Jonesing to play Lode Runner, Castle Crashers, Galaga Legions, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, or Braid? Have I got some great news for you. The wait will soon be over.

One of Microsoft's many XBLA evangelists was live on E3 Live on Gamespot (thanks to being on the road with glitchy internet, I missed his name) talking up the "best content lineup" on XBLA ever and told the world that all these games would be out "by the end of the summer." And more specifically he said, "in the next two months."

If all goes as planned I'll likely be at least 4000 MSP poorer in two months time (though no price points have been announced).

After the break I'll hit on a couple of points that were covered about each of those games.

Lode Runner

• Same basic gameplay and the speed of the game seems very faithful to the original which I played like crazy on my Apple ][+.
• Smooth pseudo-3D look (a la Cloning Clyde).
• Now, when you finish a level you open up a pathway that transitions you directly to the next level with no load time or delay. This could lead to some seriously long uninterrupted gameplay sessions at my house.
• The game will feature all new levels.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2

• 4-player coop and competitive gameplay confirmed. Both Live and Local are confirmed. Whether you can mix the two wasn't discussed.
• 6 modes for multiplayer including "Deadline" (not demoed) and "King" which forces you and your buddies to hop into protective circles that disappear within a few seconds forcing you to move to a new protected spot. There are no bombs in the "King" mode but there are various powerups.
• There is also a "Pacifist" mode that will challenge you to go through gates without shooting enemies. Passing the gates will destroy the oncoming enemies.

Braid

• 5 worlds and approximately 4-5 levels per world.
• Time manipulation is different in each world and level. Thus, many puzzles are about discovering the "trick" to each level before being able to solve the individual puzzles.
• Unlimited rewind to the beginning of each level. Just hold "X".

Castle Crashers

• 4-player coop Local and Live.
• You can use CPR on your dying buddies in the game to revive them which allows unskilled players to hang with their skilled friends throughout the game. Anger directed at the "weakest link" no longer necessary.
• Overall, looks to be everything that you love about The Behemoth games and expected from the previews so far.

Galaga Legions

• Comes from the same team that reimagined Pac-Man for Pac-Man Championship Edition.
• New gameplay mechanics include enemy path preview and "satellite guns".
• Before enemies appear on the screen you will see the path that they will travel. They can appear from any direction and move it very complicated paths reminiscent of bullet-hell shmups.
• At any point you can deploy your two "satellite guns" to support your efforts against the massive alien hoards by using the right stick.
• Single-player only.
• The ship can be set to auto-fire allowing you to use the left stick to move and shoot (only up) and the right stick to deploy your "satellite guns". Manual firing mode is an option.

Overall, the games all look highly polished and ready for primetime. Commence the countdown.