Ikaruga: an announcement postmortem

After weeks of solid Xbox Live Arcade releases from such re-envisioned classics as RezHD to new-age addiction like Poker Smash, we can't help but wonder where one game in particular is. Ikaruga, from Treasure Video Games, has been at the top of our most wanted list since it was announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 2007 but it still hasn't found its way into our hard drives (currently it's the only XBLA title announced at TGS07 that has yet to be released.)

Visiting the official product page on Treasure's website (translated) we know that the game will ring in at 800 MS Points and that it's set for a winter '08 release. With March quickly approaching we can't help but wonder if Ikaruga will be hitting the Marketplace sometime in the next few weeks. Ikaruga's XBLA release checks off every major bullet-point for the service, such as: hi-resolution graphics and achievements, as well as added bonuses like 2 player co-op and support for both 16:9 and 16:10 widescreen.

Kotaku ran a story in early January confirming that Ikaruga had made its way to Partner Net, an industry-only beta release of Arcade titles in development, so we're optimistic the classic shooter will go live very soon.