Missile Command for XBLA

By Tom Bramwell Published 2 July, 2007

This Wednesday.

Atari has announced that Missile Command will be this week's addition to Xbox Live Arcade, with the game set to go live on Wednesday, 4th July at the usual time. It will cost 400 Microsoft points (GBP 3.40 / EUR 4.65).

Based on the arcade classic of the same name, this version has been ported over by Stainless Games, with an "evolved" visual look available for those of you who don't fancy staring at the creaky old-days graphics. It'll run up to 1080p resolution, with full-scene anti-aliasing and surround sound.

You'll still be able to look at it the old way, of course. You can get a taste for what to expect from both takes in our Missile Command Xbox Live Arcade screenshot gallery.

And of course, this being an Xbox Live Arcade oldie, you'll be able to compare scores with your friends via leaderboards, unlock up to 12 Achievements for a total of 200 gamerpoints, and try out a demo version before you fork over the points.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (30) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Peew971 #1 5 years ago

    Another retro game?! Where's Bomberman?!

  • ScottyXTUK #2 5 years ago

    yawn

  • Machetazo #3 5 years ago

    I agree, this doesn't look very interesting at all. When will Xbla get a decent traditional RPG? I'd put so much time into a good example, and a purchase would be a no-brainer.

  • Valver #4 5 years ago

    Give us Peggle Deluxe! :D

  • SBfistfun #5 5 years ago

    Wow teh next gen is here

  • Clyde-Radcliff #6 5 years ago

    Hrm. Hope they double this one up, like they did with other recent retro releases...

  • repairmanjack #7 5 years ago

    One of the first games I played... on the Spectrum 48k Cost £2 then.

  • Xerx3s #8 5 years ago

    Happy happy joy joy.

  • menage #9 5 years ago

    Mmm, well after Carcasonne, The Lumines Booster pack, Prince of Persia and Pacman CE I don't feel the need to complain about this. The screen did look a lot better than say millipede or something. I'll try it.

    But I'd rather have Ikaragua, Puzzle Quest, Space Giraffe, thank you. Since I'm already drowning in games at the moment this is a good thing:p
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/07 @ 16:31

  • smoison #10 5 years ago

    This is a great game. But if you want to play it it exists in many playable forms online for free.

  • dr_faulk #11 5 years ago

    Why don't they bring Defcon to XBLA? Too many commands?

  • estoo #12 5 years ago

    I don't think i can stand the excitement.. The novelty of playing 80's Atari games again is wearing sooooo thin. And like the post above says, you can do it for free elsewhere.

  • DUFFKING #13 5 years ago

    *looks around*

    *realises there's nobody there with a gun to my head forcing me to buy it*

    Stop acting like you get this shit every week, you don't.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/07 @ 16:47

  • bloke #14 5 years ago

    Warlords.

    An Atari Classic worth waiting for.

  • Arcadiian #15 5 years ago

    Will XBLA ever be getting brand new games from companies like SEGA, Capcom, Konami etc ? I know SEGA are publishing Happy Tree Friends ( i may have that title wrong, i just remember reading about it ages ago ) but i thought XBLA would be full of more original stuff, or even quality remakes like the new Jetpac.

    I'd love some brand new MegaDrive/Saturn style games.

  • dr_swin #16 5 years ago

    bring on space giraffe and hurry up about it.

  • ReNo #17 5 years ago

    "...but i thought XBLA would be full of more original stuff, or even quality remakes like the new Jetpac. "

    Well, if you looked at the releases from the past month or two, you'll see that that's exactly what XBLA has been getting. As menage listed, amongst others - Carcassone, PoP:Classic, Pacman CE, Band of Bugs, Eets, Mad Tracks - things really haven't been bad at all on XBLA recently :)

    Don't really care for the minimal ports like this one myself though.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/07 @ 17:43

  • Furbs #18 5 years ago

    MissileCommandwithouamouseortrackballlol

    I'm not sure there could be a more frustrating gaming experience.

  • kissthestick #19 5 years ago

    booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, where the fuck is bomberman!?!!

