Bomberman and Yie Air Kung Fu infiltrate Xbox Live Arcade

Hudson Soft's Bomberman Live and Konami's Yie Ar Kung Fu represent this week's Xbox Live Arcade releases, arriving on the download service Wednesday, July 18.

Featuring four player offline and eight player online multiplayer, Bomberman Live allows players to blast each other apart in true Bomberman style across eight maps. Players can customize their Bomberman with a number of accessories, with over 10,000 different combinations said to be possible. Such items range from top hats to cigars to clown costumes.

Bomberman Live will sell for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

Meanwhile, Yie Ar Kung Fu includes both the original version and a graphically enhanced update of Konami's arcade fighter, which sees main character Oolong fighting martial art masters to gain the title of Ultimate Champion. Priced at 400 Microsoft Points ($5), Yie Ar Kung Fu also features online leaderboards for worldwide score competition.

Sega classics hit Live Arcade, more on the way

Last week, Xbox Live Arcade saw the release of Sega's iconic platformer Sonic the Hedgehog and arcade beat 'em up Golden Axe, each of which sells for 400 Microsoft Points ($5). Both titles are optimized for HD displays, and Golden Axe supports co-op play over Xbox Live.

Other Sega-published titles were announced as coming soon to Xbox Live Arcade, including Novotrade's Ecco the Dolphin, Sega Technical Institute's Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sega-AM2's Streets of Rage 2. Of those, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Streets of Rage 2 will feature online multiplayer.

Xbox 360 backwards compatibility updated

Microsoft has once again increased the number of original Xbox titles that can be played on Xbox 360. The update adds support for more than 50 Xbox games, including Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Capcom's Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and Treyarch's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2X.

For your convenience, we have posted the full list of added games. Users can obtain the update by attempting to play one of the above titles while connected to Xbox Live.

More Guitar Hero II tracks hit Xbox Live

Another trio of tracks for Harmonix's Guitar Hero II have been released to Xbox Live Marketplace by Activision-owned publisher RedOctane. As with the prior three packs, the included songs--covers of The Ramones "Wanna Be Sedated," Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water," and Judas Priests' "You've Got Another Thing Coming"--are plucked from the original Guitar Hero (PS2) and sell for 500 MS Points ($6.25).

The publisher had been considering a lower price point for the song packs, but according to Reuters cites strong sales of the first three packs as proof that cost did not need to be adjusted.

During an E3 interview, RedOctane executive producer Jeff Matsushita told Shacknews that the company plans to supply Guitar Hero II with downloadable content through the end of 2007.

Live brings six demos home

Microsoft's Bringing It Home initiative brought six new demos to Xbox Live Marketplace across the past week, covering a wide variety of genres. EA UK's action-adventure Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix allows players to step into the world of Hogwarts.

Focusing more on the action and less on the adventure are trial versions of Namco Bandai's flight-combat title Ace Combat 6 and Paradigm Entertainment's Stuntman: Ignition.

The hunger of RPG fans will be sated with the English playable debut of Mistwalker's turn-based Blue Dragon, which was initially conceived by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and features the character designs of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama.

Last but not least, sports fans enjoyed a double dose of athletic goodness with demos of Blue Castle Games' over-the-top baseball offering The BIGS and EA Tiburon's NCAA Football 08, which, in an effort to reduce the download's size, lacks the full play-by-play commentary of the final game.

Other Xbox 360 downloads

- A free update for TikGames's Xbox Live Arcade gambler Texas Hold 'Em adds support for the Xbox Live Vision camera and introduces several smaller tweaks, such as improved matchmaking and more readable screens. Users will be prompted to download the update when they boot the game while connected to Xbox Live.

- The Xbox Live Marketplace has more content for Silvercreek's Xbox Live Arcade game Soltrio Solitaire, adding ten games, such as Blind Alleys and Grandfather, for 150 Microsoft Points ($1.87).