If you've got a hankering for some more alien destruction with a musical twist, you'll be happy to know that some new DLC for Space Invaders Extreme has landed on Xbox Live Marketplace. Entitled, simply, Space Invaders Extreme Expansion Pack, the DLC grants players access to the original versions of Space Invaders and Space Invaders II. According to Shacknews -- though not mentioned on the XBLM description -- the DLC will also include new stages and bosses for the main game as well. The price of entry is 240.

The expected Arkanoid Live DLC arrives today as well. There are two bits of DLC, Episode Add-on Pack 1 and Episode Add-on Pack 2. The Xbox.com descriptions of the DLC are pretty vague, but we're just going to go out on a limb here and guess that each pack adds one of the two missing episodes -- the ones that are grayed out in the main menu -- to the game. Each piece of Arkanoid DLC runs for 240.

Source - Xbox Live Marketplace: Space Invaders Extreme
Source - Xbox Live Marketplace: Arkanoid Live

It's time to check in with the Xbox Live Top 10 again, and Major Nelson informs us folks were pretty much playing the same stuff they've always been playing last week. Snagging the top spot again was none other than Halo 3 (big surprise there), however folks set aside some time to head into the Wastes with a bit of Fallout 3 (thanks to Broken Steel, no doubt). Resident Evil 5 managed to hold onto last place, with the UFC 2009 Undisputed demo also being a hot item for gamers last week.

On the XBLA side, people have been enjoying the colorful Space Invaders Extreme, as well as the usual amounts of Hasbro Family Game Night and Castle Crashers. Invading the list (rather surprisingly, we might add) in last place is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which we guess can be attributed to people needing a fix after seeing the new version.

It's a totally exciting week for Space Invaders Extreme. First, the Xbox Live Arcade port was released in North America. Now, the DS sequel is officially headed to Europe, with Square Enix releasing this fall. We guess the company decided not to use the Space Invaders Extreme 2Remix title under which the game was previously listed. SIE 2 features a new "Beginner's Course" in addition to a weird "Bingo" system for unlocking the game's Fever Mode. New music, new power-ups, and "higher stage volume" are also included.

To help tide lucky European gamers over until fall, Taito also announced that it will release Puzzle Bobble Galaxy this summer. It's Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move, with online play and new gameplay modes, including one in which you have a limited number of bubbles, and one in which you have one bubble per stage. The first English screens of both games are available in our galleries!

Games have come a long way since joystick jockeys first spent hours dropping quarters into Space Invaders. Now on the heels of Space Invaders Extreme's XBLA debut, series' creator Tomohiro Nishikado has spoken out on the state of games today, observing that originality has suffered despite advances in technology.

"I think the focus on unique concepts and gameplay has waned with the evolution of technology," commented Nishikado in a recent interview. While the iconic game designer praised new tech for allowing developers to create most anything they can imagine, he called out the industry for churning out "replicated gameplay formats and concepts," adding that "people are growing tired of playing the same thing." We'd be hard pressed to argue the point, though with games like Noby Noby Boy and Rhythm Heaven (a game Nishikado calls "excellent"), we still think there is a spark of originality out there. What about you?

Seemingly determined to force us to upgrade to a larger Xbox hard drive, Microsoft has again foisted three new Xbox Live Arcade titles upon us. We've got two retro remakes in Space Invaders Extreme and Arkanoid Live, and then we have a co-op zombie rodeo (more or less) in Zombie Wranglers. Watch the latest episode of XBLA in Brief and see if there's something for you this week.

All three titles cost 800.

Download the trial version of Zombie Wranglers
Download the trial version of Arkanoid Live
Download the trial version of Space Invaders Extreme

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XBLA is up for another threefer this week, with Zombie Wranglers (no, really), Arkanoid Live and Space Invaders Extreme all hitting the service. Arkanoid Live and Space Invaders Extreme are both remakes of arcade classics, while Zombie Wranglers is a co-op game that tasks players with -- you guessed it -- wrangling zombies. All three games will be available this Wednesday for 800 ($10) each.

If you'd rather nab Zombie Wranglers for free, developer Frozen Codebase is giving away five download codes on the official Zombie Wranglers Facebook page. Just leave a zombie survival tip on the wall to enter.

According to Shacknews, Taito has announced that Space Invaders Extreme will release on Xbox Live Arcade next week. Previously released on the DS and PSP, the game adds musical and graphical flair to the original Space Invaders. The XBLA version also brings the new addition of Xbox Live multiplayer (which you can see in the video above). The game is expected to cost 800.

Keep in mind that Microsoft has yet to confirm next week's release. Expect official word on Monday.

Microsoft's plans for the Far East have always been something of a murky science, pea soup made somewhat more clear following the company's recent media conference in Japan. Siliconera reports that the Xbox 360 will play host to a number of high-profile titles in Japan in the months ahead, 31 in all, including Magna Carta 2 in August and tri-Ace RPG End of Eternity (sadly not based on the Isaac Asimov novel) in the winter.

