Aegis Wing hits XBLA this week for free
by Richard Mitchell 
{ May 14th 2007 at 5:30PM }
So, after hearing about Soltrio Solitaire and its 800 MS Point price, perhaps you were somewhat taken aback. Perhaps you thought to yourself, "Self," you thought, "I don't want to play solitaire. I'd much rather destroy aliens. And 800 points seems awfully steep. I sure like free things. And tacos, too. Tacos rule." While we're sorry to inform you that Microsoft Mexico is still working on downloadable tacos, we can satisfy your hunger for free alien destruction. Alongside this week's Solitaire release, Aegis Wing will also be dropping on XBLA. Developed by two MS interns with help from Carbonated Games, Aegis Wing brings old-school side-scrolling goodness to Live Arcade. As if retro co-op alien blasting (complete with co-op maneuvers) wasn't enough, the game is also set to be absolutely free ... in North America. Unfortunately, the game will be unavailable outside of North America at all.
At least we all still get Soltrio Solitaire, right?
[Via Joystiq. Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ccc @ May 14th 2007 5:38PM
Sweet
kris @ May 14th 2007 5:46PM
yeah sweet for you yanks.
Andre @ May 14th 2007 5:57PM
At least Canada isn't left out. :)
JamieBoi V2 @ May 14th 2007 6:02PM
Fuckin' American exclusive content pisses me right off. We dont get movies, half the themes and gamer pics you get. Its fucked up
Ryan @ May 14th 2007 6:04PM
OMG I was really looking forward to this game, now I find out its not coming to Europe. Thanks a bunch Microsoft. Why do all the gaming companies shit on us? Nintendo are by far the worst for this, as much as I love them.
Sort it out gaming firms, the UK is most definatley one of your prime markets, so stop dropping trow and dumping on us so frequently yer?
Hey Apples @ May 14th 2007 6:05PM
Free? MS doesn't do free, I just can't guess the alterior motive in this case.
Maybe some sort of stealth monitoring / spyware or related is bundled in with it.
There's obviously precedent for it with the January dashboard update.
Grant @ May 14th 2007 6:07PM
mmmmm.
free games taste better than free tacos.
hooray.
This wednesday will rock.
My thursday and friday final will not.
Meliv @ May 14th 2007 6:08PM
I put it down to being a trap ('It's a trap!')
Microsoft makes a free arcade games to one region and monitors how many people register new American XBL accounts. This isn't exactly a crazy theory given that they claimed they were cracking down on fake accounts only a few days ago
Toph @ May 14th 2007 6:17PM
Eh, it's a free game with (I hope) a free chance to boost up another 200 Achievements..so why not? I feel for you, European gamers! :(
Toph @ May 14th 2007 6:18PM
..I'd like to try 'Zero Wing'....
all your base are belong to us! For great justice...
CalabreZ @ May 14th 2007 6:27PM
Yee sounds good fellas. Probably couldn't make it across the world because it's free. It could also just be a test, since it is the first fully free game on XBLA.
I dunt think global games should fret, it's when free North American games become constant is when a fuss i deserved
CalabreZ @ May 14th 2007 6:34PM
gamers*, yee and the last sentence is grammatically incorrect but meh***
Ciaran Gallagher @ May 14th 2007 6:35PM
That's completely unfair!
Pinhead @ May 14th 2007 6:35PM
I'm a European living in an American world...
Ciaran Gallagher @ May 14th 2007 6:38PM
I really don't see why they don't launch it in Europe. It's this type of thing that helps sell consoles!!
Killer @ May 14th 2007 6:55PM
I feel for the europeans. I'm just waiting for someone to say something like, "The graphics look horrible or blah blah." If anyone complains about a free game when they have it, they need to get shot. That's all I have to say.
Darth Mountainbike @ May 14th 2007 7:10PM
As a Swedish Xbox 360 user, I demand to know why you - Microsoft - are denying us Europeans a project that you have developed yourself?