  • Bulbatron #20 5 years ago

    Or you could track down a copy of Atari Anthology for the original Xbox. It also works fine on the Xbox 360. Shops are still selling it for about £10. Of course, as well as Missile Command, you get just about every other conceivable retro Atari game you could think of - including Centipede and Milipede.

    What I would most like to see are some classic SEGA Megadrive games released for Xbox Live Arcade.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/07 @ 20:48

  • banjo21 #21 5 years ago

    Actually its there now and my pathetic 8000 points got me to the top of an XBLA leaderboard for the first time in my short and obviously shallow life :)

  • RedPanda #22 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • SomaticSense #23 5 years ago

    Is Space Giraffe ever going to get released?

    I'm now almost half-expecting to check Minter's Live Journal sometime soon and find it's been cancelled. It's been in certification for far too long now, and still doesn't have anything even remotely relating to a release date. Instead we're getting shit like this.

  • agparrot #24 5 years ago

    Red PandaDefender, Asteroids and Missile Command are the unholy trinity that lurk in the dark corner under the stairs of my soul.

    I sort of agree... but....

    I remember feverishly feeding 10p pieces into Arcade machines and marvelling at the fact that Galaxians was in more than one colour.... but is this really what we are set on in 2007? Asteroids? Missile Command?

    I am a stalwart believer in games over graphics, but in an era where I am as willing as most to mock the EA-a-thons of repeated franchise bullshit year in, year out, is the best that we can hope for effectively stuck between twenty and thirty years in the past?

    Fourteen years have passed since UFO: Enemy Unknown, and some of us, who loved it then, and still play it now, are happy to put up with UFO: Extraterrestrials, a bug-ridden nostalgia fest only made playable by robust communityy support. There have been numerous 'XCom' games in the meantime, but this is the first that has captured the spirit of that first, pioneering Julian Gollop effort.

    But shouldn't we be asking for more? There is certainly something to be said for the purity of play on offer in the reincarnated Asteroids and Missile Commands of this world, but is gaming... a hobby intrinsically linked with the progress of technology, really stuck in this rut of expectation?

    As I read the comments page for Fallout 3, and understand the desire to get back to the Gaming Wonder of the experience of playing those games.... a desire fuelled by the positive nature of the preview... I can't help but think if, as gamers, we aren't somehow limiting the scope of what will developed for the future by our constant harking back to gaming experiences which are not all as Halcyon as we remember.

    I feel another whisky beckons

  • spookyzombie #25 5 years ago

    Zzzzzzzzz. Hmm, this or Ocarina of Time for my Wii?

  • bauhaus #26 5 years ago

    That shit with a thumb pad?!?!


    fuck off

  • 3william56 #27 5 years ago

    "Defender, Asteroids and Missile Command are the unholy trinity that lurk in the dark corner under the stairs of my soul."

    So very true, Red, so very true (and now we all know how old you are)!

    That said, my view is that although the core concepts rock forever, the original treatment has inevitably lost it's shine. A few hours on Super Stardust HD (and no doubt Geo Wars before it) shows the way: a timeless concept, pumped up and re-engineered for a new generation. If someone could do a similar job on MC and Defender (and no, full screen anti effing aliasing and a bit of dolby doesn't cut it thankyerverymuch), there'd be a lot of happy 30 somethings cueing up to spend their points or pennies.

    But MC without a trak ball can be fine, mostly because you don't need pinpoint accuracy like an FPS. Needs a bit of thought in the wave design is all - not fair to expect to scoot from one side of the screen to another in 0.01 seconds.

  • DaM #28 5 years ago

    There must be a free online version that will work with the Wiimote, go on, someone post a link....

  • ejstyles #29 5 years ago

    Already out, tis awfully next gen with the lightning bolts and that. Except you can't aim with any real accuracy. Roll on Custer's Revenge Redux in 1080p! The way you were truly meant to experience destruction of another's culture.

  • step #30 5 years ago

    Yeah, downloaded the demo yesterday (wasn't available on the list 'o games, but via one of the game ad pics), couldn't even be arsed to try it out.