Japanese gamers will finally get to suit up as a decidedly not dead yet Commander Shepard when the original Mass Effect finally graces Japanese store shelves on May 21, while players will have to wait until later this summer to cure the locust plague in Gears of War 2.

Another 14 XBLA titles were confirmed at the event, including the previously announced remake of mech shooter Virtual On Oratorio Tangram, which will arrive in Japan on April 29. Other notable upcoming downloads include Mega Man 9 in June, Space Invaders Extreme this spring and The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match sometime in 2010. And what of Square Enix, which plans fill Japanese XBLA appetites this year with puzzler Yosumin Live, Project Cube and the wonderfully titled 0 Day Attack on Earth (pictured)? Well, we have those trailers for you after the break.

Source: This Is What Microsoft Has Planned For Japanese Retailers For Now
Source: Square Enix And SNK Blast Announce Xbox Live Arcade Games
Source: Watch Some Square Enix Xbox Live Arcade Trailers

This is new footage from a new mode in a new version of an old game that itself was a new version of an old game. We'd need Doc Brown to sort out this Space Invaders Extreme multiplayer footage for us, so we're not even going to try to understand. We're just going to watch the colors silently, mouth agape.

We'd encourage you to join us in the silence in the comments, even though we're betting some jerk is going to ruin the whole thing. If you're interested in something a little more in-depth than just video of colors, we've got mode descriptions after the jump.

I keep telling people I played Space Invaders Extreme at GDC, and they all say the same thing: "Dude, that's been out for a while." But, A-HA! It hasn't. The kicker is that the DS and PSP versions have been out for so long that the DS version already has a sequel out (in Japan), but the XBLA version is brand new and comes out at the end of April. "Yeah," you're saying, "but it's a downloadable Space Invaders title. What do I care?" Well, if you like having fun, then you'll care aplenty.

The game scored 84 and 85 on the PSP and DS respectively on Metacritic, and the XBLA version just improves on those versions. We spent some hands-on time with the game at GDC, and you can see what we thought after the break. Peep the new video above, the gallery below, and blast your way on in.

Last week, as we prepared to start our new Ask Joystiq Nintendo column, we put out a request for, well, requests, and our readers came through! This week, in response to your submissions, we clear up some misconceptions about Wii and DS upgrades, indirectly tout DS homebrew, and accidentally imply that Space Invaders Get Even is somehow better than Space Invaders Extreme.

If you'd like us to set the record straight with any Nintendo-related issues, or perhaps inadvertently cast aspersions at your favorite DS retro remake, send us an e-mail at asknintendo at joystiq dot com!

Gamerbytes reports that someone with access to Microsoft's Partnernet (essentially Xbox Live for game developers and journalists) has captured video of Space Invaders Extreme and Yosumin Live!. Space Invaders Extreme, which was revealed for XBLA at last year's TGS, is a revamped version of the original classic. Yosumin Live! is a Square Enix puzzle game that was confirmed for XBLA earlier this year.

Neither game is terribly exciting to watch, but something about the illicit nature of the videos makes it hard to look away. Find them both after the break.

Did Space Invaders Extreme need a sequel? As it turns out, yes, it did -- this one exactly. If you were at all into the first game, watch the latest trailer for Space Invaders Extreme 2 (after the break) and tell us that this is not something you want to play. It would be hard to call something better than the first game, but the sequel looks quite a bit more extreme. Maybe we're being influenced by the dance music, but we are pumped about Space Invaders 2 now. Not that we weren't before!

The footage basically rules out an eventual announcement of a PSP version -- in the previous game, it wasn't that hard to adapt the levels to a single screen, but there's a lot more stuff happening on both screens simultaneously now, like bonus round bosses on the top screen and normal play on the bottom. It's sad for PSP SIE fans, but an interesting new gameplay development for DS owners.
[Via NeoGAF]

We've been anxious to see footage of Space Invaders Extreme 2 since we first found out about the game. Admittedly, it hasn't been very long, but we've still been in total agony.

As expected, SIE 2 doesn't stray far from the original formula: the player shoots at Invaders of various colors, shapes, and sizes, with the sounds of the shots syncing to both the thumping and psychedelic backgrounds. You can see the new "bingo" system in the beginning of the video, in which a bonus round is unlocked by shooting Invaders of the same color, corresponding to a line of colored blocks in a square.

And now for some wishful thinking: who thinks the announcer is just part of the video and not in the actual game?

Importer NCSX has begun taking preorders for Space Invaders Extreme 2 on the DS, which means that their distributor has probably started listing it, and it's therefore pretty likely to really be a real game. There's no word yet about a PSP version. NCSX's preorder listing confirms the March 26 release date we previously posted. Who's got $43.90?

Thanks to the efforts of ... someone who is better than we are at reading Japanese, the new "Bingo Mode" is detailed as well. In this new mode, an onscreen Bingo card fills up as you shoot Invaders, and you win when ... you know, you would normally win at Bingo. Except, instead of yelling "Bingo", your DS will issue more of a "pew pew pew" noise.