Please don't give us give us the old localization story again. It is getting tiresome. Scandinavia has never received localized content, nor do we require it. Believe it or not, but our movies aren't even dubbed.
That being said, I am really looking forward to your excuse thie time. The old Microsoft mantra "Europe is really important to us" is getting thinner and thinner by the minute.
Andrew GO @ May 14th 2007 7:12PM
"God bless America, land of the free."
raymond @ May 14th 2007 7:28PM
they should bust out with zero wing for xbla. hahah.
all your base are belong to us!
OH NOEZ THEY SET US UP AT THE BOMB!
Tony @ May 14th 2007 7:40PM
"Yee sounds good fellas. Probably couldn't make it across the world because it's free. It could also just be a test, since it is the first fully free game on XBLA.
I dunt think global games should fret, it's when free North American games become constant is when a fuss i deserved"
It's actually the second. Not that anyone liked Totem Ball.
Killer @ May 14th 2007 8:01PM
Ummmm...Texas Hold'em was free for 48 hours when it released. So sorry CalabreZ not the first. Yes, Totem ball was stupid and annoying, but not the first FREE game either, Tony.
Daryl @ May 14th 2007 8:10PM
Nice!
CalabreZ @ May 14th 2007 8:27PM
@ 21 Killer. What I said was first fully free game, not 48 hr of no pay.
And about Totem Ball, meh, it's not a real game:P
Josh @ May 14th 2007 8:46PM
"Maybe some sort of stealth monitoring / spyware or related is bundled in with it."
Oh yeah, they really need to use a free game to monitor users of their closed and internet capable console system.
Jeez, the things people come up with.
Jason @ May 14th 2007 9:49PM
The joystiq post claims this is for a limited time only. Therefore not a fully free game.
Anton @ May 14th 2007 9:54PM
It's easy - the new spring update supposedly blocks out foreign IPs - a US only release of a free game? It's a great benchmark for those of us with US accounts and (ahem) proxy servers :)
Jonah Falcon @ May 14th 2007 11:02PM
Via Joystiq? I sent it to X360 FB AND Joystiq 36 hours ago.
Dirk Dorkelson @ May 14th 2007 11:08PM
"Free? MS doesn't do free, I just can't guess the alterior motive in this case.
Maybe some sort of stealth monitoring / spyware or related is bundled in with it."
This is about as goofy a theory as you could come up with. It's a first-party game. Because of the Xbox 360 dashboard, if your console is online, Microsoft already knows what games you play and what you're doing. Why would they need to sneak spyware in an arcade game? There was just a frickin' dashboard update last week, for crying out loud.
(Also, I believe ulterior is the word you're looking for.)
Boff @ May 15th 2007 4:40AM
So, just what are the reasons/legalities for not releasing this outside of the the US?
I hoped for (at worst) a timed delay before this is available in UK.
But never? Never ever? Why?
Liam @ May 15th 2007 7:49AM
This is extreamly unfair, I am almost certain Microsoft doesnt care about anyone except the U.S and Canada
xenocidic @ May 15th 2007 9:07AM
how do they reconcile this free arcade game release with the statement that Bizzarre put out that Microsoft wouldn't let them release Geometry Wars for free?
HuRTLoCKeR @ May 15th 2007 9:53AM
I wouldn't mind but Peter Moore is from friggin liverpool...
dvdguy @ May 15th 2007 10:11AM
Every part of the world has something exclusive to them. So calm down everyone, sheesh.
As Americans, we don't get the 50 other soccer games that come out in Europe or the 50 "insert your finger into the giant ass" simulators that Japan produces every year.
gundamxzero @ May 15th 2007 5:39PM
Free?
I thought you cant do free on the ol XBLA, that was geometry war's excuse. let me recall, "oh we would have made it free but microsoft wouldnt let us" I gotta call someones bs on that.
None the less I cant complain about free, heres to wednesday!
ProjectEkim360 @ May 15th 2007 3:00PM
Everybody likes free stuff