We all know “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A” by heart. The “Konami Code” has to be the most famous of all video game cheat codes. My first experience with the code was playing Contra. To be honest with you, there was no way I was beating the game without it. I try to play games as legit as possible, but on occasion we need a little help around the challenge of some games. 1Up.com discovered how the code originally came to be.

“In an interview in issue 14 of Japanese game magazine Dorimaga, Kazuhisa Hashimoto, who programmed the Famicom port of the game … “The arcade version of Gradius is really difficult, right? I never played it that much, and there was no way I could finish the game, so I inserted the so-called Konami code (laughs).”

1Up took the time to assemble a list of all games using the famous Konami code. The strange thing is that some of these titles aren’t even Konami releases. I knew the code worked for many games, but was actually not aware that the list was that long.

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Last week’s numbers are out for the top Xbox Live titles and it’s about the same as the week before, with a few minor changes.  Forza 2 is definitely picking up speed, but Gears of War remains the top dog in online gaming on the Xbox 360.   I think we’ll probably see Shadowrun move up in the next report and Forza 2 will probably take over the #1 slot soon.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1. Gears of War
2. Forza Motorsport 2
3. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
4. Guitar Hero II
5. Shadowrun Demo
6. Call of Duty 3
7. Tenchu Z Demo
8. Prince of Persia
9. Crackdown
10. Shadowrun

Top Arcade Titles (full versions)

1. Prince of Persia
2. Pac-Man C.E.
3. Band of Bugs
4. UNO
5. TMNT 1989 Arcade
6. Worms
7. 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
8. Double Dragon
9. Castlevania: SOTN
10. Texas Hold ‘em

Ok, let’s all say it together: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start. The game that embedded that code into our brains is making a comeback. Konami announced today plans to bring it’s beloved side-scrolling shooter to the Nintendo DS.

Contra 4 (working title) for the Nintendo DS will take place two years after the events of Contra III: Alien Wars. The game will make full use of the dual screens by allowing enemies to come at all angles and massive boss battles as well. A new addition will be the use of a grappling hook which will allow players to grab on to parts of the environment in order to move around the level more quickly. Also, you better believe Contra 4 will have 2 player co-op. I mean, no Contra game would officially be considered a Contra game without 2 player co-op.

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I’ve finally had the chance to check out the every game currently on Xbox Live Arcade. I decided to compile a top ten list of games on the arcade. You’ll probably disagree some, but this is completely an opinion piece. Nintendo still has the market when it comes to downloading classic games, but XBLA’s library is not too shabby. My top ten list follows the break.
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PSP Fanboy just posted a new article titled “60 reasons to own a PSP”. I agree with some, and disagree with others they listed. Honestly, the single thing holding back the success of the PSP is the Nintendo DS option. Personally, I prefer the PSP as a system, yet like the DS games more. So far, they have 5 reasons listed. I will keep an eye on the site as they add more.

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To agree or not to agree that is the question. In many cases concerning this list I do not agree, and readily I protest many of these so-called heroes. Granted Stubbs the Zombie I can agree with, maybe even Leisure Suit Larry and Alucard – only because I am a Castlevania fan. The obvious and unsurprising ones like Kratos, Mario and Link, you really can’t argue with because they are just awesome all around. What puzzles me the most with this list is that Jade from Beyond Good and Evil made the cut but Joanna Dark didn’t? That is just completely moronic in my book as Joanna could blow Jade into the next century. She is intelligent, sexy, a weapons master, and she is a mercenary – how much cooler can you get? I also think that Conker should be on the list as well, because who else would start out as a drunken looser and end up becoming a King other than Henry the VIII? Conker had many hardships to endure. He had to climb Poo Mountain, kill the Great Mighty Poo, sacrifice baby dinosaurs, tickle a giant flower with ‘huge tracks of land’, battle the sadistic Tediz and deal with the loss of his love Berri. If he is not a true, albeit tragic hero, then no other character on the list can be considered one either. Period. Read the full article

A few weeks back, Sony distributed their ” SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA PREVIEWS ROBUST SOFTWARE LINE UP FOR PLAYSTATION® PLATFORMS” . Although most of the news included is out there, I haven’t seen the full word for word document many places. The full statement in it’s entirety is listed below after the break. I think the PS3 is definitely headed for some good times in the future. Many critics have been extremely tough on the system, but only time will tell. They are obviously behind the curve right now, but I feel like the Nintendo Wii will eventually lose it’s hype and it will just be Sony and Microsoft on the field at that point.

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The Canadian division of the collective Studio 9 is breaking away to become independent according to GameIndustry.biz. Studio 9 won’t retain any interest in the Prince Edward Island studio which has taken the name Ocean Interactive. Andrew Ayre, co-founder of F9 takes the lead of Ocean as CEO.

“I’m looking forward to growing game development in Canada and further establishing the region as an up-and-coming location where top games are produced.”

Ocean interactive has yet to announce what those top games in development might be. The studio recently wrapped up work on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for Xbox Live Arcade.

Here are the Top 10 XBL titles this week, and the Top 10 Arcade titles. Looks like Gears of War owns XBL, which considering how fun the game is, I completely understand.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles
1 Gears of War
2 Crackdown
3 Halo 3 Beta
4 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
5 Forza Motorsport 2 Demo
6 Guitar Hero II
7 Aegis Wing
8 Call Of Duty 3
9 GRAW 2
10 Oblivion Read the full article

Next Generation is reporting that Sony BMG and Konami are teaming up to release the video game company’s musical library on download services like Apple’s iTunes, Real’s Rhapsody and through various mobile carriers. Games mentioned in the article include Castlevania, Silent Hill and the Dance Dance Revolution series.

Fans of the games and their music will also have an opportunity to download from Konami’s own website. No price or time was given as to when they would become available. After the recent release of Castlevania: SOTN on Xbox Live, there have to be a lot of folks out there dying to get their hands on those songs – the intro alone is hauntingly cool.