Microsoft Bringing Battlezone, Rocky & Bullwinkle To XBLA

Microsoft has announced that its next regular Xbox Live Arcade update will see the addition of tank combat classic Battlezone, with a graphical overhaul and new modes, alongside a motion-sensing party game collection based on the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon license. Battlezone, which will run 400 Microsoft Points ($5), was developed by Live Arcade veteran studio Stainless Games. It includes new competitive modes, with multiplayer standbys Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag represented, with voyeuristic Xbox Live Vision Camera support when playing online. The original Battlezone's iconic green vector graphics as well as a new textured, shader-infused facelift will be packed in. Zen Studios' Rocky & Bullwinkle includes some 100 "micro-games" for its 800 Microsoft Point ($10) asking price. Twenty-five of those games allow use of the Xbox Live Vision Camera for motion control. Billed as a family friendly party game which enticingly also features "an extra level of humor for the adults" (its ESRB rating includes "comic mischief"), Rocky & Bullwinkle supports local same-screen hotseat multiplayer for up to 12 gamers. Eight characters from the fondly-remembered 60s institution The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show will be playable.