Reader Prym3 pointed out that [url=http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sim/wingcommanderarena/screenindex.html]Gamespot has six screenshots of Wing Commander Arena[/url] available on their site and rejoice for it looks to be an entirely new 3D Wing Commander game.

The [url=http://xblarcade.com/node/417]rumor[/url] is true. Wing Commander Arena has been confirmed for Xbox Live Arcade. The [url=http://www.ea.com/article.jsp?dcr=ea&id=wca]press release[/url] (below) hit the internet today and explains the game in detail, but I'm still wondering if this is a 2D or a 3D game. The game itself is being developed by Gaia Industries, who are also releasing [url=http://xblarcade.com/taxonomy/term/99]Street Trace: NYC[/url] soon.

EA Launches Wing Commander Arena onto Xbox Live Arcade Legendary Game Franchise Delivers 16-Player Online Space Combat Redwood City, Calif., - February 23, 2007 - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced the return of its beloved Wing Commander™ franchise with Wing Commander Arena in development for the Xbox LIVE® Arcade*. With up to 16 players, Wing Commander Arena offers the largest multi-player melee experience to date on Xbox LIVE Arcade. The game is scheduled to go live worldwide on the Arcade service in Summer 2007. Wing Commander Arena is a fast-paced space combat game where players can team up to attack other teams of ships. The game introduces the classic franchise to an arcade-style experience that allows up to 16 players online in battle at once. Players can propel their customized ship through space, fire torpedoes and unleash deadly gravity bombs as they try to climb the leader board. Online players will compete for Frag count, high score and dueling stats. "We're really excited to deliver unparalleled multi-player arcade action," said Chip Lange, EA Vice President. "The design for Wing Commander will appeal to both long-time fans of the franchise and immediately engage anyone who wants the melee style action of an arcade shooter." Wing Commander Arena will feature four styles of play: single player, multi-team, multi-player free for all and multi-player duel. Within the game there are eight game maps that include team maps, free for all maps and dueling maps, so Wing Commander Arena offers a gameplay experience for every Arcade gamer, whether they want a quick ten minutes of action or a longer more immersive game.

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.

Silconerca has [url=http://www.siliconera.com/index.php/2007/02/21/wing-commander-revived-on-the-360/]noticed that the ESRB has rated Wing Commander Arena for Xbox 360[/url]. Fans of the series will quickly notice that there was never a Wing Commander Arena game released for any system, so what exactly is this game. Is it even an XBLA game? [url=http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2007/02/21/wing-commander-coming-to-360/#comments]Xbox 360 Fanboy[/url] points out that if this is a retail title and it is coming from EA there probably would have been at least some press by now if it was this far done to have been able to be rated by the ESRB already. A new Wing Commander (or a port) hasn't been released for some time now (1998); although, there have been several cancelled titles that were in development during the earlier portion of this decade. Either way there should be a good [url=http://www.xblarcade.info/taxonomy/term/74]Battlestar Galactica XBLA[/url] vs Wing Commander Arena argument when they are both released (hopefully) sometime this year.

GamesIndustry.biz just posted this article today about Dr. Jens Uwe Intat, EA’s European VP of sales, comments on the future of downloadable media and games. While no details were given about what or when EA products would be available through downloads, it has been announced that EA is one of the companies looking at making titles available for XBLA.
More info as it comes in…