Whether you're a fan of shmups or wish to throw a pile of dictionaries at us for using such an egregious portmanteau, you could learn a thing or two from DS Fanboy's tribute to the shoot-em-up kings at Treasure. From 1993's Gunstar Heroes (released last year as a Virtual Console title) to this year's Bangai-O Spirits, the piece covers all of the developers' projectile-favored games (sorry Dynamite Heddy fanatics). Click here and get edumucated.

In news post yesterday, Penny Arcade's Gabe revealed the top four best launches ever for Xbox Live Arcade, with the launch window being the first three days of availability. The list is as follows:

1. Rez HD, 25k units
2. Ikaruga, 22.5k units
3. Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 1, 16.5k units
4. N+, 13k units

Honestly, we're a bit surprised by the initial success of Rez and Ikaruga. Not that we didn't want them to succeed (they really are awesome games), but we didn't expect to see Xbox Live community rally so quickly around years-old re-releases. Now, if we could only see data for worst XBLA launches, or even total Rez playtime using multiple controllers as trance vibrators.

[Via X3F]

Update: Entries are closed. We'll be alerting the winners via e-mail soon, so please keep an eye on your inbox!

Treasure's Ikaruga holds a special place in our hearts. If you're like some of us on the Joystiq crew, today's Xbox Live Arcade release will be the third time you pick up this classic shooter. At only 800 Microsoft Points ($10), this HD re-release is quite a bargain -- but, thanks to Microsoft, we're able to give three Joystiq readers a free download of the game. Just follow these rules for your chance to win:

• To enter this giveaway, leave a comment with the name of your favorite Treasure-developed game
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec)
• Limit 1 entry per person
• This entry period ends at 12pm ET on Friday, April 11th. We'll randomly select 3 winners at that time (please check your email!)
• For a list of complete rules, click here

For another chance to win, be sure to visit Xbox 360 Fanboy.

Hey, it's tough to keep the lid on an exciting secret. If we knew Ikaruga was coming to Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday, we'd probably blurt it out at every opportunity too. Sort of like what we're doing now. In case you haven't gathered, Treasure's mesmerizing shooter is finally, officially coming to Xbox 360 this week -- f'realz, confirmed and for 800 MS Points ($10). You're all smiles now, but just wait until the game crushes your ego to a pulp in its unrelenting, unforgiving bullet-hell fist.

Those who prefer their gaming to be less hectic and humiliating should note that Poker Smash is receiving some downloadable content this week, with an "Environment Pack" adding two new Action Mode environments and a "Puzzle Pack" adding 15 new weapons. No, wait ... puzzles. Definitely puzzles. Each pack will set you back 100 MS Points ($1.25).

Treasure's maniacal shoot-em-up Ikaruga is coming this week, April 9, according to the game's website. There's no official word yet from Microsoft, but we wouldn't find the date surprising, as it was leaked once before on the Japanese Xbox site. The game was also "outed" for an April release by the UK Official Xbox Magazine and has reportedly been on PartnerNet since January. Our fingers are crossed that this release date will stick, and come Wednesday, we can enjoy some mind-blowing, color-coordinated space shooting.

Update: Confirmed by Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog for this week.

Recently Xbox Live Arcade has shown considerable potential as a home for shoot 'em ups, from the Forgotten Worlds-channeling Omega Five to monochrome shooter Ikaruga's looming release. However, to hear talk from 5pb, the devs charged with bringing Cave's nefarious DoDonPachi series as well as its latest shooter Ketsui to XBLA's digital frontier, the platform still has a few nagging hang ups keeping it from becoming a beacon for shmups.

Echoing N+ developer Metanet's recent comments concerning what does and does not make it to the service, 5pb spoke out about similar frustrations in the latest issue of Famitsu, revealing that both of its ports of DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou Black Label X and Ketsui X had been summarily rejected for release over XBLA, with Microsoft claiming that it's "going to cut down on faithful arcade ports." Only faithful ones?

We agree that there is certainly a glut of arcade nonsense on XBLA, but this is equivalent to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 5pb and Cave are reportedly now working to bring both games to market through traditional retail channels in a defiant effort to show Microsoft "that their decision was wrong." Now all we need is a publisher with an eye for niche Japanese releases to pick the games up for release outside of Japan. Altus, are you listening?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

The Japanese version of Xbox.com apparently posted the release date for the long-awaited XBLA version of Ikaruga. Xblah reports a Japanese website caught the alleged premature posting showing the game had an April 9 date attached to it.

Although the game still has no official release, UK OXM had a review of the game in its April issue with an image saying the game was "out now." Ikaruga has been on PartnerNet since January, so it'd be nice if it could make its polarity flipping public appearance sometime in the near future.

[Via Xblah]

The April issue of UK Official Xbox Magazine apparently believes that the XBLA version of Ikaruga is "out now," meaning the classic polarity-bending shooter may finally be close to release. Receiving a 9 out of 10 from the magazine, there's no clear release date for the game, but given the magazine's publication month, the only thing we can venture to guess is the title should be out by the end of April.

We were impressed with the port of Ikaruga during our hands-on time with the game back at the Tokyo Games Show. Ikaruga's XBLA premiere has been a long time coming, first popping up on our radar in Feb. of 2007 and finally being officially confirmed much later in the year. Hopefully the UK OXM piece means the wait is almost over.

