Our eagle-eyed 360 community has spotted something of interest (and they are bickering about it in the comments) in the latest preview of Geometry Wars: Galaxies (currently slated as a Wii/DS title only). In fact, if you watch Gamespot's video preview you might catch it too. Then again, I took a screen and posted it here to save you the effort. Simply put, the word "Achievements" appears right there on the Galaxies pause menu. Could that mean it is headed for XBLA? Might it be that it will arrive alongside PGR4?

To be honest, I don't care how it arrives or it what iteration. I need more Geo Wars. Now. (I will settle for soon though!)

[via xbox360fanboy]

Two exclusive Geometry Wars sequels will be gracing the Nintendo Wii and DS respectively. Both are titled Geometry Wars: Galaxies. Let that sink in for a second. New Geo Wars, not on Live Arcade.

Even though it is certainly a disappointment, to some degree we should have seen this coming. Bizarre Creations may have strong ties to Microsoft but they are still a third-party developer. And right now the Wii and DS are riding massive buzz (and sales). And since the Wii and DS both foster a strong casual community, this game is a great fit. But still. My heart is heavy.

Puzzling in the announcement is the inclusive of "an extensive single-player campaign". Campaign? Not sure how that would work. The first two Geo Wars will be included with each game and multiplayer will be present in both versions as well. Also, each game will take advantage of each system's unique control mechanisms (touch and motion).

My only hope lies in the idea that these are companion games to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved and that XBLA will get a full featured Geo Wars 3 with co-op, vs., and more bizarre and frustrating enemies than ever before. Don't crush my optimism Bizarre!

[Choose your flavor: Kotaku, IGN, NintendoWiiFanboy, Aeropause, Destructoid]

The May issue of Official Xbox Magazine (US) has an indepth preview of the retail title The Club by Bizarre Creations, which although interesting for XBLA fans isn't what is interesting about this issue. A sidebar feature in the preview points to two XBLA games currently being developed by Bizarre Creations, including one by Geometry Wars creator Stephen Cakebread. Could oen of those titles be the long rumored Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved sequel?

[Via GameSetWatch]

X360A.org have gotten their hands on Boom Boom Rocket's achievements list. If you recall BBR will be released very soon - possibly next week. The achievements themselves are based mainly around getting various skill ratings on the songs as has been common with other rythmn games released for the 360.

CVG has been informed by Bizarre Creations that Boom Boom Rocket will be landing in mid-April. Keep in mind that next week Wednesday will be the 11th and the 18th is after that, which puts a release date at probably this upcoming Wednesday or the one after that. Keep your eyes peeled to XBLArcade.com on Monday as that is the normal day that the arcade releases are announced.

IGN has a new interview about Boom Boom Rocket with Ben Ward of Bizarre Creations. The interview itself is fairly standard stuff that was already known about Boom Boom Rocket, but I thought an interesting part of the interview was a discussion of what was left on the cutting room floor.[quote]Did you ever look at the possibility of people creating their own custom soundtracks?
We did try it but it just didn't work out. The levels need to be very specifically designed to ensure that the gameplay matches the music. It's tough to balance the entire thing so that it doesn't suck. Automatically generating actions just didn't give the results we needed. That said, we've got 10 tracks at three difficulty levels, with XBL leaderboards and split-screen multiplayer in there, so I'm not really worried about lack of variety.[/quote]That would be a great feature as it is something a lot of people have wanted from the likes of Guitar Hero for a while now, but it is easy to see why that would be a hard problem to solve.

Update: The video included with the preview is embedded below.

1up has [url=http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3157391]an interview with part of the Boom Boom Rocket team[/url]. According to the interview, the main developer behind Geometry Wars is also lending his hand as one of the developers of Boom Boom Rocket. Due to this fact, they are looking to making the game look somewhat similiar to Geometry Wars in the way that the explosions will appear all over your screen in a frantic display of color.

News just broke that Bizarre Creations next XBLA title has been revealed. The game is described as a "hypnotic rhythm music game" and sounds like it's in the same vein as the hugely popular (well at least with 1up's Luke Smith) Elite Beat Agents.

While there will no doubt be some uproar that it's not Geometry Wars 2, any title from the developer is welcome in my books. Add to this that it's scheduled to be released "Spring 2007" and that it marks EA's (the publisher of the title) first foray into XBLA, and I'd say this is great news. Now if only we could get EA to unlock the vault of older titles!

Here's the Press Release:

[quote]

EA Launches Onto Xbox Live Arcade With Boom Boom Rocket

Original Rhythm Music Arcade Game Developed by Bizarre Creations

Redwood City, Calif., – 17th January 17, 2007 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced its launch onto Microsoft’s Xbox Live® Arcade with Boom Boom Rocket™. The game is a hypnotic rhythm music game conceived by EA’s Pogo,com™ casual games design team and developed by Bizarre Creations, the developer who brought Project Gotham Racing® 3 to the Xbox 360™, and fan-favourite Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved to Xbox Live Arcade. The game is scheduled to go live Spring 2007 and is EA’s first title on Xbox Live Arcade.

In Boom Boom Rocket, players trigger rockets to the beat of the music while travelling through a 3D cityscape. The better the player times the explosions, the more spectacular the fireworks effects. The fireworks are choreographed to 10 original tracks created by Ian Livingstone. Players can play in single player mode or go head-to-head against a friend on the same console.

“As one of the worldwide leaders in game publishing, EA has long recognised the power of on-demand, online entertainment,” said Chris Early, Product Unit Manager for Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Casual Games. ”We’re honoured that EA has chosen Xbox Live Arcade as the platform for their first-ever downloadable game for console game players and are excited to make Boom Boom Rocket available to the millions of Xbox Live Arcade players around the world.”

“Boom Boom Rocket is an addictive and original challenge for all types of gamer, and we"re enjoying working with EA to create this unique Xbox Live Arcade experience”, said Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations. “Our teams love both working and playing on Xbox Live Arcade, and we"re looking forward to releasing another innovative title on this platform with Boom Boom Rocket.”

“This is a perfect time to bring such a unique and custom-built arcade game to Xbox Live Arcade gamers,” said Chip Lange, EA Vice President. “We’ve crafted Boom Boom Rocket to offer an intensely fun entertainment experience for the thriving community of hard core and casual gamers alike on Xbox Live Arcade. It’s only natural that our launch title comes from the Pogo team, given their remarkable success with casual games.”

The game features three modes of gameplay: Normal, Speed and multiplayer head-to-head. Each song is choreographed into three skill levels to ensure that everyone can join in the fun. Successfully chain fireworks to fill the bonus meter and activate the psychedelic bonus mode for extra points.

Players can unlock new firework designs by mastering each music track. You can also utilis e the connected online element and see how their scores compare with other players on the Boom Boom Rocket leaderboard.