Lumines is a puzzle game, a genre perfectly suited for the Xbox Live Arcade. Lumines Live! will integrate music videos from Warner Music into this Tetris-like game. Anyone who has played the standout PSP launch title knows this will be a big hit on the Arcade.

During the Microsoft press event at E3, Peter Moore announced a bevy of other games too. These games include, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Defender, Paperboy, Root Beer Tapper, Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Rally-X, Sonic the Hedgehog, Contra, Super Contra, Frogger, Time Pilot, and Scramble.

Street Fighter II, originally set to be a spring release, is looking more like a June-July release. At least that is the hope, as gamers are chomping at the bit to get this classic on the XBLA.

Indie Developer Heaven
Not to be overshadowed by the classic games of our youth, more and more developers have signed on to create new games. Independent developers have a great place to publish amazing software.

Marble Blast Ultra, developed by GarageGames, is a prime example of what an indie developer can do on XBLA in a relatively short period of time. Using their own technology, the Torque engine, they created a game that redefines what is possible, both in look and feel, in an Xbox Live Arcade game.

And it shows, Marble Blast Ultra is second only to Geometry Wars in sales, through March 2006.

The future for indie developed games looks spectacular, with titles such as RoboBlitz, HoopWorld, Novadrome, Cloning Clyde, Heavy Weapon, Totem Balls, Small Arms, and Mutant Storm Empire.

Some of these games even make use of the Unreal Engine, technology used in many big budget games.

More Exposure, Respect
With the current set of games on XBLA, and the 30 or so announced games set for launch in 2006, you would think more people would take notice. It saddens me that that these releases do not see the attention that the (much) more expensive retail games get.

The simple fact is that these games give us as much, if not more, enjoyment than games from EA or Activision, for example.

Xbox Live Arcade games cost less to produce, cost less to purchase, and are being enjoyed by both casual and hard-core gamers alike. It is no wonder we are seeing such great games on the Arcade. My only wish right now is to see another Ricochet.

Microsoft is also coming around to the fact that they have a "killer app" on their hands. They need to do a better job on the public relations side however, because they are obviously doing amazing things on the development side.

They showed us at E3 that XBLA is front-and-center when it comes to gaming on the 360. Many gamers, myself included, are just as excited about the release of Arcade games as we are about retail ones.

I would not be enjoying my Xbox 360 half as much if it were not for the Xbox Live Arcade.

Also See

• Xbox Live Arcade Review Index