No, you haven't been transported to the year 2701. You are just looking at the heading for the just released manual to Wing Commander: Arena. The quality (and presence at all) of this manual is astounding considering almost all previous XBLA titles have simple built-in instructions and no online manuals at all (Jetpack being an exception to this.). Mind you, the absence of manuals has not been a problem to this point since most XBLA games have a shallow learning curve.

But even though it has no competition, EA did not take the manual's construction lightly. It's a beast of a document. Not only do we get detailed stats on all the ships, but the entire manual is made-up as a 64-page magazine to aid you on your quest for interstellar glory. That's right. Sixty-four pages. It brings me back to the good ol' days of PC gaming where the art form of solid and interesting manual design was perfected. (I can live without hunting for the 3rd word in the 12th paragraph on Page 23 to continue my game though.)

One could hope that this signals an imminent release of WC:A. Here, kitty kitty kitty.

Direct link to the PDF.

[via WCNews, thanks to Ben "LOAF" Lesnick]

[Update]: I stand corrected about the presence of online manuals for XBLA games -- namely, Jetpack Refueled.

I took some time to finally look over the current state of achievement coverage for unreleased XBLA games over at xbox360achievements.org and here's a summary of what I found:

Xbox360Achievements.org have once again done the impossible in getting their hands on Xbox Live Arcade achievements early. This time they have docked with Wing Commander Arena to load up on all 12 of the achievements for the game. It appears that the achievements may possibly on the easier side of the arcade with the exception of a shoot down 1000 pilots achievement, which should prove time consuming. The "Untouchable" achievement where the player must reach wave 10 without taking any damage may also prove to be quite difficult. With the release of these achievements this week, I wonder if this can be thrown in with the other two titles that according to previous reports were supposed to come out in June (only one week left after all)?

The Wing Commander CIC has updated their website to allow the creation and management of squadrons for Wing Commander Arena. After release the site plans to host tournaments, so if you have a group of friends to fly with you might as well sign-up now.

Multiplayer is where I think Street Trace: NYC really shines. The first bit you should notice: 8 player matches over Live and up to 4 players locally in split-screen. Thank you Gaia for understanding the importance of both setups! And yes, there are bots too. Beyond that, it gets better and better. First, you choose a tournament type.

There are three: Cash Tournament, Pickup Tournament, and Exhibition.

Continue below for the full story.

Here is part 2 of the 3-part preview of Street Trace: NYC. In this part I will cover the single player experience in the game.

Street Trace: NYC's single player experience consists of a three-pronged attack -- Tournaments, Time Trials, and Exhibition matches. (I mentioned it before but let me reiterate -- there is also a Tutorial. Use it.) Personally, I think single player will be more of a tasty appetizer before a meal of multiplayer. But do not fret loners -- the single player content is plentiful and varied enough to stand alone, just like you. "Read more" for the breakdown of each of the modes.

The good people at Gaia Industries were nice enough to give me a private look at their upcoming game, Street Trace: NYC (including schooling me in some multiplayer, thanks Damon!). The result of that sneak peak will be found here at XBLArcade.com in my 3-part preview. Enjoy!

You have to suspend your immediate confusion when I explain the mashup (I swear everyone is doing the mashup these days) that is Street Trace: NYC. It's a hoverboard game with guns. There, I said it. And, I have to be honest -- when I first saw this game at DigitalLife in NYC, I was a little baffled by the concept. Maybe part of the problem then was that it was surrounded by games I was already interested in: Mutant Storm Empires, Lumines Live, Small Arms, and many more. Street Trace: NYC seemed like the bastard child of the XBLA family. But now, after playing it, I think this game has a legimate chance. (See what I did there, nudge nudge)

Hit the jump and I will break the gameplay down a bit to help give you a better feel.

The recent Street Trace: NYC community event has led to a blowout in not just Street Trace news but Wing Commander Arena news! The most important of which comes straight from DaKing240, who you may recall dropped hints prior to the WCA announcement about it's existence. Still, remember to take this with a grain of salt. According to DaKing240, Wing Commander Arena will be "coming soon... my guess is within 3-4 weeks".

Next up is that Gamertag Radio has released a podcast containing an interview with Gaia industries about Street Trace: NYC and a bit about Wing Commander Arena. The Wing Commander CIC has transcribed the Wing Commander Arena portion and posted it on their site, but of course you can always listen to the excellent Gamertag Radio for the full interview. They also took this lovely shaky cam.

Lastly, Wondermonkey2k has posted a few pictures from the event on his Flickr account.

There's a great Street Trace: NYC interview over at XBLA INFO,, since it's coming from fans it has better questions than the generic big gaming site questions. The questions included why it wasn't released as February, controls, conbat, controls and AI. Here's a sample.

How does the combat aspect of the game work? There are 4 different weapons, each with its own purpose. The combat is a good blend of action and strategy, the challenge being how you use your weapons based on the given situation. The player’s objectives change within the game depending on the type of game, the environment or who is in the lead. You could be trying to take down as many people as you can, trying to get to a flag, trying to take out a target, trying to hold onto a lead in a race or trying to run away and hide (which is difficult). The mines are great in some of the tighter arenas and for trying to hold onto first in a race. The laser is a great precision weapon from a distance or in open spaces, excellent for taking out a flag carrier. Stampedes (it fires a spread of heavy, bouncing projectiles) are great for clearing a path during a race and can also be used as kind of “sawed off” shotgun if you’re quick enough to get someone up close. The heat seeking rockets are a great mid-range weapon for knocking someone off of their board but are tougher to use in closer quarters. The board also plays a factor as it has shields, jump, engine and boost units that can all be upgraded along with the guns. Boost really helps for escaping and jump is great for maneuvering around the arenas and hitting shortcuts in the races. Shields are important as well, you won’t get far near the end of a long tournament if you haven’t upgraded your shields a bit.

Make sure you at least skim the full version of the interview if

The Xbox Domain, Gamertag Radio and Gaia Industries are planning a Street Trace: NYC community event for May 5th @ 2pm EST in New York City. That is a Saturday, so there shound be no excuses for those of you in the area. I guess this means no Street Trace: NYC until May 5th at the earliest. Stay tuned to this thread and Gamertag Radio for more information.