OXM hints at imminent Ikaruga

That is, unless, it's an April Fool's joke.

I'll eat my hat if it's a joke. The review text has not one hint of a joke in it. That said, I don't wear a hat, so I'm not risking much.

You don't need to be wearing a hat to eat it. ;)

it is an APRIL edition...

Been waiting ages for this! I still play the Dreamcast version.

It's not like Ikaruga won't come out, but OXM has a history of reviewing titles that still haven't been released on XBLA yet...

I believe they reviewed Tron several months before it actually appeared.

Ikaruga was a great game, hopefully it stays intact for its XBLA release.

X3F already did multiple articles on Ikaruga being confirmed for XBL, along with the announcement of Rez coming to XBL, so I doubt this is an April Fool's Day Joke, even though it seems like just the thing that would be considered for one.

I would prefer to see Zero Gunner 2 come out for XBL....

Ikaruga is fun as well.

Havent we learned that no matter what news, big or small, coming from an april issue video game magazine = just lies. I dont even know why these VG magazines all started doing this crap. I can imgine all of them having a dip in sales come april time because of this.

I dont know about nintendo power now, But I remember when I was a kid, they always had an april fools page which was clearly labeled. That = tasteful. What the companies do now is just garbage that only makes me not want to purchase their magazines.

But its not limited to magazines. Joystiq, endgadget and xbox 360 fanboy will all go on my ignore list on april 1st, as they usualy have upto 20 posts per blog that are just lies, not jokes, LIES. If your in the video game business, dont release any sort of information come april 1st, as you will never be believed.

This doesn't work as a good April Fool's joke. Why would a magazine waste ink printing a prank like this that would only appeal to a niche market?

"Mushroom Kingdom Hearts" worked because Final Fantasy/Disney/Mario are huge names. Same goes for "Lego Halo." "Ikaruga is coming out in April!!" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Surely this is a relative lame joke, something like FREE XBOXs FOR ALL, would be a better one, if not less believable, so maybe that's the thing, is a good joke one that's believable or one that if is gets you there'd no doubt that you're a fool.

Also what's with the whole release the next months magazine mid way through the previous month, surely it has no magic time travelling news so it's still the news of march, just with april stuck on the front, marketing gone mad I tell you.

I don't think this is a joke - Usually when Arcade Achievements are live, it's close to being released.
And they're live:

http://inside.mygamercard.net/2008/03/18/ikaruga-youkaruga-everybodykaruga-for-achievements/

Now Ikaruga is a game that separates the men from the tiny dicked men. That game has kicked my ass in every which way. After awhile whenever I played it I felt like a battered wife. Fuck that game!!

lol @ the update. I did say that it was the UK OXM when I sent the scan/tip. ;)

IKARUGA is HARDCORE. I already have it on DC, but I think its worth $10 to play online.