006 2:05PM

I'm so glad Small Arms is indeed coming this year, I was pretty sure that one was getting delayed.

a Master Ninja @ Nov 6th 2006 2:13PM

Neil, only an idiot wouldn't turn that off. Have you never played a retro XBLA game before?

PPalermo @ Nov 6th 2006 2:55PM

I know it's a long shot, but I'm crossing my fingers that the Tempest remake includes Jeff Minter's Tempest 2000. Heck, we've heard he's working on something for Xbox, might as well be this...

The Jeremy @ Nov 6th 2006 3:02PM

WARLORDS!

Awesome. That game was so much fun when I was a kid and I'd have 3 friends over to play with me. But it won't be as much fun without a paddle controller. Then again, Tempest 2000 rocked on the Jaguar without a paddle controller (although some people made customized controllers for the sole purpose of playing that game).

Add me to the list of "fingers crossed" for a Minter update to Tempest for the Xbox360...or any other nextgen console for that matter. Maybe he could convince the powers-that-be to update Major Havok which he had planned to do before Atari Corp. went under and the Jaguar was cancelled.

WedgeTalon @ Nov 6th 2006 3:13PM

I'm getting a bit tired of all of these xbox live downloadable articles... especially as someone who uses gametap...

Let's see, what was the last big todo on XBL? Street Fighter? IIRC, GT had it a month before.

And now Contra? GameTap added it LAST THURSDAY. They also added Castlevania 3.

Leave these Live announcements to the fanboy site. It's no big deal for those of us who are willing to play something besides their precious precious x360. ;p

[/rant]

Ninegauger @ Nov 6th 2006 3:44PM

So the big news here is that Castle Crashers isn't going to make this year... bummer. I don't know about any of those games... but that's what the Trial Version is for. And 400 points is definitely the right price for classic games.

Pince @ Nov 6th 2006 5:06PM

Contra is the true "Halo-killer".

splash @ Nov 6th 2006 5:09PM

I disagree. Some of us ARE interested in XBLA announcements. If you're not interested, you don't have to read the article. I do that with articles I'm not interested in.

Thank you Joystiq for letting me know about Contra this week. Am totally looking forward to it.

Also excited about Tempest. That game rocked.