Treasure's crazed, color-coded shoot 'em up Ikaruga has been found on PartnerNet, an alternate form of Xbox Live for developers to use for testing code, according to a poster at the SHMUPS forums. The game was reportedly a 49.04 MB download, and captured screenshots show menus for the leaderboard and replay system. Also noteworthy is that the game supports both 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratios.

Ikaruga's appearance on PartnerNet does not necessarily mean the game will be released anytime soon, although there does seem to be an indication that the game is nearing completion. Ikaruga was announced for XBLA alongside Rez, which is slated for release this month.

[Via Arcade Renaissance]

There are many gamers that don't know of, let alone know how to pronounce, Treasure's Ikaruga. Unfortunate, considering it's the definitive shooter of the last console generation. With its arrival on Xbox 360, a whole new set of gamers can enjoy Treasure's masterpiece, which was previously only available on the Dreamcast and Gamecube.

Those that have already played the game can rest assured that the game is identical in every way to the original. Every enemy pattern that we've seen in our short time with the game remains exactly as it was years ago. There is one key enhancement: the video has now been upgraded to run in HD, making the game look as good as you remember it. Admittedly, you won't be concentrating at the backgrounds while playing the game, simply for the sake of staying alive. However, it's a good addition to know will be in this remastered re-release.

Those that haven't played the game will find Ikaruga to be one of the games that's easy to learn, but difficult to master. The game only uses two buttons: A and B. One button will let you shoot a barrage of bullets, while the other will let you switch polarity. Polarity becomes the big theme of the game, as your ship changes strengths and weaknesses when changing affinities. Being a white ship will allow you to destroy black ships twice as quickly, but it will leave you vulnerable to any attack from black fire. The opposite is true for black ships. Your ship can absorb the bullets of the same color, which you can then throw back at enemies. These rules are the construct for devilish enemy patterns and level designs that will have you memorizing each level just for fun. It's brutally difficult, but immensely satisfying, and easily one of the best additions to XBLA.

Die-hard fans of Treasure's shooters probably already own Ikaruga for either Dreamcast or Gamecube -- possibly both. So why would they buy the title yet again for the Xbox 360? According to Treasure president Masato Maegawa speaking to 1UP, new features to the game include online co-op, worldwide rankings and the ability to share replays.

Given Ikaruga's frantic pulsations of laser shots, we're hoping there's some code in place to fix any lag issues. There's a lot of quick, minute movements required in the shooter and being out of sync at all with your partner would lead to a very frustrating experience (see: Contra XBLA).

Maegawa also told 1UP that they are in the midst of developing a title for Nintendo Wii. The project is being handled by the "action" team (other teams include shmup and fighting) who also made one of our favorite Virtual Console titles, Gunstar Heroes. No other details are available, though we expect the title to retain much of the side scrolling action style as its spiritual ancestors.

If you missed out on our liveblog of Microsoft's pre-TGS conference in Japan (it does, after all, require an excessive and strenuous amount of scrolling to access), you may appreciate and respond with delirious joy to some of the pertinent news to emerge from it. You should also appreciate the amount of effort that went into the preceding and vaguely professional sentence -- we really just wanted to blurt out that REZ ON XBLA YAY.

Ahem.

Microsoft confirmed that Tetsuya Mizuguchi's melodic shooter will soon make you hear everything you see and see everything you hear on Xbox Live Arcade. Other things you'll see are waves of hypnotic bullets (Ikaruga), saviors adorned with fine hats (EXIT), pulsating geometric shapes (Every Extend Extra Extreme), flying robots (Omega Five) and... er, some sort of Japanese car (Triggerheart Exelica)? No release dates have been announced for any of the games, though we suspect none of them are likely to come soon enough.

CVG has the scoop: Treasure's hypnotic, crushingly difficult and strikingly beautiful shoot-em-up, Ikaruga, is headed for Xbox Live Arcade. An early build of the game was spotted on the debug version of Xbox Live, which is only accessable through an Xbox 360 debug unit. Though the code wasn't functional yet, we imagine that Live co-op would make for an excellent addition to this particular version.

For those who missed out on Ikaruga's previous console ports on the Dreamcast and Gamecube, know that the game is one of the genre's best -- at least if you're willing to accept the irremediable psychological damage caused by the game's never-ending sea of pulsating bullets. Let the torturous wait for further details begin!

This is one recurring rumor we'd rather not toss away, instead warmly embracing it and gently scratching behind its furry little ears. Unfortunately, much like realizing the kitten in your hands is actually a squirrel infected with rabies, the truth about a sequel to NiGHTS may just upset you. And tear your face clean off.

If you follow the dubious rumor treasure trail, you're bound to end up at a Wii release list published on Japanese website, G-rev. Stashed between Animal Crossing and a Naruto game is the tantalizing mention of NiGHTS (or Naitsu), though no accompnaying release date can be found. It could be a remake, a sequel or an elaborate dance interpretation -- or a complete fabrication.

Is the modern Sega even capable of producing a good follow-up to NiGHTS? Would Wii controls shine through the possible dreck of NiGHTS 2: Into Dwiims, now with fly-by shootings and a talking rabbit? Perhaps, but they'll have to make the game before we know.

(In other news, G-rev's Xbox 360 page lists a Radiant Silvergun 3 ... )

[Via Siliconera, Insert Credit]