After missing out on a real game release last week, MS will be hoping to make it up to us by releasing the highly anticipated retro classic, Contra. Coming out for 400 points, we will be able to play an updated Arcade version of this game, complete with the "code".

Note that it is also the first chance we will have to test out the new "Automatic Download" feature released last week.

You can check out the Gamerscore Blog post about this here.

 

So here's this week's list, remember that if you want to be on the list, you have to go to this link and add your gamertag, then you'll show up the following monday.

1    trent82            5995
2    Klutch86           5930
3    BIackPhoenixVII    5665
4    K4rn4ge            4885
5    pmpboarder         4785
6    The0ldMan          4135
7    NIGHTW1NG          3546
8    Mike Kelehan       3165
9    Timesplitter 6     2780
10   Ark Malmeida       2748
11   Murdocke           2641
12   McLean78           2485
13   epthegeek          2360
14   OFFICER ZERO       2261
15   London Town        2234
16   Audman             2181
17   Spizzo14           2088
18   briankeith         2076
19   Tomacco            1883
20   Hexxagonal         1840
21   Jobseeker          1675
22   Kornicos           1581
23   FlobberWorm        1550
24   TRON 76            1470
25   Measure76          1220
26   Stoffs             1185
27   ICE2DRAGON         1080
28   mattbaer            930
29   JDUDE11             921
30   Taygee              902
31   Twodder             806
32   Billiez4            785
33   koolin              735
34   SPIDEY COQ          710
35   DeusExMathias       670
36   DreaM666            560
37   MASTAglach820       370
38   DenisDenis          291
39   DEEKDOG             190
40   P33Ka               175
41   ESuns               136

While you can read the whole list here, the list of XBLA specific information is:

As many of you know, of the developers that have released games so far on XBLA, NinjaBee has to be my favorite. The number of hours I've spent playing both Outpost Kaloki X and Cloning Clyde are countless. There has always been one issue in this love affair though; two of the twelve achievements in Outpost have been broken since launch. Well not anymore...

Next time you launch the game, it will ask you to update the title, and when you do it's now possible to get those final 40 points for the game. The fix is actually to the amount of time remaining to get the "gold" rating on certain levels, thus allowing you to get all golds in adventure mode as well as gold on the 8 port challenge. Here's the quote from the ninjabee forums:

So while Steve Taylor over at NinjaBee has certainly gotten some of the monkey's off his back about the achievements, something tells me they are going to be replaced quickly by ones asking about the release of Bugs of War.

So, Mr. Taylor, any news? :)

 

First things first, if you haven't checked it out already, go right now and check out the trailer for Crash Dummy vs. the Evil D-Troit, go here and do so now. Note that this is the trailer for the PSP version, but it does a good job of showing off how the game will play.

While you may be wondering why I'm so excited about a PSP title. Well, I came across this quote from Gerhard Schanz of SIC this morning:

You can check out the news here and the game's site here.

So after we started up the XBLArcade.com leader board through MyGamerCard.net the first thing people were saying is they wanted to see the leader board contain only XBLA titles.

Not being the kind of people who like to disappoint, here is the list:

1	trent82	5915
2	Klutch86	5828
3	BIackPhoenixVII	5605
4	K4rn4ge	4885
5	pmpboarder	4785
6	The0ldMan	4065
7	NIGHTW1NG	3546
8	Mike Kelehan	3065
9	Timesplitter 6	2750
10	Murdocke	2606
11	McLean78	2445
12	epthegeek	2360
13	OFFICER ZERO	2261
14	London Town	2234
15	Audman	2181
16	briankeith	2076
17	Spizzo14	1959
18	Hexxagonal	1840
19	Tomacco	1802
20	Jobseeker	1675
21	Kornicos	1581
22	FlobberWorm	1550
23	Measure76	1515
24	Stoffs	1185
25	ICE2DRAGON	1080
26	mattbaer	930
27	JDUDE11	881
28	Taygee	869
29	Twodder	806
30	Billiez4	735
31	koolin	735
32	SPIDEY COQ	710
33	DeusExMathias	670
34	DreaM666	540
35	MASTAglach820	370
36	DenisDenis	291
37	DEEKDOG	190
38	P33Ka	175
39	ESuns	136

Note that since the existing leader board doesn’t support filtering on XBLA titles, there is no way for us to provide a “live” list.

So after a brief slip-up on Saturday, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 has been released on the XBLA. 800 points will net you this classic fighter. For those of you who have already purchased it, how do you think it stacks up to Street Fighter?

Whenever a PopCap game becomes available for the XBLA service, the old argument of "Why would I pay for a game that I can download from the Internet?" comes up. Well on top of the first answer that is it actually costs more to buy it from PopCap’s site (most of their games are $20 for the full version), comes the fact that this game looks better and plays better on the 360.

For those of you who haven't already, go check out the demo of the PC version of this game on the PopCap site here. The first thing I noticed when playing the game on XBLA this week is that it really does scream out for a controller. Without going into the whole keyboard/mouse vs. a controller, this game is night and day in comparison for the controller. Having a set area in which you can move the control for the gun just fits into the game play of moving the turret on your tank.

The other improvement is the graphics. With the art style being what it is in Heavy Weapon, the difference isn't huge, but it is better, and is a huge improvement when you consider that it's now in widescreen.

Throw in co-op play, achievements, and a probable 800 point price tag, and it's certainly moved up on my wanted list.

The Achievement list is:

• Supaweapon! (10 Points)
  
• Big Red Button (10 Points)
• Total Distruction
• ComSat Uplink
• Ugly American
• Arms Race
• Cockroach of freedom
• Cannon Happy
• Ultimate Tanker
• Freedom's Last Stand
• Survivor
• Massive Distruction
  

So I'll be honest here, Ultimate Mortal Kombat is the game that I spent the absolute least time playing. The reason for that of course is that it's Single player Mortal Kombat for XBLA you know exactly what you are getting! The game is great, the D pad is lacking. What this game is going to come down to is whether or not they nailed the online or not.

I was going to list the achievements here, but it seems that Achieve360Points.com already has them listed here.

Available now on the Marketplace is the "Advance Pack" for Lumines Live. For the first installment of add-on packs you'll be parting with 600 MS Points and receive: 20 all new skins and an all new leader board.

Do any of you have the new pack? and If so what do you think? Or are you waiting on either of the "VS CPU Mode" or the " Mission/Puzzle mode" before pulling the trigger on this one?